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168-614: For most Shia Muslims , the Imams are absolute infallible leaders of the Islamic community after the Prophet. Shias consider the term to be only applicable to the members and descendants of the Ahl al-Bayt , the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . In Twelver Shīʿīsm there are 14 infallibles , 12 of which are Imams, the final being Imam Mahdi who will return at the end of times. The title

336-481: A city , an international airport , a hospital , and a university . Shia Islam Shia Islam ( / ˈ ʃ iː ə / ) is the second-largest branch of Islam . It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib (656–661 CE) as his successor ( Arabic : خليفة , romanized :  khalīfa ) as Imam ( امام , 'spiritual and political leader'), most notably at

504-546: A messianic figure , the hidden and last Imam known as "the Mahdi ", that one day shall return on Earth and fill the world with justice. According to the doctrine of 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 Shīʿa Islam. Some Shīʿa subsects , such as

672-824: A 12th-century work by al-Qalhati, is another example of Ibadi heresiographies and discusses the origins of the Kharijites and the divisions within the Kharijite movement. The Kharijites were the first sect to arise within Islam . They originated during the First Fitna, the struggle for political leadership over the Muslim community ( umma ), following the assassination in 656 of the third caliph Uthman ( r.  644–656 ). The later years of Uthman's reign were marked by growing discontent from multiple groups within

840-705: A 2,000-strong Basran force in Ahwaz , he fell to a larger army of 3,000 or 4,000 in Fars in southern Persia. His fate is said to have aroused the quietists and contributed to the increased Kharijite militancy in the subsequent period. After the death of Mu'awiya in 680, civil war ensued over leadership of the Muslim community. The people of the Hejaz (where Mecca and Medina are located) rebelled against Mu'awiya's son and successor, Yazid . The Mecca-based Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ,

1008-687: A bomb destroyed the shrine of Al-Askari Mosque. ( See : Anti-Shi'ism ). 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. Armenians in Iran , who have historically played

1176-651: A continuous tribal influx from Arabia, diminishing revenue from the conquests , and the growing influence of the pre-Islamic tribal nobility. Opposition by the Iraqi early-comers, who became known as the qurra (which probably means 'the Qur'an reciters'), and the Egyptians turned into open rebellion in 656. Encouraged by the disaffected Medinese elite, the rebels marched on Medina, killing Uthman in June 656. His murder sparked

1344-546: A crucial role in the Iranian economy , received relatively more lenient treatment. 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,

1512-493: A line of such imams, a theocratic form of government which survived until the second half of the 20th century (See details under Zaidiyyah , History of Yemen , Imams of Yemen ). Saudi leaders were also referred to as "Imams", until that term was retired by Ibn Saud to be replaced by "king". Ruhollah Khomeini is officially referred to as Imam in Iran . Several Iranian places and institutions are named "Imam Khomeini", including

1680-419: A major threat to Kufa and its suburbs under Shabib. With a small army of a few hundred warriors, Shabib defeated several thousands-strong Umayyad armies in 695–696, looted Kufa's treasury and occupied al-Mada'in. From his base in al-Mada'in, Shabib moved to capture Kufa. Hajjaj had already requested Syrian troops from Abd al-Malik, who sent a 4,000-strong army which defeated Shabib outside Kufa. Shabib drowned in

1848-698: A new caliph. Ali defeated them in November 656 at the Battle of the Camel . Later, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan , Uthman's kinsman and the governor of Syria , denounced Ali's election, holding that Uthman's murderers were in Ali's camp and evaded punishment. The two faced each other at the Battle of Siffin in July 657. On the verge of defeat, Mu'awiya ordered his soldiers to hoist leaves of the Qur'an ( masahif ) on their lances,

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2016-541: A number of changes in the Muslim world : With the fall of the Safavids, the state in Iran—including the state system of courts with government-appointed judges ( qāḍī )—became much weaker. This gave the sharīʿa courts of mujtahid an opportunity to fill the legal vacuum and enabled the ulama to assert their judicial authority. The Usuli school of thought also increased in strength at this time. Shia Islam

2184-418: A political movement, infallibility and sinlessness of the Imams later evolved as a distinct belief of (non-Zaydī) Shīʿīsm. According to Shīʿa 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

2352-417: A reconstruction of 'what actually happened' and the true motives of the Kharijites, which is free of later interpolations, especially difficult. According to the historians Hannah-Lena Hagemann and Peter Verkinderen, the sources sometimes used the Kharijites as a literary tool to address other issues, which were otherwise unrelated to the Kharijites, such as "the status of Ali, the dangers of communal strife, or

2520-564: A result of these repressive measures, some of the Kharijites abandoned military action, adopting political quietism and concealing their religious beliefs. Of the quietists, the best known was Abu Bilal Mirdas ibn Udayya al-Tamimi . One of the earliest Kharijites who had seceded at Siffin, he was held in the highest esteem by the Basran quietists. Provoked by the torture and murder of a Kharijite woman by Ibn Ziyad, Abu Bilal abandoned Basra and revolted in 680/681 with 40 men. Shortly after defeating

2688-636: A river during his flight, his band was destroyed, but the Kharijites continued to maintain a presence in the Jazira. Distinct Sufriyya and Ibadiyya sects are attested from the early eighth century in North Africa and Oman. The two differed in association with different tribal groups and competed for popular support. During the last days of the Umayyad empire, a major Sufri revolt erupted in Iraq in 744. It

2856-402: A signal to stop the fight and negotiate peace. The qurra in Ali's army were moved by the gesture, which they interpreted as an appeal to the Book of God, and demanded that Ali halt the fighting immediately. Although initially unwilling, he yielded under pressure and threats of violence against him by the qurra . An arbitration committee composed of representatives of Ali and Mu'awiya

3024-478: A son of Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, was the most prominent Hejazi opponent of Yazid. When Yazid sent an army to suppress the rebellion in 683 and Mecca was besieged , Kharijites from Basra reinforced Ibn al-Zubayr. After Yazid's death in November, Ibn al-Zubayr proclaimed himself caliph and publicly condemned Uthman's murder. Both acts prompted the Kharijites to abandon his cause. The majority, including Nafi ibn al-Azraq and Najda ibn Amir al-Hanafi , went to Basra, while

3192-457: A speech at Ghadir Khumm . The point of contention between different Muslim sects arises when Muhammad, whilst giving his speech, gave the proclamation "Anyone who has me as his mawla , has ʿAlī as his mawla ". Some versions add the additional sentence "O God, befriend the friend of ʿAlī and be the enemy of his enemy". Sunnis maintain that Muhammad emphasized the deserving friendship and respect for ʿAlī. In contrast, Shia Muslims assert that

3360-457: A town close to Ibn al-Zubayr's capital Mecca, leaving the latter cornered in the Hejaz, as Najda controlled most of Arabia. Not long after, his followers became disillusioned with him for his alleged correspondence with the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik , irregular pay to his soldiers, his refusal to punish a soldier who had consumed wine, and his release of a captive granddaughter of caliph Uthman. He

3528-437: 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

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3696-461: Is already on Earth in Occultation, and will return at the end of time . Ṭayyibi Ismāʿīlīs and Fatimid/Bohra/ Dawoodi Bohra believe the same but for their 21st Ṭayyib, 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. Shīʿa Muslims believe that

3864-494: Is asserted as the leader of the movement following Abu Bilal Mirdas. Modern historians consider Ibn Saffar to be a legendary figure, and assert that the Sufriyya and Ibadiyya sects did not exist during the seventh century. The heresiographers, whose aim was to categorize the divergent beliefs of the Kharijites, most likely invented the Sufriyya to accommodate those groups who did not fit neatly anywhere else. As such, there

4032-572: Is based on the Shīʿīte interpretation of the verse of purification . Thus, they are the most pure ones, the only immaculate ones preserved from, and immune to, all uncleanness. 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. They also have a complete knowledge of God's will. They are in possession of all knowledge brought by

4200-511: Is based on the works of earlier historians like Abu Mikhnaf (d. 773), Abu Ubayda (d. 825), and al-Mada'ini (d. 843). The authors of the heresiographical category include al-Ash'ari (d. 935), al-Baghdadi (d. 1037), Ibn Hazm (d. 1064), al-Shahrastani (d. 1153), and others. Notable among the surviving Ibadi works is the eighth-century heresiographical writing of Salim ibn Dhakwan. It distinguishes Ibadism from other Kharijite groups which it treats as extremists. Al-Kashf wa'l-Bayan ,

