The Al-Sahlah Mosque is one of the primary significant mosques in the city of Kufa, Iraq. The mosque is of great importance to Shia Muslims, and it is believed that the mosque was initially established in Kufa as a neighborhood mosque for the followers of Ali, the early members of the Shia. The mosque is also said to be the future home of the Twelfth Shia Imam, Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi.

Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (khalīfa) and the Imam after him, most notably at the event of Ghadir Khumm, but was prevented from succeeding Muhammad as the leader of the Muslims as a result of the choice made by some of Muhammad's other companions (ṣaḥāba) at Saqifah. This view primarily contrasts with that of Sunnī Islam, whose adherents believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor before his death and consider Abū Bakr, who was appointed caliph by a group of Muhammad's other companions at Saqifah, to be the first rightful (rāshidūn) caliph after Muhammad. Adherents of Shīʿa Islam are called Shia Muslims.