From 'Ali to Dante’s Alì. A Western Medieval Understanding of Shi'a

This paper focuses on the figure of Alì, found along with Maometto and sowers of scandal and schism in Dante’s Divina Commedia (Inferno 28). While early commentators on the poem variously identify Alì as a companion or disciple of Maometto’s, or his heretical teacher, modern commentators identify him as 'Ali b. Abi Talib, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law. Both explain his condemnation as due to a religious schism he caused: according to the former, Alì inspired or pursued the division of Christianity provoked by Maometto; according to the latter, he was responsible for the division of the Muslim community into Sunnites and Shi'ites. Nevertheless, these interpretations do not clarify why Alì is not condemned by Dante along with heresiarchs but rather alongside characters responsible for violent divisions within social and political contexts. An analysis of the sources on ‘Alī and the Shī‘a available in Europe up to the beginning of the 14th century shows that Dante, unlike his early commentators, relied on pseudohistorical biographies of Muhammad in which the division between Sunnites and Shi'ites, ascribed to 'Ali, was interpreted as a political phenomenon concerning the dispute over authority and territorial control between Sunni Caliphs in the East and Shi'i imams in the West. By reading Inferno 28 from this perspective, through the social and political view expressed by Dante in the Monarchia, it is possible to infer that Dante considered Muhammad as responsible for the subversion of the universal empire, and 'Ali as responsible for a further fragmentation of the imperial authority.