History of Sunni-Shia Divisions: Ali, Hussein, Karbala

Home | Category: Muslim Groups / Arab Conquest After Muhammad / Shiites / Arab Conquest After Muhammad

HISTORY OF SUNNI-SHIA DIVISIONS

---

According to the BBC: “The division between Sunnis and Shi'as is the largest and oldest in the history of Islam. They both agree on the fundamentals of Islam and share the same Holy Book (The Qur'an), but there are differences mostly derived from their different historical experiences, political and social developments, as well as ethnic composition. These differences originate from the question of who would succeed the Prophet Muhammad as leader of the emerging Muslim community after his death. To understand them, we need to know a bit about the Prophet's life and political and spiritual legacy.” [Source: BBC]

Following the death of the Prophet in 632, the Muslim community failed to reach consensus on who should succeed him as the caliph. A majority of Muhammad's close followers supported the idea of an elected caliph, but a minority believed that leadership, or the imamate, should remain within the Prophet's family, passing first to Muhammad's cousin, son-in-law, and principal deputy, Ali ibn Abu Talib, and subsequently to Ali's sons and their male descendants. The majority, who believed they were following the sunna of the Prophet, became known as Sunni Muslims. To them, the caliph was the symbolic religious head of the community; however, caliphs would also rule as the secular leaders of a major empire for six centuries. [Source: Library of Congress *]

The first four caliphs — Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman, and Ali — were chosen by a consensus of Muslim leaders. Subsequently, however, the caliphate was converted by its holders into a hereditary office, the first two dynasties being the Umayyad, which ruled from Damascus, and the second being the Abbasid, which ruled from Baghdad. After the Mongols captured Baghdad and executed the Abbasid caliph in 1258, a period of more than 250 years followed when no one was recognized as caliph by all Sunni Muslims. During the sixteenth century, the Ottoman Dynasty resurrected the title, and gradually even Muslims outside the Ottoman Empire came to accept the Ottoman sultan as the symbolic leader — caliph — of Sunni Islam.*

The partisans of Ali — the Shiat Ali — evolved into a separate Islamic denomination that became known as the Shia. By the ninth century, however, the Shia Muslims split into numerous sects as a result of disagreements over which of several brothers was the legitimate leader, or imam , of the community. The major divisions occurred over the question of succession to the fourth, sixth, and twelfth imams. Consequently, the origins of almost all Shia sects can be traced to the followers of the fifth, seventh, or twelfth imam. By the fifteenth century, the sect known as the Twelve Imam Shia — a group that recognized Ali and eleven of his direct descendants as the legitimate successors to the Prophet — had emerged as the predominant Shia sect.*

In addition to the orthodox Twelve Imam Shia, several sects that revered the twelve imams but otherwise subscribed to heterodox beliefs and practices emerged between the ninth and twelfth centuries. One of these heterodox sects, the Nusayri, originated in the mid-ninth century among the followers of the religious teacher Muhammad ibn Nusayr an Namiri. The Nusayri became established in what is now northern Syria and southern Turkey during the tenth century when a Shia dynasty based in Aleppo ruled the region. Because of the special devotion of the Nusayri to Ali, Sunni Muslims historically and pejoratively referred to them as Alevi.*

Websites on Muslims Divisions Divisions in Islam archive.org ; Shi’a History and Identity shiism.wcfia.harvard.edu ; What is Shi'a Islam? iis.ac.uk ; Four Sunni Schools of Thought masud.co.uk ; History of Islam: An encyclopedia of Islamic history historyofislam.com ; Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World oxfordislamicstudies.com ; Sacred Footsetps sacredfootsteps.com ; Internet Islamic History Sourcebook fordham.edu/halsall/islam/islamsbook ; Islam IslamOnline islamonline.net ; Institute for Social Policy and Understanding ispu.org; Islam.com islam.com ; BBC article bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam ; Islam at Project Gutenberg gutenberg.org

