Islam - Shi'a, Imams, Twelvers

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After ʿAlī’s death, the Shiʿah (“Party”; i.e., of ʿAlī) demanded the restoration of rule to ʿAlī’s family, and from that demand developed the Shiʿi legitimism, or the divine right of the holy family to rule. 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As noted above, it owes its origin to the hostility between ʿAlī (the fourth caliph, son-in-law of the Prophet) and the Umayyad dynasty (661–750). After ʿAlī’s death, the Shiʿah (“Party”; i.e., of ʿAlī) demanded the restoration of rule to ʿAlī’s family, and from that demand developed the Shiʿi legitimism, or the divine right of the holy family to rule. In the early stages, the Shiʿiah used this legitimism to cover the protest against the Arab hegemony under the Umayyads and to agitate for social"/> <meta property="og:type" content="ARTICLE"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Islam - Shi'a, Imams, Twelvers | Britannica"/> <meta property="og:description" content="Islam - Shi'a, Imams, Twelvers: Shiʿism is the only important surviving non-Sunni sect in Islam in terms of numbers of adherents. As noted above, it owes its origin to the hostility between ʿAlī (the fourth caliph, son-in-law of the Prophet) and the Umayyad dynasty (661–750). After ʿAlī’s death, the Shiʿah (“Party”; i.e., of ʿAlī) demanded the restoration of rule to ʿAlī’s family, and from that demand developed the Shiʿi legitimism, or the divine right of the holy family to rule. In the early stages, the Shiʿiah used this legitimism to cover the protest against the Arab hegemony under the Umayyads and to agitate for social"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Encyclopedia Britannica" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islam"/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://cdn.britannica.com/63/115263-050-9D187C7B/Abu-Darweesh-Mosque-Amman-Jordan.jpg" /> <meta property="og:image:type" content="image/jpeg" /> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init opengraph"> Mendel.openGraph = {"type":"ARTICLE","title":"Islam - Shi'a, Imams, Twelvers","description":"Islam - Shi'a, Imams, Twelvers: Shiʿism is the only important surviving non-Sunni sect in Islam in terms of numbers of adherents. 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border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islam">Islam</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/topic/Islam">Introduction</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref69137"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam#ref69137">The foundations of Islam</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref69138"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam#ref69138">The legacy of Muhammad</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref69139"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam#ref69139">Sources of Islamic doctrinal and social views</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref69140"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Doctrines-of-the-Qur-an">Doctrines of the Qurʾān</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69141"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Doctrines-of-the-Qur-an#ref69141">God</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69142"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Doctrines-of-the-Qur-an#ref69142">The universe</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69143"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Doctrines-of-the-Qur-an#ref69143">Humanity</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69144"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Doctrines-of-the-Qur-an#ref69144">Satan, sin, and repentance</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69145"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Doctrines-of-the-Qur-an#ref69145">Prophecy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69146"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Eschatology-doctrine-of-last-things">Eschatology (doctrine of last things)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69147"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Eschatology-doctrine-of-last-things#ref69147">Social service</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref69148"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Eschatology-doctrine-of-last-things#ref69148">Fundamental practices and institutions of Islam</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69149" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Eschatology-doctrine-of-last-things#ref69149">The five pillars</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69150"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Eschatology-doctrine-of-last-things#ref69150">The <em>shahādah</em>, or profession of faith</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69151"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Prayer">Prayer</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69152"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Prayer#ref69152">The <em>zakāt</em></a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69153"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Prayer#ref69153">Fasting</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69154"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Prayer#ref69154">The hajj</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69155" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Prayer#ref69155">Sacred places and days</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69156"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Prayer#ref69156">Shrines of Sufi saints</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69157"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Prayer#ref69157">The mosque</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69158"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Prayer#ref69158">Holy days</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref69159"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Islamic-thought">Islamic thought</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref69160"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Islamic-thought#ref69160">Origins, nature, and significance of Islamic theology</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69161"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Islamic-thought#ref69161">Early developments</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69162"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Islamic-thought#ref69162">The Hellenistic legacy</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref69163"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Theology-and-sectarianism">Theology and sectarianism</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69164"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Theology-and-sectarianism#ref69164">The