4368-489: Is commemorated on the Day of Ashura , occurring on the tenth day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Later, most denominations of Shia Islam, including Twelvers and Ismāʿīlīs , became Imamis . Imami Shīʿītes believe that Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad . Imams are human individuals who not only rule over the Muslim community with justice, but also are able to keep and interpret

4536-767: Is derived from the doctrine of believing in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as " the Twelve Imams ". Twelver Shia are otherwise known as Imami or Jaʿfari ; the latter term derives from Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq , the 6th Shīʿīte Imam , who elaborated the Twelver jurisprudence. Twelver Shia constitute the majority of the population in Iran (90%), Azerbaijan (85%), Bahrain (70%), Iraq (65%), and Lebanon (65% of Muslims). Kharijite The Kharijites ( Arabic : الخوارج , romanized :  al-Khawārij , singular Arabic : خارجي , romanized :  khārijī ) were an Islamic sect which emerged during

4704-625: Is followed by 10–15% of all Muslims. Although there are many Shia subsects in the Muslim world, Twelver Shi'ism is by far the largest and most influential, comprising about 85% of all Shia Muslims. Others include the Isma'ili , Zaydi , Alevi and Alawi . 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

4872-427: 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. The original Shia identity referred to the followers of Imam ʿAlī, and Shia theology was formulated after the hijra (8th century CE). The first Shia governments and societies were established by

5040-468: Is no god except God, Muhammad is the messenger of God'), but in addition to this declaration of faith Shīʿa Muslims add the phrase Ali-un-Waliullah ( Arabic : علي ولي الله , lit.   'Ali is the guardian of God'). The basis for the Shīʿīte belief in ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as the Wali of God is derived from the Qur'anic verse 5:55 . This additional phrase to the declaration of faith embodies

5208-533: Is reported to have said: "Because you narrate hadith in large numbers from the Holy Prophet, you are fit only for attributing lies to him. (That is, one expects a wicked man like you to utter only lies about the Holy Prophet.) So you must stop narrating hadith from the Prophet; otherwise, I will send you to the land of Dus." (An Arab clan in Yemen , to which Abu Hurairah belonged). According to Sunnī Muslims, ʿAlī

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5376-469: Is the second largest branch of Islam . It is estimated that either 10–20% or 10–13% of the global Muslim population are Shias. They may number up to 200 million as of 2009. As of 1985, Shia Muslims are estimated to be 21% of the Muslim population in South Asia , although the total number is difficult to estimate. Shia Muslims form a distinct majority of the population in three countries of

5544-479: Is the concept of infallibility or "divinely bestowed freedom from error and sin" in Islam. Muslims believe that Muhammad, along with the other prophets and messengers , possessed ismah . Twelver and Ismāʿīlī Shīʿa Muslims also attribute the quality to Imams as well as to Fāṭimah , daughter of Muhammad, in contrast to the Zaydī Shīʿas , who do not attribute ismah to the Imams. Though initially beginning as

5712-715: 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. Al-Ṣādiq also narrated that the passing down of armaments is synonymous to receiving the Imamat (leadership), similar to how the Ark of Covenant in the house of the Israelites signaled prophethood. Imam Ali al-Ridha narrates that wherever

5880-461: The mawali (sing. mawla ; non-Arab, free Muslims of conquered lands, especially Iraq and Persia) with the Arabs . The Najdat chose a mawla , a fruit seller named Thabit, as their leader after Najda's execution. This choice, however, conflicted with their feelings of ethnic solidarity and they soon asked him to step down and choose an Arab leader for them; he chose Abu Fudayk. The leader of

6048-463: The Muhaddithūn or scholars who created the analytical sciences related to Hadith and sometimes refer to the heads of Muhammad 's family in their generational times due to their scholarly authority. Imams are appointed by the state to work at mosques and they are required to be graduates of an İmam Hatip high school or have a university degree in theology. This is an official position regulated by

6216-478: The Battle of Nahrawan (July 658), in which al-Rasibi and most of his supporters were slain. Around 1,200 Kharijites surrendered and were spared. The bloodshed sealed the split of the Kharijites from Ali's followers, and they continued to launch insurrections against the caliphate. Five small Kharijite revolts following Nahrawan, involving about 200 men each, were suppressed during Ali's rule. The Kharijite calls for revenge ultimately led to Ali's assassination by

6384-543: The Battle of Siffin in 657 turned the tide against ʿAlī, who lost due to arbitration issues with Muawiyah , the governor of Damascus. ʿAlī withdrew to Kufa, overcoming the Kharijis , a faction that had transformed from supporters to bitter rivals, at Nahrawan in 658. In 661, ʿAlī was assassinated by a Khariji assassin in Kufa while in the act of prostration during prayer ( sujud ). Subsequently, Muawiyah asserted his claim to

6552-471: The First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the conflict with his challenger, Mu'awiya , at the Battle of Siffin in 657. They asserted that "judgment belongs to God alone," which became their motto, and that rebels such as Mu'awiya had to be fought and overcome according to Qur'anic injunctions. Ali defeated

6720-658: The Indian subcontinent . Iran stands as the world's only country where Shia Islam forms the foundation of both its laws and governance system . The word Shia (or Shīʿa) ( / ˈ ʃ iː ə / ) ( Arabic : شيعيّ , romanized :  shīʿī, pl.  shīʿiyyūn ) is derived from شيعة علي , shīʿat ʿAlī , 'followers of Ali'. Shia Islam is also referred to in English as Shiism (or Shīʿism) ( / ˈ ʃ iː ɪ z ( ə ) m / ), and Shia Muslims as Shiites (or Shīʿites) ( / ˈ ʃ iː aɪ t / ). The term Shia

6888-1203: The Kadhimiya Mosque in Kadhimiya , Al-Askari Mosque in Samarra , the Sahla Mosque , the Great Mosque of Kufa , the Jamkaran Mosque in Qom, and the Tomb of Daniel in Susa . Most of the Shīʿa 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. In 2006,

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7056-626: The Muslim world : Iran , Iraq , and Azerbaijan . Shia Muslims constitute 36.3% of the entire population (and 38.6% of the Muslim population) of the Middle East . Estimates have placed the proportion of Shia Muslims in Lebanon between 27% and 45% of the population, 30–35% of the citizen population in Kuwait (no figures exist for the non-citizen population), over 20% in Turkey , 5–20% of

7224-677: The Presidency of Religious Affairs in Turkey and only males are appointed to this position, whilst female officials under the same state organisation work as preachers and Qur'an course tutors, religious services experts, etc. These officials are supposed to belong to the Hanafi school of the Sunni sect. A central figure in an Islamic movement is also called an imam, like Imam Nawawi in Syria. In

7392-483: The Quran and Sunnah and his moral character. Another well-known use of the term is as an honorary title for a recognized religious scholarly authority in Islam. It is especially used for a jurist ( faqīh ) and often for the founders of the four Sunni madhhab s or schools of jurisprudence ( fiqh ) , as well as an authority on Quranic exegesis ( tafsīr ) , such as Al-Tabari or Ibn Kathir . It may also refer to

7560-531: The Tigris . Some five hundred of their Basran comrades were informed and joined them in Nahrawan, numbering reportedly up to 4,000 men. They declared Ali and his followers as unbelievers, and are held to have killed several people who did not share their views. In the meantime, the arbitrators declared that Uthman had been killed unjustly by the rebels. They could not agree on any other substantive matters and

7728-666: The Yaruba dynasty : 1624–1742, the Al Said : 1744–present for further information. The Imamate of Futa Jallon (1727–1896) was a Fulani state in West Africa where secular power alternated between two lines of hereditary Imams, or almami . In the Zaidi Shiite sect, imams were secular as well as spiritual leaders who held power in Yemen for more than a thousand years. In 897, a Zaidi ruler, al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya , founded

7896-418: The Zaydī Shīʿas 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 Shīʿa Muslims believe that the prophesied Mahdi and 12th Shīʿīte Imam , Hujjat Allah al-Mahdi ,

