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Abu Darweesh Mosque Qurʾān
Why Ramadan is one of the holiest months for Muslims
Prophet's Mosque
Find out why Eid al-Fitr is also called the Festival of Breaking Fast
Averroës Spain: Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba
Explore the history behind the Islamic shrine Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem
world distribution of Islam Geographical distribution of the religions of the world in the early 1980s.
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Shiʿism is the only important surviving non-Sunni sect in Islam in terms of numbers of adherents. As noted above, it owes its origin to the hostility between ʿAlī (the fourth caliph, son-in-law of the Prophet) and the Umayyad dynasty (661–750). After ʿAlī’s death, the Shiʿah (“Party”; i.e., of ʿAlī) demanded the restoration of rule to ʿAlī’s family, and from that demand developed the Shiʿi legitimism, or the divine right of the holy family to rule. In the early stages, the Shiʿiah used this legitimism to cover the protest against the Arab hegemony under the Umayyads and to agitate for social ...(100 of 27715 words)

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