RAFIDAH

(Arabic: Rejectors), broadly, Shi'ite Muslims who reject (rafd) the caliphate of Muhammad's two successors Abu Bakr and 'Umar. Many Muslim scholars, however, have stated that the term Rafidah cannot be applied to the Shi'ites in general but only to the extremists among them who believe in the divine right of 'Ali to succeed Muhammad and who condemn Abu Bakr and 'Umar as unlawful rulers of the Muslim community. The Rafidah were also considered by some to be one of three main groups that compose the Shi'ites, the other two being the Ghulat and the Zaydiyah. To the majority of the Shi'ites, who do not condemn Muhammad's immediate successors and only assert 'Ali's right to the caliphate over Mu'awiyah (the first Umayyad caliph), the term Rafidah is pejorative, coined by their opponents to cast the shadow of extremism on them.