8064-729: The Zubayrid governor of Basra in early 685 defeated the Azariqa, and Ibn al-Azraq was killed. The Azariqa chose Ubayd Allah ibn Mahuz as their new leader, regrouped, forced the Zubayrid army to retreat, and resumed their raids. After more defeats, Ibn al-Zubayr deployed his most able commander, Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra , against the Azariqa. Muhallab defeated them at the battle of Sillabra in May 686 and killed Ibn Mahuz. The Azariqa retreated to Fars. In late 686, Muhallab discontinued his campaign as he

8232-435: The angels ( Arabic : ملائِكة , romanized :  malāʾikah ) to the prophets ( Arabic : أنبياء , romanized :  anbiyāʼ ) and the messengers ( Arabic : رُسل , romanized :  rusul ). Their knowledge encompasses the totality of all times. Thus, they are believed to act without fault in religious matters. Shi'a Muslims regard ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as the successor of Muhammad not only ruling over

8400-463: The northern Arabs were the overwhelming majority. Only six or seven revolts led by a southern Arab have been reported, their leaders hailing from the tribes of Tayy , Azd , and Kinda . Among the northern Arabs, the Rabi'a group produced most of the Kharijite leaders. Of the 48 identified Rabi'a leaders, 46 were from the Bakr ibn Wa'il branch (17 from the Shayban sub-tribe, 12 from Yashkur , five from Hanifa, and 12 from other sub-tribes). Among

8568-436: The 12th Imam Mahdi will one day emerge on the Day of Resurrection ( Qiyamah ). At times, imams have held both secular and religious authority. This was the case in Oman among the Kharijite or Ibadi sects. At times, the imams were elected. At other times the position was inherited, as with the Yaruba dynasty from 1624 and 1742. See List of rulers of Oman , the Rustamid dynasty : 776–909, Nabhani dynasty : 1154–1624,

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8736-466: The Azariqa, Ibn al-Azraq, is said to have been the son of a mawla of Greek origin. The imams of the North African Kharijites from 740 onwards were all non-Arabs. The Kharijites also advocated for the equality of women with men. On the basis of women fighting alongside Muhammad, the Kharijites viewed jihad as incumbent upon women. The warrior and poet Layla bint Tarif is a famous example. Shabib's wife Ghazala participated in his battles against

8904-410: The Azariqa. In 694 the commander Hajjaj ibn Yusuf was appointed governor of Iraq and reinstated Muhallab to lead the war against the Azariqa. Muhallab forced their retreat to Kirman, where they split into two groups and were subsequently destroyed in 698–699. During his time in Ahwaz, Najda broke with Ibn al-Azraq over the latter's extremist ideology. Najda, with his followers, moved to the Yamama,

9072-475: The House'), are rightful rulers or Imams through the bloodline of Ali and his two sons Hasan and Husayn , whom Shia Muslims believe possess special spiritual and political authority over the Muslim community . Later events such as Husayn's martyrdom in the Battle of Karbala (680 CE) further influenced the development of Shia Islam, contributing to the formation of a distinct religious sect with its own rituals and shared collective memory. Shia Islam

9240-426: The Ibadis in Oman and Africa are estimated to be around 2.5 million and 200,000 respectively. The Kharijites did not have a uniform and coherent set of doctrines. Different sects and individuals held different views. Based on these divergences, heresiographers have listed more than a dozen minor Kharijite sects, in addition to the four main sects discussed above. In addition to their insistence on rule according to

9408-417: The Ibadi–Sufri distinction emergent in this period, the groups with no Ibadi affiliation were associated with the Sufriyya. Around 740, the Sufriyya under the leadership of Maysara al-Matghari had revolted in Tangiers and captured the city from the Umayyads. They marched onto the provincial capital Kairouan , but were unable to capture it. Nevertheless, Sufri disturbances in North Africa continued throughout

9576-446: The Kharijite dissident Ibn Muljim . The latter killed Ali with a poisoned sword while Ali was leading morning prayers on 26 January 661 in the Great Mosque of Kufa . The accession of Mu'awiya, the original enemy of the Kharijites, to the caliphate in August 661 provided the new impetus for Kharijite rebellion. Those Kharijites at Nahrawan who had been unwilling to fight Ali and had left the battlefield, rebelled against Mu'awiya. Under

9744-411: The Kharijite factions of the Azariqa and Najdat came to control large areas in Persia and Arabia . Internal disputes and fragmentation weakened them considerably before their defeat by the Umayyads in 696–699. In the 740s, large-scale Kharijite rebellions broke out across the caliphate, but all were eventually suppressed. Although the Kharijite revolts continued into the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258),

9912-438: The Kharijite phenomenon to purely religious motivations, economic factors, or a Bedouin (nomadic Arab) challenge to the establishment of an organized state, with some rejecting the traditional account of the movement having started at Siffin. The term al-Khariji was used as an exonym by their opponents for leaving the army of Caliph Ali during the First Fitna . The term comes from the Arabic root خ ر ج , which has

10080-449: The Kharijites as religious extremists who left the Muslim community . The term Kharijites is often used by modern mainstream Muslims to describe Islamist extremist groups that have been compared to the Kharijites for their radical ideology and militancy. On the other hand, some modern Arab historians have stressed the egalitarian and proto-democratic tendencies of the Kharijites. Modern, academic historians are generally divided in attributing

10248-421: The Kharijites at the Battle of Nahrawan in 658, but their insurrection continued. Ali was assassinated in 661 by a Kharijite dissident seeking revenge for the defeat at Nahrawan. After Mu'awiya established the Umayyad Caliphate in 661, his governors kept the Kharijites in check. The power vacuum caused by the Second Fitna (680–692) allowed for the resumption of the Kharijites' anti-government rebellion, and

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10416-401: The Kharijites from the rear. Nearly all of them were slain. Kufan Kharijism died out around 663, and Basra became the center of Kharijite disturbances. Ziyad ibn Abihi and his son Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad , who successively became governors of Iraq, dealt harshly with the Kharijites, and five Kharijite revolts, usually involving around 70 men, were suppressed. Notable among these was that of

10584-446: The Mahdi in his war against the Dajjal, where it is believed the Mahdi will slay the Dajjal and unite humankind. In the century following the Battle of Karbala (680 CE), as various Shia-affiliated groups diffused in the emerging Islamic world, several nations arose based on a Shia leadership or population. A major turning point in the history of Shia Islam was the dominion of the Safavid dynasty (1501–1736) in Persia . This caused

10752-404: The Messenger of Allah. It is not disputable." 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

10920-407: The Muslim community. His favoritism and enrichment of his Umayyad relatives was disdained by the Muslim elite in Medina . The early Muslim settlers of the garrison towns of Kufa and Fustat , in the conquered regions of Iraq and Egypt, felt their status threatened by several factors during this period. These were Uthman's interference in provincial affairs, overcrowding of the garrison towns by

11088-416: The Muslim community. ʿAlī was the first Imam of this line, the rightful successor to Muhammad, followed by male descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah. This difference between following either the Ahl al-Bayt (Muhammad's family and descendants) or pledging allegiance to Abū Bakr has shaped the Shia–Sunnī divide on the interpretation of some Quranic verses, hadith literature (accounts of

11256-425: The Muslims against Muawiyah and reclaim the caliphate. In 680 CE, Muawiyah died and passed the caliphate to his son Yazid , and breaking the treaty with Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī. Yazid asked Husayn to swear allegiance ( bay'ah ) to him. ʿAlī's faction, having expected the caliphate to return to ʿAlī's line upon Muawiyah's death, saw this as a betrayal of the peace treaty and so Ḥusayn rejected this request for allegiance. There

11424-514: The Najdat stance to practical necessities which they encountered while governing Arabia, as the administration of a large area required flexibility and allowance for human imperfection. The Sufriyya and Ibadiyya held that while the establishment of a legitimate dominion was desirable, it was legal to employ taqiyya and continue living among the non-Kharijites if rebellion was not possible. The Kharijites espoused that all Muslims were equals, regardless of ethnicity and advocated for equal status of

11592-417: The Najdat's philosophy as an early form of anarchism . The Kharijites also asserted that faith without accompanying deeds is useless, and that anyone who commits a major sin is an unbeliever ( kafir ; pl. kuffar ) and must repent to restore the true faith. However, the Kharijite notion of unbelief ( kufr ) differed from the mainstream Muslim definition, which understood a kafir as someone who