After Muhammad

---

By his death in 632, Muhammad enjoyed the loyalty of almost all of Arabia. The peninsula's tribes had tied themselves to the Prophet with various treaties but had not necessarily become Muslim. The Prophet expected others, particularly pagans, to submit but allowed Christians and Jews to keep their faith provided they paid a special tax as penalty for not submitting to Islam. [Source: Helen Chapin Metz, ed. Saudi Arabia: A Country Study, U.S. Library of Congress, 1992 *]

For the first 30 years following the Prophet’s death, caliphs ruled the Islamic world from Yathrib, today known as Medina. Responding to threats from the Byzantine and Persian empires, the caliphs demanded allegiance from the Arab tribes. In a relatively short span of time, the Islamic empire expanded northward into present-day Spain, Pakistan, and the Middle East. However, maintaining unity proved to be a continual challenge. Following the death of the third caliph, Uthman, in 656, splits appeared in the burgeoning Islamic empire. The Umayyads (661–750) established a hereditary line of caliphs centered in Damascus. The Abbasids, claiming a different hereditary line, overthrew the Umayyads in 750 and moved the caliphate to Baghdad. Although the spiritual significance of Mecca and Medina remained constant, the political importance of Arabia in the Islamic world waned. [Source: Library of Congress, September 2006 **]

After Muhammad's death, his followers compiled those of his words regarded as coming directly from God into the Quran, the holy scriptures of Islam. Others of his sayings and teachings, recalled by those who had known him, became the hadith. The precedent of Muhammad's personal behavior is called the sunna. Together they form a comprehensive guide to the spiritual, ethical, and social life of the orthodox Sunni Muslim. [Source: Helen Chapin Metz, Library of Congress, 1988]

Abu Bakr, Ali and the Breakway of the Shias (Shia)

---

After Muhammad's death the leaders of the Muslim community consensually chose Abu Bakr (died in 634), the Prophet's father-in-law and one of his earliest followers, to succeed him. Abu Bakr maintained the loyalty of the Arab tribes by force, and in the battles that followed the Prophet's death--which came to be known as the apostasy wars--it became essentially impossible for an Arab tribesman to retain traditional religious practices. Arabs who had previously converted to Judaism or Christianity were allowed to keep their faith, but those who followed the old polytheistic practices were forced to become Muslims. In this way Islam became the religion of most Arabs. [Source: Helen Chapin Metz, ed. Saudi Arabia: A Country Study, U.S. Library of Congress, 1992 *]

After the Prophet's death, most Muslims acknowledged the authority of Abu Bakr but not all did. At that time some persons favored Ali, Muhammad's cousin and the husband of his daughter Fatima, but Ali and his supporters (the Shiat Ali, or Party of Ali) eventually recognized the community's choice. The next two caliphs (successors)--Umar, who succeeded in A.D.634, and Uthman, who took power in A.D.644--enjoyed the recognition of the entire community. When Ali finally succeeded to the caliphate in A.D.656, Muawiyah, governor of Syria, rebelled in the name of his murdered kinsman Uthman. After the ensuing civil war, Ali moved his capital to Iraq, where he was murdered shortly there after.

Ali's death ended the last of the so-called four orthodox caliphates and the period in which the entire community of Islam recognized a single caliph. Muawiyah proclaimed himself caliph from Damascus. The Shiat Ali refused to recognize him or his line, the Umayyad caliphs, and withdrew in the first great schism to establish the dissident sect, known as the Shias, supporting the claims of Ali's line to the caliphate based on descent from the Prophet. The larger faction, the Sunnis, adhered to the position that the caliph must be elected, and over the centuries they have represented themselves as the orthodox branch.

