المعنى الاصطلاحي :

A Shiite sect that declares their support to the household of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, and insults his Companions.

الشرح المختصر :

"Ar-Rāfidah" (the Rāfidah) is one of the sects of the Shia. They are also called "Al-Imāmiyyah", "Al-Ithnā ‘Ashriyyah", and "Al-Ja‘fariyyah". They were given the name "Rāfidah" (those who reject) when Zayd ibn ‘Ali praised Abu Bakr and ‘Umar and invoked Allah's mercy upon them, as he was asked about them. So the people rejected his attitude. On that, he said to them: "Rafadtumooni! (You reject me!)" Thus, they were called the "Rāfidah". The first one to call to the beliefs of the "Rāfidah" was a Jewish man from Yemen whose name was ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’. They first emerged in Iraq, and then they spread throughout the area, especially in Iran, where they settled in big numbers. They passed through several stages, beginning with the call of ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’ for the extreme exaltation of ‘Ali ibn Abi Tālib; followed by the appearance of their beliefs after the murder of ‘Uthmān, may Allah be pleased with him; and then finally their division into multiple sects. Their belief involves heresy, atheism, and paganism. From the most important beliefs of the "Rāfidah" are the following: 1. They believe that the Qur’an is distorted. 2. They judge the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, to be disbelievers and insult and hate them, except for a few of them. 3. They believe that their Imams are infallible and not prone to forgetfulness. They also believe that they do not commit sins or misdeeds and have knowledge of the unseen. 4. They glorify graves and tombs and supplicate the dead. 5. They adopt the principle of "taqiyyah", which means resorting to lying and hypocrisy in dealing with Sunni Muslims.

التعريف اللغوي المختصر :

"Rāfidah": an attribution to "rafd", which means rejection. Opposite: "qabool" (acceptance), "muwāfaqah" (agreement). It is used to refer to a group that is rejecting something.