Shia Islam

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Shia Islam (

caliph by a group of senior Muslims at Saqifah, to be the first rightful
(rāshidūn) caliph after Muhammad. Adherents of Shia Islam are called Shia Muslims.

Shia Islam is based on a

Imamah, the idea that certain descendants of Muhammad, the Ahl al-Bayt, are rightful rulers or Imams, whom Shia Muslims believe possess special spiritual and political authority over the Muslim community. Later events such as Husayn ibn Ali's martyrdom in the Battle of Karbala further influenced the development of Shia Islam, contributing to the formation of a distinct religious sect with its own rituals and shared collective memory.[1]

Shia Islam is the

Turkey, Yemen, and the Indian sub-continent. Iran, a theocratic Islamic republic governed by a framework established by Ayatollah Khomeini known as the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, stands as the only country where Shia Islam forms the foundation of both its laws and governance system.[2]

Terminology

The word Shia derives from the Arabic term Shīʿat ʿAlī, meaning "partisans of Ali", "followers of Ali" or "faction of Ali".

European languages for adherents, mosques, traditions, and things associated with the Shia branch of Islam.[6][7]

The term Shia was first used during Muhammad's lifetime.

Abrahamic prophets as the Quranic verses 3:33 and 3:34 show: "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."[13]

Beliefs

Shia Islam encompasses various denominations and subgroups,[3] all bound by the belief that the leader of the Islamic ummah should hail from ahl al-Bayt, the family of the prophet Muhammad.[14] It embodies a completely independent system of religious interpretation and political authority in the Muslim world.[15][16]

Alī: Muhammad's Rightful Successor

Ḍarīẖ over ʿAlī's qabr (grave), Sanctuary of Imām ʿAlī, Najaf (present-day Iraq)

Shia Muslims believe that just as a

Fāṭimah.[19][20]

Profession of faith (Shahada)

Kalema at Qibla of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, Egypt, displaying the phrase Ali-un-Waliullah (علي ولي الله: "ʿAlī is the Wali (custodian) of God")

The Shia version of the Shahada, the Islamic profession of faith, differs from that of the Sunnīs.[21] The Sunnī version of the Shahada states "There is no god except God, Muhammad is the messenger of God", but to this declaration of faith Shia Muslims append the phrase Ali-un-Waliullah (علي ولي الله: "ʿAlī is the Wali (custodian) of God"). The basis for the Shia belief in ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as the Wali of God is derived from the Quranic verse 5:55.

This additional phrase to the declaration of faith 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 (unity and oneness of God), Nubuwwah (the prophethood of Muhammad), and Imamah (the Imamate, leadership of the faith).[22]

Infallibility (Ismah)

Ismah is the concept of

Fāṭimah, daughter of Muhammad, in contrast to the Zaydī Shias, who do not attribute ismah to the Imams.[24] Though initially beginning as a political movement, infallibility and sinlessness of the Imams later evolved as a distinct belief of (non-Zaydī) Shīʿīsm.[25]

According to Shia Muslim 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 Shia interpretation of the verse of purification.[26][27] Thus, they are the most pure ones, the only immaculate ones preserved from, and immune to, all uncleanness.[28] It does not mean that supernatural powers prevent them from committing a sin, but due to the fact that they have absolute belief in God, they refrain from doing anything that is a sin.[23]

They also have a complete knowledge of God's will. They are in possession of all knowledge brought by the angels to the prophets (nabī) and the messengers (rāsūl). Their knowledge encompasses the totality of all times. Thus, they are believed to act without fault in religious matters.[29] Shia Muslims regard ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as the successor of Muhammad not only ruling over the entire Muslim community in justice, but also interpreting the Islamic faith, practices, and its esoteric meaning. ʿAlī is regarded as a "perfect man" (al-insan al-kamil) similar to Muhammad, according to the Shia viewpoint.[30]

Occultation (Ghaybah)

Twelvers
—once appeared and offered prayers at Jamkaran.

The

Twelver Shīʿīsm, the main goal of Imam Mahdi will be to establish an Islamic state and to apply Islamic laws that were revealed to Muhammad. The Quran does not contain verses on the Imamate, which is the basic doctrine of Shia Islam.[31] Some Shia subsects, such as the Zaydī Shias and Nizārī Ismāʿīlīs
, do not believe in the idea of the Occultation. The groups which do believe in it differ as to which lineage of the Imamate is valid, and therefore which individual has gone into Occultation. They believe there are many signs that will indicate the time of his return.

Twelver Shia Muslims believe that the prophesied Mahdi and

At-Tayyib Abi l-Qasim, and also 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.[32]

Hadith tradition

Shia Muslims believe that the status of ʿAlī is supported by numerous

Hadith of the Twelve Successors. In particular, the Hadith of the Cloak is often quoted to illustrate Muhammad's feeling towards ʿAlī and his family by both Sunnī and Shia scholars. Shia Muslims prefer to study and read the hadith attributed to the Ahl al-Bayt and close associates, and most have their own separate hadith canon.[33][34]

Holy Relics (Tabarruk)

It is believed that the armaments and sacred items of all of the prophets, including

6th Shīʿīte Imam, in Kitab al-Kafi mentions that "with me are the arms of the Messenger of Allah. It is not disputable."[35]

Further, he claims that with him is the sword of the Messenger of God, his coat of arms, his Lamam (pennon) and his helmet. In addition, he mentions that with him is the flag of the Messenger of God, the victorious. With him is the Staff of Moses, the ring of Solomon, son of David, and the tray on which Moses used to offer his offerings. With him is the name that whenever the Messenger of God would place it between the Muslims and pagans no arrow from the pagans would reach the Muslims. With him is the similar object that angels brought.[35]

Al-Ṣādiq also narrated that the passing down of armaments is synonymous to receiving the Imamat (leadership), similar to how the

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 (Imamat).[35]

Other doctrines

Doctrine about necessity of acquiring knowledge

According to Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar, God gives humans the faculty of reason and argument. Also, God orders humans to spend time thinking carefully on creation while he refers to all creations as his signs of power and glory. These signs encompass all of the universe. Furthermore, there is a similarity between 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 also God 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 on the basis of intellect.[36][37]

Practices

Shia Muslims gathered in prayer at the Shrine of Imam Ḥusayn in Karbala, Iraq

Shia religious practices, such as prayers, differ only slightly from the Sunnīs. While all

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:

Holy sites

After 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.[43] In 2006, a bomb destroyed the shrine of Al-Askari Mosque.[44] (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.[45][46][47] Armenians in Iran, who have historically played a crucial role in the Iranian economy, received relatively more lenient treatment.[46]

Shi'ite theologians and mujtahids (jurists), such as Muḥammad Bāqir al-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 current 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.[45][48][47]

History