Question 489: Salaamun Alaikum. I read from Allamah tabatabai that Mazdeists are classified as Ahl Al Kitab, is it lawful to say that their messenger (Zarathustra), in the case he existed, he’s a legitimate prophet?
Thanks in advance.
Answer 489: Allama Tabatabaee (ra) said: the term ‘Magoosh’ are called “Magus”, which refers to the followers of Zoroastrianism.[1] It has only been mentioned once in the holy Quran[2], and considering the fact that it has been used in a way that shows it is in contrast with shirk and the mushriks and is next to other divine religions like the Jews and the Nazarenes, it can be concluded that it has been a substantial religion with a prophet and holy book.
Some of our hadiths also confirm this matter. One day, Ash’ath ibn Qays asked Imam Ali (as): “How come you collect the jizya [tax collected from non-Muslims who are People of the Book by the Islamic government] from the Magi [if the jizya is only to be collected from the People of the Book] while they don’t even have a divine book? The imam answered: “It isn’t as you perceive! They had a holy book and Allah (swt) sent them a messenger…”[3]
Imam Zayn al-A’bedin (as) says: Behave with the Magoosh as Ahl al-Kitab.[4]
According to most, Zoroaster (prophet of the Zoroastrian faith) was born in 660 BC and was chosen prophet in 630 BC at the age of thirty. He is said to have been murdered at the altar by the Turanians in the storming of Balkh (Afghanistan).
Zoroastrianism, which is the religion of the Magi, is related to the Torah and Bible. In the Bible, there is no sign of this religion, but in eight books of the Torah, it has been mentioned. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read: Some of the first to visit the newly born Messiah were people from the East called the “Magi”.
Over the past several years, Zoroastrians have been advocates of a religion that is based on ethnicity and in other words, a religion that doesn’t allow others to convert to it; in order to be Zoroastrian, you have to be born of two Zoroastrian parents. Today, Zoroastrianism is the smallest religion amongst the eleven most important religions of the world. 150,000 of them live in India, and another 150,000 live in Yazd, Kerman and Tehran of Iran.
The book of Zoroastrians
Avesta is the book of Zoroastrians which literally means foundation, basis and scripture. This book has been written in the Avestan language which belongs to ancient Persia and shares the same roots as the Pahlavi and Sanskrit. In addition to the Avesta, Zoroastrians have a tafsir by the name of “Zand-Avesta” and another holy book written in the Pahlavi language.
Conclusion: The religion of Zoroaster was a divine one at birth, but the current book of Zoroastrians, Avesta, implies polytheism[5]. It is because of this that when we refer to Zoroastrianism, we say it is a distorted faith far from its original teachings.
[1] . Tafsir al-Mizan, Farsi translation, Vol. 14, Pgs. 532-537, Daftar Intisharat Islami Jamia Modarreseen, Qom.
[2] Hajj:17 “إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَ الَّذِينَ هادُوا وَ الصَّابِئِينَ وَ النَّصارى وَ الْمَجُوسَ وَ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَفْصِلُ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيامَةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ”
[3] Abd Ali ibn Jumah Arusi Huwayzi, Tafsir Nurul-Thaqalain, vol. 3, pg. 457.
[4] . Naser Makarem Shirazi and other authors, afsir Nemooneh, Vol. 14, Pgs. 45-46, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiya, Tehran.
[5] See: Din Shenasiye Tatbiqi,pg. 107. Despite this fact, Zoroastrian thinkers try to somehow interpret implicative Zoroastrian teachings with a philosophical and gnostic perspective in order to justify them and prove that their religion is a pure monotheistic one.