Leadership Claims After Muhammad’s Death

According to the BBC: “When the Prophet died in the early 7th century he left not only the religion of Islam but also a community of about one hundred thousand Muslims organised as an Islamic state on the Arabian Peninsula. It was the question of who should succeed the Prophet and lead the fledgling Islamic state that created the divide. [Source: BBC, August 19, 2009 |::|]

---

“The larger group of Muslims chose Abu Bakr, a close Companion of the Prophet, as the Caliph (politico-social leader) and he was accepted as such by much of the community which saw the succession in political and not spiritual terms. However another smaller group, which also included some of the senior Companions, believed that the Prophet's son-in-law and cousin, Ali, should be Caliph. They understood that the Prophet had appointed him as the sole interpreter of his legacy, in both political and spiritual terms. In the end Abu Bakr was appointed First Caliph. |::|

“Both Shi'as and Sunnis have good evidence to support their understanding of the succession. Sunnis argue that the Prophet chose Abu Bakr to lead the congregational prayers as he lay on his deathbed, thus suggesting that the Prophet was naming Abu Bakr as the next leader. The Shi'as' evidence is that Muhammad stood up in front of his Companions on the way back from his last Hajj, and proclaimed Ali the spiritual guide and master of all believers. Shi'a reports say he took Ali's hand and said that anyone who followed Muhammad should follow Ali. [Source: BBC, August 19, 2009 |::|]

“Muslims who believe that Abu Bakr should have been the Prophet's successor have come to be known as Sunni Muslims. Those who believe Ali should have been the Prophet's successor are now known as Shi'a Muslims. It was only later that these terms came into use. Sunni means 'one who follows the Sunnah' (what the Prophet said, did, agreed to or condemned). Shi'a is a contraction of the phrase 'Shiat Ali', meaning 'partisans of Ali'. |::|

“The use of the word "successor" should not be confused to mean that those leaders that came after the Prophet Muhammad were also prophets - both Shi'a and Sunni agree that Muhammad was the final prophet. |::|

Ali

Shia is a reference to Ali supporters. Ali ibn Abi Talib (Caliph from 656-61) was the forth caliph. Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, he was the husband of Muhammad's favorite daughter Fatima and grew up in Muhammad’s household.

Ali Medallion
Shia point to the close lifetime association of Muhammad with Ali. When Ali was six years old, he was invited by the Prophet to live with him, and Shia believe Ali was the first person to make the declaration of faith in Islam. Ali also slept in Muhammad's bed on the night of the hijra, or migration from Mecca to Medina, when it was feared that the house would be attacked by unbelievers and the Prophet stabbed to death. He fought in all the battles Muhammad did except one, and the Prophet chose him to be the husband of his favorite daughter, Fatima. [Source: Library of Congress]

Ali seemed like the natural choice to be the first caliph. He was closest male relative of Muhammad and the first male convert to Islam. He was regarded as a good soldier, charismatic, and pious, and was known for the wisdom of his judgements. A saying of the Prophet goes: “Ali is special to me and I am special to him; he is the supporting friend of every believer” — but because he was still young and inexperienced Abu Bakr was picked as the first caliph.

When Ali became caliph he established his capital in Kufa, Iraq. He was supported but the people of Medina, Muslims who resented the Umayyads, and traditionalist Muslims, but he was not universally accepted. The Umayyad elite opposed him and his rise to caliph. The assassination, which brought him to power compromised his authority. A civil war broke out soon after Ali became caliph between his supporters and those of Muawiya, a relative of Othman.

Ali and the Early History of Shia and Sunnis

The group that supported Ali as caliph became Shia (derived from “shi’at “Ali” , “the party of Ali,”). They believe that Ali was Muhammad’s true successor because he was a blood relative of the prophet and was thus the only one capable of explaining Islam’s doctrines. They believed the caliph should be selected among his family members because they were more intimately acquainted with Muhammad’s thinking and lifestyle.

Those that opposed Ali became Sunnis. They believed that the caliph, or leader of the Islamic community should be selected among the most qualified of his followers. Sunnis believed the heirs of Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman were best suited for the task even though they were not blood relatives like Ali.

