Shia Islam

Etymology

The word Shia (or Shīʿa; ; Arabic: شِّيْعَة) is derived from shīʿatu ʿAlī (شِّيْعَة عَلِيّ, 'followers of Ali'). An adherent is called a Shi'i (Shīʿī; Arabic: شيعيّ; pl. shīʿiyyūn; Arabic: شيعيون). In Arabic, "Shīʿa" means followers and supporters; the term derives from al-shiyāʿ and al-mushāyaʿa, which convey the meanings of following, supporting, and obedience. Shia Islam is also referred to in English as Shiism (or Shīʿism) (), and Shia Muslims as Shiites (or Shīʿites) ().

The term Shia was first used during Muhammad's lifetime. At present, the word refers to Muslims who believe that the leadership of the Muslim community after Muhammad belongs to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, and his successors.

Nawbakhti states that the term Shia refers to a group of Muslims who, at the time of Muhammad and after him, regarded ʿAlī as the Imam and caliph. Al-Shahrastani explains that the term Shia refers to those who believe that ʿAlī was designated as the heir, Imam, and caliph by Muhammad, and that ʿAlī's authority is maintained through his descendants. For the adherents of Shia Islam, this conviction is implicit in the Quran and the history of Islam. Shia Muslim scholars emphasize that the notion of authority is linked to the family of the Abrahamic prophets, as the Quranic verses 3:33 and 3:34 illustrate: "Indeed, Allah chose Adam, Noah, the family of Abraham, and the family of 'Imrân above all people. They are descendants of one another. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing."

History

The original Shia identity referred to the followers of Imam ʿAlī, and Shia theology was formulated after the hijra (7th century CE). The first Shia governments and societies were established by the end of the 9th century. The 10th century has been referred to by the scholar of Islamic studies Louis Massignon as "the Shiite Ismaili century in the history of Islam".

Origins

The Shia, originally known as the "partisans" of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Muhammad's cousin and Fatima's husband, first emerged as a distinct movement composed of those fiercely loyal to him during the First Fitna (656–661). Shia doctrine is founded on the understanding that ʿAlī was uniquely designated to lead the Muslim community after Muhammad's death in 632. While the origins of Shia Islam remain a subject of scholarly debate, many Western historians have attempted to characterize early Shia Islam merely as a political faction rather than a religious movement, while others recognize this framework as an anachronistic imposition of the Western separation of religion and politics.

Shia Muslims point to Muhammad's explicit designation of ʿAlī as his successor during a major sermon at Ghadir Khumm, in which he declared: "Anyone who has me as his mawla, has ʿAlī as his mawla". Many versions of the sermon include the invocation: "O God, befriend the friend of ʿAlī and be the enemy of his enemy". The interpretation of this prominent proclamation is central to the Sunni–Shia divide: while Sunni scholars tend to interpret it as a general affirmation of ʿAlī's merit, Shia Muslims maintain it to be a clear and unambiguous designation of ʿAlī as Muhammad's appointed successor. Shia sources further record that those present at Ghadir Khumm immediately congratulated ʿAlī, acclaiming him as Amir al-Mu'minin ("commander of the believers").

When Muhammad died in 632 CE, ʿAlī and Muhammad's closest relatives remained occupied with the solemn duty of his funeral arrangements. While they were preparing his body, Abū Bakr, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, and Abu Ubaidah ibn al Jarrah convened a separate meeting with the leaders of Medina at Saqifa and secured the election of Abū Bakr as the first of the rāshidūn caliphs. While Sunni Muslims maintain that this election was politically legitimate, the process had no clear basis or precedent set by Muhammad, and ʿAlī's partisans viewed it as a direct violation of the Prophet's designation at Ghadir Khumm. Abū Bakr served from 632 to 634, followed by ʿUmar (634–644) and ʿUthmān (644–656).

Following the assassination of ʿUthmān in 656, the Muslims of Medina finally turned to ʿAlī as the fourth caliph, and he established his capital in Kufa. ʿAlī's subsequent rule over the early Islamic empire (656–661) was marked by entrenched opposition from rival factions. The resulting conflict, known as the First Fitna, became the first major civil war within the Muslim community, encompassing a series of revolts against ʿAlī by groups that had initially affirmed the legitimacy of his caliphate before ultimately turning against him.

Hasan, Husayn, and Karbala

Upon the death of ʿAlī, his elder son Ḥasan assumed leadership of the Muslims of Kufa. After a series of skirmishes between the Kufa Muslims and the army of Muawiyah, Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī agreed to cede the caliphate to Muawiyah and maintain peace among Muslims upon certain conditions: the enforced public cursing of ʿAlī, including during prayers, should be abandoned; Muawiyah should not use tax money for his own private needs; there should be peace, and followers of Ḥasan should be given security and their rights; Muawiyah would never adopt the title of Amir al-Mu'minin ("commander of the believers"); and Muawiyah would not nominate any successor. Ḥasan then retired to Medina, where in 670 CE he was poisoned by his wife Ja'da bint al-Ash'ath, after being secretly contacted by Muawiyah, who wished to pass the caliphate to his own son Yazid and viewed Ḥasan as an obstacle.

Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, ʿAlī's younger son and brother to Ḥasan, initially resisted calls to lead the Muslims against Muawiyah and reclaim the caliphate. In 680, Muawiyah died and passed the caliphate to his son Yazid, thereby breaking the treaty with Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī. Yazid demanded that Husayn swear allegiance (bay'ah) to him. ʿAlī's faction, having expected the caliphate to return to ʿAlī's line upon Muawiyah's death, viewed this as a betrayal of the peace treaty, and Ḥusayn refused this demand for allegiance. There was a groundswell of support in Kufa for Ḥusayn to return there and take his position as caliph and Imam, so Ḥusayn gathered his family and followers in Medina and set off for Kufa.

En route to Kufa, Husayn was intercepted by an army of Yazid's men, which included forces from Kufa, near Karbala. Rather than surrendering, Husayn and his followers chose to stand and fight. In the Battle of Karbala, Ḥusayn and approximately 72 of his family members and followers were killed, and Husayn's head was delivered to Yazid in Damascus. The Shia community regards Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī as a martyr (shahid) and counts him as an Imam from the Ahl al-Bayt. The Battle of Karbala and the martyrdom of Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī are widely cited as the definitive moment of separation between the Shia and Sunnī sects of Islam. Ḥusayn is the last Imam following ʿAlī mutually recognized by all branches of Shia Islam. The martyrdom of Husayn and his followers is commemorated on the Day of Ashura, occurring on the tenth day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar.

Imamate of the Ahl al-Bayt

Later, most denominations of Shia Islam, including Twelvers and Ismāʿīlīs, became Imamis. Shia Muslims believe that Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad. Imams are human individuals who not only rule over the Muslim community with justice but are also able to keep and interpret the divine law and its esoteric meaning. The words and deeds of Muhammad and the Imams serve as a guide and model for the community to follow; as a result, they must be free from error and sin, and must be chosen by divine decree (nass) through Muhammad. According to this view, which is distinctive to Shia Islam, 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. ʿAlī was the first Imam of this line, the rightful successor to Muhammad, followed by male descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah.

This difference between following the Ahl al-Bayt (Muhammad's family and descendants) or pledging allegiance to Abū Bakr has shaped the Shia–Sunnī divide on the interpretation of some Quranic verses, hadith literature (accounts of the sayings and living habits attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad during his lifetime), and other areas of Islamic belief throughout the history of Islam. For instance, the hadith collections venerated by Shia Muslims are centred on narrations by members of the Ahl al-Bayt and their supporters, while some hadith transmitted by narrators not belonging to or supporting the Ahl al-Bayt are excluded.

Those of Abu Hurairah, for example — Ibn Asakir in his Taʿrikh Kabir and Muttaqi in his Kanzuʿl-Umma report that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb lashed him, rebuked him, and forbade him from narrating ḥadīth from Muhammad. ʿUmar is reported to have said: "Because you narrate hadith in large numbers from the Holy Prophet, you are fit only for attributing lies to him. So you must stop narrating hadith from the Prophet; otherwise, I will send you to the land of Dus." (An Arab clan in Yemen, to which Abu Hurairah belonged.)

According to Sunnī Muslims, ʿAlī was the fourth successor to Abū Bakr, while Shia Muslims maintain that ʿAlī was the first divinely sanctioned "Imam", or successor of Muhammad. The seminal event in Shia history is the martyrdom at the Battle of Karbala of ʿAlī's son, Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, and 71 of his followers in 680, who led a non-allegiance movement against the defiant caliph.

Imam Mahdi, last Imam

In Shia Islam, Imam Mahdi is regarded as the prophesied eschatological redeemer of Islam who will rule for seven, nine, or nineteen years (according to differing interpretations) before the Day of Judgment and will rid the world of evil. According to Islamic tradition, the Mahdi's tenure will coincide with the Second Coming of Jesus (ʿĪsā), who is to assist the Mahdi against the Masih ad-Dajjal (literally, the "false Messiah" or Antichrist). Jesus, who is considered the Masih ("Messiah") in Islam, will descend at the point of a white arcade east of Damascus, dressed in yellow robes with his head anointed. He will then join the Mahdi in his war against the Dajjal, where it is believed the Mahdi will slay the Dajjal and unite humankind.

Dynasties

In the century following the Battle of Karbala (680 CE), as various Shia-affiliated groups diffused throughout the emerging Islamic world, several nations arose based on Shia leadership or population.

Idrisids (788–985): a Zaydi dynasty in what is now Morocco.

Qarmatians (899–1077): an Ismaili Iranian dynasty. Their headquarters were in Eastern Arabia and Bahrain. It was founded by Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi.

