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Similar to other schools of thought in Islam, Shia Islam is based on the teachings of the Islamic holy book, the Qurʻān and the message of the final prophet of Islam, Muhammad. In contrast to other schools of thought, Shia Islam holds that Muhammad's family, the Ahl al-Bayt ("the People of the House"), and certain individuals among his descendants, who are known as Imams, have special spiritual and political authority over the community. Shia Muslims further believe that Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, was the first of these Imams and was the rightful successor to Muhammad and thus reject the legitimacy of the first three caliphs.
Shias regard Ali as the second most important figure after Prophet Muhammad. According to them, Muhammad suggested on various occasions during his lifetime that Ali should be the leader of Muslims after his demise. According to this view, Ali as the successor of Muhammad not only ruled over the community in justice, but also interpreted the Sharia Law and its esoteric meaning. Hence he was regarded as being free from error and sin (infallible), and appointed by God by divine decree (Nass) to be the first Imam. Ali is known as "perfect man" (al-insan al-kamil) similar to Muhammad according to Shia viewpoint. As a result, Shias exclusively use sermons attributed to Ali, in contrast to the Sunni traditions where the sunnah is largely narrated by companions. Subsequently, the Shi'a have their own form of hadith which leans towards narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt.
Although there were several Shia branches through history, nowadays Shi'a Islam is divided into three main branches. The largest Shia sect in the early 21st century is the Ithnā ʿAshariyyah, Twelvers constitute the majority of the population in Iran, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and Iraq. Other countries with a significant proportion of Shia are Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, south Turkey, and Yemen.
The Shia Islamic faith is vast and inclusive of many different groups. Shi'a Islam embodies a completely independent system of religious interpretation and political authority in the Muslim world. The Shi'a identity emerged during the lifetime of Muhammad, and Shia theology was formulated in the second century. The first Shi'a governments and societies were established by the end of the third century (after Hijra). The fourth century AH /tenth century CE has been referred by Louis Massignon ‘the Shiite Ismaili century in the history of Islam’.
Whereas Sunnis believe the Mahdi will appear sometime in the future, Shias believe the Mahdi was already on earth, is currently the "hidden imam" who works through mujtahids to intepret Qur'an; and will return at the end of time.
Ali was Muhammad's first cousin and closest living male relative, as well as his son-in-law, having married his daughter Fatimah. ‘Ali would eventually become the fourth Muslim caliph.
Shi'a Muslims believe that after the last pilgrimage, Muhammad ordered the gathering of Muslims at the pond of Khumm and it was there that Muhammad nominated Ali to be his successor.The Hadith of the pond of Khumm () refers to the saying (i.e. Hadith) about a historical event of appointment, crucial to Islamic history. This event took place on 18th of Dhu al-Hijjah of 10 AH in the Islamic calendar( March 10, 632 AD) at a place called Ghadir Khumm, which is located near the city of al-Juhfah, Saudi Arabia. Shi'a Muslims believe it to be an appointment of Ali by Muhammad as his successor, while Sunni Muslims believe it to be a simple defense of Ali in the face of unjust criticism.
When Muhammad died, ‘Ali and Muhammad's closest relatives made the funeral arrangements. While they were preparing his body, Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and Abu ‘Ubayda met with the leaders of Medina and elected Abu Bakr as khalifa ("caliph"). ‘Ali and his family were dismayed, but accepted the appointment for the sake of unity in the early Muslim community.
‘Ali's rule over the early Muslim community was often contested, to the extent that wars were waged against him. As a result, he had to struggle to maintain his power against the groups who broke away after giving him allegiance, or those who wished to take his position. After Ali's murder in 661 CE, his main rival Mu‘awiya claimed the caliphate. Some of the problems came from the very people who had initially supported ‘Ali's claim to rule. While the rebels who accused ‘Uthman of nepotism affirmed ‘Ali's khilafa, they later turned against him and fought him. while prostrating (sujud) in prayer. Shī‘a Muslims add "و عليٌ وليُّ الله" "and Ali is the wali (chosen one) of God" (wa-‘Aliyun waliyu l-Lāh), to the adhan and shahadah but this is not obligatory. Ali is regarded as the foremost authority on the Tafsir and hadith.
