HISTORY OF THE ISLAMIC SHIITES
(SHIAS)
661 C.E. – 1800 C.E.
By Sophie Harrington and Dajana Bozanovic
The Quran and Artwork of Shia’ism
The Quran, Islamic Holy Scripture
Court in the Safavid Dynasty
Shah Abbas I in later life
Cities and Gatherings
Left : A Shiite parade in
Esfahan
Right: Iranian pilgrims in
chadors outside the
Umayyad Mosque in
Damascus, Syria
Left: The holy Shiite
Muslim shrine Dareeh
of the Imam Ali
Right: A mosque at
the holy city of
Karbala
Shiite Distribution
Dark Green: Shiite; Light Green: Sunni
Chronology
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656 C.E. – First civil war in Islam breaks out following the assassination of Uthman, the third caliph. His
assassins, rebels from the army, nominate Muhammad’s first cousin Ali to succeed Uthman. Ali is challenged by
Aisha, Muhammad’s favorite wife and her army but he defeats them in the Battle of the Camel. This is the
ultimate source of the Shiite (Shia)/Sunni split. The Shiites believe that caliphs should only be direct decedents
of Muhammad, meaning Ali and his decedents.
661 C.E. – Ali is assassinated by one of his own men. Mu’awiya, the governor of Syria, emerges as caliph
after offering Ali’s son Hasan an impressive retirement to step aside.
680 C.E. –Yazid becomes the successor of Mu’awiya and establishes the Umayyad Caliphate. Hasan’s
brother Husayn revolts against Yazid in an attempt to reestablish the right of Ali’s family to rule. In this act,
Shi’ism transforms into a religious sect. Yazid has Husayn killed, turning Husayn into a martyr in the eyes of
the Shiites.
750 C.E.- Umayyad dynasty falls to the efforts of a Shiite-Abbas alliance. Some Umayyad family members
escape to Spain to later establish an Umayyad principality.
755 C.E. – Abbas promises Husayn’s great-grandson Jafar that Jafar could claim his right as caliph, but
Abbas dies before the deal is set and Jafar is murdered by Abbas’ son Al Mansur. Al Mansur establishes the
Sunni Abbasid Caliphate.
873 C.E. – The Shiite’s eleventh Imam Hasan al-Askari dies and his son, the twelfth Imam, disappears. The
period of the Lesser Occultation begins.
Chronology Continued
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940 C.E. – The Lesser Occultation ends and the Greater Occultation of the twelfth, or Hidden Imam, begins.
This is a time when the Shiites await the return of the twelfth Imam who will arrive as the messiah at the end
of the world.
945-1050 C.E. – The Shiite Buyid family takes control of western Iran and Iraq, thusly controlling the
Abbasid caliph until the arrival of Sunni Turks in 1050 C.E.
1258 C.E. – Mongolian invaders kill the last of the Abbasid family in Bagdad. The Mongolian conquests
lead to relative tolerance between the Sunnis and Shiites who are forced to work together to fight off
invaders.
1501 C.E. – The Safavid Dynasty is established in Persia by Ismail I. He proclaims Shiism as the state
religion. This ends the tolerance between Sunnis and Shiites and results in long-lasting conflict with the Sunni
Ottomans.
1587 C.E. – Abbas I, a man that becomes the greatest ruler in the Safavid Dynasty, is declared as shah at
age 16.
1623-24 C.E. – Shah Abbas fights with the Ottomans over the control of Baghdad in Mesopotamia,
eventually seizing control.
1639 C.E. – The Safavids and the Ottomans sign a peace treaty ending a century long conflict and the
Safavid shah submits Baghdad to the Ottomans.
1736 C.E. – Centuries of war with the Ottomans severely weakens the Safavid Dynasty and it ultimately
comes to an end with the last ruler Abbas III.
Regional Impact(Iran & Afghanistan)
Political:
Intellectual:
• The Shiites and Sunnis split when Muhammad
• All children in schools are taught from the holy
(the prophet) died in the year 632 A.D. and it
book of Quran and the message of the final
caused dispute in the Islamic community over the prophet of Islam, Muhammad.
succession to Muhammad as a caliph and lead to
the Battle of Siffin.
• Shiite groups were active in the jihad and fought
for the control of Kabul
Religion:
Art/Architecture:
• Shiite Roots of Religion are a set of theological
• The Mosques are made with colored marbles,
beliefs and it forms the basis for Islam. There are
five articles of faith in the book.
glazed tiles, and they use inscriptional art using
decorative lettering.
Regional Impact Continued
Technology:
• Advances were made in irrigation
and farming by using new technology
such as the windmill.
Society:
• Women are not shown in public that
often and have many laws limiting them.
• The two major groups of Shiites in
Afghanistan are the Imami and the Ismali.
Economy:
• Zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam,
is the giving of a small percentage of
one’s possessions to charity. It serves
as welfare to the poor.
Comparison
Shiite Beliefs
Sunni Beliefs
Similarities
•The caliphate should only be
direct descendents of
Muhammad, and therefore Ali
•Muhammad designated Ali as
his successor
•Al-Mahdi, the eleventh Imam’s
son, is the savior and has
already come as the Hidden
Imam and will return at the end
of time
•The Imam’s authority is
infallible
•Two additional holy cities:
Najaf and Karbala.
