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Shia Islam (/ ˈ ʃ iː ə /) is the second-largest branch of Islam.It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661 CE) as his successor (khalīfa) and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most notably at the event of Ghadir Khumm, but was prevented from succeeding Muhammad as the leader of the Muslims as a result of the choice made by ...
In reality, the love, devotion, and support of the Shias to Imam Ali (‘a) is based upon the command of God, proclaimed by the Prophet (S). This is done for the purpose of pursuing the Prophet’s (S) guidance in order to be able to reach God. Consequently, if Shias are asked: what do you want to achieve through the Ahl Al-Bayt (‘a)?
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- Overview
- Early development
- Anti-Umayyad movements: the Zaydi Shiʿah and the ʿAbbāsids
Shiʿi, member of the smaller of the two major branches of Islam, the Shiʿah, distinguished from the majority Sunnis.
The origins of the split between the Sunnis and the Shiʿah lie in the events which followed the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad was understood to be the messenger of God who, in the early 7th century ce, commenced to proclaim the Qurʾān, the sacred scripture of Islam, to the Arabs. In the 620s Muhammad and his followers were driven from his hometown of Mecca and settled in Medina. About a decade later, when he appeared at Mecca with a large army, the Meccans surrendered the city to him. In 632 the Prophet became ill and died. Muhammad’s role as God’s messenger was the basis of his political and military authority.
The earliest sources agree that on his deathbed Muhammad did not formally designate a successor or make public a plan for succession. Some members of the ummah (Muslim community) held that God had intended for that spiritual link, and the political and military authority associated with it, to continue via Muhammad’s family. Thus, they held, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib—the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law—should have been the Prophet’s immediate successor and, thereafter, members of ʿAlī’s family. Others, however, maintained that with Muhammad’s death the link between God and humankind had ended and the community was to make its own way forward.
At the Prophet’s death certain members of the ummah—then composed of those who had left Mecca for Medina with him and those Medinans who later converted to Islam—met and chose Abū Bakr as Muhammad’s successor (khalīfah, or caliph). Abū Bakr in turn designated ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb as his successor. After ʿUmar’s assassination in Medina in 644, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān was chosen as the third caliph. Amid charges of corruption, ʿUthmān himself was also killed, in 656. Following his death, delegations of the earlier Meccan and later Medinan Muslims, as well as Muslims from key provinces in the by now quite large Muslim empire, asked ʿAlī to become the fourth caliph. He accepted and made Kūfah, in modern-day Iraq, his capital.
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Opposition to ʿAlī’s leadership quickly arose from ʿUthmān’s clan, the Umayyads, and from others who were angry at ʿAlī’s failure to pursue ʿUthmān’s murderers. In 656 a group of challengers to ʿAlī, led by Muhammad’s third wife, ʿĀʾishah, were defeated at the Battle of the Camel by ʿAlī and forces from Kūfah. Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān, an Umayyad and the governor of Syria, refused to pledge allegiance to ʿAlī.
Mawālī and South Arabian tribal elements were among Muḥammad’s supporters, but they also supported a series of later uprisings centred on the Prophet’s family that occurred in the region into the 8th century.
One of these risings was led by Zayd ibn ʿAlī, a half-brother of ʿAlī’s great grandson Muḥammad al-Bāqir by ʿAlī’s son Ḥusayn. In 740, encouraged by Kufan elements, Zayd rose against the Umayyads, on the principle that the imam could lay claim to leadership only if he openly declared himself imam. Zayd fell in battle, but his son Yaḥyā escaped to northeastern Iran. Later captured and released, he was killed in 743 after launching a further anti-Umayyad rising in Herat. The Zaydis survive today, mainly in Yemen, and are the third largest of the three still extant Shiʿi groups, after the Twelver and Ismāʿīliyyah sects.
- Andrew J. Newman
History of Shia Islam. Shi‘a Islam, also known as Shi‘ite Islam or Shia, is the second largest branch of Islam after Sunni Islam. Shias adhere to the teachings of Muhammad and the religious guidance of his family (who are referred to as the Ahl al-Bayt) or his descendants known as Shia Imams. Muhammad's bloodline continues only through his ...
Shia Islam is one of the two major sects within Islam. Along with monotheism, prophethood, and resurrection, Imamate is a principle held by Shi'a Islam, distinguishing it from Sunni Islam. In Shi'a Islam, an Imam is believed to be appointed by God and introduced to the people through the Prophet (s). According to this denomination, the Prophet ...
The Holy Qur’an, The Revealed Word Of God And The Foremost Miracle Of The Holy Prophet (S) I2. Islam In Mecca. The First To Accept Islam (Year 13 Bh/610 Ad) An Open Invitation To Islam Begins – An Invitation To The Nearest; The Open Invitation To Islam Continues; Islam Starts To Expand, And The Elite Of Mecca Feels Threatened
Jan 1, 2022 · In seeking to express a response to the primal message of Islam, Muslims have developed distinct perspectives that have led various groups to coalesce around different interpretations of the core message of the Qur’an and the example of the Prophet Muhammad. One such perspective is that of Shi‘a Islam. Rather than perceive these ...
