Shia Islam

The branch holding that rightful leadership passed through the Prophet's family.

from c. 660 CE · Iran, Iraq & beyond · Abrahamic

Shia Islam holds that after Muhammad, authority rightly passed to his cousin and son-in-law Ali and a line of divinely guided Imams. Its largest group, the Twelvers, awaits the return of the hidden twelfth Imam, the Mahdi, to bring justice. Marked by deep devotion to the family of the Prophet and the commemoration of Ashura, it predominates in Iran and Iraq and gave rise to further movements including the Druze and Bahá'í.

Key figures

• Ali ibn Abi Talib
• The Imams
• The awaited Mahdi

Texts

• Qur’an & Shia Hadith

Beliefs

• Leadership belongs to the Prophet’s family
• The Imams as divinely guided
• The return of the hidden Imam

Rituals

• The Five Pillars
• Mourning of Ashura
• Pilgrimage to the Imams’ shrines

Grew from

• Islam

Connections in the atlas

• Hasan-i Sabbah
• Karbala and the Shrine of Imam Husayn
• Ahmadiyya
• The king who will return
• Nahj al-Balagha (Peak of Eloquence)
• Zulfiqar (sword of Ali)
• The Hajj roads
• Jinn
• ▶ Islam’s two branches
• The Berbers (Amazigh)
• Pilgrimage (ritual)
• The messiah or saviour