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Shi'ite |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.02 sec. |
Shi'iteMember of the Shi'ite branch of Islam, which resulted from the first fitnah, or split, within the religion over leadership. Members of the political faction that supported 'Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law, as the Prophet's heir after the murder of the third caliph, 'Uthman, the Shi'ites gradually became a religious movement after the murder of 'Ali. 'Ali's followers insisted that a caliph, or imam, be a lineal descendant of 'Ali and his wife, Fatimah. Shi'ite legal tradition is distinct from the four major schools of thought in Sunnite Islam and is generally regarded as the most conservative. Though Shi'ites represent only about 10% of Muslims in the world, they are a majority in Iran and Iraq, and there are sizable populations in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, East Africa, Pakistan, and northern India. The largest subdivision is the Ithna 'Ashariyyah, or Twelvers, who recognized 12 historical imams (including 'Ali); other subsects include the Isma'iliyyah and the Zaydiyyah. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a veteran of the 1970s-era radical student movement that helped overthrow the Shah and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, subscribes to an apocalyptic strain of Islam: "We must prepare ourselves to rule the world and the only way to do that is to put forth views on the basis of the return" of the Shi'ite Muslim Messiah, the "Mahdi" or "Hidden Imam. State prisoners who were Shi'ite Muslims brought a [section] 1983 action claiming that their free exercise of religion rights were violated through regulations that required them to worship jointly with Sunni Muslims. Militant hostility to Shi'ite Muslims is one element of this radicalism, and in large part, it accounted for the bloodbath in Mazar-e Sharif in August 1998 when thousands of Shia were systematically massacred by the Taliban, urged on by broadcast speeches from the Taliban "Governor," Mullah Niazi. |
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