Category: History
What we can see in this category is mostly about the history of Shiism and its spread around the world.
The history of African American Shias has its roots in the strong relationship this community has had with Islam long before and independent of immigrant Muslims. In its early history, Black Islam in America was characterized by the presence of charismatic leaders who led ideological and resistant movements against white America. The presence of such […]
Early Muslim immigration Argentina is one of the largest countries in South in terms of population and size. The presence Shia community in Argentina as a part of Islam development in the country goes back to the end of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, with the arrival of immigrants mostly from the current […]
As we discussed in the previous post, there are several reasons for Shias’ spread one of which has been already covered. The remaining two will be elaborated on in the following paragraphs. Migration The transnational dimension of Shi‘ism was further extended by global migratory flows after World War II. Shias’ spread started and continued in […]
Spread of Shiism A brief history Spread of Shiism as a minority presence within Islam is of high significance and nowadays they are present across the Muslim world; from North Africa to the Middle East, Central and South Asia. Shi‘ites constitute national minorities in a variety of Muslim majority countries. While countries such as Lebanon, […]
The origins of Alawits branch of Shiism or the Nusayris may be traced to a certain Abu Shuʿayb Muhammad b. Nusayr al-Namiri (or al-Numayri), who hailed from the ghulat circles on the fringes of Imami Shiʿism Ibn Nusayr was a supporter of the tenth and eleventh Twelver Shiʿi Imams and later proclaimed the divinity of […]
Zaydi Shiʿism was initially formed during the 2nd/8th century by the merger of two currents in Kufan Shiʿism; the two doctrinal currents with their Shiʿi adherents were designated in heresiographical literature as the Batriyya and the Jarudiyya, also referred to as the ‘weak’ and the ‘strong’ Zaydis, respectively. Disagreements: The main disagreement regarding the concept […]
The history and origins of the Zaydiyya as another major Shiʿi Muslim community has to be studied along with other branches of this sect of Islam which were discussed in the pervious posts. The general influence and geographical distribution of the Zaydiyya branch of Shiʿi Islam, named after their fourth imam, Zayd b. ʿAli Zayn […]
The history of the imamate in Ismaili branch of Shiism may be traced to the dispute over the succession to Imam Jaʿfar al-Sadiq, who died in 148/765. According to the majority of the available sources, Imam al-Sadiq had originally designated his second son Ismaʿil, the eponym of the Ismaʿiliyya, as his successor to the imamate […]
Representing the second largest Shia community, the Ismailis have had their own complex history. The history and origins of Ismailis go back to the medieval times during which the Ismailis established states of their own on separate occasions, and for relatively long periods played crucial parts in the history of the Muslim world. During the […]
Arrival: The first significant wave of Muslims arrived between 1875 and 1912 in USA and the period is a turning point in the history of Shiism in USA. Shias and Sunnis who got to USA at about the same time, worshiped together, shared similar experiences, and encountered the same challenges. Among the early immigrants were […]