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Ali, a cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, was the first of the Twelve Imams, and, in the Twelvers view, the rightful successor to Muhammad, followed by male descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah. Each Imam was the son of the previous Imam, with the exception of Al-Husayn, who was the brother of Al-Hasan.
The visitation of the imams is recommended even by Imams themselves and Shia scholars and jurists from an early period of Shia history. [113] The most popular destinations for Shi'a pilgrims include Najaf and Karbala in Iraq, [ 114 ] Qom and Mashhad in Iran, [ 115 ] and Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque in Syria.
Within Shia Islam about 85% are Twelver, [10] [11] and within Twelver Shia, the overwhelming majority follow the Usuli school of jurisprudence. In Iran, an officially Shia country since 1501, [12] around 90–95% of Muslims are Shia. [13] [14] 65–85% of Muslims in Azerbaijan are Shia, [15] [16] and 55–75% in Bahrain.
In Shia Islam, the figure of imam dominates the belief system. [9] Necessarily a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, [10] imam is the supreme leader that combines both temporal and religious authorities, [11] for the two were combined in Muhammad. [12] Various Shia sects, however, disagreed over the identity of these imams. [10]
For all Shia, the son-in-law of Muhammad is the first Shia Imam [26] and the rightful successor to Muhammad. [27] For Sunnis , he is the fourth successor . [ 18 ] He holds an important position in almost all Sufi orders , which trace their lineage to Muhammad through him.
Hafizi Ismaili Muslims claimed that al-Amir died without an heir and was succeeded as Caliph and Imam by his cousin al-Hafiz. The Musta'li split into the Hafizi, who accepted him and his successors as an Imam , and the Tayyibi , who believed that al-Amir's purported son At-Tayyib was the rightful Imam and had gone into occultation.
Unlike Sunni Islam, however, the belief in Mahdi of the lineage of the prophet is central to Shia Islam, in general, and to Twelver Shia, in particular, [41] where Mahdi is identified with the twelfth Imam. [162] Distinctive to Shia is also the doctrine of occultation or the temporary absence of Mahdi. [84]
According to the Hadith of the Twelve Successors, Muhammad said that the Islamic leadership is in Quraysh (i.e. his tribe) and that 12 "imams" (also called "princes" or "caliphs") shall succeed him. [35] [36] [37] Twelver Shias believe in twelve imams. They believe eleven of the imams were killed but that the twelfth imam is still alive.