Abstract:

The Shi’a is the common name of those who believe that both Hazrat Ali and Ahl-al Bayt (the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) have the right to be the Imam. Historians, especially those who study the history of Shi’ite sects, express various opinions about the time when the Shi’a had come to stage of history. In this study, I tried to handle the time when this issue was founded and began to develop historically. On the other hand, I didn’t handle those ideas which the Shi’a suggest about the Imamate.The Caliphate or Imamate issue which came to light with the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, had taken an important place among Moslems, and very serious quarrels and discussions had been made about that issue. Before entering into the subject, I would like to emphasize that I will handle neither the political principles of the Imamate which the Shi’a set forth nor the Shi’ite sects in detail. However, from the point of view of a historian, if I can summarize political and historical events which gave birth to the Shi’ite, I will account myself happy

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