Buyids (934–1055): a Twelver Iranian dynasty that at its peak consisted of large portions of Iran and Iraq.

Uqaylids (990–1096): a Shia Arab dynasty with several lines that ruled in various parts of al-Jazira, northern Syria, and Iraq.

Ilkhanate (1256–1335): a Persianate Mongol khanate established in Iran in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanate initially embraced many religions, but was particularly sympathetic to Buddhism and Christianity. Later Ilkhanate rulers, beginning with Ghazan in 1295, chose Islam as the state religion; his brother Öljaitü promoted Shia Islam.

Bahmanids (1347–1527): a Shia Muslim state of the Deccan Plateau in Southern India, and one of the great medieval Indian kingdoms. The Bahmanid Sultanate was the first independent Islamic kingdom in Southern India.

Fatimids (909–1171): Controlled much of North Africa, the Levant, parts of Arabia, and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The dynasty takes its name from Fāṭimah, Muhammad's daughter, from whom they claim descent.

In 909, the Shia military leader Abu Abdallah al-Shiʻi overthrew the Sunni rulers in North Africa, an event which led to the foundation of the Fatimid Caliphate.

Al-Qaid Jawhar ibn Abdallah (Arabic: جوهر; fl. 966–d. 992) was a Shia Fatimid general. Under the command of Caliph al-Muʻizz, he led the conquest of North Africa and then of Egypt, founded the city of Cairo and the al-Azhar Mosque. A Greek slave by origin, he was freed by al-Muʻizz.

Beliefs

Shia Islam encompasses various denominations and subgroups, all bound by the belief that the leader of the Muslim community (Ummah) should hail from the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It embodies a completely independent system of religious interpretation and political authority in the Muslim world.

ʿAlī: Muhammad's rightful successor

Shia Muslims believe that just as a prophet is appointed by God alone, only God has the prerogative to appoint the successor to his prophet. They believe God chose ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib to be Muhammad's successor and the first caliph (Arabic: خليفة, romanized: khalifa) of Islam. Shia Muslims believe that Muhammad designated ʿAlī as his successor by God's command on several occasions, most notably at Eid Al Ghadir. Additionally, ʿAlī was Muhammad's first cousin, his closest living male relative, and his son-in-law, having married Muhammad's daughter, Fāṭimah.

Profession of faith (Shahada)

The Shia version of the Shahada (Arabic: الشهادة), the Islamic profession of faith, differs from that of the Sunnīs. The Sunnī version states La ilaha illallah, Muhammadun rasulullah (Arabic: لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ, lit. 'There is no god except God, Muhammad is the messenger of God'); Shia Muslims add the phrase Ali-un-Waliullah (Arabic: عَلِيٌّ وَلِيُّ ٱللَّٰهِ, lit. 'Ali is the friend of God'). The basis for the Shia belief in ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as the Wali of God is derived from the Qur'anic verse 5:55.

This additional phrase embodies the Shia emphasis on the inheritance of authority through Muhammad's family and lineage. The three clauses of the Shia version of the Shahada thus address the fundamental Islamic beliefs of Tawḥīd (Arabic: توحيد, lit. 'oneness of God'), Nubuwwah (Arabic: نبوة, lit. 'prophethood'), and Imamah (Arabic: إمامة, lit. 'Imamate or leadership').

Infallibility (Ismah)

Ismah (Arabic: عصمة, romanized: 'Iṣmah or 'Isma, lit. 'protection') is the concept of infallibility or "divinely bestowed freedom from error and sin" in Islam. Muslims believe that Muhammad, along with the other prophets and messengers, possessed ismah. Twelver and Ismāʿīlī Shia Muslims also attribute the quality to Imams as well as to Fāṭimah, daughter of Muhammad, in contrast to the Zaydī Shias, who do not attribute ismah to the Imams. Though initially beginning as a political movement, infallibility and sinlessness of the Imams later evolved as a distinct belief of (non-Zaydī) Shia Islam.

According to Shia Muslim theologians, infallibility is considered a rational and necessary precondition for spiritual and religious guidance. They argue that since God has commanded absolute obedience from these figures, they must only command that which is right. The state of infallibility is based on the Shia interpretation of the verse of purification. This does not mean that supernatural powers prevent them from committing a sin, but rather that due to their absolute belief in God, they refrain from doing anything that is sinful. According to this belief, the Imams also possess complete knowledge of God's will, encompassing the totality of all times, and are believed to act without fault in religious matters. ʿAlī is regarded as a "perfect man" (Arabic: الإنسان الكامل, romanized: al-insan al-kamil) similar to Muhammad, not only ruling over the Muslim community in justice but interpreting the Islamic faith and its esoteric meaning.