The split between Sunni and Shia sects was also politically motivated like Henry VIII's split from the Catholic Church, and was partly a disputes over the wealth of the early Caliphs. One reason the conflict between the sects has persisted to this day, some have suggested, is because the two groups were never allowed to fight it out until one group extinguished the other.

Civil Wars After Ali Becomes Caliph

---

The murder of Othman and ascendancy of Ali to Caliph in 656 triggered a five-year civil war that was the first series of civil wars and rebellions that were to go on for over a hundred years over the succession to the caliphate and dominate Islamic doctrine.

The civil war erupted at least in part because of resentment by Arab tribal leaders over control by Othman and his Umayyad governors and a rivalry with the Meccan mercantile aristocracy as result of the conquests.

In 656, Aisha, the Prophet’s wife, led a rebellion against Ali because he didn’t avenge Othman’s death. Her supporters were defeated by Ali’s supporters near Basra in the Battle of the Camel, so called because Aisha watched over the fighting from the back of a camel.

This battle triggered a face off between Ali’s Iraq-based supporters and the Meccan- and Syrian-based supporters of Muawiyyah ibn Abi Sufyan, an Othman relative and the Muslim military governor of Syria. Muawiyyah had promised to avenge Othman’s death and was supported by the wealthy Meccan clans and was regarded in Syria as an able leader.

In 657, an effort was made to arbitrate the dispute between Ali and Muawiyyah. Muawiyyah used the doctrine of per-destination to legitimize his rule. The decision went against Ali. Muawiyyah deposed him and was proclaimed the Caliph in Jerusalem.

Division Emerges and Grows

According to the BBC: “Ali did not initially pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr. A few months later, and according to both Sunni and Shi'a belief, Ali changed his mind and accepted Abu Bakr, in order to safeguard the cohesion of the new Islamic State. “The Second Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab, was appointed by Abu Bakr on his death, followed by the third Caliph, Uthman ibn 'Affan, who was chosen from six candidates nominated by Umar. [Source: BBC, August 19, 2009 |::|]

Ali slays Marhab
“Ali was eventually chosen as the fourth Caliph following the murder of Uthman. He moved the capital of the Islamic state from Medina to Kufa in Iraq. However, his Caliphate was opposed by Aisha, the favoured wife of the Prophet and daughter of Abu Bakr, who accused Ali of being lax in bringing Uthman's killers to justice. In 656 CE this dispute led to the Battle of the Camel in Basra in Southern Iraq, where Aisha was defeated. Aisha later apologised to Ali but the clash had already created a divide in the community. |::|

“Islam's dominion had already spread to Syria by the time of Ali's caliphate. The governor of Damascus, Mu'awiya, angry with Ali for not bringing the killers of his kinsman Uthman to justice, challenged Ali for the caliphate. The famous Battle of Siffin in 657 demonstrates the religious fervour of the time when Mu'awiya's soldiers flagged the ends of their spears with verses from the Qur'an. [Source: BBC, August 19, 2009 |::|]

“Ali and his supporters felt morally unable to fight their Muslim brothers and the Battle of Siffin proved indecisive. Ali and Mu'awiya agreed to settle the dispute with outside arbitrators. However this solution of human arbitration was unacceptable to a group of Ali's followers who used the slogan "Rule belongs only to Allah", justified by the Qur'anic verse: “The decision is for Allah only. He telleth the truth and He is the Best of Deciders” — Qur'an

“This group, known as the Kharijites, formed their own sect that opposed all contenders for the caliphate. In 661 the Kharijites killed Ali while he was praying in the mosque of Kufa, Iraq. In the years that followed, the Kharijites were defeated in a series of uprisings. Around 500,000 descendents of the Kharijites survive to this day in North Africa, Oman and Zanzibar as a sub-sect of Islam known as the Ibadiyah. |::|

Ali’s Death

---

Ali was murdered by a knife-carrying assassin on his way to a mosque in Kufa, near Najaf in Iraq in A.D. 661. The assassination was carried out by a member of the Kharajites, a group that had originally supported Ali but seceded from Ali’s camp when Muawiyyah declared himself caliph. The assassination is a focus of Shia reverence and grief.