11760-480: The Qur'an, the view common to all Kharijite groups was that any Muslim was qualified to become caliph, regardless of origin, if he had the credentials of belief and piety . They rejected Qurayshite descent or close kinship with Muhammad as a prerequisite for the office, a view espoused by most Muslims at the time. This differs from the position of both Sunnis, who accepted the leadership of those in power provided that they were Qurayshite, and Shi'a, who asserted that

11928-535: The Qur'an, for they considered its content to be worldly and frivolous. Many Kharijites were well-versed in traditional Arabic eloquence and poetry, which the orientalist Giorgio Levi Della Vida attributes to the majority of their early leaders being from Bedouin stock. The sermons and poems of many Kharijite leaders were compiled into collections ( diwans ). Kharijite poetry is mainly concerned with religious beliefs, with piety and activism, martyrdom , selling life to God ( shira ), and afterlife being some of

12096-481: The Qur'an, which was then abrogated . A hadith is ascribed to Umar, asserting the existence of this verse in the Qur'an. These Kharijites rejected the authenticity of such a verse. The heresiographer al-Ash'ari attributed this position to the Azariqa, who held a strict scripturalist position in legal matters (i.e. following only the Qur'an and rejecting commonly held views if they had no Qur'anic basis), and thus also refused to enforce legal punishment on slanderers when

12264-440: The Qur'anic verse: And if two groups of believers fight each other, then make peace between them. But if one of them transgresses against the other, then fight against the transgressing group until they ˹are willing to˺ submit to the rule of Allah. If they do so, then make peace between both ˹groups˺ in all fairness and act justly. Surely Allah loves those who uphold justice. They held that in agreeing to arbitration, Ali committed

12432-458: 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." Shīʿa Islam encompasses various denominations and subgroups , all bound by the belief that the leader of the Muslim community ( Ummah ) should hail from Ahl al-Bayt ,

12600-514: The Shi'a context, an imam is not only presented as the man of God par excellence , but as participating fully in the names, attributes, and acts that theology usually reserves for God alone. Imams have a meaning more central to belief, referring to leaders of the community. Twelver and Ismaili Shi'a believe that these imams are chosen by God to be perfect examples for the faithful and to lead all humanity in all aspects of life. They also believe that all

12768-606: The Shīʿīte emphasis on the inheritance of authority through Muhammad's family and lineage . The three clauses of the Shīʿīte version of the Shahada thus address the fundamental Islamic beliefs of Tawḥīd ( Arabic : تَوْحِيد , lit.   'oneness of God'), Nubuwwah ( Arabic : نبوة , lit.   'prophethood'), and Imamah ( Arabic : إمامة , lit.   'Imamate or leadership'). Ismah ( Arabic : عِصْمَة , romanized :  'Iṣmah or 'Isma , lit.   'protection')

12936-711: The Umayyad period. Around 750, the Sufri Midrarids established a dynasty in Sijilmasa , in modern Morocco. The dynasty survived until the Fatimid capture of the city in 909. Nonetheless, the Midrarids continued governing the city under intermittent Fatimid suzerainty until 976. The North African Sufriyya later disappeared, and their remnants were absorbed into the Ibadiyya around the tenth or 11th century. In

13104-687: The Umayyad rulers, and all non-Kharijites in general, were unbelievers, it was unlawful to continue living under their rule ( dar al-kufr ), for that was in itself an act of unbelief. It was thus obligatory to emigrate, in emulation of Muhammad's Hijra to Medina, and establish a legitimate dominion of their own ( dar al-hijra ). The Azariqa prohibited the practice of dissimulation of their faith ( taqiyya ) and branded non-activist Kharijites (i.e. those who did not emigrate to their camp) as unbelievers. The Najdat allowed taqiyya and quietism, but labeled their practitioners as hypocrites. The Islamicist Montgomery Watt attributes this moderation of

13272-639: The Umayyads in 750, Sufri revolts in the eastern parts of the empire continued for almost two centuries, though at a small scale and were easily put down. However, in revolts led by Abd al-Hamid al-Bajali in 866–877 and by Harun ibn Abd Allah al-Bajali in 880–896, the Kharijites gained control of northern Mesopotamia from the Abbasids and collected taxes. By the mid-8th century, the quietist Kharijites appeared in North Africa. They were mostly of Berber origin and were recruited through missionary activity. With

13440-482: The actual events, and many of the theological and political disputes among the early Muslims had been settled by then. As representatives of the emerging orthodoxy, the Sunni as well as Shia authors of these works looked upon the original events through the lens of this orthodox viewpoint. The bulk of information regarding the Kharijites, however, comes from the second category. These sources are outright polemical, as

13608-448: The arbitration proposal despite his reservations. They acknowledged that they had sinned but insisted that they repented and asked him to do the same, which Ali then did in general and ambiguous terms. The troops at Harura subsequently restored their allegiance to Ali and returned to Kufa, on the condition that the war against Mu'awiya be resumed within six months. Ali refused to denounce the arbitration proceedings, which continued despite

13776-430: The armaments among us would go, knowledge would also follow and the armaments would never depart from those with knowledge ( Imamat ). 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

13944-546: The army and set up camp in Harura, a place near Kufa. They thus became known as the Harurites. They held that Uthman had deserved his death because of his nepotism and not ruling according to the Qur'an, and that Ali was the legitimate caliph, while Mu'awiya was a rebel. They believed that the Qur'an clearly stated that as a rebel Mu'awiya was not entitled to arbitration, but rather should be fought until he repented, pointing to

14112-548: The ascetic Salih ibn Mussarih and the tribal leader Shabib ibn Yazid al-Shaybani are associated with the Sufriyya, as well as the revolt of Dahhak ibn Qays al-Shaybani during the Third Fitna (744–750). After Ibn Ibad's death, the Ibadiyya are considered to have been led into the late Umayyad period successively by Jabir ibn Zayd and Abu Ubayda Muslim ibn Abi Karima. Jabir, a respected scholar and traditionist, had friendly relations with Abd al-Malik and Hajjaj. Following

14280-441: The authors tend to portray their own sect as the true representative of original Islam and are consequently hostile to the Kharijites. Although the authors in both categories used earlier Kharijite as well as non-Kharijite sources, which are no longer extant, their rendering of the events has been heavily altered by literary topoi . Based on a hadith (saying or tradition attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad ) prophesying

14448-482: The best. Similarly, Ali's assassin Ibn Muljam was exalted by the poet Ibn Abi Mayyas al-Muradi in the following: You upon whom be blessings, we have struck Ḥaydar ['the lion'; a nickname for Ali] Abū Ḥasan [Ali] with a blow to the head and he was split apart. Kharijite poetry has survived mainly in the non-Kharijite sources, and hence may have been subject to alteration by its transmitters. Nevertheless,

14616-616: The caliphate. Upon the death of ʿAlī, his elder son Ḥasan became leader of the Muslims of Kufa. After a series of skirmishes between the Kufa Muslims and the army of Muawiyah, Ḥasan ibn Ali agreed to cede the caliphate to Muawiyah and maintain peace among Muslims upon certain conditions : The enforced public cursing of ʿAlī , e.g. during prayers, should be abandoned; Muawiyah should not use tax money for his own private needs; There should be peace, and followers of Ḥasan should be given security and their rights; Muawiyah will never adopt

14784-640: The central Oman, whereas his successor Rashid ibn Sa'id al-Yahmadi ( r.  1029–1053 ) drove the then Abbasid patrons Buyids out of the coastal region, thereby restoring the Ibadi control of Oman. Internal splits led to fall of the third Ibadi imamate in the late 12th century. Ibadi imamates were reestablished in subsequent centuries. Ibadis form the majority of the Omani population to date. Ibadi missionary activity met with considerable success in North Africa. In 757, Ibadis seized Tripoli and captured Kairouan

14952-445: The city's governor. Umar drove out Ibn al-Azraq's men from Basra and they escaped to Ahwaz. From Ahwaz, Ibn al-Azraq raided Basra's suburbs. His followers are called Azariqa after their leader, and are described in the sources as the most fanatic of the Kharijite groups, for they approved the doctrine of isti'rad : indiscriminate killing of the non-Kharijite Muslims, including their women and children. An army sent against them by

