Shia

Shia Islam emerged in the seventh century from a dispute over who should lead the Muslim community after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. The tradition holds that leadership passed through Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, making descent from Ali the theological basis of legitimate authority; the majority Sunni tradition instead accepted Abu Bakr. That schism produced distinct ritual practice and separate schools of jurisprudence, chiefly Ja'fari, Zaydi and Ismaili, with major seminaries at Najaf in Iraq and Qom in Iran.

Roughly 15 to 20 per cent of the world's Muslims, some 300 to 400 million people, identify as Shia. Majority Shia populations exist in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain and Azerbaijan, with politically significant minorities in Lebanon, where the community forms Hezbollah's base, and in Pakistan and Kuwait.

The Khomeinist doctrine of Velayat-e Faqih, guardianship of the jurist, is a modern Shia innovation that gives a qualified cleric supreme political authority pending the return of the Hidden Imam; it underpins the Islamic Republic of Iran's constitution but is not accepted across all Shia jurisprudence. The Sunni-Shia divide is real but often overstated: Shia communities in Lebanon, Iraq and Pakistan have distinct political priorities that do not automatically track Tehran's.