Most of the early Shia as well as Zaydis differed only marginally from mainstream Sunnis in their views on political leadership, but it is possible in this sect to see a refinement of Shīa doctrine. Early Sunnis traditionally held that the political leader must come from the tribe of Muhammad—namely, the Quraysh. The Zaydīs narrowed the political claims of the Ali's supporters, claiming that not just any descendant of 'Alī would be eligible to lead the Muslim community (ummah) but only those males directly descended from Muḥammad through the union of 'Alī and Fāṭimah. But during the Abbasid revolts, other Shīa, who came to be known as imāmiyyah (followers of the Imams), followed the theological school of Ja'far al-Sadiq. They asserted a more exalted religious role for Imams and insisted that, at any given time, whether in power or not, a single male descendant of 'Alī and Fāṭimah was the divinely appointed Imam and the sole authority, in his time, on all matters of faith and law. To those Shīʿites, love of the imams and of their persecuted cause became as important as belief in God’s oneness and the mission of Muhammad.
According to this view, there is always an Imam of the Age, who is the divinely appointed authority on all matters of faith and law in the Muslim community. ‘Alī was the first Imam of this line, the rightful successor to Muhammad, followed by male descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah Zahra. Although the imam was not the recipient of a divine revelation, he had a close relationship with God, through which God guides him, and the Imam in turn guides the people. Imamate, or belief in the divine guide is a fundamental belief in the Twelver and Ismaili Shī‘ī branches and is based on the concept that God would not leave humanity without access to divine guidance.
In Shia Islam, there is a third phrase of the Kalema, 'Ali-un-waliullah,' which depicts the importance of the Imamat.
- The fundamental first phrase "La- ilaha-ill-al-lah” is the foundation stone of Islam, the belief that “there is no god but Allah”.This is confession of “Tauhid”.
- The second phrase, "Mohammad-ur –rasul-al-lah,” says ”Mohammad is Allah’s "Rasul", "Nabi",the Messenger, Apostle”. This is the acceptance of the “Nabuwat,” or prophethood, of Mohammad.
- According to Shia Islam, Mohammad declared Ali bin Abu Talib as his successor and said that "for whoever I am a 'Moula’ of them Ali is his ‘Moula’”. Hence, they say the kalma required further confession the third phrase “Ali-un- wali-ul-lah,” meaning “Ali is his(Mohammad’s) “Wali" ,"wasi" , the real care taker, stressing the need that for continuation of faith there is requirement of “Wali” , which is one and only “Imam after Imam ” ,which are really taking care of Islaam, hence This is also confession of “ Imamat”.
Kalema-tut-shahadat make three Islamic teaching "Tauhid", "Nabuwat" and "Imamate" together .In this devotion to god, his Nabi Mohammad and Imam are so linked together that these can not be viewed separately.One leads to other and finally to God the "Allah" almighty.
In one of the Qiblah of Imam mustansir of Fatemi era masjid of Qahira (Mosque of Ahmed-ibn-tulun) engraved his name and “kalema‐tut‐ sahadat"(pl.see image placed), giving specific importance to third phrase Ali –un‐ wali ‐ ul –lah’ hence to Imamamt.
Ismah is the concept of infallibility or "divinely bestowed freedom from error and sin" in Islam. Muslims believe that Muhammad and other prophets in Islam possessed ‘iṣmah. Twelver and Ismaili Shī‘ah Muslims also attribute the quality to Imāms as well as to Fatima Zahra, daughter of Muhammad, in contrast to the Zaidi, who do not attribute ‘ismah to the Imāms.
According to Shī‘ah theologians, infallibility is considered a rational necessary precondition for spiritual and religious guidance. They argue that since God has commanded absolute obedience from these figures they must only order that which is right. The state of infallibility is based on the Shī‘ah interpretation of the verse of purification. Thus they are, the most pure ones, the only immaculate ones preserved from, and immune to, all uncleanness. It does not mean that supernatural powers prevent them from committing a sin, but it is due to the fact that they have an absolute belief in God so that they find themselves in presence of God. They have also complete knowledge about God's will. They are in possession of all the knowledge brought by the angels to the prophets (nabi) and the messengers (Rasul). Their knowledge encompasses the totality of all times. Thus they act without fault in religious matters.
Tawassul () is an Islamic religious practice in which a Muslim seeks nearness to God. A rough translation would be: "To draw near to what one seeks after and to approach that which one desires." The exact definition and method of tawassul is a matter of some dispute within the Muslim community.
Muslims who practice tawassul point to the Qur'an, Islam's holy book, as the origin of the practice. Many Muslims believe it is a commandment upon them to "draw near" to God. Amongst Sufi and Barelwi Muslims within Sunni Islam, as well as Twelver Shi'a Muslims, it refers to the act of supplicating to God through a prophet, imam or Sufi saint, whether dead or alive.
