"The Historical Link between Jesus and Ghuluww: Jesus's Function in Ghulāt Thought and its Impact on Shi'a Hadith" by Hossein Barati & Sobhan Ranjbarzadeh

In this presentation, Hossein Barati and Sobhan Ranjbarzadeh trace how various ghulāt sects appropriated Jesus's ascension and extraordinary attributes to legitimize claims about ʿAlī, Ḥusayn, and the Hidden Imam. They show how Shi'i Imams and later Qom theologians responded directly to these Christological analogies in shaping mainstream doctrine.