Khārijites</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69165"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Theology-and-sectarianism#ref69165">The Muʿtazilah</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69166" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Sunnism">Sunnism</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69167"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Sunnism#ref69167">The way of the majority</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69168"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Sunnism#ref69168">Tolerance of diversity</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69169"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Sunnism#ref69169">Influence of al-Ashʿarī and al-Māturīdī</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69170" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Shiism">Shiʿism</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69171"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Shiism#ref69171">Ismāʿīlīs</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69172"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Shiism#ref69172">Related sects</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69174" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Shiism#ref69174">Other groups</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref302602"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Shiism#ref302602">Sufism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69175"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Shiism#ref69175">The Aḥmadiyyah</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref69177"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Islamic-philosophy">Islamic philosophy</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69178" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Islamic-philosophy#ref69178">The Eastern philosophers</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69179"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Islamic-philosophy#ref69179">Background and scope of philosophical interest in Islam</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69180"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Islamic-philosophy#ref69180">Relation to the Muʿtazilah and interpretation of theological issues</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69181"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Islamic-philosophy#ref69181">The teachings of al-Kindī</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69182"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Islamic-philosophy#ref69182">The teachings of Abū Bakr al-Rāzī</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69183"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-al-Farabi">The teachings of al-Fārābī</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69184"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-al-Farabi#ref69184">Political philosophy and the study of religion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69185"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-al-Farabi#ref69185">Interpretation of Plato and Aristotle</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69186"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-al-Farabi#ref69186">The analogy of religion and philosophy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69187"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-al-Farabi#ref69187">Impact on Ismāʿīlī theology</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69188"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-Avicenna">The teachings of Avicenna</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69189"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-Avicenna#ref69189">The “Oriental Philosophy”</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69190"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-Avicenna#ref69190">Distinction between essence and existence and the doctrine of creation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69191"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-Avicenna#ref69191">The immortality of individual souls</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69192"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-Avicenna#ref69192">Philosophy, religion, and mysticism</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69193" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-Western-philosophers">The Western philosophers</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69194"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-Western-philosophers#ref69194">Background and characteristics of the Western Muslim philosophical tradition</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69195"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-Western-philosophers#ref69195">The teachings of Ibn Bājjah</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69196"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-Western-philosophers#ref69196">Theoretical science and intuitive knowledge</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69197"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-Western-philosophers#ref69197">Unconcern of philosophy with reform</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69198"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-Western-philosophers#ref69198">The teachings of Ibn Ṭufayl</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69199"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-Western-philosophers#ref69199">The philosopher as a solitary individual</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69200"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-Western-philosophers#ref69200">Concern for reform</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69201"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-Western-philosophers#ref69201">The hidden secret of Avicenna’s “Oriental Philosophy”</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69202"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-Averroes">The teachings of Averroës</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69203"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-Averroes#ref69203">Philosophy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69204"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-Averroes#ref69204">The divine law</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69205"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-Averroes#ref69205">Theology</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref69206"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-Averroes#ref69206">The new wisdom: synthesis of philosophy and mysticism</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69207" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-Averroes#ref69207">Philosophy, traditionalism, and the new