Sublime

Muhammad’s role during those first couple of years in Yathrib was very likely that of a Hakam—albeit a powerful and divinely inspired one—whose arbitration was restricted to the Aws and Khazraj, and whose authority as a Shaykh was confined to his own “clan” of Emigrants: one clan out of many; one Shaykh out of many. Muhammad’s claim to be the Messe

Shah Ismail was unmoved by arguments against the legitimacy of a Shi‘ite state in the absence of the “Hidden Imam.” Instead, he simply declared himself to be the long-awaited Mahdi, boldly crying out at his ascension, “I am very God, very God, very God!”