Hossein Nasr disagrees with this as he writes:
Shi'ism was not brought into existence only by the question of the political succession to Muhammad as so many Western works claim (although this question was of course of great importance). The problem of political succession may be said to be the element that crystallized the Shi'ites into a distinct group, and political suppression in later periods, especially the martyrdom of Imam Husayn-upon whom be peace-only accentuated this tendency of the Shi'ites to see themselves as a separate community within the Islamic world. The principal cause of the coming into being of Shi'ism, however, lies in the fact that this possibility existed within the Islamic revelation itself and so had to be realized. Inasmuch as there were exoteric [Zaheri] and esoteric [Bateni] interpretations from the very beginning, from which developed the schools (madhhab) of the Sharia and Sufism in the Sunni world, there also had to be an interpretation of Islam, which would combine these elements in a single whole. This possibility was realized in Shi'ism, for which the Imam is the person in whom these two aspects of traditional authority are united and in whom the religious life is marked by a sense of tragedy and martyrdom... Hence the question which arose was not so much who should be the successor of Muhammad as what the function and qualifications of such a person would be.
Another theory emphasizes Abdullah ibn Saba', a Jew that converted to Islam, who created Shia Islam when Ali ruled. This claim has been challenged by a number of modern scholars, some of whom have disputed the existence of Abdullah ibn Saba, and have also suggested that this account is possibly an attempt to further de-legitimize Shi'ism. Furthermore, anti-Shi'a proponents suggest that the Shia have tried to blur the existence of Abdullah ibn Saba to erase their real origin. Nonetheless, there is no evidence supporting this claim.
*The ending of the relative mutual tolerance between Sunnis and Shiis that existed from the time of the Mongol conquests onwards and the resurgence of antagonism between the two groups.
With the fall of the Safavids, the state in Persia – including the state system of courts with government-appointed judges (qadis) – became much weaker, This gave the Sharia courts of mujtahids an opportunity to fill in the slack and enabled "the ulama to assert their judicial authority." The Usuli School also increased in strength at this time.
It achieved its greatest influence in the late Safavid and early post-Safavid era when it dominated Twelver Shi'a Islam. However, shortly thereafter Muhammad Baqir Behbahani (d. 1792), along with other Usuli mujtahids, crushed the Akhbari movement. and it remains now in the Shia Muslim world only as a small minority. One result of the resolution of this conflict was the rise in importance of the concept of ijtihad and the position of the mujtahid (as opposed to other ulema) in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It was from this time that the division of the Shia world into mujtahid (those who could follow their own independent judgment) and muqallid (those who had to follow the rulings of a mujtahid) took place. According to author Moojan Momen, "up to the middle of the 19th century there were very few mujtahids (three or four) anywhere at any one time," but "several hundred existed by the end of the 19th century."
It is variously estimated that 10–20% of the world's Muslims are Shi'a, while the remaining larger percentage follow Sunni Islam.|Vali Nasr|October 18, 2006}} They may number up to 200 million as of 2010. The Shia majority countries are Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain. They also constitute 36.3% of entire local population and 38.6% of local Muslim population of Middle East.
Shi'a Muslims constitute over 35% of the population in Lebanon, over 45% of the population in Yemen, 20-40% of the population in Kuwait, over 20% in Turkey, 10–20% of the population in Pakistan,
Nations with populations of more than one million Shi'as include (in descending order): Iran, Pakistan, India, Iraq, Turkey, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Lebanon, and Tanzania.
The dispute over the right successor to Muhammad resulted in the formation of two main sects, the Sunni, and the Shia. The Sunni, or followers of the way, followed the caliphate and maintained the premise that any devout Muslim could potentially become the successor to Muhammad if accepted by his peers. The Shia however, maintain that only the person selected by God and announced by the Prophet could become his successor, thus Ali became the religious authority for the Shia people. Militarily established and holding control over the Umayyad government, many Sunni rulers perceived the Shia as a threat – both to their political and religious authority.
The Sunni rulers under the Umayyads sought to marginalize the Shia minority and later the Abbasids turned on their Shia allies and further imprisoned, persecuted, and killed Shias. The persecution of Shias throughout history by Sunni co-religionists has often been characterized by brutal and genocidal acts. Comprising only about 10–15% of the entire Muslim population, to this day, the Shia remain a marginalized community in many Sunni Arab dominant countries without the rights to practice their religion and organize.
