The origins of Shi’a Islam date back to the earliest times of the religion. However, the separation is mainly political in nature; in religious areas the differences are not enormous. The biggest distinction is the Shi’ites’ belief in an Imam.
Ali
To understand the origins of the Shi’ites, it is good to go back to the beginning of Islam and the prophet Mohammed (pbuh). Muhammad (pbuh) was more than a prophet, he had organized the Arab tribes into an enduring military and political power, which within a hundred years of his death in 632 AD. had penetrated to Spain and Morocco in the west and to the Indus in the east. Muhammad died without naming a successor. Ali, the husband of Muhammad’s daughter Fatima, claimed the caliphate, but Abu Bakr, one of Muhammad’s companions, won the battle and became the first caliph (khalifat rasul-Allah means successor to the prophet of God). . He was succeeded by Umar and the latter by Uthman, an old, feeble man, but a member of the powerful Umayyad family of Mecca. Tribal tensions in the ever-growing empire led to rebellion and Uthman was assassinated in 656.
Hassan and Hussein
Once again Ali set himself up as successor, he was not only the son-in-law of the Prophet, but also a learned and upright man. His supporters considered the Umayyads merely power-hungry opportunists. However, both parties had political and economic aspirations in their struggle for power. Ali was forced to fight, but his decision to negotiate at the Battle of Saffin created many enemies and in 661 he was murdered by a former follower. His son and successor Hassan almost immediately yielded to Mu’awiya, the governor of Syria and related to Uthman, and became the new caliph. The Shi’ites (Shi’at Ali means the party of Ali) sought support from Hussein, Ali’s second son, the grandson of Muhammad (pbuh). However, in 680, Hussein was defeated at the battle of Kerbala, Iraq. For the Shiites, Hussein became a martyr, and to this day they commemorate his death, with some wounding themselves to the point of bleeding.
Imam
The imam plays a central role in Shi’a Islam. The status of the imam among the Shi’ites is different from the role of the caliph among the Sunnis. The caliph is the political and spiritual head of the Sunni community. However, the Shi’a imam is not only of political and spiritual significance, he is seen as infallible and free from sin and his unique position makes it possible for him to intercede between people and God.
The fractures within the Shi’ite branch almost all have to do with the question of who will be the successor to the Imamate. Some groups have now developed such a deviating tradition that they are no longer seen by the rest of the Shi’ites as part of the Islamic tradition.
Twelver Shi’ites and the ,Mahdi,
The main group of Shi’ites are ‘twelver’ Shi’ites, who believe in twelve imams or caliphs, with Ali Hassan and Hussein being the first three. The ‘twelver’ or Imamiyyah (including in Iran and Iraq) believe that there were twelve legitimate imams. With the exception of Hussein, who succeeded his brother, the imamate is passed on from father to son. The twelfth imam, however, had no sons and died without appointing a successor. According to Shi’ite tradition, this imam is not dead but ‘hidden’. One day he will return and establish peace on earth. This twelfth imam is called the ‘Mahdi’.
The first schisms
The first schism that took place in the eighth century was led by Zeid bin Ali, son of the fourth Imam and half-brother of the fifth Imam. Zeid claimed that the imamate did not necessarily belong to the eldest son, but to the descendant with the most capabilities. Zeid’s followers became known as ‘Zeidis’, and communities of Zeidis can be found in Yemen to this day.
A second schism in the eighth century resulted from a conflict over the succession of the sixth imam. Isma’il, son of the sixth Imam al-Sadiq, died before his father and al-Sadiq appointed another son as his successor. Some followers disagreed with this choice. One group did not believe that Isma’il was dead and thought he was ‘hidden’, only to return as the ‘Mahdi’. Another group believed he was dead, but wanted Isma’il’s son Muhammad to become his successor.
The Fatimid
A much greater influence than the previous schisms was the rise of the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt. In the early tenth century they established their dynasty there claiming direct descendants of Ali through Isma’il. As direct descendants they claimed the Imamate. The Fatimid dynasty lasted from 909 to 1171 and they were the rivals of the Abbasids in Baghdad. Of the Isma’ilis living in Iraq and Arabia, some recognized the authority of the Fatimids. Others, however, continued to see Muhammad, the son of Isma’il, as the true Imam. This group, known as the Qarmarti, survived only until the fourteenth century. The next schism led to the rise of the Druze (see another article).
At the end of the eleventh century, the Isma’ilis split into two groups, the Nizayriyyah and the Musta’iliyyah, named after the two sons of the Fatimid Imam al-Mustansir in 1094. These two fought after the death of their father for the Imamate, with Musta’il winning and imprisoning and executing his brother. Nizar’s followers fled to Iran and from there they swarmed to India, where they are now called Khojas. Descendants of Musta’il remained in power in Egypt until the fall of the Fatimid Empire. To date, Musta’illis can be found in India, China, Russia and Southeast Asia.
The aforementioned Imamiyyah group also split into a number of new sects. First of all there are the Nusairis, followers of the eleventh imam al-Hasan al-Askari and his disciple Ibn Nusair. However, the sect seems to have been mainly organized by one al-Khasibi, who died in Aleppo in 969. His grandson al-Tabarani moved to Latakkia on the Syrian coast where he refined the religion and with his followers made many converts in the region.
Babi a Baha’i
The Imamiyyah tradition remained fairly stable until the nineteenth century. However, at that time, due to the advent of a new millennium, a number of new sects emerged, heralding the arrival of the Hidden Imam. The Babis, one of the sects, was led by Mohammed Shirazi, who first claimed to be the ‘Bab’ (meaning door or gate) for the Hidden Imam and then claimed to be the Hidden Imam himself. This led to his arrest and execution in 1850. In 1863, one of Shirazi’s followers, Mirza Hussein al-Nuri, claimed that he was the hidden Imam announced by Shirazi. Shirazi claimed that God could take many forms and that he was his last (but not the last) appearance. Since that time, the Baha’i faith has expanded into a worldwide religion, which, however, no longer has much to do with Islam. Baha’is do not see themselves as Muslims and Muslims do not consider them as such.