20 Informational Facts About Shia Sect Of Islam

Through these interesting facts about the Shia sect, one of the three major sects of Islam, we’ll learn some important points related to Shi’ism and its history.

Shi’ism Facts

1. The word “Karbala” is a combination of two Arabic words: karab, meaning destruction or devastation, and bala, meaning tribulation or distress.

2. Ashura is the most solemn date in the Shia calendar—the equivalent of Yom Kippur or Easter Sunday. Every year at Ashura, the ten-day commemoration of what happened at Karbala, the Shia community mourns the tragic death of Imam Ali’s son Hussein.

3. In Shia Islam, the role of the imam is very important. The word “imam” literally means “he who stands in front.”

4. In Shi’ism, Ali was and has always been the first rightful successor to Prophet Muhammad. In fact, Ali was the first of the twelve Imams.

5. Iraq is known as the cradle of Shia Islam.

A brief information about Shia Islam.

6. In Shia Islam, Hasan, the eldest son of Ali, is revered as the second Imam.

7. Jaafar al-Sadiq, the sixth and most influential Imam and the great-grandson of the third Imam Hussein, formalized the Karbala rituals and established the principles of Shi’ism’s main school of law. The Jafari school.

8. The Shrines of Ali in Najaf and the twin shrines of Hussein and his half brother Abbas in Karbala attract the greatest number of Shi’ism adherents.

9. The Askariya shrine in Samarra has greater significance in Shi’ism. Because not only the tenth and eleventh Imams are buried there. But the Samarra garrison is where the Shia say the twelfth Imam was born.

10. The twelfth Imam’s name is Muhammad al-Mahdi, “the one who guides divinely.” He is also referred to as Al-Qaim, “He Who Rises Up,” Sahib as-Zaman, “Lord of the Ages,” and Al-Muntazar, the “Awaited One.”

11. In Shi’ism, the Mahdi is often called the Hidden Imam. The Mahdi will reveal himself again only on the Day of Judgment. The day and month of his return are known: the tenth of Muharram, the very day on which Hussein was killed at Karbala.

12. In Shia Islam, salvation requires the intercession of Muhammad, his son-in-law Ali, his grandsons Hasan and Hussein, and the rest of the Prophet’s legitimate successors, the Imams, who not only serve as humanity’s intercessors on the Last Days but who further function as the eternal executors (wali) of the divine Revelation.

13. Ali, also known as Zayn al-Abadin, was the only son of Husayn (also Hussein) who survived Karbala.

14. In Shi’ism, a small faction rejected Ali Zayn al-Abadin’s son, Muhammad al-Baqir, as the fifth Imam and chose instead to follow another of al-Abadin’s sons, Zayd ash-Shahid. This faction came to be known as the “Zaydis.”

15. Ja’far, the sixth Imam, designated his eldest son Ismail as the seventh Imam. But Ismail died before his father and was therefore replaced by Ja’far’s second son, Musa al-Kazim. But a faction didn’t accept this. Instead, they became the followers of Ismail, called the Ismailis, or “Seveners.”

16. The tenth and eleventh Imams, Imam Hadi and Imam Askari, spent their whole imamates imprisoned in Abbasid prisons.

17. Ismail, a sixteen-year-old amir, took control of Iran in 1501 and established himself as the first Shah or King of the Safavid Empire. Ismail declared Twelver Shi’ism to be the official national religion of Iran. The first Shi’ite state was established in this manner.

18. The Imams of Twelver Shi’ism are listed below in chronological order:
• Imam Ali
• Imam Hasan
• Imam Hussein
• Imam Ali Zayn al-Abadin
• Imam Muhammad al-Baqir
• Imam Jaafar al-Sadiq
• Imam Musa al-Kazim
• Imam Rida
• Imam Muhammad Taqi (also called Imam Jawad)
• Imam Hadi
• Imam Askari
• Imam Mahdi

19. Ali’s followers are known as Shiat Ali-Shia in Arabic.

20. For Shi’ites, Ali and Fatima (the daughter of Prophet Muhammad) and their sons, Hasan and Hussein, are the Ahl al-Bayt, the People of the House of Muhammad, or the People of the Cloak.

I hope you’ve gained some knowledge from these facts about Shia Islam. Thanks for reading. Jai Hind.

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