At various times Shi'a groups have faced persecution.
Sunni, and Twelver and Mustaali Shi'a, celebrate the following annual holidays:
The following holidays are observed by Twelver and Mustaali Shi'a only, unless otherwise noted: The Remembrance of Muharram and Ashurah (عاشوراء) for Shia commemorates Imam Husayn ibn Ali's martyrdom. Imam Husayn was grandson of Muhammad, who was killed by Yazid ibn Muawiyah, Ashurah is a day of deep mourning which occurs on the 10th of Muharram. Sunnis also commemorate Ashurah, but give it a different meaning (see Ashurah). On January 19, 2008, 2 million Iraqi Shia pilgrims marched through Karbala city, Iraq to commemorateAshura. 20,000 Iraqi troops and police guarded the event amid tensions due to clashes between Iraqi troops and the population which left 263 people dead (in Basra and Nasiriya).
Table below shows all Imams of different branches along with Caliph of time and present follower. It also shows all present followers of different branches of Shia Islam and indicates where is the origin, diversion and show complete Islam at one glance : {|class="wikitable" |- | colspan="6"|Abdul Mutallib + Fatema(wife ! ! ABU QUHAFAH ! AFFAN ! BANU UMAYYAH ![ABDUL MUTALLIB+ MUTAYATA(WIFE)] |- || ABU TALIB |colspan="5"| ABDULLAH || || || || || || || |- || |colspan="5"| MOHAMMAD 632 || || || || ABU SUFYAN || AL ABBAS |- !<SHIA ! I- ! -M- ! -A- ! -MA- ! -T-> ! <CHALI- ! ! -F- ! -A- ! -T> |- ||Ali (Imamat 632-661, Caliphate-656-661) |colspan="5"| + wife Fatima || || ABU BAKAR 632–634 || || || |- |colspan="6"| ^ || ||OMMAR || || || |- |colspan="6"| ^ || || ||USMAN 644–656 || || |- |colspan="6"| HASAN || || || ||MUAWWIYAH (Damascus) UMAYYAD || |- |colspan="6"| HUSAYN 669–680 || || || ||^ || |- |colspan="6"| ALI ZAYNUL ABIDIN || || || || MARWAN -I 684–685 || |- |colspan="5"| MUHAMMAD AL-BAQIR ||Zayd ibn Ali (Zaidi/Fiver, separated from brother Baqir) ] || || || ||^ || |- |colspan="5"| JA'FAR AL-SADIQ 731–765 || ^ || || || || || |- |colspan="4"| ISMAIL [ Ismaili Imam ] ||MUSA AL KAZIM, separated from brother Ismail || ^ || || || ||MARWAN-II 744–750 || SAFFAH 750–754,ABBASID BAGHDAD |- |colspan="3"|MOHAMMAD || SEVENER(follow up to Ismail, than separated) || TWELVER IMAM || ^ || || || || || Harun-al- Rashid(d.809) |- |colspan="3"| ABDULLAH || ^ || ^ || ^ || || || || || MA'MUN (d.833) |- |colspan="3"| AHMAD || ^ || ^ || ^ || || || || || MU'TASIM (d.842) |- |colspan="3"| HUSAYN || ^ || ^ || ^ || || || || || MUTAWAKIL 847–861, Mutadid, Muktafi (Muqtadar d.908) |- |colspan="3"| Imamat+FatimidChaliphat || ^ || ^ || ^ || || || || || ^ |- |colspan="3"| ABDULLAH 909– 934 (ifriqiya) || ^ || ^ || ^ || || || || || ^ |- |colspan="3"| AL QAIM (d.946) || ^ || ^ || ^ || || || || || ^ |- |colspan="3"| AL MANSUR || ^ || ^ ||^ || || || || || ^ |- |colspan="3"| AL-MU'IZ (EGYPT) (d.975) || ^ || ^ || ^ || || || || || ^ |- |colspan="3"| AL-AZIZ || ^ || ^ || ^ || || || || || ^ |- |colspan="3"| AL-HAAKIM || ^ || ^ || ^ || || || || || ^ |- |colspan="3"| AL-ZAHIR || ^ || ^ || ^ || || || || || ^ |- |colspan="3"| AL-MUSTANSIR (d.1094) || ^ || ^ || ^ || || || || || ^ |- |colspan="2"| [MUSTALI (d.1101) || NIZAR, separated from brother Mustali ] || ^ || ^ || ^ || || || || || ^ |- ||AMIR- (d.1130) || || ^ || ^ || ^ || ^ || || || || || ^ |- ||TAYYIB, Hurrat al-Malaika / Dai-al-Mutlaq ,Yemen || || ^ || ^ || ^ || ^ || HAFIZ- 1130,Cairo separated from Tayyib ], SALAHUDDIN AYYUBID- 1170 || || || ||AL-ZAHIR ,Al Mutasim 1258,Abbasid Baghdad |- || Dai-al-Mutlaq ,Yemen || ||^ ||^ ||^ || Zaydi (Imam +Caliphate ), Yemen || EGYPTIAN ABBASID (Mustansir 1261,...Mutawakil III 1517) || || || || |- ||Dai-al-Mutlaq, Bohra ,India || || ^ ||^ ||^ ||^ ||^ || || || || |- ||Bohras / Dawoodi Bohra || ||AGHA KHANI ||Sevener (almost extinct) ||Ithna ashari / Twelver ||Zaydi/Fiver ||Hafizi (no trace,extincted) || || || || |}
