Sunni Islam

Women draped in Salafi, Palestinian, and Tunisian flags walk the streets in Tunis, January 2013.

Political Islam

Political Islam Political Islam is any interpretation of Islam as a source of political identity and action. It can refer to a wide range of individuals and/or groups who advocate the formation of state and society according to their understanding of Islamic principles. It may also refer to the use...

Tiles with some calligraphy in the courtyard of the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul (Turkey)

Islamic Art

Islamic Art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide range of lands, periods, and genres, Islamic art is a concept used first by Western art historians since the...

Imam Ali

Sunni View Of Ali

Sunni View Of Ali This article covers the Sunni view of Ali. Sunni Muslims hold Ali ibn Abi Talib in high respect as one of the Ahl al-Bayt, a foremost authority on the Qur’an and Islamic law, and as one of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs. Sunnis consider Ali the fourth and final...

Arba'een Walk

Arba’een Pilgrimage

Arba’een Pilgrimage The Arba’een Pilgrimage, or the Arba’een Walk or Karbala Walk, is the world’s largest annual public gathering. It is held at Karbala, Iraq at the end of the 40-day mourning period following Ashura, the religious ritual for the commemoration of martyrdom of the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the third Shia Muslim Imam, Husayn ibn Ali‘s in 61 AH...

Battle of Karbala

Mourning Of Muharram

Mourning Of Muharram The Mourning of Muharram (also known as Azadari, Remembrance of Muharram, or Muharram Observances) is a set of commemoration rituals observed primarily by Shia people. The commemoration falls in Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Many of the events associated with the ritual take place in congregation halls known as Hussainia or Imambargah. The event marks...

This painting by Yousef Abdinejad is entitled "Martyrdom of Imam Ali". It depicts Ali being assassinated by Ibn Muljam. There are also angels prohibiting Ibn Muljam from hitting Ali by sword.

Shia Days Of Remembrance

Shia Days Of Remembrance The following page lists various days of Shia days of remembrance, celebration, and mourning. Twelvers The following is a list of days of celebration, mourning, and remembrance as observed by Twelver Shia Muslims: List of celebration, mourning, and remembrance as observed by Twelver Shi’a Muslims Date Type Event...

Left: the Shrine of Imam Ḥusayn; Right: the Mosque of Imam Ḥusayn premises during Arba'een.

Hadith al-Thaqalayn

Hadith al-Thaqalayn The Hadith al-Thaqalayn (حديث الثقلين, l‘ saying of the two treasures’) refers to a hadith (‘saying’) attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad that introduces the Quran and his progeny as the only sources of divine guidance after his death. Widely reported by both Shia and Sunni authorities, the Hadith al-Thaqalayn is of particular significance for the Twelver Shia, where...

Battle of Karbala, Brooklyn Museum

Battle Of Karbala

Battle Of Karbala The Battle of Karbala (مَعْرَكَة كَرْبَلَاء) was fought on 10 October 680 (10 Muharram in the year 61 AH of the Islamic calendar) between the army of the second Umayyad Caliph Yazid I and a small army led by Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, at Karbala, modern day Iraq. Prior to his death, the Umayyad...

Arabic calligraphy of the Verse of Purification

Verse Of Purification

Verse Of Purification The Verse of Purification (آية التطهير) refers to verse 33:33 of the Quran about the status of purity of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘people of the house’). The last passage of this verse reads: God only desires (innama yuridu llahu) to remove defilement (rijs) from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and to purify...

Hundreds of ShiÕa Muslims gather around the Husayn Mosque in Karbala after making the Pilgrimage on foot during Arba'een. Arba'een is a forty day period that commemorates the martyrdom of Husayn bin Ali, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, and seventy-two of his followers at the Battle of Karbala in the year 680AD.

Husayn ibn Ali

Husayn ibn Ali Husayn ibn Ali or Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (أبو عبد الله الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب, 10 January 626 – 10 October 680), also known as Husayn ibn Ali or Imam Husayn, was a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a son of Ali ibn Abi...

Coin minted in present-day Iran in 30 AH (661-662 CE), during Hasan's caliphate; the Arabic phrase lillah (lit. 'for Allah') appears in the margin.