wisdom</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69208"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-Averroes#ref69208">Philosophy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69209"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-Averroes#ref69209">Traditionalism and the new wisdom</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69210"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/The-teachings-of-Averroes#ref69210">Characteristic features of the new wisdom</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69211"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Critiques-of-Aristotle-in-Islamic-theology">Critiques of Aristotle in Islamic theology</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li 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link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Tales-and-legends-concerning-religious-figures#ref69237">Muhammad</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69238"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Tales-and-legends-concerning-religious-figures#ref69238">Other Qurʾānic figures</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref69239"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Tales-and-legends-concerning-religious-figures#ref69239">Mystics and other later figures</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69240"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Tales-and-legends-concerning-religious-figures#ref69240">Mythologization of secular tales</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref69241"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Tales-and-legends-concerning-religious-figures#ref69241">Tales and beliefs about numbers and letters</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69242"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Tales-and-legends-concerning-religious-figures#ref69242">Illustration of myth and legend</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref69243"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Islam/Tales-and-legends-concerning-religious-figures#ref69243">Significance and modern interpretations</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islam/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Islam">Quick Facts & Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islam/images-videos">Images & Videos</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative 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Author of <i>Gabriel's Wing; Islamic Calligraphy; </i>and others<i>.</i></div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Annemarie Schimmel</span>, <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/contributor/Fazlur-Rahman/2400" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">Fazlur Rahman</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Professor of Islāmic Philosophy, University of Chicago, 1969–88. Author of <i>Islam </i>and others.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Fazlur Rahman</span><span class="text-gray-700 mx-5">•</span><a class="see-all border-gray-700 gtm-byline" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islam/additional-info#contributors">All</a> </div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2024-11-25T00:00:00CST" >Nov 25, 2024</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islam/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm 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AM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/295507/2540207f07ce011159ed8da5188541ed" rel="nofollow">Pakistani city mourns 42 Shiite Muslims who were ambushed and killed in a gun attack</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 22, 2024, 12:20 PM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/295507/42c8fb3cf1f720de49efebd306d76fa1" rel="nofollow">Gunmen fire on vehicles carrying Shiites in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 42</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 21, 2024, 8:40 PM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/295507/38ad6d14c25d2fc966c2a7ea1a8e7738" rel="nofollow">Pakistan's top cleric says use of VPNs is against Islamic laws as the government seeks to ban them</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 18, 2024, 2:52 AM ET (AP) </span> </div> <button class="js-toggle-recent-news d-flex btn btn-unstyled font-14 pr-10 rounded-sm mt-10" aria-label="Toggle additional news items"> Show less <em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_less"></em> </button> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="2"><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="3" id="ref69170"> <span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Shiʿism is the only important surviving non-Sunni sect in Islam in terms of numbers of adherents. As noted above, it owes its origin to the hostility between <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ali-Muslim-caliph" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">ʿAlī</a> (the fourth <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/caliph" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">caliph</a>, son-in-law of the Prophet) and the <span id="ref298997"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Umayyad-dynasty-Islamic-history" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Umayyad dynasty</a> (661–750). After ʿAlī’s death, the Shiʿah (“Party”; i.e., of ʿAlī) demanded the restoration of rule to <span id="ref298998"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Alid-family" class="md-crosslink ">ʿAlī’s family</a>, and from that demand developed the Shiʿi legitimism, or the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/sacred" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">divine</a> right of the holy family to rule. In the early stages, the Shiʿiah used this legitimism to cover the protest against the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arab" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Arab</a> <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="hegemony" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hegemony" data-type="MW">hegemony</a> under the Umayyads and to agitate for social reform.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Gradually, however, Shiʿism developed a theological content for its political stand. Probably under <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/gnosticism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">gnostic</a> (esoteric, dualistic, and speculative) and old Iranian (dualistic) influences, the figure of the political ruler, the <span id="ref298999"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/imam" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">imam</a> (exemplary “leader”), was transformed into a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="metaphysical" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphysical" data-type="MW">metaphysical</a> being, a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="manifestation" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manifestation" data-type="MW">manifestation</a> of God and the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="primordial" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/primordial" data-type="MW">primordial</a> light that sustains the universe and bestows true knowledge on humanity. Through the imam alone the hidden and true meaning of the Qurʾānic <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/revelation" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">revelation</a> can be known, because the imam alone is infallible. The Shiʿiah thus developed a doctrine of <span id="ref299000"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/esotericism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">esoteric</a> knowledge that was adopted also, in a modified form, by the Sufis. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Twelver-Shia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Twelver Shiʿah</a> recognize 12 such <span id="ref299001"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Twelver-Shia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">imam</a>s, the last (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Muhammad-al-Mahdi-al-Hujjah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Muḥammad</a>) having disappeared in the 9th century. Since that time, the <em><span id="ref299002"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/mujtahid" class="md-crosslink ">mujtahid</a></em>s (i.e., the Shiʿi jurists) have been able to interpret law and doctrine under the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="putative" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/putative" data-type="MW">putative</a> guidance of the <span id="ref299003"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/messiah-religion" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">imam</a>, who will return toward the end of time to fill the world with truth and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="justice" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/justice" data-type="MW">justice</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">On the basis of their doctrine of imamology, the Shiʿiah emphasize their idealism and transcendentalism in conscious contrast to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sunni" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Sunni</a> <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="pragmatism" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pragmatism" data-type="MW">pragmatism</a>. Thus, whereas the Sunnis believe in the <em>ijmāʿ</em> (“consensus”) of the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="community" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community" data-type="MW">community</a> as the source of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/decision-making" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">decision making</a> and workable knowledge, the Shiʿah believe that knowledge derived from fallible sources is useless and that sure and true knowledge can come only through a contact with the infallible imam. Again, in marked contrast to Sunnism, Shiʿism adopted the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mutazilah" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Muʿtazilah</a> doctrine of the freedom of the human will and the capacity of human reason to know good and evil, although its position on the question of the relationship of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/faith" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">faith</a> to works is the same as that of the Sunnis.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Parallel to the doctrine of an <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="esoteric" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/esoteric" data-type="MW">esoteric</a> knowledge, Shiʿism, because of its early defeats and persecutions, also adopted the principle of <em><span id="ref299004"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/taqiyyah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">taqiyyah</a></em>, or dissimulation of faith in a hostile <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="environment" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/environment" data-type="MW">environment</a>. Introduced first as a practical principle, <em>taqiyyah</em>, which is also attributed to ʿAlī and other imams, became an important part of the Shiʿi religious teaching and practice. In the sphere of law, Shiʿism differs from Sunni law mainly in allowing a temporary marriage, called <em><span id="ref299005"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/mutah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">mutʿah</a></em>, which can be legally contracted for a fixed period of time on the stipulation of a fixed dower.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">From a spiritual point of view, perhaps the greatest difference between Shiʿism and Sunnism is the former’s introduction into Islam of the passion motive, which is conspicuously absent from Sunni Islam. The violent death (in 680) of ʿAlī’s son, <span id="ref299006"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Husayn-ibn-Ali-Muslim-leader-and-martyr" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Ḥusayn</a>, at the hands of the Umayyad troops is celebrated with moving orations, passion plays, and processions in which the participants, in a state of emotional frenzy, beat their breasts with heavy chains and sharp instruments, inflicting <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="wounds" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/wounds" data-type="EB">wounds</a> on their bodies. This passion motive has also influenced the Sunni masses in Afghanistan and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Indian-subcontinent" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Indian subcontinent</a>, who participate in <span id="ref299007"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Passion-play-dramatic-genre" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">passion plays</a> called <em><span id="ref299008"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/tazia" class="md-crosslink ">taʿziyah</a></em>s. Such celebrations are, however, absent from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Egypt" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Egypt</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/North-Africa" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">North Africa</a>.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Although the Shiʿah numbered approximately 130 million of some 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide in the early 21st century, Shiʿism has exerted a great influence on Sunni Islam in several ways. The veneration in which all Muslims hold ʿAlī and his family and the respect shown to ʿAlī’s descendants (who are called <em><span id="ref299009"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/sayyid" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">sayyid</a></em>s and <em><span id="ref299010"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/sharif" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">sharīf</a></em>s) are obvious evidence of this influence.