Twelver Shi'a believe in the lineage of the Twelve Imams. The Twelver Shi'a faith is predominantly found in Iran (est. 90%), Azerbaijan (est. 65%), Bahrain (est. 70%), Iraq (est. 60%), Lebanon (est. 24%), Kuwait (est. 33%), Turkey (est. 15%), Albania (est. 10%), Pakistan (est. 10–15%) and Afghanistan (est. 15%). The Zaidi Shi'a are predominantly found in Yemen (est. 40%).
The Zaidi dispute the succession of the fifth Twelver Imam, Muhammad al-Baqir, because he did not stage a revolution against the corrupt government, unlike Zaid ibn Ali. They do not believe in a direct lineage, but rather that any descendant of Hasan ibn Ali or Husayn ibn Ali who stages a revolution against a corrupt government is an imam. The Zaidi are mainly found in Yemen.
The Ismaili dispute the succession of the seventh Twelver Imam, Musa al-Kadhim, believing his older brother Isma'il ibn Jafar actually succeeded their father Ja'far al-Sadiq Most Shī‘ī traditions acknowledge Ja‘far al-Ṣādiq thought his son, Ismā‘īl ibn Ja‘far "al-Mubārak", would be heir to the Imamate. However, Ismā‘īl predeceased his father. Some of the Shī‘ah claimed Ismā‘īl had not died, but rather gone into occultation, but the proto-Ismā‘īlī group accepted his death and therefore that his eldest son, Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl, was now Imām. Muḥammad remained in contact with this "Mubārakiyyah" group, most of whom resided in Kūfah. Ismaili form small communities in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, India, Yemen, China and Saudi Arabia and have several subbranches.
The Twelvers are also known by other names, each connoting some aspect of the faith.
* "The Shī‘ah" is commonly used as a synonym for "Twelvers" since this branch comprises the majority group of Shī‘ī Islam.
The Twelver faith is predominantly found in Iran (90%), Iraq (65%), Azerbaijan (85%), Lebanon (35%), Kuwait (35%), Turkey (25%), Saudi Arabia (10–15%), Each Imam was the son of the previous Imam, with the exception of Husayn ibn Ali, who was the brother of Hasan ibn Ali. Twelvers have five Principles of the Religion which relates to Aqidah. # Salat (Prayer) # Sawm (Fast) # Hajj (Pilgrimage) # Zakāh (2.5% of savings to the poor) # Khums (20% of savings of which the first half (Sihmu 'l-Imam) must be given to the Imam of Ahlul-Bayt aka Ayatollah ) # Jihād (Struggle) # Amr-Bil-Ma'rūf (Enjoining what is good) # Nahi-Anil-Munkar (Forbid what is evil) # Tawallá (To love Muhammad and his Ahl al-Bayt) # Tabarrā' (To hate, curse and disassociate from the enemies of Muhammad and his Ahl al-Bayt)
The Ja'fari Shia consider Sunnah to be the oral traditions of Muhammad and their implementation and interpretation by the Imams who were all scholars and descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah and her husband, the first Imam, Ali. There are three schools of Ja'fari jurispudence: Usuli, Akhbari, and Shaykhi. The Usuli school is by far the largest of the three. Twelver groups that do not follow Ja'fari jurisprudence include the Alawi, Alevi, Bektashi, and Ahl-e Haqq.