Divine justice (ʿAdl)

Divine justice (ʿadl) occupies a position in Twelver theology that has no direct equivalent in mainstream Sunni thought — it is one of the five uṣūl al-dīn (foundations of religion) in Twelver doctrine, elevated to the status of a foundational creed alongside monotheism, prophethood, imamate, and resurrection. Its centrality reflects a fundamental divergence between Shia and Sunni theology on the question of God's relationship to moral categories, human agency, and the intelligibility of divine action.

The dominant theological school of mainstream Sunni Islam, the Ashariyya, holds that God's will is the ultimate source of all moral categories — that an act is good because God commands it and evil because God forbids it, rather than God commanding it because it is intrinsically good. On this view, moral categories are posterior to divine will and have no independent existence that could constrain or evaluate God's actions. The Ashari position on predestination follows from this framework: all human acts, including sins, are created by Allah and "acquired" (kasb) by humans through a mechanism that Ashari theologians acknowledged was philosophically difficult to render fully coherent, but which they regarded as established by revelation. The Athari school, foundational to Wahhabism and Salafism, tends toward a harder determinism in which divine decree encompasses all things without qualification.

Twelver theology, shaped by the rational theological tradition of the Imams and particularly by the teachings of Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, rejects both of these positions. In Shia theological epistemology, the human intellect (ʿaql) is capable of independently recognising moral categories — that justice is genuinely good and injustice genuinely evil — and God, whose essential nature is good, acts in accordance with these categories rather than arbitrarily defining them by fiat. Divine justice in Shia theology therefore means that God does not and cannot act unjustly, not because an external standard constrains Him but because injustice is incompatible with His essential nature. This position aligns Shia theology more closely with the Muʿtazilite school than with Ashari Sunni theology on this specific question, though Shia scholars are careful to distinguish their position from Muʿtazilism, grounding it in the teachings of the Imams rather than in rationalist philosophy alone.

The Shia position on human agency and divine decree is encapsulated in the doctrine of Amr bayn al-Amrayn (amr bayna al-amrayn: a matter between two matters), traced in the classical sources to Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq. When asked about the relationship between divine decree and human free will, the Imam is reported to have replied that the truth lies neither in pure compulsion (jabr) nor in pure delegation of independent power to humans (tafwīḍ), but in something between the two — a position that affirms genuine human agency and moral responsibility while maintaining that this agency operates within and depends upon the sustaining will of Allah rather than independently of it.

The Shia doctrine of prophethood (Nubuwwah)

The Twelver Shia understanding of prophethood (nubuwwah) differs from the mainstream Sunni position in several foundational respects, producing a portrait of Muhammad that is theologically distinct from the one that emerges from the Sunni hadith corpus.

In Twelver theology, Muhammad's prophethood was not conferred upon him at the age of forty in the cave of Ḥirāʾ but was a pre-eternal reality established before the creation of the physical world. This doctrine is grounded in narrations attributed to the Imams preserved in al-Kāfī and other Shia hadith collections, in which Muhammad is reported to have said: "I was a prophet while Adam was still between water and clay." In Twelver theology, the event at the cave of Ḥirāʾ was therefore not a moment at which prophethood was bestowed upon Muhammad but rather the moment at which he received the divine command to declare publicly what was always already true — that he was the messenger of Allah and the seal of the prophets.

This theological position has significant implications for how Shia scholars evaluate specific narrations in the Sunni hadith corpus concerning the first revelation. The account recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 3) — transmitted through Aisha — describes Muhammad returning from the cave frightened, saying to Khadīja: "I fear for myself," and being taken to her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal, a Christian scholar, whose identification of the experience as revelation provided Muhammad with his initial validation. Shia scholars reject this account on theological grounds: a prophet divinely prepared for his mission from before birth cannot genuinely fear for his sanity, cannot be uncertain about the nature of his own revelation, and cannot require a Christian scholar's confirmation of an Islamic prophetic mission. The reliance on Waraqah ibn Nawfal is particularly problematic from the Shia perspective, since it implies that the Prophet's certainty about his prophethood was dependent on external human validation rather than direct divine assurance — a position Shia scholars argue contradicts both prophetic ismah and the Quranic description of divine communication (53:3).

Closely related to the doctrine of pre-eternal prophethood is the Twelver position on prophetic ismah (infallibility or divine protection from error and sin). While mainstream Sunni theology holds that prophets are protected from major sins and from errors in conveying revelation but may commit minor lapses or errors of personal judgment subsequently corrected by further revelation, Twelver theology holds that the prophets are fully infallible in all matters — actions, statements, and personal conduct — on the grounds that the prophet is the ḥujja (proof) of Allah on earth and that any error in his conduct would undermine the Quranic injunction to follow his example absolutely (33:21).

Shia hadith epistemology

The Shia approach to hadith methodology differs from the Sunni approach in several foundational respects that follow directly from the theological positions outlined above. These differences concern not only which hadith are accepted and rejected but the underlying epistemological framework that determines what constitutes a reliable transmission of prophetic knowledge.

