Resurgence In The Shiite World - Part 3 - The Branches Within Shiism.

The Shiite World today consists of numerous sub-sects and various doctrines even among these sub-sects. This is because, like all religions or sects that become strong enough to be established and widely practiced, Shiism eventually faced internal challenges and divisions. For the most part, these sectarian rifts have remained doctrinal, although mutual persecution has occurred. The doctrinal differences are strongly held, however.

The Shiites did not face significant internal challenges during the first three Imams, namely Ali, Hassan and Hussein. After Hussein was martyred, the majority of the Shiites accepted the imamate of Ali Ibn Hussein Al Sajjad, while a minority known as the Kisaniyah believed that the third son of Ali, Muhammad Ibn Hanafiyah, was the fourth Imam as well as the promised Mahdi, and that he had gone into occultation in the Radwa mountains and one day would reappear.

After the death of Imam Al Sajjad the majority of the Shiites accepted his son, Muhammad Al Baqir, as Imam while a minority followed Zaid Al Shahid, another son of Imam Al Sajjad, and became known as Zaidis. Following Imam Muhammad Al Baqir, the Shiites accepted his son Jaafar Al Sadiq as Imam and after the death of Imam Jaafar the majority followed his son Imam Musa Al Kazim as the seventh Imam.

However, one group followed the older son of the sixth Imam, Ismail, who had died while his father was still alive, and when this latter group separated from the majority of Shiites it became known as Ismailis. Others accepted as Imam either Abdullah Al Aftah or Muhammad, both sons of the sixth Imam. Finally, another party stopped with the sixth Imam himself and considered him as the last Imam. In the same way, after the martyrdom of Imam Musa Al Kazim the majority followed his son, Ali Al Rida, as the eight Imam. However, some stopped with the seventh Imam and became known as the Waqifiyah.

From the eighth Imam to the twelfth, whom the majority of the Shiites believe to be the promised Mahdi, no division of any importance took place within Shiism. There were some rifts that emerged, but these lasted not more than a few days and dissolved by themselves. For example, Jaafar, the son of the tenth Imam, claimed to be Imam after the death of his brother, the eleventh Imam. A group of people followed him but scattered in a few days and Jaafar himself did not follow his claim any further.

The twelve Shiite imams are as follows: (1) Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib Al Murtadha (the Satisfied One) (2) Imam Al Hasan Al Mujtabah (the Chosen One), (3) Imam Al Hussein Sayyid Al Shuhudah (the Lord of the Martyrs), (4) Imam Ali Zain Al Abidin (the Jewel of the Believers), (5) Imam Muhammad Al Baqir (the Spreader of Knowledge), (6) Imam Jaafar Al Sadiq (the Truthful One), (7) Imam Musa Al Kazim (the Patient One), (8) Imam Ali Al Ridha (the Accepted One), (9) Imam Muhammad Al Taqi (the Pious One), (10) Imam Ali Al Naqi (the Pure One), (11) Imam Hasan Al Askari (the One with an Army), and (12) Imam Muhammad Al Mahdi (the Rightly-Guided One).

It is important also to note that there are differences between Shiites in theological and juridical matters which does not extend to the level of becoming a doctrinal conflict. In addition, Shiite sub-sects tend to reject the idea that the Baha'i, which like the Batinis (or the Qaramitah) differ in the principles and branches of Islam from the Muslims, should in any sense be considered as a branch of Shiism. The sects which separated from the majority of Shiites all dissolved within a short period, except two: the Zaidi and the Ismaili which continue to exist until now. Communities of these branches are active in various parts of the world such as Yemen, India, and Syria.