•Celebrate Ashura
•Additional two pillars: jihad
and the requirement to do good
works and to avoid all evil
thoughts, words, and deeds
•The Shiites are split into three
main factions: Twelvers,
Isma'iliyah, and Zaydiyah
•The Sunnis do not believe that
the prophet left a successor. This
is the major difference in the
two groups and is the primary
reason for the split between
them
•The Sunnis believe that the
savior will come in the future
•Leadership of the community
(Imam) is an earned trust that
can be given or taken away by
the people
•The Shiites and the Sunnis
share the five pillars of Islam,
that is: shahada (confession of
faith); namaz (ritualized prayer;
zakat (almsgiving); sawm
(fasting and contemplation
during daylight hours during
Ramadan); and hajj (pilgrimage
to the holy cities of Mecca and
Medina once a lifetime)
•The holy cities of Mecca,
Medina, and Jerusalem
•Holidays: Eid al-Adha and Eid
al-Fitr Eid.
Comparison Analyzed
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The reasons for these differences are predominantly political. The core
beliefs are the same because the two are merely sects of the same
religion. Since the Sunnis followed the traditional Islamic religion, not
much changed for them. But because the Shiites broke away from the
Sunnis and ended up fighting bloody battles with them, they were
forced to move, developing additional holy cities and traditions.
Change Over Time
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The religion of Islam develops from the teachings of Muhammad who dies in 632 CE.
Islam begins to divide into two sects with the conflict of who shall succeed Muhammad as the
Imam. Muslims who come to be called Shiites, (which means “partisans” of Ali), separate from
the majority of the Muslims called Sunnis.
This conflict is best seen in 656 CE when the disagreement over the rightful caliph turns into
civil war. Muslims who are not Ali’s followers are angered by Ali’s lack of concern with bringing
Uthman’s murderers to justice.
The first subsect of Shia’ism develops under Zayd who leads an unsuccessful rebellion against
the Umayyad caliph in 740 CE. The Zaydis, sometimes called Fivers, believe that Ali, Husan
and Husayn are the first three rightful caliphs. However, after them, they believe that the
caliphate is open to whoever of Ali’s descendents can ascertain themselves through revolt. The
primary difference between this subsect and the majority of Shiites is that they believe Zayd is
the fifth Imam while most Shiites believe his brother Al-Baqir is the fifth Imam.
In the early to mid 750’s, when the Umayyad dynasty is defeated, the Shiite sect begins to
further divide. The Sevener Shiites, or the Ismailis, develop with the death of Jafar, the sixth
Shiite Imam. They believe that Jafar was the last Imam and his heir, the seventh Imam, will
come back at the end of time.
Change Over Time Continued
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The majority of the Shiites who are neither Seveners nor Fivers are considered to be
Twelver Shiites. Twelver Shiites believe that the line of rightful Imams ends with Hasan alAskari, the eleventh Imam. His son Al-Mahdi is believed to be the twelfth and final Imam
who disappeared and will return at the end of time.
The primary difference in all sects and subsects of Islam is simply the conflict over who
are the rightful Imams. Yes, different practices and beliefs developed over time between
the Sunnis and the Shiites and even the subsects of the Shiites, but all these differences
are rooted to the disagreement of the true Imams. What stayed the same in Shiite Islam
all this time is the belief that Ali was the rightful heir to the caliphate and that he was
denied his right by the Sunnis for the first three caliphs. He was the first Imam and his two
sons were the rightful second and third Imams. Ultimately, the core beliefs of Islam
remain constant throughout Shiite history, and the core beliefs of Shia’ism remain constant
in the three subsects.
Shiites Today
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Iran is primarily made up of Shiites with the total percentage
reaching about 89%.
Hizbollah, which are made up of Shiites, forced the Israelis out
of Southern Lebanon.
The Shiites and the Sunnis are still at war with one another.
Numerous bombings and killings have occurred as a result of
their long-term conflict.
Iran has a Shiite theocratic republic. Their supreme leader,
which is the political office in which the person rules for life, is
Ali Hoseini-Khameni.
How The Work Was Split
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P.I.R.A.T.E.S, Role that the element plays in today’s
world, and Bibliography by Dajana Bozanovic
Chronology, Comparison and Analyses, and Visuals
by Sophie Harrington
Bibliography
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Amin, Hussein. "The Origins of the Sunni/Shia Split in Islam." Islam For Today. Hussein Amin.
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Bulliet, Crossley, et al. The Earth and its Peoples: A Global History. Third Edition. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. Print
Cline, Austin. "Religion in Afghanistan - Ithna Ashariya (Twelver or Imami) Shia." Agnosticism/
Atheism - Skepticism & Atheism for Atheists & Agnostics. Web. 07 Oct. 2010.
Ghasemi, Shapour. "History of Iran: Safavid Empire 1502 - 1736." Iran Chamber Society.
Web. 07 Oct. 2010.
Pike, John. "Zaydi Islam." GlobalSecurity.org - Reliable Security Information. 17 Jan. 2010.
Web. 7 Oct. 2010.
"Comparison Chart of Sunni and Shia Islam - ReligionFacts." Religion, World Religions,
Comparative Religion - Just the Facts on the World's Religions. Web. 07 Oct. 2010.