Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Shia Islam [a] is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib ( r. 656–661 ) as his successor ( khalifa ) as the imam , that is the spiritual and political leader of the Muslim community.
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 .
Shia Muslims form a majority of the population in four countries across the Muslim world: Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain. Significant Shia communities are also found in Lebanon, Kuwait, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent. Iran stands as the world's only country where Shia Islam forms the foundation of both ...
Almost 90% of Pakistan's Muslim population is Sunni, with 10% being Shia, but this Shia minority forms the second largest Shia population of any country, [228] larger than the Shia majority in Iraq. Until recently Shia–Sunni relations have been cordial, and a majority of people of both sects participated in the creation the state of Pakistan ...
[citation needed] Usooli and Akhbari Shia Twelver Muslims believe that the study of Islamic literature is a continual process, and is necessary for identifying all of God's laws. Twelver Shia Muslims believe that the process of finding God's laws from the available Islamic literature will facilitate in dealing with any circumstance.
Approximately 35% of the population in Yemen and half of the Muslims in Lebanon are Shia Muslims. There is also a very large population of Shia Muslims living in the Persian Gulf countries especially in Saudi Arabia. An estimated 5–10% [1] [2] of citizens in Saudi Arabia are Shia Muslims, most of whom are adherents to Twelver Shia Islam.
Alawites [b] are an Arab [18] [19] ethnoreligious group [20] who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism. [21] A sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ghulat branch during the ninth century, [22] [23] [24] Alawites venerate Ali ibn Abi Talib, the "first Imam" in the Twelver school, as a manifestation of the divine essence.
WikiShia is a free online encyclopedia about Shi'a Islam.It contains more than 23,000 content pages about Shia Islam in 13 languages including English, Persian, Spanish, Turkish, French, Arabic, Urdu, Indonesian, German, Russian, Chinese, Hindi and Kiswahili.