Shia Islam

Shia Islam
Symbol
Organised Religion
Ideological doctrine:	Imamah, Ismah, Sharia
Operation
Region(s) of operation:	Solar System
Based in:	Earth
Status & relations
Internal factions:	Twelvers, Ismailism, Zaidism
Historical information
Founded:	7th century
[Source]

“	Taking Ali by the hand, he asked of his faithful followers whether he, Muhammad, was not closer (awlā) to the Believers than they were to themselves; the crowd cried out: "It is so, O Apostle of God!"; he then declared: "He of whom I am the mawla, of him Ali is also the mawla (man kuntu mawlāhu fa-ʿAlī mawlāhu)".	”
–The Investiture of Ali, at Ghadir Khumm

Shia Islam, also known as Shiʽite Islam is currently the oldest branch of the Islamic faith that holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor and the Imam (leader) after him. That sets it apart from Christianislam and Salafism, both descended from Sunni Islam whose adherents believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor and consider Abu Bakr, who was appointed caliph by a small group of Muslims at Saqifah, to be the first rightful caliph after the Prophet. Mostly confined to the Iranian domed cities on Earth and other parts of the Solar System, Shia Islam has nonetheless survived past the downfall of its rival, Sunni Islam, to division and bloodshed.

History

Background

Shia 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 Ali to be Muhammad's successor, infallible, the first caliph (khalifah, head of state) of Islam. The Shias believe that Muhammad designated Ali as his successor by God's command (Eid Al Ghadir).

When Muhammad died in 632, Ali and Muhammad's closest relatives made the funeral arrangements. While they were preparing his body, Abu Bakr, Umar, and Abu Ubaidah ibn al Jarrah met with the leaders of Medina and elected Abu Bakr as caliph. Ali did not accept the caliphate of Abu Bakr and refused to pledge allegiance to him. This is indicated in both Sunni and Shia sahih and authentic Hadith.

It was not until the murder of the third caliph, Uthman, in 657 that the Muslims in Medina in desperation invited Ali to become the fourth caliph as the last source, and he established his capital in Kufah in Iraq.

Ali's rule over the early Muslim community was often contested, and wars were waged against him. As a result, he had to struggle to maintain his power against the groups who betrayed him after giving allegiance to his succession, or those who wished to take his position. This dispute eventually led to the First Fitna, which was the first major civil war within the Islamic Caliphate. The Fitna began as a series of revolts fought against Ali ibn Abi Talib, caused by the assassination of his political predecessor, Uthman ibn Affan. While the rebels who accused Uthman of prejudice affirmed Ali's khilafa (caliphate), they later turned against him and fought him. Ali ruled from 656 to 661, when he was assassinated while prostrating in prayer (sujud). Ali's main rival Muawiyah then claimed the caliphate.

Upon the death of Ali, his elder son Hasan became leader of the Muslims of Kufa, and after a series of skirmishes between the Kufa Muslims and the army of Muawiyah, Hasan agreed to cede the caliphate to Muawiyah and maintain peace among Muslims upon certain conditions.

Hasan then retired to Medina, where in 670 he was poisoned by his wife Ja'da bint al-Ash'ath ibn Qays, after being secretly contacted by Muawiyah who wished to pass the caliphate to his own son Yazid and saw Hasan as an obstacle.

Husayn, Ali's younger son and brother to Hasan, initially resisted calls to lead the Muslims against Muawiyah and reclaim the caliphate. In 680, Muawiyah died and passed the caliphate to his son Yazid, and breaking the treaty with Hasan ibn Ali. Yazid asked Husayn to swear allegiance (bay'ah) to him. Ali's faction, having expected the caliphate to return to Ali's line upon Muawiyah's death, saw this as a betrayal of the peace treaty and so Husayn rejected this request for allegiance. There was a groundswell of support in Kufa for Husayn to return there and take his position as caliph and imam, so Husayn collected his family and followers in Medina and set off for Kufa. En route to Kufa, he was blocked by an army of Yazid's men (which included people from Kufa) near Karbala, and Husayn and approximately 72 of his family and followers were killed in the Battle of Karbala.

The Shias regard Husayn as a martyr (shahid), and count him as an Imam from the Ahl al-Bayt. They view Husayn as the defender of Islam from annihilation at the hands of Yazid I. Husayn is the last imam following Ali whom all Shiah sub-branches mutually recognize. The Battle of Karbala is often cited as the definitive break between the Shiah and Sunni sects of Islam, and is commemorated each year by Shiah Muslims on the Day of Ashura.