Hasan ibn Ali

Hasan ibn Ali Hasan ibn Ali (حسن ابن علي, Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī; c. 625 – 2 April 670) was a prominent early Islamic figure. He was the eldest son of Ali and Fatima and a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He briefly ruled as caliph from January 661 until August 661. He is considered the second Shia Imam, succeeding Ali and...

The location of Fatima's house in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, present-day Saudi Arabia

Attack On Fatima’s House

Attack On Fatima’s House The attack on Fatima’s house refers to a disputed violent attack on the house of Fatima, daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The attack reportedly took place shortly after Muhammad’s death in 11 AH (632 CE) and was instigated by Muhammad’s successor Abu Bakr and led by Umar, an aide to Abu Bakr. The...

Artwork showing the name of Fatima al-Zahra in Arabic, made from stainless steel and reconstructed from the original Safavid piece

Fatimah

Fatimah Fatima or Fatimah (Fatimah binte Muhammad, Fāṭima bint Muḥammad, فَاطِمَة ٱبْنَت مُحَمَّد, 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (فَاطِمَة ٱلزَّهْرَاء), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima’s husband was Ali, the fourth of the Rashidun Caliphs and the first Shia Imam. Fatima’s sons were Hasan and Husayn, the second and third Shia Imams, respectively. Fatima...

Imam Ali's Shrine in Najaf, Iraq, is one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam.

Anti-Shiism

Anti-Shiism Anti-Shiism or Anti-Shi’ism is hatred of, prejudice against, discrimination against, persecution of, and violence against Shia Muslims because of their religious beliefs, traditions, and cultural heritage. The term was first used by Shia Rights Watch in 2011, but it has been used in informal research and written in scholarly articles for decades. The dispute over who was the rightful successor to Muhammad resulted in...

The Great Mosque of Kairouan (also known as the Mosque of Uqba) in the city of Kairouan, Tunisia, was, particularly from the 9th—11th century, an important center of Islamic learning with an emphasis on the Maliki Madh'hab.

What Is Sunni Islam?

What Is Sunni Islam? Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world’s Muslims. Its name comes from the word Sunnah, referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagreement over the succession to Muhammad and subsequently acquired broader political significance, as well as theological and juridical dimensions. According to Sunni traditions,...

Girl Elementary Schoolgirl Student Study

The Major Cause Of Our People

The Major Cause Of Our People This article covers the next generation of Muslims (Our People). The whole world is now moving toward spring. Despite problems in the past, almost everyone agrees that the future is bright. Rather than dwelling on this phenom­enon though, it is more important to consider...

Sahih al-Bukhari

Sahih al-Bukhari

Sahih al-Bukhari Sahih al-Bukhari or  Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (صحيح البخاري‎) is one of the Kutub al-Sittah (six major hadith collections) of Sunni Islam. Whereas, out of all these six major books, the collection of prophetic traditions, or hadith for Sahih al-Bukhari, was performed by the Muslim scholar Muhammad al-Bukhari. It was completed around 846 CE / 232 AH. Sunni...

Sahih Muslim Cover

Sahih Muslim

Sahih Muslim Sahih Muslim (صحيح مسلم‎ , Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim; full title: Al-Musnadu Al-Sahihu bi Naklil Adli) is one of the Kutub al-Sittah (six major hadith collections) in Sunni Islam. It is highly acclaimed by Sunni Muslims as well as Zaidi Shia Muslims. It is considered the second most authentic hadith collection after Sahih al-Bukhari. It was collected by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, also known...

Eid Al Adha Eid Al Fitr Eid Mubarak Holy India

Jumu’ah (Jumuah)

Jumu’ah (Jumuah) Jumu’ah (صلاة الجمعة‎, ṣalāt al-jumu‘ah), also known as Friday Prayer or Congregational Prayer, is a prayer (ṣalāt) that Muslims hold every Friday, just after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims pray ordinarily five times each day according to the sun’s sky path regardless of time zones. Jumu’ah means Friday in the Arabic...

Ittiba’u ila salafush shalih

Salafi Movement

Salafi Movement The Salafi movement, also called the Salafist movement, Salafiya and Salafism, is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that developed in Egypt in the late 19th century as a response to Western European imperialism. It had roots in the 18th-century Wahhabi movement that originated in the Najd region of modern-day Saudi Arabia. The name derives from advocating a...