Marja (), also appearing as Marja Taqlid () or Marja Dini (), literally means "Source to Imitate/Follow" or "Religious Reference". It is the label provided to Shia authority, a Grand Ayatollah with the authority to make legal decisions within the confines of Islamic law for followers and less-credentialed clerics. After the Qur'an and the Prophets and Imams, marjas are the highest authority on religious laws in Usuli Twelver Shia Islam.
Currently, marjas are accorded the title Grand Ayatollah (), however when referring to one, the use of Ayatollah is acceptable. Previously, the titles of Allamah and Imam have also been used.
The first Shi'a regime, the Safavid dynasty in Iran, propagated the Twelver faith, made Twelver law the law of the land, and patronized Twelver scholarship. For this, Twelver ulama "crafted a new theory of government" which held that while "not truly legitimate", the Safavid monarchy would be "blessed as the most desirable form of government during the period of awaiting" for the twelfth imam.
In general, the Shi'a adhere to one of three approaches towards the state: either full participation in government, i.e. attempting to influence policies by becoming active in politics, or passive cooperation with it, i.e. minimal participation, or else most commonly, mere toleration of it, i.e. remaining aloof from it. Historically, Zaidi and Ismaili Shi'a imams functioned as both religious and political leaders, but later after the fall of the Fatimid Empire the Ismaili imamate became a secular institution. In general, Twelver Shi'a historically remained secular.
This changed with Iranian Revolution where the Twelver Ayatollah Khomeini and his supporters established a new theory of governance for the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is based on Khomeini's theory of guardianship of the Islamic jurist as rule of the Islamic jurist, and jurists as "legatees" of Muhammad.
While accept this theory, it is uniquely Twelver and the basis of the constitution of Iran, the largest Shi'a Muslim country, where the Supreme Leader must be an Islamic jurist.
The Ismā‘īlī ( al-Ismāʿīliyyūn; Urdu: إسماعیلی Ismāʿīlī, Esmāʿiliyān) branch of Islam is the second largest part of the Shī‘ah community after the Twelvers. The Ismā‘īlī get their name from their acceptance of Ismā‘īl ibn Ja‘far as the divinely appointed spiritual successor (Imām) to Ja‘far aṣ-Ṣādiq, wherein they differ from the Twelvers, who accept Mūsà al-Kāzim, younger brother of Ismā‘īl, as the true Imām. The Ismā‘īlī and the Twelvers both accept the same initial A'immah from the descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fāṭimah az-Zahra and therefore share much of their early history.
After the death or Occultation of Imām Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl in the 8th century, the teachings of Ismailism further transformed into the belief system as it is known today, with an explicit concentration on the deeper, esoteric meaning (bāṭin) of the faith. With the eventual development of Twelverism into the more literalistic (zahir) oriented Akhbari and later Uṣūlī schools of thought, Shī‘ism developed in two separate directions: the metaphorical Ismā‘īlī group focusing on the mystical path and nature of God and the divine manifestation in the personage of the "Imam of the Time" as the "Face of God", while the more literalistic Twelver group focusing on divine law (sharī‘ah) and the deeds and sayings (sunnah) of Muḥammad and his successors (the Ahlu l-Bayt), who as A'immah were guides and a light to God.
Though there are several sub-groupings within the Ismā‘īlīs, the term in today's vernacular generally refers to the Nizārī community who are followers of the Aga Khan and the largest group among the Ismā‘īliyyah. Another famous community which falls under the Isma'il's are the Dawoodi Bohra's whose religious leader in Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, while there are many other the branches have extremely differing exterior practices, much of the spiritual theology has remained the same since the days of the faith's early Imāms. In recent centuries Ismā‘īlīs have largely been an Indo-Iranian community, but they are found in India, Pakistan, Syria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, China, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, East Africa and South Africa, and have in recent years emigrated to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and North America.
In 909, ‘Ubaydallāh al-Mahdi bil-Lāh, a claimant to the Ismā‘īlī Imāmate, established the Fatimid Empire, a political power where Ismā‘īlī Imāms would rule for centuries. Egypt became the center of an empire that included at its peak North Africa, Sicily, Palestine, Syria, the Red Sea coast of Africa, Yemen and the Hejaz. Under the Fatimids, Egypt flourished and developed an extensive trade network in both the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, which eventually determined the economic course of Egypt during the High Middle Ages.