Later most of the Shia, including Twelver and Ismaili, became Imamis. Imami Shia believe that Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad. Imams are human individuals who not only rule over the community with justice, but also are able to keep and interpret 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, or nass, through Muhammad.

According to this view, there is always an Imam of the Age, who is the divinely appointed authority on all matters of faith and law in the Muslim community. Ali 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 Caliph Abu Bakr has shaped Shia and non-Shia views on some of the Quranic verses, the hadith (narrations from Muhammad) and other areas of Islam. For instance, the collection of hadith venerated by Shia Muslims is centered on narrations by members of the Ahl al-Bayt and their supporters, while some hadith by narrators not belonging to or supporting the Ahl al-Bayt are not included. Those of Abu Hurairah, for example, Ibn Asakir in his Ta'rikh Kabir and Muttaqi in his Kanzu'l-Umma report that Caliph Umar lashed him, rebuked him and forbade him to narrate hadith from Muhammad. Umar 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." (A clan in Yemen, to which Abu Huraira belonged.) According to Sunnis, Ali was the fourth successor to Abu Bakr, while the Shia maintain that Ali was the first divinely sanctioned "Imam", or successor of Muhammad. The seminal event in Shia history is the martyrdom in 680 at the Battle of Karbala of Ali's son Hussein ibn Ali, who led a non-allegiance movement against the defiant caliph (71 of Hussein's followers were killed as well). It is believed in Twelver and Ismaili Shia Islam that 'aql, divine wisdom, was the source of the souls of the prophets and imams and gave them esoteric knowledge called 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, he had a close relationship with God, through which God guides him, and the imam, in turn, guides the people. Imamate, or belief in the divine guide, is a fundamental belief in the Twelver and Ismaili Shia branches and is based on the concept that God would not leave humanity without access to divine guidance.

The Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule for seven, nine or nineteen years (according to differing interpretations) before the Day of Judgment and will rid the world of evil. According to Islamic tradition, the Mahdi's tenure will coincide with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Isa), 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 the Mahdi in his war against the Dajjal, where Mahdi slay Dajjal and unite mankind.

In the century following the Battle of Karbala (680), as various Shia-affiliated groups diffused in the emerging Islamic world, several nations arose based on a Shia leadership or population, most prominently the Fatimids, the Ilkhanate, and the Safavids. With the rise of the Safavids, the Twelvers would become the largest sect of Shia, and it continues to be the largest sect into the current day.

Shia Islam would reassert itself against Sunni Islam in the 20th century with the rise of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a theocratic republic governed by a Supreme Leader also known as the Grand Ayatollah. Iran’s theocratic government contested control of the Middle East with Sunni countries and Israel, and it would act as the guardian of Shias for centuries.

The Iranian government would build dome cities in the 23rd century to retreat into, and over time, Iran would continue to exist as a mildly theocratic federation. The arcologies would develop and grow larger as the Iranian dome cities remained a steadfast of Shia Islam (and Persian culture) even as Christianislam overtook Sunni Islam.

Current Era

In current times, Shia Islam survives mostly in the Iranian dome cities and ISCO Protectorate, the largest non-Christianislam Muslim population on Earth. Shia also exists off of Earth through immigration to Jupiter and parts of the Main Belt. Shias on Jupiter in particular are a wealthy minority who contribute to the well-being of Shias back on Earth. Shias have a complex relationship with Salafi Islam, who sees itself as a successor of Sunni Islam but also resents Christianislam for its bidʻah.

Structure

Shia Islam is based on the prophet Muhammad's hadith (Ghadir Khumm). Shia consider Ali to have been divinely appointed as the successor to Muhammad, and as the first Imam. The Shia also extend this Imammah to Muhammad's family, the Ahl al-Bayt ("the people of the House"), and some individuals among his descendants, known as Imams, who they believe possess special spiritual and political authority over the community, infallibility and other divinely ordained traits.

More centralized than many other sects of Islam, Shia Islam embodies a completely independent system of religious interpretation and political authority in the Muslim world as imams are even more important to Shia (though sharia, the Quran, and sunnah are still salient). Imams are human individuals who not only rule over the community with justice, but also are able to keep and interpret 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, or nass, through Muhammad.

Membership

Shia Islam is most common on Earth, specifically in the Iranian domed cities and to a lesser extent ISCO Protectorate. The Iranian domed cities are the center of the sect, holding the line against both Christianislam and Salafi Islam. Off of Earth, Shia Islam has a minority presence on Jupiter and in the Main Belt.