The most fundamental divergence between Shia and Sunni hadith methodology concerns the doctrine of Adālat al-Ṣaḥāba — the collective presumption of uprightness applied to all companions of the Prophet in Sunni hadith criticism, by virtue of which a narrator's status as a companion is in itself sufficient to establish the reliability of their transmissions. Shia hadith methodology explicitly rejects this collective presumption and evaluates each companion individually on the basis of their known conduct and loyalty to the Ahl al-Bayt. Companions who remained steadfast in their support for ʿAlī — such as Salman al-Farisi, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, Miqdad ibn Aswad, and Ammar ibn Yasir — are accorded high reliability; companions who opposed or abandoned ʿAlī are subject to critical evaluation regardless of their general proximity to the Prophet.

The Shia theological basis for this rejection follows from the sacred history narrative: if the companions collectively failed to uphold the Prophet's designation at Ghadir Khumm, their collective presumption of virtue cannot be maintained. Shia hadith critics further argue that the doctrine is logically circular — the reliability of the companions is established by the Sunni tradition, but which companions count as reliable was itself determined by a tradition shaped by the very political events whose legitimacy is in dispute.

The canonical foundation of Shia hadith literature consists of four major collections compiled in the 10th and 11th centuries CE, collectively known as the Kutub al-Arbaʿa (the Four Books): al-Kāfī by Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb al-Kulaynī (d. 329 AH), considered the most authoritative and containing hadith attributed to the Prophet and all twelve Imams; Man lā Yaḥḍuruhu al-Faqīh by Shaykh al-Ṣadūq (d. 381 AH); and Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām and al-Istibṣār, both by Shaykh al-Ṭūsī (d. 460 AH).

A critical distinction between the Shia and Sunni hadith canons is that Shia collections include hadith attributed to the twelve Imams alongside those attributed to the Prophet, on the theological basis that the Imams' statements constitute authoritative religious knowledge transmitted through the line of divinely guided successors. This effectively extends the hadith authority period from the Prophet's death in 632 CE to the beginning of the Major Occultation of the twelfth Imam in 874 CE, grounding Shia jurisprudence in a body of traditions that Sunni methodology does not recognise as authoritative.

Occultation (Ghaybah)

The Occultation is an eschatological belief held in various denominations of Shia Islam concerning a messianic figure, the hidden and last Imam known as "the Mahdi", who will one day return to fill the world with justice. According to the doctrine of Twelver Shia Islam, the main goal of Imam Mahdi will be to establish an Islamic state and to apply Islamic laws that were revealed to Muhammad.

Some Shia subsects, such as Zaydism and Nizari Isma'ilism, do not believe in the idea of Occultation. The groups that believe in it differ as to which lineage of the Imamate is valid and therefore which individual has gone into Occultation. Twelver Shia Muslims believe that the prophesied Mahdi and 12th Shia Imam, Hujjat Allah al-Mahdi, is already on Earth in Occultation and will return at the end of time. Ṭayyibi Ismāʿīlīs and Bohra communities believe the same but for their 21st Imam, At-Tayyib Abi l-Qasim, and believe that a Da'i al-Mutlaq ("Unrestricted Missionary") maintains contact with him. Sunnī Muslims believe that the future Mahdi has not yet arrived on Earth.

Holy Relics (Tabarruk)

Shia Muslims believe that the armaments and sacred items of all of the Abrahamic prophets, including Muhammad, were handed down in succession to the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt. Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the 6th Shia Imam, in Kitab al-Kafi mentions that "with me are the arms of the Messenger of Allah. It is not disputable." Al-Ṣādiq also narrated that the passing down of armaments is synonymous with receiving the Imamat (leadership), similar to how the Ark of the Covenant in the house of the Israelites signaled prophethood. Imam Ali al-Ridha narrates that wherever the armaments among us would go, knowledge would also follow and the armaments would never depart from those with knowledge.

Other doctrines

According to Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar, God gives humans the faculty of reason and argument. Also, God orders humans to think carefully about creation, while he refers to all creations as his signs of power and glory. These signs encompass all of the universe. Furthermore, there is an analogy of humans as the little world and the universe as the large world. God does not accept the faith of those who follow him without thinking and only with imitation, but God also blames them for such actions. In other words, humans have to think about the universe with reason and intellect, a faculty bestowed on us by God. Since there is more insistence on the faculty of intellect among Shia Muslims, even evaluating the claims of someone who claims prophecy is based on the intellect.

Practices

Shia religious practices, such as prayers, differ only slightly from the Sunnīs. While all Muslims pray five times daily, Shia Muslims have the option of combining Dhuhr with Asr and Maghrib with Isha', as there are three distinct times mentioned in the Quran. The Sunnīs tend to combine only under certain circumstances.

