Shia Islam facts for kids

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Meshed ali usnavy (PD)
Ali's Tomb is one of the most important places for Shi'a Muslims

Shi'a Islam (Arabic: شيعة, Persian: شیعه) is the second largest denomination in Islam. Shia Muslims believe that Ali is the first Caliph (or Successor) who had been chosen by last prophet Muhammad by the order of God. Muhammad declared Ali as a first Caliph (or Imam) in his last sermon of last Haj at Ghadeer. Shi'a Muslims believe in the teachings of Qu'ran and the Prophet Muhammad's family, whom they call the Ahl al-Bayt. The Shi'as think that the first three ruling Sunni Caliphs had no importance to the development of the faith. The singular/adjective form is Shī'ī (شيعي) and means a follower of the Household of Muhammad and of Ali ibn Abi Talib (Imam Ali).

Shi'a Islam, like Sunni Islam, has at times been divided into many branches, however only three of these have a significant number of followers nowadays. The best known and the one with most adherents is Twelvers (Ithnāˤashariyya), followed by the Ismaili and Zaidiyyah.

Related pages

Images for kids

  • Investiture of Ali Edinburgh codex

    The Investiture of Ali at Ghadir Khumm (MS Arab 161, fol. 162r, AD 1309/8 Ilkhanid manuscript illustration)

  • ImamHusaynMosqueKarbalaIraqPre2006

    The Imam Hussein Shrine in Karbala, Iraq is a holy site for Shia Muslims.

  • Brooklyn Museum - Battle of Karbala - Abbas Al-Musavi - overall

    Battle of Karbala, Brooklyn Museum

  • Sword and shield reproduction from Bab al Nasr gate Cairo Egypt

    Zulfiqar with and without the shield. The Fatimid depiction of Ali's sword as carved on the Gates of Old Cairo, namely Bab al-Nasr. Two swords were captured from the temple of the pagan polytheist god Manāt during the Raid of Sa'd ibn Zaid al-Ashhali. Muhammad gave them to Ali, saying that one of them was Zulfiqar, which became the famous sword of Ali and a later symbol of Shiism.

  • Kalema-tut-shahadat

    Kalema at Qibla of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, Egypt with phrase "Ali-un-Waliullah"

  • Alī

    Ali is credited as the first male to convert to Islam.

  • Ghazan et Öldjeïtu

    Ghazan and his brother Öljaitü both were tolerant of sectarian differences within the boundaries of Islam, in contrast to the traditions of Genghis Khan.

  • Shah esmaeil01

    Shah Ismail I of Safavid dynasty declared himself the Mahdi and the reincarnation of Ali. Causing sectarian tensions in the Middle East when he destroyed the tombs of Abū Ḥanīfa and the Sufi Abdul Qadir Gilani in 1508. In 1533, Ottomans, upon their conquest of Iraq, rebuilt various important Sunni shrines.

  • Madhhab Map3

    Distribution of Sunni and Shia branches of Islam

  • Branch of Shi'a Islam

    Branching of Shi'a Islam at a glance.

  • Names of imameen

    Names of all 12 Imams (descendants of Imam Ali) written in the form of Arabic name على 'Ali'

  • The declaration of Shi'ism as the state religion of Iran by Shah Ismail -Safavids dynasty

    The declaration of Shiism as the state religion of the Safavid dynasty in Persia.

  • Battle of Chaldiran (1514)

    Battle of Chaldiran, was a major sectarian crisis in the Middle East.


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