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Shiʿi: Quick Facts

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News •

Plan to restart Shiite religious tourism in Syria revives economic hopes, fears • Nov. 2, 2026, 3:00 AM ET (Jerusalem Post)

Facts

Also Known As Shīʿah • Shīʿa • Shiʿite • Shīʿī • Shiʿah • Shīʿism

Photos

Najaf: shrine of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib
The Hazrat-e Masumeh shrine in Qom, Iran, features a large golden dome, ornate blue-tiled minarets, and an arched courtyard with visitors walking below.
Battle of Karbala, oil on canvas by Abbas Al-Musavi, shows Imam al-Husayn on horseback in a dramatic, crowded scene commemorating his martyrdom, with expressive figures and vivid colors.
Mausoleum of Öljeitü
Ruhollah Khomeini
Children dressed in white and orange costumes with colorful wings perform as angels during an Ashura passion play on a sandy hillside near Kashan, Iran, with onlookers and red flags in the background.
Muslims at a taʿziyyah, a passion play commemorating the martyrdom of al-Ḥusayn, in Jaipur, India.
World map using color-coded regions to show the predominant religions in each area during the early 1980s. Christianity, Islam (Sunni and Shi'i), Buddhism, Hinduism, Chinese and Japanese religions, Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Sikhism, indigenous religions, Judaism, nonreligious populations, and uninhabited areas are all represented by different colors and symbols, with a legend explaining each. The map highlights religious majorities by region, such as Christianity in th
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Topics
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Key People

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Ismāʿīl I
shah of Iran
Mausoleum of Öljeitü
Öljeitü
Il-Khanid ruler of Iran
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al-Aḥsāʾī
Muslim religious leader
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al-Ḥillī
Muslim theologian
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Shaykh Ḥaydar
Ṣafavid leader
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Shāh Shojāʿ
king of Afghanistan

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