Holidays

Shia Muslims celebrate the following annual holidays:

Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of fasting during the month of Ramadan

Eid al-Adha, which marks the end of the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca

Eid al-Ghadeer, which is the anniversary of the Ghadir Khum, the occasion when Muhammad announced ʿAlī's Imamate before a multitude of Muslims. Eid al-Ghadeer is held on the 18th of Dhu al-Hijjah.

The Mourning of Muharram and the Day of Ashura for Shia Muslims commemorate the martyrdom of Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, brother of Ḥasan and grandson of Muhammad, who was killed by the army of Yazid ibn Muawiyah in Karbala (central Iraq). Ashura is a day of deep mourning which occurs on the 10th of Muharram.

Arba'in commemorates the suffering of the women and children of Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī's household. After Ḥusayn was killed, they were marched over the desert, from Karbala (central Iraq) to Damascus (Syria). Many children (some of whom were direct descendants of Muhammad) died of thirst and exposure along the route. Arbaein occurs on the 20th of Safar, 40 days after Ashura.

Mawlid, Muhammad's birth date. Unlike Sunnī Muslims, who celebrate the 12th of Rabi I as Muhammad's day of birth or death (because they assert that his birth and death both occur in this week), Shia Muslims celebrate Muhammad's birthday on the 17th of the month, which coincides with the birth date of Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the 6th Shia Imam.

Fāṭima's birthday on 20th of Jumada II. This day is also considered as the "'women and mothers' day"

ʿAlī's birthday on 13th of Rajab.

Mid-Sha'ban is the birth date of the 12th and final Twelver imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi. It is celebrated by Shia Muslims on the 15th of Sha'ban.

Holy sites

After Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities of Islam, the cities of Najaf, Karbala, Mashhad and Qom are the most revered by Shia Muslims. The Sanctuary of Imām ʿAlī in Najaf, the Shrine of Imam Ḥusayn in Karbala, The Sanctuary of Imam Reza in Mashhad and the Shrine of Fāṭimah al-Maʿṣūmah in Qom are very essential for Shia Muslims. Other venerated pilgrimage sites include the Kadhimiya Mosque in Kadhimiya, Al-Askari Mosque in Samarra, the Sahla Mosque, the Great Mosque of Kufa, the Jamkaran Mosque in Qom, and the Tomb of Daniel in Susa. Most of the Shia sacred places and heritage sites in Saudi Arabia have been destroyed by the Al Saud-Wahhabi armies of the Ikhwan, the most notable being the tombs of the Imams located in the Al-Baqi' cemetery in 1925. In 2006, a bomb destroyed the shrine of Al-Askari Mosque. (See: Anti-Shi'ism).

Purity

Shia orthodoxy, particularly in Twelver Shi'ism, has considered non-Muslims as agents of impurity (Najāsat). This categorization sometimes extends to kitābῑ, individuals belonging to the People of the Book, with Jews explicitly labeled as impure by certain Shia religious scholars. Armenians in Iran, who have historically played a crucial role in the Iranian economy, received relatively more lenient treatment.

Shi'ite theologians and mujtahids (jurists), such as Muḥammad Bāqir Majlisῑ, held that Jews' impurity extended to the point where they were advised to stay at home on rainy or snowy days to prevent contaminating their Shia neighbors. Ayatollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of Iran from 1979 to 1989, asserted that every part of an unbeliever's body, including hair, nails, and bodily secretions, is impure. However, the former leader of Iran, ʿAlī Khameneʾī, stated in a fatwa that Jews and other Peoples of the Book are not inherently impure, and touching the moisture on their hands does not convey impurity.

Demographics

Shia Islam is the second largest branch of Islam. It is estimated that 10–13% of the global Muslim population are Shias. They may number up to 154–200 million as of 2009. In 1985, Shia Muslims were estimated to be 21% of the Muslim population in South Asia, although the total number is difficult to estimate.

Shia Muslims form a distinct majority of the population in three countries of the Muslim world: Iran, Iraq, and Azerbaijan. A c. 2008 estimate asserted that Shia Muslims constituted 36.3% of the entire population (and 38.6% of the Muslim population) of West Asia.

Estimates have placed the proportion of Shia Muslims in Lebanon between 27% and 45% of the population, 30–35% of the citizen population in Kuwait (no figures exist for the non-citizen population), over 20% in Turkey, 5–20% of the population in Pakistan, and 10–19% of Afghanistan's population, and 45% in Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia hosts a number of distinct Shia communities, including the Twelver Baharna in the Eastern Province and Nakhawila of Medina, and the Ismāʿīlī Sulaymani and Zaydī Shias of Najran. Estimations put the number of Shia citizens at roughly 15% of the local population. Approximately 40% of the population of Yemen are Shia Muslims.

Significant Shia communities exist in the coastal regions of West Sumatra and Aceh in Indonesia (see Tabuik). The Shia presence is negligible elsewhere in Southeast Asia, where Muslims are predominantly Shāfiʿī Sunnīs.

