Shia means
The word "Shia" in Arabic means the followers and companions. And in terms it means as county "Shiite are those who does follow only Imam Ali peace on him and they believe in his Imamate and caliphate through text and they say that Imamate does not leave him without oppression. in the holy Qur'an in many cases the Shiite means as followers and companions of the Prophet's sayings and word meaning followers of Imam Ali peace on him and his friends and we should believe that Shia in Shiite sources does not have more than one meaning, and it is the one who is beliefs to the succession of Imam Ali peace on him and his eleven children and stiffness.
The beginning of Shia
There has been different opinions about the beginning of Shiite but the fact of Shia is that the friendship and obedience of Imam Ali peace on him and putting Shiite of Imam Ali to the Prophet, therefore, with regard to the views of some of the debates about when Shiism was about to begin, we can say that during Saqifah, late Caliph 'Uthman, Battle of the Camel, and Karbala was an incident sections that are located events and influence the history of Shia but first of all the Messenger of Allah the fans and followers of Imam Ali peace on him are defined as Shia in the traditions of the prophet and all Sunni has accepted this Hadiths.
After the Caliphate of Ali, the first Imam of Shiite, in addition to other topics such as the Alawite Shia gradually, Emami, Esna-Ashari, parsley and Professor on family friends of the mission means that some of these titles were Shiite opponents, such as a heretic Turabi of the sarcasm and contempt, or which titles are given to the Shia. ]
As mentioned, the first Shiite of Imam Ali's was the holy Prophet Muhammad and his descendants and some of the companions of the Prophet (puh), then the people who were known as Shiite of Imam Ali were Popular People like: Salman Farsi, Abuzar Ghaffari, Ammar Yasir, Abu Ayyub Ansari and all the Bani Hashim and Bani more and were known to lovers of Ali (as). [5]
The Shiite Saqifah
Despite the Ghadir event and the efforts of the Prophet for his guardian, after his death Saqifah community was happened and the family of Prophet stay home respectively. Quraysh and seeking to temper the Department of envy and hostility to the right of the Imam Ali, peace upon him and trampled on him because of materials such as lack of division between Muslims, Christians, risk of apostates and maintaining the family of Holy Prophet. .. Their rights were ignored and thus the caliphate and guardian of the true and real prophet went out and only the Shia as a special group with special individual and collective political orientation of the legitimacy of Ali AS always defended and 25 years, as Caliph Ali (PBUH) was introduced to the right people.
Shiite in the era of caliphs
Shiite in the age of caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, and 'Uthman) except the first few days after Saqifah was not faced with significant pressure and non-officially military and political cooperation with caliphs at the level of the higher interests of Islam. And some Shia leaders also agreed to accept the Imam's political and military positions.
After the murder of Caliph 'Uthman and caliphate of Imam Ali, his followers and companions of the Prophet openly announced his Shiite and demonstrated it, but after his death the Umayyad period was the most difficult time for the Shiites that begin since 40 AD and continued until 132 AD. Umayyad caliphs were all bitter enemy of Shiite and Sunni scholar Ibn Abil writes, "Where Shiites were killed, Umayyad cut their hands and feet since they thought they are Shiites are cut and they sent the lovers of Prophet's family to the prisons and their property looted and their houses were destroyed.
Shiite in the era of Umayyad and Abbasid
Despite all the oppression and injustice that the Shiites suffer in the Umayyad era, did not stop the spread of Shiism. The oppression of the Prophet's family, causing people to their hearts desire, especially among the people and companions PBUH Hassanein had particular respect. After the martyrdom of Imam Hussein Shiites lose the support of any armed movement against the enemy and they were disappointed but bloody uprising overthrew the Umayyad palace and destroyed the legitimacy of Omavi military and political cooperation at the level of the higher interests of Islam in public opinion. By the beginning of the year 111 AH Abbasids invited barriers to the spread of Shiism in various parts of the Islamic kingdom that weakened and may decrease the Umayyad repression against Shia, and therefore at this point in time relatively secure Shiite and Shiites in the short period of Shiite jurisprudence and theology founded and Shiite entered a new phase. In this era of Shiite Muslims in the East and the West, vast lands and in the fourth century and reached a peak growth of Shiite Zaydi and Ismaili and Hamdanids organizations have been founded this time.
The geographical distribution of Shiite
Increasing the intellectual and ideological, geographical spread Shia and Shia city certainly has been the primary source of the first followers of the Prophet's companions lived in the same city. In the first and second centuries AD Shiites lived in many parts of the Islamic land and were scattered. everywhere, but the density and concentration of Shiites in a few areas that were in the first century AD in Medina, Yemen, Kufa, Basra, Madan and Jabal. In the second century there are areas such as Qom, Khorasan, Complex, Baghdad and the Shiite areas of Africa.
Shiite sects
The most important sects of Shiite were in the first and second centuries AD and after the end of the second century there have not occurred as a considerable Shiite. Most denominations that have come up in books here zoographical hardly be called a cult, but also refers to those groups that were extinct with the death of their leaders, but the cult of the political scene - they are the social of Kaysanites Shia-Zaydi and Ismaili sects which literally Shiite Imam Ali could not be true.
Source: http://en.rasekhoon.net/