During this period, three lineages of Imāms formed. The first branch, known today as the Druze, occurred with the Imām al-Hākim bi-Amrallāh. Born in 386 AH (985), he ascended as ruler at the age of eleven and was feared for his eccentricity and believed insanity. The typical religiously tolerant Fatimid Empire saw much persecution under his reign. When in 411 AH (1021) his mule returned without him, soaked in blood, a religious group that was even forming in his lifetime broke off from mainstream Ismā‘īlism and did not acknowledge his successor. Later to be known as the Druze, they believe al-Hākim to be the incarnation of God and the prophecized Mahdi, who would one day return and bring justice to the world. The faith further split from Ismā‘īlism as it developed very unusual doctrines which often classes it separately from both Ismā‘īliyyah and Islam.
The second split occurred following the death of Ma'ad al-Mustansir Billah in 487 AH (1094). His rule was the longest of any Caliph in any Islamic empires. Upon his passing away his sons, the older Nizār and the younger al-Musta‘lī fought for political and spiritual control of the dynasty. Nizār was defeated and jailed, but according to Nizāri tradition, his son to escaped to Alamut where the Iranian Ismā‘īlī had accepted his claim.
The Musta‘lī line split again between the Taiyabi(Dawoodi Bohra is main exist) and the Ḥāfizī, the former claiming that the 21st Imām Tayyib (son of al-Amīr) and the Imāms following him went into a period of anonymity (Dawr-e-Satr) and appointed a Dā‘ī al-Muṭlaq to guide the community, in a similar manner as the Ismā‘īlī had lived after the death of Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl. The latter claimed that the ruling Fatimid Caliph was the Imām, and they died out with the fall of the Fatimid Empire.
* Walayah (Guardianship)
In Islam, the term ‘aql was heavily elucidated by early Shī‘ah thinkers; it came to replace and expand the pre-Islamic concept of ḥilm () "serene justice and self-control, dignity" in opposition to the negative notions of savagery (jahl) and stupidity (safah).
The "possessor of ‘aql", or al-‘āqīl (plural al-‘uqqāl) realises a deep connection with God. Imam Ja‘far aṣ-Ṣādiq described this connection as a realization that God loves some (over others), that God's is the Truth and that only ‘ilm "knowledge of the Sacred" and its development can help humanity fulfill its potential.
His son, Imām Mūsá al-Kāżim (d. 799), expanded this exegesis by defining ‘aql as the "faculty for apprehending the divine, a faculty of metaphysical perception, a light in the heart, through which one can discern and recognize signs from God."
{| class="wikitable" |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" |- | Muhammad || Prophet of Islam |- | Ali ibn Abu Talib || 1st Imam |- | Hasan ibn Ali || 2nd Imam |- | Husayn ibn Ali || 3rd Imam |- | Ali ibn Husayn (Zayn al Abidin) || 4th Imam |- | Muhammad al-Baqir || 5th Imam |}
The Zaydi school of Shi’i Islamic jurisprudence is based on Zaid ibn Ali's teachings, which are documented in his book Majmu Al Fiqh (in Arabic: مجموع الفِقه).
Zaidis believe Zayd was the rightful successor to the Imāmate because he led a rebellion against the Umayyads, whom he believed were tyrannical and corrupt. Muhammad al-Baqir did not engage in political action and the followers of Zayd believed that a true Imām must fight against corrupt rulers.
Zaidis also reject the notion of Occultation (ghayba) of the "Hidden Imām". Like the Ismā'īlīs, they believe in a living Imām (or Imāms). Great Sunni Imam Abu Hanifa has given fatwa in favor of Imam Zaid in his rebellion against Ummayid ruler of his time.
The Buyids were Zaidi as well as the Ukhaidhirite rulers of al-Yamama in the 9th and 10th centuries.
The leader of the Zaidi community took the title of Caliph. As such, the ruler of Yemen was known as the Caliph, al-Hadi Yahya bin al-Hussain bin al-Qasim ar-Rassi Rassids (a descendant of Imam al-Hasan) who, at Sa'da, in 893-7 C.E., founded the Zaidi Imamate and this system continued until the middle of the 20th century, until the revolution of 1962 C.E. that deposed the Zaidi Imam. The founding Zaidism of Yemen was of the Jarudiyya group, however with the increasing interaction with Hanafi and Shafi'i Sunni Islam, there was a shift from the Jarudiyya group to the Sulaimaniyya, Tabiriyya, Butriyya or Salihiyya groups.
Zaidis form the dominant religious group in Yemen. Currently, they constitute about 40–45% of the population in Yemen. Ja'faris and Isma'ilis are 2–5%., In Saudi Arabia, it is estimated that there are over 1 million Zaidis (primarily in the western provinces).