</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span> <section data-level="4" id="ref69171"><h2 class="h4"><span id="ref299012"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ismail-Shiite-imam" class="md-crosslink ">Ismāʿīlīs</a></h2> <span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Besides the main body of Twelver (Ithnā ʿAsharī) Shiʿah, Shiʿism has produced a variety of more or less extremist sects, the most important of them being the Ismāʿīlī. Instead of recognizing <span id="ref299011"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Musa-al-Kazim" class="md-crosslink ">Mūsā</a> as the seventh imam, as did the main body of the Shiʿah, the Ismāʿīlīs <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="upheld" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/upheld" data-type="EB">upheld</a> the claims of his elder brother Ismāʿīl. One group of <span id="ref299013"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ismailite" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Ismāʿīlīs</a>, called <span id="ref299014"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Seveners" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Seveners</a> (Sabʿiyyah), considered Ismāʿīl the seventh and last of the imams. The majority of Ismāʿīlīs, however, believed that the imamate continued in the line of Ismāʿīl’s descendants. The Ismāʿīlī teaching spread during the 9th century from North Africa to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Sindh-province-Pakistan" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Sind</a>, in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/India" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">India</a>, and the Ismāʿīlī <span id="ref299015"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fatimid-dynasty" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Fāṭimid dynasty</a> succeeded in establishing a prosperous empire in Egypt. Ismāʿīlīs are subdivided into two groups—the <span id="ref299016"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nizari-Ismailiyyah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Nizārīs</a>, headed by the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aga-Khan" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Aga Khan</a>, and the <span id="ref299017"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mustali" class="md-crosslink ">Mustaʿlīs</a> in Mumbai, with their own spiritual head. The Ismāʿīlīs are to be found mainly in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/eastern-Africa" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">East Africa</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Pakistan" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Pakistan</a>, India, and Yemen.</p><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD8 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In their <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/theology" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">theology</a> the Ismāʿīlīs have absorbed relatively radical elements and heterodox ideas compared with other Shiʿis. The universe is viewed as a cyclic process, and the unfolding of each cycle is marked by the advent of seven “speakers”—messengers of God with scriptures—each of whom is succeeded by seven “silents”—messengers without revealed scriptures; the last speaker (the Prophet Muhammad) is followed by seven imams who interpret the Will of God to humanity and are, in a sense, higher than the Prophet because they draw their knowledge directly from God and not from the Angel of Inspiration. During the 10th century, certain Ismāʿīlī <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="intellectuals" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectuals" data-type="MW">intellectuals</a> formed a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/secret-society" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">secret society</a> called the <span id="ref299018"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ikhwan-as-Safa" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Brethren of Purity</a>, which issued a philosophical encyclopaedia, <em><span id="ref299019"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rasail-ikhwan-as-safa-wa-khillan-al-wafa" class="md-crosslink ">The Epistles of the Brethren of Purity</a></em>, aiming at the liquidation of positive religions in favour of a universalist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/spirituality" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">spirituality</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD9 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><span id="ref299020"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aga-Khan-III" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Aga Khan III</a> (1887–1957) took several measures to bring his followers closer to the main body of the Muslims. The Ismāʿīlīs, however, still have not mosques but <em><span id="ref299021"></span>jamāʿat khānah</em>s (“gathering houses”), and their mode of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/worship" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">worship</a> bears little resemblance to that of the Muslims generally.</p><span class="marker MOD9 mod-inline"></span></section> <section data-level="4" id="ref69172"><h2 class="h4">Related sects</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD10 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Several other sects arose out of the general Shiʿi movement—e.g., the Nuṣayrīs (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Alawite" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">ʿAlawites</a>), the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yazidi" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Yazīdīs</a>, and the <span id="ref299022"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Druze" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Druze</a>—which are sometimes considered as independent from Islam. The Druze arose in the 11th century out of a cult of deification of the Fāṭimid caliph <span id="ref299023"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Hakim" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">al-Ḥākim.