For some Muslims Ali became a more important religious figure than even Muhammad and some claimed he was an incarnation of the divine, like Jesus, a scandalous idea to many Muslims. No fewer than seven places in the Middle East and Central Asia say they contain the tomb of Ali. One of them is in the Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan.

Ali’s supporters acclaimed his son Hasan as the next Caliph but Hasan made a deal with Muawiyyah (Mu'awiya) and retired to Medina. Hasan died in Medina in 669. Muawiyyah (Caliph from 661-80) became the recognized caliph after Hasan’s retirement. He moved the capital from Kufa to Damascus, Syria and established the Umayyad dynasty (A.D. c.670-750 CE). The name is derived from Bani Umayyah, My'awiyah's clan within Muhammad's Quraysh tribe. Muawiyyah was the son of Abu Sufyan, an old enemy of Muhammad, and was the Governor of Syria.

After Ali’s death, Muawiyyah managed to restore unity to the Muslim empire. He was a good Muslim and able leader and kept order with an effective administration system and a strong government. . Unlike his predecessors who maintained a high level of egalitarianism in the Islamic state, Mu'awiya's Caliphate was monarchical. This set the tone for the fledgling Ummayad dynasty.

Yazid I, Hussein and the Battle of Karabala

Yazd I (Caliph from 680-683) succeeded his father Muawiyyah as caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. By that time, after years of civil war, as well as wars of expansion, the Arab Umayyad dynasty established its rule over a region that stretched from the Middle East to North Africa from A.D. 661 to 750. But there were those who decried Umayyad rule. There was great resistance to the establishment of a dynasty. A civil war broke out that lasted from 680 to 692.

About the time Yazd I became leader, Hussein, Ali's youngest son from his marriage to Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, and the third Shi'a Imam, was invited by the people of Kufa in Iraq to become their leader. Kufa was a garrison town near Najaf and the Kufans sked Hussein lead them in a revolt against the Umayyad caliph in Damascus. According to the BBC: “ Hussein set off for Kufa from his home in Medina with his followers and family, but was met by Yazid's forces in Karbala before reaching his destination. Despite being hopelessly outnumbered, Hussein and his small number of companions refused to pay allegiance to Yazid and were killed in the ensuing battle. Hussein is said to have fought heroically and to have sacrificed his life for the survival of Shi'a Islam. [Source: BBC, August 19, 2009]

Battle of Karbala
“The Battle of Karbala is one of the most significant events in Shi'a history, from which Shi'a Islam draws its strong theme of martyrdom. It is central to Shi'a identity even today and is commemorated every year on the Day of Ashura. Millions of pilgrims visit the Imam Hussein mosque and shrine in Karbala and many Shi'a communities participate in symbolic acts of self- flagellation. |::|

Edith Szanto wrote: Umayyad forces first put down the unrest in Kufa and then met and killed Hussain and his men on the desert plains of Karbala. For Shia Muslims, Hussain was their third imam, a worldly and spiritual leader whose direct relationship to Muhammad gave him special status and authority.After Hussain’s death, a tomb was soon built which attracted devotees and benefactors. Najaf is where Hussain’s father, Ali, lies buried. [Source:Edith Szanto, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of Alabama, The Conversation, September 9, 2020]

Hussein's Death on the Plains of Karbala

Shia considered the Umayyads to be usurpers. In 680 some of them called on Hussein (Husayn), the second son of Ali and the grandson of Muhammad, and his half brother Abbas to come to Kufah, Iraq to lead them instead of Yazid I.