A significant Shia minority is present in Nigeria, made up of modern-era converts to a Shia movement centered around Kano and Sokoto states. Several African countries like Kenya, South Africa, Somalia, etc. hold small minority populations of various Shia subsects, primarily descendants of immigrants from South Asia during the colonial period, such as the Khoja.

Significant populations worldwide

Figures indicated in the first three columns below are based on the October 2009 demographic study by the Pew Research Center report, Mapping the Global Muslim Population.

Major denominations or branches

The Shia community throughout its history split over the issue of the Imamate. The largest branch are the Twelvers, followed by the Zaydīs and the Ismāʿīlīs. Each subsect of Shia Islam follows its own line of Imamate. All mainstream Twelver and Ismāʿīlī Shia Muslims follow the same school of thought, the Jaʽfari jurisprudence, named after Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the 6th Shia Imam. Shia clergymen and jurists usually carry the title of mujtahid (i.e., someone authorized to issue legal opinions in Shia Islam).

Twelver

Twelver Shia Islam is the largest branch of Shia Islam, and the terms Shia Muslim and Shia often refer to the Twelvers by default. The designation Twelver is derived from the doctrine of believing in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as "the Twelve Imams". Twelver Shia are otherwise known as Imami or Jaʿfari; the latter term derives from Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the 6th Shia Imam, who elaborated the Twelver jurisprudence. Twelver Shia constitute the majority of the population in Iran (90%), Iraq (65%) and Azerbaijan (55%). Significant populations also exist in Afghanistan, Bahrain (40% of Muslims) and Lebanon (27–29% of Muslims).

Twelver doctrine is based on five principles. These five principles known as Usul ad-Din are as follow:

Monotheism: God is one and unique;

Justice: the concept of moral rightness based on ethics, fairness, and equity, along with the punishment of the breach of these ethics;

Prophethood: the institution by which God sends emissaries, or prophets, to guide humankind;

Leadership: a divine institution which succeeded the institution of Prophethood. Its appointees (Imams) are divinely appointed;

Resurrection and Last Judgment: God's final assessment of humanity.

Besides the Quran, which is the sacred text common to all Muslims, Twelver Shias derive scriptural and authoritative guidance from collections of sayings and traditions (hadith) attributed to Muhammad and the Twelve Imams. Below is a list of some of the most prominent of these books:

Nahj al-Balagha by Ash-Sharif Ar-Radhi – the most famous collection of sermons, letters & narration attributed to ʿAlī, the first Imam regarded by Shias

Kitab al-Kafi by Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni

Ismāʿīlī

Ismāʿīlīs, otherwise known as Sevener, derive their name from their acceptance of Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar as the divinely appointed spiritual successor (Imam) to Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the 6th Shia Imam, wherein they differ from the Twelvers, who recognize Mūsā al-Kāẓim, younger brother of Ismāʿīl, as the true Imam.

After the death or Occultation of Muhammad ibn Imam Ismāʿīl in the 8th century CE, the teachings of Ismāʿīlīsm further transformed into the belief system as it is known today, with an explicit concentration on the deeper, esoteric meaning (bāṭin) of the Islamic faith. With the eventual development of Twelver Shia Islam into the more literalistic (zahīr) oriented Akhbari and later Usuli schools of thought, Shia Islam further developed in two separate directions: the metaphorical Ismāʿīlī 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", with the more literalistic Twelver group focusing on divine law (sharī'ah) and the deeds and sayings (sunnah) attributed to Muhammad and his successors (the Ahl al-Bayt), who as A'immah were guides and a light (nūr) to God.

Though there are several subsects amongst the Ismāʿīlīs, the term in today's vernacular generally refers to the Shia Imami Ismāʿīlī Nizārī community, often referred to as the Ismāʿīlīs by default, who are followers of the Aga Khan and the largest group within Ismāʿīlīsm. Another Shia Imami Ismāʿīlī community are the Dawudi Bohras, led by a Da'i al-Mutlaq ("Unrestricted Missionary") as representative of a hidden Imam. While there are many other branches with extremely differing exterior practices, much of the spiritual theology has remained the same since the days of the faith's early Imams. In recent centuries, Ismāʿīlīs have largely been an Indo-Iranian community, but they can also be found in India, Pakistan, Syria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, East and South Africa, and in recent years several Ismāʿīlīs have emigrated to China, Western Europe (primarily in the United Kingdom), Australia, New Zealand, and North America.

In the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī interpretation of Shia Islam, the Imam is the guide and the intercessor between humans and God, and the individual through whom God is recognized. He is also responsible for the esoteric interpretation of the Quran (taʾwīl). He is the possessor of divine knowledge and therefore the "Prime Teacher". According to the "Epistle of the Right Path", a Persian Ismāʿīlī prose text from the post-Mongol period of Ismāʿīlī history, by an anonymous author, there has been a chain of Imams since the beginning of time, and there will continue to be an Imam present on the Earth until the end of time. The worlds would not exist in perfection without this uninterrupted chain of Imams. The proof (hujja) and gate (bāb) of the Imam are always aware of his presence and are witness to this uninterrupted chain.

