• Angels Angels obey God's commandments. They have

limited free will, though no drive to sin.

• Population 200 million

• Place of worship Mosque, Imambarah or Ashurkhana,

Eidgah

• Use of statues and picture :Not permitted

• Clergy :Imaam (divinely guided), Ayatollah, Mujtahid, Allamah,

Maulana

• Man may marry up to 4 women.

• One God

• Language:Arabic, Farsi

• Death of Jesus Denied. Jesus did not die on the cross, but

his body went up to heaven.

• View of other Abrahamic religions Christianity and Judaism

are "People of the Book."

• Resurrection of Jesus Denied. Jesus did not die on the

cross. Jesus will come back down from heaven in the future

• Holy days Ashura, Eid al Fitr, Eid al Adha, Eid al ghadeer

• Origin From teachings of Prophet Muhammad, a 7th

century Arab religious and political figure.

• Places most closely associated with independent history of

the faith Kufa, Karbala

• Adherents called Shiites, Shia, Shii, Ehl-e-Tash'e

• Geographic Presence Majority in Iran, Iraq, Yemen,

Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Lebanon. Minority spread across the

world.

• Articles of Belief One God, Angels, Revealed Books of God

including the Quran, Messengers, Day of Judgement,

Prophethood, Imaamah

• Pillars of faith 1. Prayer 2. Fasting 3. Pilgrimage 4.

Mandatory alms, 20% for Imaam and the needy (khums)

5.Jihad 6. Promotion of good 7. Dissuasion from bad 8. Re-

affirmation 9. Disassociation from the enemies of Islam

starting from first Caliph.

• Imams identified as Divinely guided. Considered as the

only legitimate interpreters of the Quran.

• Required lineage for ruler Must be male child from lineage of

Ali from Fatimah.

• Muhammad nominated a successor ? Yes, his cousin and

son in law Ali ibn Abu Talib

• Successors after the Prophet 12 Infallible Imams; Ali bin

Abi Talib, Hassan, Hussain, Ali ZainulAbideen, Muhammad

AlBaqir, Jaafar AlSaadiq, Musa AlKaazim, Ali AlRaza,

Muhammad AlTaqi, Ali AlNaqi, Hasan AlAskari, Muhammad

AlMahdi (hidden).

• Beliefs regarding revealed scriptures Belief in the Quran

• Continuation of authoritative revelation Partially true.

Imaams are considered divinely guided. The purpose is to

explain and safeguard the current faith and its esoteric

meaning.

• Collection of religious narrations from Imaams and Mujtahids

Nahajul Balagha, Kitab al-Kafi, Man la yahduruhu al-

Faqih, Tahdhib al-Ahkam, Al-Istibsaar

• Branches and their status Ithna Ashariyya ('Twelvers'),

Ismailis ('Seveners') and Zaidis ('Fivers'). The latter do not

agree to infallibility of Imaams or to the occultation of the 12th

Imaam Mahdi.

• Special Day of worship Friday

• Temporary unannounced Marriage Yes

• Name of the practice means "party" or "partisans" of Ali

• Current leaders MujtahidsIntercession permitted

• Yes (14 Infallibles only - From Prophet until the Mahdi,

including Fatima, daughter of the Prophet and wife of Ali)

• Public affirmation of faith and propagation of teachings The

Shia allow 'Taqiyya': which is to be able to deny faith when

under grave danger. This extends to the belief that true

meaning of faith is hidden until the coming of twelfth Imaam.

• Did Islam achieve ultimate glory? No, it was hijacked by

hypocrites, especially the first three Caliphs.

• Self Flagellation (Lattum) To commemorate the martyrdom of

Hussein, Shiite groups march in massive parades on the 10th

day of the Muharram month. There is self-flagellation i.e.

flogging own back, chest with hands, knives, blades or chains.

Permitted by some scholars.

• Building and visiting shrines permitted Yes

• Building and visiting mosques permitted Yes

• Shia Muslims believe that the Imam is sinless by nature, and that his

authority is infallible as it comes directly from God. Therefore, Shia

Muslims often venerate the Imams as saints and perform

pilgrimages to their tombs and shrines in the hopes of divine

intercession. Sunni Muslims counter that there is no basis in Islam

for a hereditary privileged class of spiritual leaders, and certainly no

basis for the veneration or intercession of saints.

• Shia Muslims also feel animosity towards some of the companions

of the Prophet Muhammad, based on their positions and actions

during the early years of discord about leadership in the community.

Many of these companions (Abu Bakr, Umar, Aisha, etc.) have

narrated traditions about the Prophet's life and spiritual practice.