SHIA MUSLIMS
Shias of Kashmir have a unique history. There were two groups of Shias who migrated to Kashmir from present-day Iran and Iraq in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. One group escaped persecution and others were missionaries. It is one of the two main branches of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him who was a cousin, son-in-law and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. This view primarily contrasts with that of Sunni Islam, whose adherents believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor before his death and consider Abu Bakr, who was appointed caliph by a group of senior Muslims at Saqifah, to be the first rightful caliph after Muhammad. A person observing Shia Islam is called a Shi’ite or Shi’i.
Shia Islam is based on Muhammad’s hadith (Ghadir Khumm). The Shia extend this Imammah to Muhammad’s family, the Ahl al-Bayt (“the people/family of the House”), and some individuals among his descendants, known as Imams, who they believe possess special spiritual and political authority over the community, infallibility and other divinely-ordained traits. Although there are many Shia subsects, modern Shia Islam has been divided into three main groups: Twelvers, Zaydis and Ismailis, with Twelver Shia being the largest and most influential group among Shia. Twelvers believe that there were twelve Imams after the death of Muhammad. The twelfth imam, however, has been kept alive by God and is hidden somewhere on Earth.