Zaydī

Zaydism, otherwise known as Zaydiyya or as Zaydi Shia Islam, is a branch of Shia Islam named after Zayd ibn ʿAlī. Followers of the Zaydī school of jurisprudence are called Zaydīs or occasionally Fivers. However, there is also a group called Zaydī Wāsiṭīs who are Twelvers (see below). Zaydīs constitute roughly 42–47% of the population of Yemen.

The Zaydīs, Twelvers, and Ismāʿīlīs all recognize the same first four Imams; however, the Zaydīs consider Zayd ibn ʿAlī as the 5th Imam. After the time of Zayd ibn ʿAlī, the Zaydīs believed that any descendant (Sayyid) of Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī or Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī could become the next Imam, after fulfilling certain conditions. Other well-known Zaydī Imams in history were Yahya ibn Zayd, Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, and Ibrahim ibn Abdullah.

The Zaydī doctrine of Imamah does not presuppose the infallibility of the Imam, nor the belief that the Imams are supposed to receive divine guidance. Moreover, Zaydīs do not believe that the Imamate must pass from father to son but believe it can be held by any Sayyid descended from either Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī or Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī (as was the case after the death of the former). Historically, Zaydīs held that Zayd ibn ʿAlī was the rightful successor of the 4th Imam since he led a rebellion against the Umayyads in protest of their tyranny and corruption. Muhammad al-Baqir did not engage in political action, and the followers of Zayd ibn ʿAlī maintained that a true Imam must fight against corrupt rulers.

In matters of Islamic jurisprudence, Zaydīs follow the teachings of Zayd ibn ʿAlī, which are documented in his book Majmu'l Fiqh (in Arabic: مجموع الفِقه). Al-Ḥādī ila'l-Ḥaqq Yaḥyā, the first Zaydī Imam and founder of the Zaydī State in Yemen, is regarded as the codifier of Zaydī jurisprudence, and as such most Zaydī Shias today are known as Hadawis.

The Idrisids (Arabic: الأدارسة) were Arab Zaydī Shias whose dynasty, named after its first sultan, Idris I, ruled in the western Maghreb from 788 to 985 CE. Another Zaydī State was established in the region of Gilan, Deylaman, and Tabaristan (northern Iran) in 864 CE by the Alavids; it lasted until the death of its leader at the hand of the Samanids in 928 CE. Roughly forty years later, the Zaydī State was revived in Gilan and survived under Hasanid leaders until 1126 CE. Afterwards, from the 12th to 13th centuries, the Zaydī Shias of Deylaman, Gilan, and Tabaristan then acknowledged the Zaydī Imams of Yemen or rival Zaydī Imams within Iran.

Persecution of Shia Muslims

The history of Shia–Sunni relations has often involved religious discrimination, persecution, and violence, dating back to the earliest development of the two competing sects.

At various times throughout the history of Islam, Shia groups and minorities have faced persecution perpetrated by Sunnī Muslims.

Militarily established and holding control over the Umayyad government, many Sunnī rulers perceived the Shias as a threat—both to their political and religious authority. The Sunnī rulers under the Umayyad dynasty sought to marginalize the Shia minority, and later the Abbasids turned on their Shia allies and imprisoned, persecuted, and killed them. The persecution of Shia Muslims throughout history by their Sunnī co-religionists has often been characterized by brutal and genocidal acts. Comprising only about 10–15% of the global Muslim population, Shia Muslims remain a marginalized community to this day in many Sunnī-dominant Arab countries, and are denied the rights to practice their religion and freely organize.

In 1514, the Ottoman sultan Selim I (1512–1520) ordered the massacre of 40,000 Alevis and Bektashi (Anatolian Shia Muslims). According to Jalal Al-e-Ahmad, "Sultan Selim I carried things so far that he announced that the killing of one Shia had as much otherworldly reward as killing 70 Christians." In 1802, the Al Saud-Wahhabi armies of the Ikhwan from the First Saudi State (1727–1818) attacked and sacked the city of Karbala, the Shia shrine in Najaf (eastern region of Iraq) that commemorates the martyrdom and death of Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī.

During the rule of Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist Iraq, Shia political activists were arrested, tortured, expelled or killed, as part of a crackdown launched after an assassination attempt against Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz in 1980. In March 2011, the Malaysian government declared Shia Islam a "deviant" sect and banned Shia Muslims from promoting their faith to other Muslims, but left them free to practice it themselves privately.

The most recent campaign of anti-Shia oppression was the Islamic State organization's persecution of Shias in its territories in Northern Iraq, which occurred alongside the persecution of various religious groups and the genocide of Yazidis by the same organization.