15120-419: The civil war. Afterward, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law Ali became caliph with the help of the people of Medina and the rebels. He was soon challenged by Muhammad's widow, A'isha , and Muhammad's early companions, Talha ibn Ubayd Allah and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam , who held that his election was invalid as it involved Uthman's murderers and hence a shura (consultative assembly) had to be called to elect

15288-491: The claims of someone who claims prophecy is on the basis of intellect. Shia religious practices, such as prayers, differ only slightly from the Sunnīs. While all Muslims pray five times daily, Shia Muslims have the option of combining Dhuhr with Asr and Maghrib with Isha' , as there are three distinct times mentioned in the Quran . The Sunnīs tend to combine only under certain circumstances. Shia Muslims celebrate

15456-908: The colonial period, such as the Khoja . Figures indicated in the first three columns below are based on the October 2009 demographic study by the Pew Research Center report, Mapping the Global Muslim Population . The Shia community throughout its history split over the issue of the Imamate. The largest branch are the Twelvers , followed by the Zaydīs and the Ismāʿīlīs . Each subsect of Shīʿīsm follows its own line of Imamate. All mainstream Twelver and Ismāʿīlī Shia Muslims follow

15624-716: The cousins Qarib ibn Murra al-Azdi and Zuhhaff ibn Zahr al-Tayyi . In 672/673 they rebelled in Basra with a 70-strong band. They are reported to have been involved in the random killing ( isti'rad ) of people in the streets and mosques of Basra before being cornered in a house, where they were eventually killed and their bodies crucified. Afterward, Ziyad is reported to have severely persecuted their followers. Ibn Ziyad jailed any Kharijite whom he suspected of being dangerous and executed several Kharijite sympathizers who had publicly denounced him. Between their successive reigns, Ziyad and his son are said to have killed 13,000 Kharijites. As

15792-448: The death of Abd al-Malik, relations between the Ibadiyya leaders and Hajjaj deteriorated, as the former became inclined towards activism ( khuruj ) . Hajjaj consequently exiled some of them to Oman and imprisoned others. Abu Ubayda, who was released after the death of Hajjaj in 714, became the next leader of the Ibadiyya. After unsuccessfully attempting to win over the Umayyad caliphs to the Ibadi doctrine, he sent missionaries to propagate

15960-418: The divine guide, is a fundamental belief in the Twelver and Ismāʿīlī branches of Shia Islam, and is based on the concept that God would not leave humanity without access to divine guidance. In Shia Islam, Imam Mahdi is regarded as the prophesied eschatological redeemer of Islam who will rule for seven, nine, or nineteen years (according to differing interpretations) before the Day of Judgment and will rid

16128-464: The divine law and its esoteric meaning . The words and deeds of Muhammad and the Imams are a guide and model for the community to follow; as a result, they must be free from error and sin, and must be chosen by divine decree ( nass ) through Muhammad. According to this view peculiar to Shia Islam, there is always an Imam of the Age, who is the divinely appointed authority on all matters of faith and law in

16296-486: The doctrine in different parts of the empire. Almost simultaneously, the Sufriyya also spread into North Africa and southern Arabia through missionary activity. Through absorption into the Ibadiyya, the Sufriyya eventually became extinct. Ibadi sources too are more or less in line with this scheme, where the Ibadiyya appear as the true successors of the original Medinese community and the early, pre-Second-Fitna Kharijites, though Ibn Ibad does not feature prominently and Jabir

16464-468: The early eighth century, a proto-Ibadi movement emerged from the Basran moderates. Missionaries were sent to propagate the doctrine in different parts of the empire including Oman, Yemen, Hadramawt, Khurasan , and North Africa. During the final years of the Umayyad Caliphate, the Ibadi propaganda movement caused several revolts in the periphery of the empire, though the leaders in Basra adopted

16632-457: The emergence of 73 sects in Islam, of which one would be saved ( al-firqa al-najiya ) and the rest doomed as deviant, the heresiographers were mainly concerned with classifying what they considered to be deviant sects and their heretical doctrines. Consequently, views of certain sects were altered to fit into classification schemes, and sometimes fictitious sects were invented. Moreover, the reports are often confused and contradictory, rendering

16800-472: The end of the 9th century CE. The 10th century CE has been referred to by the scholar of Islamic studies Louis Massignon as "the Shiite Ismaili century in the history of Islam". The Shia, originally known as the "partisans" of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib , Muhammad's cousin and Fatima 's husband, first emerged as a distinct movement during the First Fitna from 656 to 661 CE. Shia doctrine holds that ʿAlī

16968-401: The entire Muslim community in justice, but also in interpreting the Islamic faith, practices, and its esoteric meaning. ʿAlī is regarded as a " perfect man " ( Arabic : الإنسان الكامل , romanized :  al-insan al-kamil ) similar to Muhammad, according to the Shīʿīte perspective. The Occultation is an eschatological belief held in various denominations of Shīʿa Islam concerning

17136-402: The event of Ghadir Khumm , but that after Muhammad's death, Ali was prevented from succeeding as leader of the Muslims as a result of the choice made by some of Muhammad's other companions ( صحابة , ṣaḥāba ) at Saqifah . This view primarily contrasts with that of Sunni Islam , whose adherents believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor before his death and consider Abu Bakr , who

17304-642: The family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . It embodies a completely independent system of religious interpretation and political authority in the Muslim world . Shīʿa Muslims believe that just as a prophet is appointed by God alone, only God has the prerogative to appoint the successor to his prophet. They believe God chose ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib to be Muhammad's successor and the first caliph ( Arabic : خليفة , romanized :  khalifa ) of Islam. Shīʿa Muslims believe that Muhammad designated Ali as his successor by God's command on several instances, but most notably at Eid Al Ghadir . Additionally, ʿAlī

17472-649: The following annual holidays: After Mecca and Medina , the two holiest cities of Islam , the cities of Najaf , Karbala , Mashhad and Qom are the most revered by Shīʿa Muslims. The Sanctuary of Imām ʿAlī in Najaf, the Shrine of Imam Ḥusayn in Karbala, The Sanctuary of Imam Reza in Mashhad and the Shrine of Fāṭimah al-Maʿṣūmah in Qom are very essential for Shīʿa Muslims. Other venerated pilgrimage sites include

17640-668: The governor al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba . The best known of these revolts was that of al-Mustawrid ibn Ullafa , who was recognized as caliph by the Kufan Kharijites in 663. With about 300 followers, he left Kufa and moved to Behrasir . There, he confronted the deputy governor Simak ibn Ubayd al-Absi and invited him to denounce Uthman and Ali "who had made innovations in the religion and denied the holy book". Simak refused and al-Mustawrid, instead of engaging him directly, decided to exhaust and fragment Simak's forces by forcing them into pursuit. Moving onto Madhar near Basra, al-Mustawrid

17808-486: The grave sin of rejecting God's judgment ( hukm ) and attempted to substitute human judgment for God's clear injunction, which prompted their motto 'judgment belongs to God alone'. From this expression, which they were the first to adopt as a motto, they became known as the Muhakkima . Ali visited the Harura camp and attempted to regain the dissidents' support, arguing that it was they who had forced him to accept

17976-514: The hadith attributed to the Ahl al-Bayt and close associates, and most have their own separate hadith canon . Shīʿa Muslims believe that the armaments and sacred items of all of the Abrahamic prophets , including Muhammad , were handed down in succession to the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt . Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq , the 6th Shīʿīte Imam , in Kitab al-Kafi mentions that "with me are the arms of

18144-426: The historian Fred Donner believes that Kharijite poetry may have suffered a lesser and "different kind" of interpolation than the historical accounts about the Kharijites. According to Hagemann, poetry is seemingly "the only genuinely Khārijite material" in existence. A modern compilation of Kharijite poetry was published by Ihsan Abbas in 1974. Most Kharijite leaders in the Umayyad period were Arabs. Of these,

