Talk:Shia Islam

Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It is held that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib (r. 656–661) as both his political successor (caliph) and the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). This designation of Ali IAT as claimed by Shias is not mentioned, referred to, hinted at or recognized in the Quran. Also, it was never declared by the Prophet, since there was no sign from God.

However, his right is understood to have been usurped by several of Muhammad's companions at the meeting of Saqifa, during which they appointed Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) as caliph instead. The right of Ali IAT as legitimate successor was not usurped/ removed/ ignored, as it was never declared. Per Quran, only the Prophets are mentioned in a leadership role, and Islam is for Allah and humanity only.

As such, Sunni Muslims believe Abu Bakr, Umar (r. 634–644), Uthman (r. 644–656) and Ali to be 'rightly-guided caliphs', whereas Shia Muslims regard only Ali as the legitimate successor. The history of the caliphate in early Arabia is clear and correct.

Shia Muslims believe that the imamate continued through Ali's sons, Hasan and Husayn, after which various Shia branches developed and recognized different imams. It is not mentioned in Quran.

They revere ahl al-bayt, family of the Muhammad. AAB means people of the house. They were P Muhammad, Ali IAT, B Fatima BA, and 15 to 18 wives of the Prophet, as ‘family’, and workers as ‘people’. The rest of the Imams did not live in the house of Muhammad maintaining that they possess divine knowledge. The family possessing divine knowledge is not indicated in the Quran.

Shia holy sites include the shrine of Ali in Najaf, the shrine of Husayn in Karbala, and other mausoleums of the ahl al-bayt. Later events, such as Husayn's martyrdom in the Battle of Karbala (680 CE), further influenced the development of Shia Islam, contributing to the formation of a distinct religious sect with its own rituals and shared collective memory. The family was infuriated, took up arms and avenged the killing of Husayn. A minor movement of the Shia sect resulted. The religion of Islam remained intact and flourished according to the Quran.

Shia Islam is followed by 10–15% of all Muslims, numbering at an estimated 200–300 million followers worldwide as of 2025. The three main Shia branches are Twelverism, Ismailism, and Zaydism. Shia Muslims form a majority of the population in Iran, Iraq, and Azerbaijan, as well as about half of the citizen population of Bahrain. Significant Shia communities are also found in Lebanon, Kuwait, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent. Iran stands as the world's only country where Shia Islam forms the foundation of both its laws and governance system.

Cindy6678 (talk) 19:56, 18 November 2025 (UTC)

I wonder if the asterisks were intended to actually be bold text by someone accustomed to other websites...? Otherwise, I don't understand what purpose they serve. ~2026-29814-2 (talk) 15:36, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

Thanks. I italicized the text instead. RegentsPark (comment) 15:55, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

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~2026-56963-3 (talk) 20:01, 26 January 2026 (UTC)

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 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want made. Please detail the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. GearsDatapack (talk) 20:28, 26 January 2026 (UTC)

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Change “as well as about half of the citizen population of Bahrain” to “as well as about half of the population of Bahrain”. Its a mistake to not state that bahrain has majority of its citizens as shia not sunni. This is a fact known by both shia and sunni bahrainis. The cite of aljazeera that states shia is less than half is biased and not based on official bahraini consensus as bahraini ministry of information do not ask citizens about their sects, which makes this false source a biased source as it is run by a sunni administration. Its true that the population is majority sunni given the non bahranins account for about half the population compared to 49% of less for both sunni and shia bahrainis relative to total population. Resources that back my statements are below:

(1) https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/sunnis-and-shia-bahrain-new-survey-shows-both-conflict-and-consensus (2) https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/bahrain/ (3)

https://sat7.org/about-us/where-we-work/bahrain/ Aloooooyo (talk) 17:00, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

 Not done for now: please establish a consensus for this alteration before posting an edit request. The statement in the lede relies on official Bahraini document, while the sources you've cited rely on small samples and estimates. Skitash (talk) 17:03, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

The sources are down below, you can see source (1),(2),(3) listed below as links Aloooooyo (talk) 17:04, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

It has been proposed in this section that Shia Islam be renamed and moved to Shi'ismShi'ism. A bot will list this discussion on the requested moves current discussions subpage within an hour of this tag being placed. The discussion may be closed 7 days after being opened, if consensus has been reached (see the closing instructions). Please base arguments on article title policy, and keep discussion succinct and civil. Please use {{subst:requested move}}. Do not use {{requested move/dated}} directly. Links: current log • target log • direct move

Shia Islam → Shi'ismShi'ism – Per WP:COMMONNAME and WP:CONCISE.

The word Shi'ism is about 4.5 times more common than the expression Shia Islam in English, as shown by Google Ngram. It is the older and more standard term in scholarship and historiography. (The corresponding English adjective and noun for an adherent is Shi'ite, also overwhelmingly more common than Shia Muslim.)

Shi'ism is also more linguistically accurate, as the Arabic word شيعة (Shīʿa) is not an adjective.

It is also consistent with Wikipedia’s naming of other major branches of Islam, such as Ibadism (the third-largest branch of Islam).

Finally, Wikipedia already uses Shi'ism in other article titles, including Twelver Shi'ism, the largest branch of Shi'ism. ~2026-17709-24 (talk) 19:43, 21 March 2026 (UTC)

Comment: to be WP:CONSISTENT you would also have to propose a name change for Sunni Islam to Sunnism. ―Howard • 🌽³³ 23:42, 21 March 2026 (UTC)

Not at all. I said “consistent with other branches”, not “all branches”. Although Sunni Islam is more common than “Sunnism”, Shi'ism and Ibadism are much more common than “Shia Islam” and “Ibadi Islam”. ~2026-17709-24 (talk) 05:04, 22 March 2026 (UTC)