Currently the most prominent Zaidi movement is Hussein al-Houthi's Shabab Al Mu'mineen who have been the subject of an ongoing campaign against them by the Yemeni Government in which the Army has lost 743 men and thousands of innocent civilians have been killed or displaced by government forces causing a grave humanitarian crisis in north Yemen. Shia Population of the Middle East
*Alawites (an-Nusayriyyah)
Most of these groups have some similarity with Shi'a such as belief that Ali is the rightful successor of Muhammad. In addition, most of them have accepted The Twelve Imams (hence falling under the Twelver category), but attribute some God-like attribution to them. Thus most of the Twelvers have negative view towards them and recognize them as heretics. Nowadays, they live in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey and Syria.
Category:Islam in Iran Category:Islam in Iraq Category:Islam in Lebanon
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
![Imām Reza shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imām Ridhā, the eighth Imām of Twelver Shi'ites. Also contained within the complex include: the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries,[1] a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings.](http://web.archive.org./web/20101227123329im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/8d/74/53f982771ef8170e9275cc0d17bf_grande.jpg "Imām Reza shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imām Ridhā, the eighth Imām of Twelver Shi'ites. Also contained within the complex include: the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries,[1] a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings.")
![Imām Rezā shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا) in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imām Ridhā, the eighth Imām of Twelver Shi'ites. Also contained within the complex include: the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries,[1] a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings. This complex is the center of tourism in Iran, visited by 15 to 20 million pilgrims every year.[2][3] The shrine itself](http://web.archive.org./web/20101227123329im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/2d/77/47062830b15ecd7bf39d82a919bc_grande.jpg "Imām Rezā shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا) in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imām Ridhā, the eighth Imām of Twelver Shi'ites. Also contained within the complex include: the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries,[1] a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings. This complex is the center of tourism in Iran, visited by 15 to 20 million pilgrims every year.[2][3] The shrine itself")
![Imām Rezā shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا) in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imām Ridhā, the eighth Imām of Twelver Shi'ites. Also contained within the complex include: the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries,[1] a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings. This complex is the center of tourism in Iran, visited by 15 to 20 million pilgrims every year.[2][3] The shrine itself](http://web.archive.org./web/20101227123329im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/82/59/7e2a7ee24e25bae2dbec403c52e7_grande.jpg "Imām Rezā shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا) in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imām Ridhā, the eighth Imām of Twelver Shi'ites. Also contained within the complex include: the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries,[1] a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings. This complex is the center of tourism in Iran, visited by 15 to 20 million pilgrims every year.[2][3] The shrine itself")
![Imām Reza shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imām Ridhā, the eighth Imām of Twelver Shi'ites. Also contained within the complex include: the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries,[1] a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings.](http://web.archive.org./web/20101227123329im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/8d/74/53f982771ef8170e9275cc0d17bf_thumb.jpg "Imām Reza shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imām Ridhā, the eighth Imām of Twelver Shi'ites. Also contained within the complex include: the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries,[1] a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings.")
![Imām Rezā shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا) in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imām Ridhā, the eighth Imām of Twelver Shi'ites. Also contained within the complex include: the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries,[1] a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings. This complex is the center of tourism in Iran, visited by 15 to 20 million pilgrims every year.[2][3] The shrine itself](http://web.archive.org./web/20101227123329im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/2d/77/47062830b15ecd7bf39d82a919bc_thumb.jpg "Imām Rezā shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا) in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imām Ridhā, the eighth Imām of Twelver Shi'ites. Also contained within the complex include: the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries,[1] a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings. This complex is the center of tourism in Iran, visited by 15 to 20 million pilgrims every year.[2][3] The shrine itself")
![Imām Rezā shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا) in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imām Ridhā, the eighth Imām of Twelver Shi'ites. Also contained within the complex include: the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries,[1] a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings. This complex is the center of tourism in Iran, visited by 15 to 20 million pilgrims every year.[2][3] The shrine itself](http://web.archive.org./web/20101227123329im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/82/59/7e2a7ee24e25bae2dbec403c52e7_thumb.jpg "Imām Rezā shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا) in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imām Ridhā, the eighth Imām of Twelver Shi'ites. Also contained within the complex include: the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries,[1] a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings. This complex is the center of tourism in Iran, visited by 15 to 20 million pilgrims every year.[2][3] The shrine itself")
