His main rival muawiya claimed the caliphate
Shia islam assignment
While they were preparing his body, Abu Bakr, ‘ Umar, and Abu ‘ Ubayda met with the leaders of Medina and elected Abu Bakr as khalifa (“ caliph”). ‘ Ali and his family were dismayed, but accepted the appointment for the sake of unity in the early Muslim community. [17] It was not until the murder of the third khalifa, ‘ Uthman, that the Muslims in Medina invited ‘ Ali to become the fourth khalifa. [17] While ‘ Ali was caliph, his capital was in Kufah, Iraq. [20] ‘ Ali’s rule over the early Muslim community was often contested. As a result, he had to struggle to maintain his power, waging “ increasingly unsuccessful wars. After Ali’s murder in 661 CE, his main rival Mu’awiya claimed the caliphate. [21] Some of the problems came from the very people who had initially supported ‘ Ali’s claim to rule. While the rebels who accused ‘ Uthman of nepotism affirmed ‘ Ali’s khilafa, they later turned against him and fought him. [17] ‘ Ali ruled from 656 CE to 661 CE,[17] when he was assassinated. [22] while prostrating (sujud) in prayer. Imamate of the Ahl al-Bayt The Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Tomb of Muhammad in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Main article: Status of a Shia Imam
Most of the early Shia as well as Zaydis differed only marginaly from mainstream Sunnis in their views on political leadership, but it is possible in this sect to see a refinement of Shia doctrine. Early Sunnis traditionally held that the political leader must come from the tribe of Muhammad??? namely, the Quraysh. The Zaydis narrowed the political claims of the Ali’s supporters, claiming that not just any descendant of ‘ Ali would be eligible to lead the Muslim community (ummah) but only those males directly descended from Mu? ammad through the union of ‘ Ali and Fa? mah. But during the Abbasid revolts, other Shia, who came to be known as imamiyyah (followers of the Imams), followed the theological school of Ja’far al-Sadiq. They asserted a more exalted religious role for Imams and insisted that, at any given time, whether in power or not, a single male descendant of ‘ Ali and Fa? imah was the divinely appointed Imam and the sole authority, in his time, on all matters of faith and law. To those Shi? ites, love of the imams and of their persecuted cause became as important as belief in God’s oneness and the mission of Muhammad. 23] Later most of Shia, including Twelver and Ismaili, became Imami. Imamis Shia believe that Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad. [23] Imams are human individual who not only rule over the community with justice, but also are able to keep and interpret the Divine Law and its esoteric meaning. Muhammad and Imams’ words and deeds 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. 24][25] 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 Zahra. [23] This difference between following either the Ahl al-Bayt (Muhammad’s family and descendants) or the Caliph Abu Bakr has shaped Shia and non-Shia views on some of the Qur’an, the Hadith (narrations from Muhammad) and other areas of Islam.
They argue that since God has commanded absolute obedience from these figures they must only order that which is right. The state of infallibility is based on the Shi’ah interpretation of the verse of purification. [Qur’an?? 33: 33][29] Thus they are, the most pure ones, the only immaculate ones preserved from, and immune to, all uncleanness. [30] It doesn’t mean that supernatural powers prevent them from committing a sin, but it is due to the fact that they have an absolute belief in God so that they find themselves in presence of God. [31] They have also complete knowledge about God’s will.
They are in possession of all the knowledge brought by the angels to the prophets (nabi) and the messengers (Rasul). Their knowledge encompasses the totality of all times. Thus they act without fault in religious matters. [32] Intercession Main article: Tawassul Tawassul (Arabic: ????? ) is an Islamic religious practice in which a Muslim seeks nearness to God. A rough translation would be: “ To draw near to what one seeks after and to approach that which one desires. ” The exact definition and method of tawassul is a matter of some dispute within the Muslim community.
The principal cause of the coming into being of Shi’ism, however, lies in the fact that this possibility existed within the Islamic revelation itself and so had to be realized. Inasmuch as there were exoteric [Zaheri] and esoteric [Bateni] interpretations from the very beginning, from which developed the schools (madhhab) of the Sharia and Sufism in the Sunni world, there also had to be an interpretation of Islam, which would combine these elements in a single whole.
This possibility was realized in Shi’ism, for which the Imam is the person in whom these two aspects of traditional authority are united and in whom the religious life is marked by a sense of tragedy and martyrdom… Hence the question which arose was not so much who should be the successor of Muhammad as what the function and qualifications of such a person would be. [36] And the last one emphasizes Abdullah ibn Saba’, a Jew who converted to Islam, who created Shia Islam when Ali ruled.
For example, the 1926 rise of the House of Saud in Arabia brought official discrimination against Shi’a. [53] Nations with over 100, 000 Shi’a[48]| Country| Shi’a population| Percent of Muslim population that is Shi’a| Percent of global Shi’a population| Iran| 66, 000, 000 – 70, 000, 000| 90 – 95| 37 – 40| Pakistan| 17, 000, 000 – 26, 000, 000| 10 – 15| 10 – 15| India| 16, 000, 000 – 24, 000, 000| 10 – 15| 9 – 14| Iraq| 19, 000, 000 – 22, 000, 000| 65 – 70| 11 – 12| Turkey| 7, 000, 000 – 11, 000, 000| 10 – 15| 4 – 6| Yemen| 8, 000, 000 – 10, 000, 000| 35 – 40| 5| Azerbaijan| 5, 000, 000 – 7, 000, 000| 65 – 75| 3 – 4| Afghanistan| 3, 000, 000 – 4, 000, 000| 10 – 15|