Hussein left Medina with a small army and some women and children. They marched for three days in the Iraqi desert and were surrounded by Umayyad soldiers outside of Karbala. When the promised popular support from Kufah failed to materialize, they were left alone, it is said, with a sword in one hand and a Qur’an in the other. to face an army of 4,000 men.

Hussein and Abbas and their followers were massacred. According to legend, the followers were put to death one by one as Hussein resolved to die rather than acknowledge Yazid I as the leader of Islam. Hussein was reportedly the last one to die, dying with his infant son in his hands.

Before he was decapitated Hussein witnessed the murder of his wife and children and apologized to his horse. In some versions of the story his head was kicked around like a soccer ball. But rather than the nip the Shia movement at the bud Hussein’s defeat it gave the movement a martyr. In Shia eyes, Hussein was a just and humane man who stood up an all-powerful oppressor. Hussein’s death is remembers with the solemn, masochistic festival of Ashura (See Shia).

Impact of the Death of Ali and Hussein

Hussein's body without head
The Battle of Karbala is one of the defining moments of Muslim history. The death of Hussein split Islam and inspired the Shia faith, and marked the beginning of the Sunni sect and the relegation of Shia to second class status. Hussein is remembered for his sacrifice and devotion. Shia believe that he and the other victims of the Battle of Karbala became martyrs who went immediately to Paradise. Hussein is regarded as the Third Imam of Shia Islam. Images of him often depict him as a bearded warrior astride a white horse.

The Sunnis placed the unity of the Muslim community above all else and were willing to accept the political authority necessary to maintain it. The Shia believed that supporting a legitimate ruler (Ali) had precedence over maintaining peace within the Muslim community. A third group also emerged: the Kharijites, or Seceders, who advocated the right of the Community to elect its own leaders and throw them out if they were accused of committing sins.

Divisions between Sunnis, Shia and other groups were reinforced and deepened by repeated suppression of armed revolts. Over time a division that was essentially political in nature developed theology, laws and beliefs that distinguished one group from the other, always with the understanding the Sunni view was the view of the majority and Shia were the minority, with the implication that were cultish and on the fringe.

There has been some assertions that the Sunnis were largely Arab and the Shia were primarily Persian. That is not necessarily true. There are many Shia Arabs in Iraq and Lebanon and elsewhere. Shia Islam did not become the state religion of Iran until the 16th century.

The death of Ali and Hussein also resulted in a lot of soul searching about what Islam was supposed to be. In many these issues have not been resolved and discussion of them continues today. Among the question that are still debated are: Does being a Muslim mean total submission to God and adherence to Muslim law? Is there a place for free will, rationalism and individuality? Is Islam something that is ultimately to be embraced by all of mankind or can it exist as a community with other religions? On top of that, who is to rule over Muslims? How are these leaders to be chosen? What qualities do they need to possess? And how is change and poor leadership to be handled?

Sunni Expansion and Leadership

head of Hussein
According to the BBC: “As Islam expanded from the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula into the complex and urban societies of the once Roman and Persian empires, Muslims encountered new ethical dilemmas that demanded the authority of religious answers. Sunni Islam responded with the emergence of four popular schools of thought on religious jurisprudence (fiqh). These were set down in the 7th and 8th centuries CE by the scholars of the Hanbali, Hanafi, Maliki and Shaafii schools. Their teachings were formulated to find Islamic solutions to all sorts of moral and religious questions in any society, regardless of time or place and are still used to this day. [Source: BBC, August 19, 2009 |::|]

“The Ummayad dynasty was followed by the Abbasid dynasty (c. 758-1258 CE). In these times the Caliphs, in contrast to the first four, were temporal leaders only, deferring to religious scholars (or uleama) for religious issues. |::|

“Sunni Islam continued through the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties to the powerful Mughal and Ottoman empires of the 15th to 20th centuries. It spread east through central Asia and the Indian sub-continent as far as the Indonesian archipelago, and west towards Africa and the periphery of Europe. The Sunnis emerged as the most populous group and today they make up around 85% of the one billion Muslims worldwide. |::|