18312-501: The historiographical category include the History of al-Tabari (d. 923), Ansab al-Ashraf of al-Baladhuri (d. 892), al-Kamil of al-Mubarrad (d. 899), and Muruj al-Dhahab of al-Mas'udi (d. 956). Other notable sources include the histories of Ibn Athir (d. 1233), and Ibn Kathir (d. 1373), but these have drawn most of their material from al-Tabari. The core of the information in these historiographical sources

18480-508: The homeland of his Banu Hanifa tribe. He became leader of Abu Talut's Kharijite faction, which became known as the Najdat after him. Najda took control of Bahrayn , repulsing a 14,000-strong Zubayrid army deployed against him. His lieutenant, Atiyya ibn al-Aswad , captured Oman from the local Julanda rulers, though the latter reasserted their control after a few months. Najda seized Hadramawt and Yemen in 687 and later captured Ta'if ,

18648-547: The imams chosen are free from committing any sin, impeccability which is called ismah . These leaders must be followed since they are appointed by God. Here follows a list of the Twelvers Shia imams: (splitting open knowledge) (the Trustworthy) Fatimah , also Fatimah al-Zahraa, daughter of Muhammed (615–632), is also considered infallible but not an Imam. The Shi'a believe that the last Imam,

18816-405: The khurūj [rebellion]". The poet Abu'l-Wazi al-Rasibi addressed Ibn al-Azraq, before the latter became activist, with the lines: Your tongue does no harm to the enemy you will only gain salvation from distress by means of your two hands. The government was often labelled as tyrannical and obedience to it was criticized. The Kharijite poet Isa ibn Fatik al-Khatti thus sang: You obeyed

18984-492: The leader authority over the community. If the leader committed a sin and deviated from the right path or failed to manage Muslims' affairs through justice and consultation, he was obliged to acknowledge his mistake and repent, or else he forfeited his right to rule and was subject to deposition. In the view of the Azariqa and the Najdat, Muslims had the duty to revolt against such a ruler. Almost all Kharijite groups considered

19152-460: The leaders of Medina and elected Abū Bakr as the first rāshidūn caliph. Abū Bakr served from 632 to 634, and was followed by Umar (634–644) and ʿUthmān (644–656). With the murder of ʿUthmān in 657 CE, the Muslims of Medina invited ʿAlī to become the fourth caliph as the last source, and he established his capital in Kufa . ʿAlī's rule over the early Islamic empire , between 656 CE to 661 CE,

19320-471: The leadership belonged to Ali and his descendants. The Kharijites held that the first four caliphs had not been elected for their Qurayshite descent or kinship with Muhammad, but because they were among the most eminent and qualified Muslims for the position, and hence were all legitimate caliphs. In particular, they had a high regard for Abu Bakr ( r.  632–634 ) and Umar ( r.  634–644 ) as, according to them, they governed justly. Uthman, on

19488-576: The leadership of Farwa ibn Nawfal al-Ashja'i of the Banu Murra , some 500 of them attacked Mu'awiya's camp at Nukhayla (a place outside Kufa) where he was taking the Kufans' oath of allegiance . In the ensuing battle, the Kharijites repelled the initial sortie by Mu'awiya's troops, but were eventually defeated and most of them killed. Seven more Kufan Kharijite uprisings, with rebel numbers in individual revolts varying between 20 and 400, were defeated by

19656-639: The legal aspects of rebellion". The Ibadi sources, on the other hand, are hagiographical and are concerned with preserving the group identity. Toward this purpose, stories are sometimes created, or real events altered, in order to romanticize and valorize early Kharijite revolts and their leaders as the anchors of the group identity. These too are hostile to other Kharijite groups. The sources, whether Ibadi, historiographical, or heresiographical, do not necessarily report events as they actually happened. They rather show how their respective authors viewed, and wanted their readers to view, these events. The sources in

19824-540: The major themes of their poetry were piety and martyrdom . The Kharijites of the eighth and ninth centuries participated in theological debates and, in the process, contributed to mainstream Islamic theology . What is known about Kharijite history and doctrines derives from non-Kharijite authors of the ninth and tenth centuries and is hostile toward the sect. The absence of the Kharijite version of their history has made unearthing their true motives difficult. Traditional Muslim historical sources and mainstream Muslims viewed

19992-575: The moderate movement. The moderates further split into the true Sufriyya and Ibadiyya only during the eighth century, with the main difference being tribal affiliations rather than doctrinal differences. During the Second Fitna, the moderates remained inactive. However, in the mid-690s they also started militant activities in response to persecution by Hajjaj. The first of their revolts was led in 695 by Ibn Musarrih, and ended in defeat and Ibn Musarrih's death. Afterward, this Kharijite group became

20160-529: The moderates, the Sufriyya and Bayhasiyya considered all non-Kharijite Muslims as unbelievers, but also abstained from taking up arms against them, unless necessary, and allowed intermarriage with them. The Ibadiyya, on the other hand, did not declare the non-Kharijites as polytheists or unbelievers in the general sense, rather as hypocrites ( kuffar bil-nifaq ), or ungrateful for God's blessings ( kuffar bil-ni'ma ). They also permitted marriages outside their own sect. The Azariqa and Najdat held that since

20328-552: The mosque—whenever prayer is performed in a group of two or more. The imam leads the worship and the congregation copies his actions. Friday sermons are most often given by an appointed imam. All mosques have an imam to lead the congregational prayers—even though it may sometimes just be a member from the gathered congregation rather than an officially appointed, salaried person. Women cannot be imams when men are present but are allowed to be when no men are present. An imam should be chosen, according to Hadith , based on his knowledge of

20496-527: The most militant Kharijite groups were gradually eliminated. They were replaced by the non-activist Ibadiyya , who survive to this day in Oman and some parts of North Africa. They, however, deny any links with the Kharijites of the Second Muslim Civil War and beyond, condemning them as extremists. The Kharijites believed that any Muslim, irrespective of his descent or ethnicity, qualified for

20664-580: The most prominent themes, though the themes of heroism and courage are also evident. Referring to his rebellion, Abu Bilal Mirdas said: "Fear of God and the dread of the fire made me go out, and selling my soul for which has no price [paradise]". Some poems encouraged militant activism. Imran ibn Hittan , whom the Arabist Michael Cooperson calls the greatest Kharijite poet, sang after Abu Bilal's death: "Abū Bilāl has increased my disdain for this life; and strengthened my love for

20832-953: The next year. Driven out by an Abbasid army in 761, Ibadi leaders founded a state, which became known as the Rustamid dynasty , in Tahart . It was overthrown in 909 by the Fatimids. Ibadi communities continue to exist today in the Nafusa Mountains in northwestern Libya, Djerba island in Tunisia and the M'zab valley in Algeria. In East Africa they are found in Zanzibar . Ibadi missionary activity also reached Persia, India, Egypt, Sudan, Spain and Sicily, although Ibadi communities in these regions disappeared over time. The total numbers of

21000-436: The orders of the stubborn tyrant but no obedience is due to oppressors. Many poems were written to eulogize fallen Kharijite activists, and thus represent the romanticized version of actual historical events. The Muhakkima are thus valorized and remembered at many places. The poet Aziz ibn al-Akhnas al-Ta'i eulogized them in the following lines: I complain to God that from every tribe of people, battle has annihilated

21168-401: The other hand, had deviated from the path of justice and truth in the latter half of his caliphate and was thus liable to be killed or deposed, whereas Ali committed a grave sin when he agreed to the arbitration with Mu'awiya. In contrast to the Umayyad idea that their rule was ordained by God, the Kharijite idea of leadership lacked any divine sanctioning; only correct attitude and piety granted

21336-605: The other life [with God] ( al-Akhirah )". Almost no primary Kharijite sources survive, except for works by authors from the sole surviving Kharijite sect of Ibadiyya , and excerpts in non-Kharijite works. As the latter are the main sources of information and date to later periods, the Kharijite material has suffered alterations and distortions during transmission, collection, and classification. Non-Kharijite sources fall mainly into two categories: histories and heresiographical works—the so-called firaq (sects) literature. The histories were written significantly later than

21504-483: The policy of kitman (also called taqiyya ); concealing beliefs so as to avoid persecution. In 745, Abd Allah ibn Yahya al-Kindi established the first Ibadi state in Hadramawt, and captured Yemen in 746. His lieutenant, Abu Hamza Mukhtar ibn Aws al-Azdi , later conquered Mecca and Medina . The Umayyads defeated and killed Abu Hamza and Ibn Yahya in 748 and the first Ibadi state collapsed. An Ibadi state

