Shia Islam
Videos
Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It is rooted in the belief that the Islamic prophet Muhammad explicitly designated his cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib as his rightful politic
The investiture of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib at Ghadir Khumm (MS Arab 161, fol. 162r, 1308–1309, Ilkhanid manuscript illustration)
Great Mosque of Kufa, site of ʿAlī's assassination (661)
Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm Shrine in Rey, Iran, contains the tomb of ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm al-Ḥasanī, a descendant of Ḥasan ibn 'Alī and a companion of Muhammad al-Taqī.
Battle of Karbala, painting by the Isfahan-based Persian artist Abbas Al-Mousavi, Brooklyn Museum (between 1868 and 1933)
Twelver Shi'ism
Videos
Twelver Shi'ism is the largest branch of Shia Islam. Twelver Shi'as believe that the Twelve Imams are divinely appointed as both spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and
A depiction of the Twelve Imams from 1980: in the depiction, the person whose face is obscured by light is the Hidden Imam, and the person in the front and center is Ali
18th century mirror writing in Ottoman calligraphy. Depicts the phrase 'Ali is the vicegerent of God' in both directions.
Imam Husayn Shrine in Karbala, Iraq, where the Battle of Karbala took place