Kharijites and the Origin of the Shia

The first identifiable sect of Islam was the Kharijite sect, a Shia denomination that remains relatively unknown among non-Islamic people. The Kharijites arose from events surrounding the assassination of Uthman, the third caliph, and the transfer of authority to the fourth caliph, Ali. In the war between Ali and Muawiyah, part of Ali's army objected to arbitration of the dispute. They left Ali's camp, causing other Muslims to refer to them as "kharijites" (the ones who leave). The term Kharijites also became a designation for Muslims who refused to compromise with those who differed from them. Their actions caused the Sunni community to consider them assassins. [Source: Library of Congress]

See Kajarites Under OLD AND SMALL SHIA (SHIITE) SECTS africame.factsanddetails.com

The more orthodox Shia sect originated in circumstances similar to those of the Kharijite movement. Shia believed that Ali should have led the Muslim community immediately after the Prophet. They were frustrated three times, however, when the larger Muslim community selected first Abu Bakr, next Umar (died in 644), and then Uthman as caliph. When Ali finally became caliph in 656, the Shia refused to accept claims to the caliphate from other Muslim leaders such as Muawiyah. [Source: Helen Chapin Metz, ed. Saudi Arabia: A Country Study, U.S. Library of Congress, 1992 *]

The dispute between Ali and Muawiyah was never resolved. Muawiyah returned to Syria while Ali remained in Iraq, where he was assassinated by a Kharijite follower in 660. Muawiyah assumed the caliphate, and Ali's supporters transferred their loyalty to his two sons, Hasan and Husayn. Whereas Hasan more or less declined to challenge Muawiyah, Husayn was less definitive. When Muawiyah's son, Yazid, succeeded his father, Husayn refused to recognize his authority and set out for Iraq to raise support. He was intercepted by a force loyal to Yazid. When Husayn refused to surrender, his entire party, including women and children, was killed at Karbala in southeastern Iraq.*

The killing of Husayn provided the central ethos for the emergence of the Shia as a distinct sect. Eventually, the Shia would split into several separate denominations based on disputes over who of Ali's direct male descendants should be the true spiritual leader. The majority came to recognize a line of twelve leaders, or Imams, beginning with Ali and ending with Muhammad al Muntazar (Muhammad, the awaited one). These Shia, who are often referred to as "Twelvers," claimed that the Twelfth Imam did not die but disappeared in 874. They believe that he will return as the "rightly guided leader," or Mahdi, and usher in a new, more perfect order.*

The Shia minority in Saudi Arabia, like the Shia in southern Iraq, traces its origin to the days of Ali. A second Shia group, the Ismailis, or the Seveners, follow a line of Imams that originally challenged the Seventh Iman and supported a younger brother, Ismail. The Ismaili line of leaders has been continuous down to the present day. The current Imam, Sadr ad Din Agha Khan, who is active in international humanitarian efforts, is a direct descendant of Ali.*

Although present-day Saudi Arabia has no indigenous Ismaili communities, an important Ismaili center existed between the ninth and eleventh centuries in Al Hufuf, in eastern Arabia. The Ismailis of Al Hufuf were strong enough in 930 to sack the major cities of Iraq, and they were fanatical enough to attack Mecca and remove the sacred stone of the Kaaba, the central shrine of the Islamic pilgrimage. The pilgrimage was suspended for several years and resumed only after the stone was replaced, following the caliph's agreement to pay the Ismailis a ransom.*

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Internet Islamic History Sourcebook: sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Arab News, Jeddah; “Islam, a Short History” by Karen Armstrong; “A History of the Arab Peoples” by Albert Hourani (Faber and Faber, 1991); Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, BBC, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The New Yorker, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Library of Congress and various books and other publications.

Last updated April 2024

---