21672-718: The population in Pakistan , and 10–19% of Afghanistan 's population, and 45% in Bahrain . Saudi Arabia hosts a number of distinct Shia communities, including the Twelver Baharna in the Eastern Province and Nakhawila of Medina, and the Ismāʿīlī Sulaymani and Zaydī Shias of Najran . Estimations put the number of Shīʿīte citizens at roughly 15% of the local population. Approximately 40% of

21840-803: The population of Yemen are Shia Muslims. Significant Shia communities also exist in the coastal regions of West Sumatra and Aceh in Indonesia (see Tabuik ). The Shia presence is negligible elsewhere in Southeast Asia, where Muslims are predominantly Shāfiʿī Sunnīs. A significant Shia minority is present in Nigeria , made up of modern-era converts to a Shīʿīte movement centered around Kano and Sokoto states. Several African countries like Kenya , South Africa , Somalia , etc. hold small minority populations of various Shia subsects, primarily descendants of immigrants from South Asia during

22008-405: The position of a leader (imam) to be necessary. Many Kharijite leaders adopted the title of amir al-mu'minin , which was usually reserved for caliphs. An exception are the Najdat, who, as a means of survival, abandoned the requirement of war against non-Kharijites after their defeat in 692, and rejected that the imamate was an obligatory institution. The historian Patricia Crone has described

22176-475: The primary meaning "to leave" or "to get out", as in the basic word خرج , ḵẖaraja , "to go out". The term Khawarij is anglicized to 'Kharijites' from the singular Khariji . They called themselves al-Shurat ("the Exchangers"), which they understood within the context of Islamic scripture ( Quran 2:207 ) and philosophy to mean "those who have traded the mortal life ( al-Dunya ) for

22344-437: The process collapsed. Ali denounced the conduct of Abu Musa and Mu'awiya's lead arbitrator Amr ibn al-As as contrary to the Qur'an and the sunna , and rallied his supporters for a renewed war against Mu'awiya. He invited the Kharijites to join him as before. They refused, pending his acknowledgement of having gone astray and his repentance. Seeing no chance of reconciliation, Ali decided to depart for Syria without them. On

22512-487: The radical Azariqa and Najdat on the question of rebellion and separation from the non-Kharijites. Ibn Saffar and Ibn Ibad then disagreed amongst themselves as to the faith of the non-Kharijites, and thus came the two other sects: the Sufriyya and Ibadiyya. All the other uncategorized Kharijite subgroups are considered offshoots of the Sufriyya. In this scheme, the Kharijites of the Jazira region (north-western Iraq), including

22680-401: The reconciliation with the troops at Harura. In March 658, Ali sent a delegation, led by Abu Musa al-Ash'ari , to carry out the talks. The troops opposed to the arbitration thereafter condemned Ali's rule and elected the pious Abd Allah ibn Wahb al-Rasibi as their caliph. In order to evade detection, they moved out of Kufa in small groups and went to a place called Nahrawan on the east bank of

22848-561: The remainder left for the Yamama , in central Arabia, under the leadership of Abu Talut Salim ibn Matar . In the meantime, Ibn Ziyad was expelled by tribal chiefs in Basra, where inter-tribal strife ensued. Ibn al-Azraq and other militant Kharijites took over the city, killed the deputy left by Ibn Ziyad and freed 140 Kharijites from prison. Soon afterwards, the Basrans recognized Ibn al-Zubayr, who appointed Umar ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Ma'mar as

23016-402: The role of caliph , provided he was morally irreproachable. It was the duty of Muslims to rebel against and depose caliphs who sinned. Most Kharijite groups branded as unbelievers ( kuffar ; sing. kafir ) Muslims who had committed a grave sin, and the most militant declared killing of such unbelievers to be licit, unless they repented. Many Kharijites were skilled orators and poets, and

23184-604: The same school of thought, the Jaʽfari jurisprudence , named after Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq , the 6th Shīʿīte Imam . Shīʿīte clergymen and jurists usually carry the title of mujtahid (i.e., someone authorized to issue legal opinions in Shia Islam). Twelver Shīʿīsm or Ithnāʿashariyyah is the largest branch of Shia Islam, and the terms Shia Muslim and Shia often refer to the Twelvers by default. The designation Twelver

23352-695: The sayings and living habits attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad during his lifetime), and other areas of Islamic belief throughout the history of Islam . For instance, the hadith collections venerated by Shia Muslims are centered on narrations by members of the Ahl al-Bayt and their supporters, while some hadith transmitted by narrators not belonging to or supporting the Ahl al-Bayt are not included. Those of Abu Hurairah , for example, Ibn Asakir in his Taʿrikh Kabir , and Muttaqi in his Kanzuʿl-Umma report that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb lashed him, rebuked him, and forbade him to narrate ḥadīth from Muhammad. ʿUmar

23520-441: The slander was targeted at a male. The Azariqa instituted the practice of testing the faith of new recruits ( mihna ), which is said to have involved giving them a prisoner to kill. It was either an occasional practice, as held by Watt, or a later distortion by the heresiographers, as held by Lewinstein. One of the Kharijite groups also refused to recognize the sura (Qur'anic chapter) of Yusuf as being an original part of

23688-496: The statement unequivocally designates ʿAlī as Muhammad's appointed successor. Shia sources also record further details of the event, such as stating that those present congratulated ʿAlī and acclaimed him as Amir al-Mu'minin ("commander of the believers"). When Muhammad died in 632 CE, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Muhammad's closest relatives made the funeral arrangements. While they were preparing his body, Abū Bakr , ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb , and Abu Ubaidah ibn al Jarrah met with

23856-625: The status of ʿAlī is supported by numerous ḥadīth reports , including the Hadith of the pond of Khumm , Hadith of the two weighty things , Hadith of the pen and paper , Hadith of the invitation of the close families , and 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

24024-399: The term Shia refers to those who believe that ʿAlī is designated as the heir , Imam, and caliph by Muhammad and that ʿAlī's authority is maintained through his descendants. For the adherents of Shia Islam, this conviction is implicit in the Quran and the history of Islam . Shia Muslim scholars emphasize that the notion of authority is linked to the family of the Abrahamic prophets as

24192-434: The title of Amir al-Mu'minin ("commander of the believers"); Muawiyah will not nominate any successor. Ḥasan then retired to Medina , where in 670 CE he was poisoned by his wife Ja'da bint al-Ash'ath , after being secretly contacted by Muawiyah who wished to pass the caliphate to his own son Yazid and saw Ḥasan as an obstacle. Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī , ʿAlī's younger son and brother to Ḥasan, initially resisted calls to lead

24360-403: The troops of Hajjaj. The Kharijites had a scrupulous attitude towards non-Muslims, respecting their dhimmi (protected) status more seriously than others. Some of the Kharijites rejected the punishment of adultery with stoning , which is prescribed in other Islamic legal schools . Although the Qur'an does not prescribe this penalty, Muslims of other sects hold that such a verse existed in

24528-402: The way, however, he received news of the Kharijites' murder of a traveler, which then was followed by murder of his envoy, who had been sent to investigate. He was urged by his followers, who feared for their families and property in Kufa, to deal with the Kharijites first. After the Kharijites refused to surrender the murderers, Ali's men attacked their camp, inflicting a heavy defeat on them at

24696-588: The world of evil. According to Islamic tradition, the Mahdi's tenure will coincide with the Second Coming of Jesus (ʿĪsā), who is to assist the Mahdi against the Masih ad-Dajjal (literally, the "false Messiah" or Antichrist). Jesus, who is considered the Masih (" Messiah ") in Islam, will descend at the point of a white arcade east of Damascus , dressed in yellow robes with his head anointed. He will then join

24864-544: Was Muhammad's first-cousin and closest living male relative as well as his son-in-law, having married Muhammad's daughter, Fāṭimah . The Shīʿīte version of the Shahada ( Arabic : الشهادة‎ ), the Islamic profession of faith, differs from that of the Sunnīs . The Sunnī version of the Shahada states La ilaha illallah, Muhammadun rasulullah ( Arabic : لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا الله مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ الله , lit.   'There