</a></p><span class="marker MOD10 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD11 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">During a 19th-century anticlerical movement in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Iran" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Iran</a>, a certain ʿAlī Moḥammad of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Shiraz" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Shīrāz</a> appeared, declaring himself to be <span id="ref299024"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/the-Bab" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">the Bāb</a> (“Gate”; i.e., to God). At that time the climate in Iran was generally favourable to messianic ideas. He was, however, bitterly opposed by the Shiʿi <em>ʿulamāʾ</em> (council of learned men) and was executed in 1850. After his death, his two <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="disciples" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disciples" data-type="MW">disciples</a>, Ṣobḥ-e Azal and <span id="ref299025"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Baha-Allah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Bahāʾullāh</a>, broke and went in different directions. Bahāʾullāh eventually declared his religion—stressing a humanitarian pacificism and universalism—to be an independent <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/religion" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">religion</a> outside Islam. The <span id="ref299026"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bahai-Faith" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Bahāʾī faith</a> won a considerable number of converts in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/North-America" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">North America</a> during the early 20th century.</p><span class="marker MOD11 mod-inline"></span></section></section> <section data-level="3" id="ref69174"><h2 class="h3">Other groups</h2> <section data-level="4" id="ref302602"><h2 class="h4">Sufism</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD12 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Islamic <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/mysticism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">mysticism</a>, or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sufism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sufism</a>, emerged out of early <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="ascetic" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ascetic" data-type="MW">ascetic</a> reactions on the part of certain religiously sensitive personalities against the general worldliness that had overtaken the Muslim community and the purely “externalist” expressions of Islam in law and theology. These persons stressed the Muslim qualities of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="moral" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moral" data-type="MW">moral</a> motivation, contrition against overworldliness, and “the state of the heart” as opposed to the legalist formulations of Islam.</p><span class="marker MOD12 mod-inline"></span></section> <section data-level="4" id="ref69175"><h2 class="h4">The <span id="ref299027"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ahmadiyyah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Aḥmadiyyah</a></h2> <span class="marker PREMOD13 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In the latter half of the 19th century in Punjab, India, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mirza-Ghulam-Ahmad" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Mirza Ghulam Ahmad</a> claimed to be an inspired prophet. At first a defender of Islam against Christian missionaries, he then later adopted certain doctrines of the Indian Muslim modernist Sayyid <span id="ref299028"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sayyid-Ahmad-Khan" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Ahmad Khan</a>—namely, that Jesus died a natural death and was not assumed into <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/heaven" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">heaven</a> as the Islamic orthodoxy believed and that <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/jihad" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">jihad</a> “by the sword” had been <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="abrogated" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abrogated" data-type="MW">abrogated</a> and replaced with jihad “of the pen.” His aim appears to have been to synthesize all religions under Islam, for he declared himself to be not only the manifestation of the Prophet Muhammad but also the Second Advent of Jesus, as well as Krishna for the Hindus, among other claims. He did not announce, however, any new revelation or new law.</p><span class="marker MOD13 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD14 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In 1914 a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/schism" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">schism</a> over succession occurred among the Aḥmadiyyah. One group that seceded from the main body, which was headed by a son of the founder, disowned the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="prophetic" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/prophetic" data-type="EB">prophetic</a> claims of Ghulam Ahmad and established its centre in Lahore (now in Pakistan). The main body of the Aḥmadiyyah (known as the Qadiani, after the village of Qadian, birthplace of the founder and the group’s first centre) evolved a separatist organization and, after the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Partition-of-India" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">partition of India</a> in 1947, moved their headquarters to Rabwah in what was then West Pakistan.</p><span class="marker MOD14 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD15 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Both groups are noted for their missionary work, particularly in the West and in Africa. Within the Muslim countries, however, there is fierce opposition to the main group because of its claim that Ghulam Ahmad was a prophet (most Muslim sects believe in the finality of prophethood with Muhammad) and because of its separatist organization. Restrictions were <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="imposed" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/imposed" data-type="EB">imposed</a> on the Aḥmadiyyah in 1974 and again in 1984 by the Pakistani government, which declared that the group was not Muslim and prohibited them from engaging in various Islamic activities.</p><span class="marker MOD15 mod-inline"></span> <span class="md-signature"><a href="/contributor/Fazlur-Rahman/2400">Fazlur Rahman</a></span> <span class="md-signature"><a href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</a></span></section></section></section> <span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":8,"pagesTotal":20,"pageId":295507,"pageLength":1527,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"A","adLeg":"A","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"PAGINATED","gisted":false,"pageNumber":8,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Islam - Shi'a, Imams, Twelvers | Britannica