25032-541: Was a groundswell of support in Kufa for Ḥusayn to return there and take his position as caliph and Imam, so Ḥusayn collected his family and followers in Medina and set off for Kufa. En route to Kufa, Husayn was blocked by an army of Yazid's men, which included people from Kufa, near Karbala ; rather than surrendering, Husayn and his followers chose to fight. In the Battle of Karbala , Ḥusayn and approximately 72 of his family members and followers were killed, and Husayn's head

25200-464: Was a non-Muslim. To the Kharijites, kufr implied a defective Muslim, or pseudo-Muslim, who rejected true Islam. The Azariqa held a more extreme position that such unbelievers were in fact polytheists and apostates who could not reenter Islam and could be killed, along with their women and children. Intermarriage between the Kharijites and such unbelievers was forbidden in the Azariqa doctrine. The Najdat allowed marriages with non-Kharijites. Of

25368-550: Was also used by the Zaidi Shia Imams of Yemen , who eventually founded the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (1918–1970). Sunni Islam does not conceive of the role of imams in the same sense as Shia Islam : an important distinction often overlooked by non-Muslims. In everyday terms, an imam for Sunni Muslims is the person charged with leading formal Islamic prayers ( Fard )—even in locations besides

25536-417: Was appointed caliph by a group of Muhammad's other companions at Saqifah, to be the first Rashidun ('rightful') caliph after Muhammad (632–634 CE). Shia Muslims' belief that Ali was the designated successor to Muhammad as Islam's spiritual and political leader later developed into the concept of Imamah , the idea that certain descendants of Muhammad, the Ahl al-Bayt ( أَهْل البَيْت , 'People of

25704-567: Was at first led by Sa'id ibn Bahdal al-Shaybani, and after his death from plague, Dahhak ibn Qays al-Shaybani. Joined by many more Sufriyya from other parts of the empire, he captured Kufa in April 745 and later Wasit , which had replaced Kufa as the regional capital under Hajjaj. At this stage even some Umayyad officials, including two sons of former caliphs ( Sulayman , son of Hisham and Abd Allah , son of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ), recognized him as caliph and joined his ranks. Dahhak captured Mosul, but

25872-486: Was delivered to Yazid in Damascus. The Shi'a community regard Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī as a martyr ( shahid ), and count him as an Imam from the Ahl al-Bayt . The Battle of Karbala and martyrdom of Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī is often cited as the definitive separation between the Shia and Sunnī sects of Islam . Ḥusayn is the last Imam following ʿAlī mutually recognized by all branches of Shia Islam. The martyrdom of Husayn and his followers

26040-564: Was established in Oman in 750 after the fall of Abu Yahya, but fell to the Abbasids in 752. It was followed by the establishment of another Ibadi state in 793, which survived for a century until the Abbasid recapture of Oman in 893. Abbasid influence in Oman was mostly nominal, and Ibadi imams continued to wield considerable power. Around a century later, Ibadi leader al-Khalil ibn Shathan al-Kharusi ( r.  1016–1029 ) reasserted control over

26208-479: Was established with a mandate to settle the dispute according to the Qur'an and the sunna . While most of Ali's army accepted the agreement, one group, which included many Tamim tribesmen, vehemently objected to the arbitration and raised the slogan 'judgment belongs to God alone' ( la hukma illa li-llah ). As Ali marched back to his capital at Kufa, widespread resentment toward the arbitration developed in his army. As many as 12,000 dissenters seceded from

26376-556: Was eventually killed along with 6,000 followers in 692 by Umayyad forces in Bahrayn. Politically exterminated, the Najdat retreated into obscurity and disappeared around the tenth century. According to the heresiographers' accounts, the original Kharijites split into four principal groups ( usul al-Khawarij ; the mother sects of all the later Kharijites sects), during the Second Fitna. A moderate group, headed by Abd Allah ibn Saffar (or Asfar) and Abd Allah ibn Ibad , disagreed with

26544-482: Was first used during Muhammad's lifetime. At present, the word refers to the Muslims who believe that the leadership of the Muslim community after Muhammad belongs to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib , Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, and his successors. Nawbakhti states that the term Shia refers to a group of Muslims who at the time of Muhammad and after him regarded ʿAlī as the Imam and caliph . Al-Shahrastani expresses that

26712-597: Was killed by the forces of the Caliph Marwan II in 746. His successor, Shayban ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Yashkuri, was driven out from Mosul by Marwan II and fled to Fars to join the Alid leader Abd Allah ibn Mu'awiya , who ruled in opposition to the Umayyads. Attacked there by the Umayyads, they dispersed and Shayban fled to Oman, where he was killed by the local leaders around 751. Under the Abbasids , who had toppled

26880-463: Was meant to lead the community after Muhammad's death in 632. Historians dispute over the origins of Shia Islam , with many Western scholars positing that Shīʿīsm began as a political faction rather than a truly religious movement. Other scholars disagree, considering this concept of religious-political separation to be an anachronistic application of a Western concept. Shia Muslims believe that Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his heir during

27048-473: Was often contested. Tensions eventually led to the First Fitna , the first major civil war between Muslims within the empire, which began as a series of revolts fought against ʿAlī. While the rebels had previously affirmed the legitimacy of ʿAlī's khilafāʾ (caliphate), they later turned against ʿAlī and fought him. Tensions escalated into the Battle of the Camel in 656, where Ali's forces emerged victorious against Aisha , Talhah , and al-Zubayr . However,

27216-438: Was only one moderate Kharijite current, which might have been called "Sufri". According to the historian Keith Lewinstein, the term probably originated with the pious early Kharijites because of their pale-yellow appearance ( sufra ) caused by excessive worship. The moderates condemned the militancy of the Azariqa and Najdat, but otherwise lacked a set of concrete doctrines. Jabir and Abu Ubayda may have been prominent figures in

27384-408: Was overtaken by a 300-strong advance party of Simak's forces. Although al-Mustawrid was able to withstand this small force, he fled again toward Kufa when the main body of Simak's forces, under the command of Ma'qil ibn Qays, arrived. Eluding Ma'qil's advance guard of 600 men, al-Mustawrid led a surprise attack on Ma'qil's main force, destroying it. The advance guard returned in the meantime and attacked

27552-458: Was redeployed to suppress them. Although the Azariqa were not dislodged from Fars and Kirman, Muhallab prevented their advance into Iraq. Qatari minted his own coins and adopted the caliphal title amir al-mu'minin (commander of the faithful). After the Umayyads reconquered Iraq from the Zubayrids in 691, Umayyad princes took over the command from Muhallab, but were dealt severe defeats by

27720-469: Was sent to rein in the pro-Alid ruler of Kufa, Mukhtar al-Thaqafi , and was afterward appointed governor of Mosul to defend against possible Umayyad attacks from Syria. The Azariqa plundered al-Mada'in and then besieged Isfahan , but were defeated. They fled and eventually regrouped in Kirman . Reinvigorated by a new leader, Qatari ibn al-Fuja'a , the Azariqa attacked Basra's environs afterward and Muhallab

27888-446: Was the fourth successor to Abū Bakr, while Shia Muslims maintain that ʿAlī was the first divinely sanctioned "Imam", or successor of Muhammad. The seminal event in Shia history is the martyrdom at the Battle of Karbala of ʿAlī's son, Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī , and 71 of his followers in 680 CE, who led a non-allegiance movement against the defiant caliph. It is believed in Twelver and Ismāʿīlī branches of Shia Islam that divine wisdom ( ʿaql )

28056-450: Was the source of the souls of the prophets and Imams, which bestowed upon them esoteric knowledge ( ḥikmah ), and that their sufferings were a means of divine grace to their devotees. Although the Imam was not the recipient of a divine revelation ( waḥy ), he had a close relationship with God , through which God guides him, and the Imam, in turn, guides the people. Imamate , or belief in

28224-589: Was thus deposed for having gone astray and subsequently executed in 691. Atiyya had already broken from Najda and moved to Sistan in eastern Persia, and was later killed there or in Sind . In Sistan, his followers split into various sects, including the Atawiyya and the Ajarida. In Arabia, Abu Fudayk Abd Allah ibn Thawr took over the leadership of the Najdat and defeated several Zubayrid and later Umayyad attacks. He

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