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Ansar Allah ('Helpers of God'), known more popularly as the Houthi (Arabic: al-Ḥuthiyyun), are a Zaidi group based in north Yemen. The group takes its name from Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, who launched an insurgency in 2004 and was reportedly killed by Yemeni army forces that September.<br/><br/> Led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the group succeeded in a coup d'état in 2014–15, taking control of the Yemeni capital Sana'a and the parliament.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Islamic State (IS), and by its Arabic language acronym Daesh, is a Salafi jihadist militant group that follows a fundamentalist, Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam.<br/><br/> The group has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and many individual countries. ISIL is widely known for its videos of beheadings of both soldiers and civilians, including journalists and aid workers, and its destruction of cultural heritage sites. The United Nations holds ISIL responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes, and Amnesty International has charged the group with ethnic cleansing on a historic scale in northern Iraq.
Hassan Rouhani is the seventh President of Iran, in office since 2013. He is also a former lawmaker, academic and diplomat. He has been a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts since 1999, member of the Expediency Council since 1991, and a member of the Supreme National Security Council since 1989.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Islamic State (IS), and by its Arabic language acronym Daesh, is a Salafi jihadist militant group that follows a fundamentalist, Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam.<br/><br/> The group has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and many individual countries. ISIL is widely known for its videos of beheadings of both soldiers and civilians, including journalists and aid workers, and its destruction of cultural heritage sites. The United Nations holds ISIL responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes, and Amnesty International has charged the group with ethnic cleansing on a historic scale in northern Iraq.
This levha panel praises Muhammad's son-in-law 'Ali and his famous double-edged sword Dhu al-Fiqar, which he inherited from the Prophet, with the topmost statement executed in black ink: 'There is no victory except 'Ali [and] there is no sword except Dhu al-Fiqar' (la fath ila 'Ali, la sayf ila Dhu al-Fiqar). The vocalization for this proclamation is executed in red ink.<br/><br/> Immediately below the inscription eulogizing 'Ali appear several lines executed in red (vocalized in blue ink), blue (vocalized in red ink), and black (vocalized in red ink) praising the Imam, the Prophet Muhammad, and God. The four diagonal lines executed in blue ink provide a supplementary eulogistic quatrain in honor of a ruler by drawing a parallel to the great Persian kings Jamshid and Feridun.<br/><br/> In the lower right corner, the artist Farid al-Din has signed his work with the expression katabahu Farid al-Din ('Farid al-Din wrote this'). Unfortunately, this single calligraphic panel is not dated. As levhas are typical of 19th-century Turkish calligraphic traditions, it is quite possible that this piece was executed at the time for a patron with Shi'i inclinations either in Turkey or Iran.
Bashar al-Assad (born 11 Sept 1965) is president of the Syrian Arab Republic and Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party. He became president in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez al-Assad, who had ruled Syria for 29 years.
Sadr ad-Din Muhammad Shiraz was an Iranian Shia Islamic philosopher and theologian who led the Iranian cultural renaissance in the 17th century.<br/><br/> Mulla Sadra's philosophy ambitiously synthesized Avicennism, Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi's Illuminationist philosophy, Ibn Arabi's Sufi metaphysics, and the theology of the Ash'ari school and Twelvers.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Islamic State (IS), and by its Arabic language acronym Daesh, is a Salafi jihadist militant group that follows a fundamentalist, Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam.<br/><br/> The group has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and many individual countries. ISIL is widely known for its videos of beheadings of both soldiers and civilians, including journalists and aid workers, and its destruction of cultural heritage sites. The United Nations holds ISIL responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes, and Amnesty International has charged the group with ethnic cleansing on a historic scale in northern Iraq.
Ali Hosseini Khamenei is the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran and a Shia Cleric. Ali Khamenei succeeded Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Iranian Revolution, after Khomeini's death, being elected as the new Supreme Leader by the Assembly of Experts on 4 June 1989.<br/><br/> He had also served as the President of Iran from 1981 to 1989.
According to the Shia tradition, Muhammad formally designated his son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib (the Caliph Ali) as his successor at the oasis of Gadir Khum, located mid-way between the holy cities of Mecca / Makkah and Medina, in the Arabian Hijaz. The Sunni tradition disputes this event ever took place.<br/><br/> Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.
Alamut (Persian: الموت, transliterated Alamūt) was a mountain fortress located in the South Caspian province of Daylam near the Rudbar region in Iran, approximately 100 kilometres (60 mi) from present-day Tehran, Iran. The name means 'Eagle’s Nest'.<br/><br/> Under the leadership of Hasan-i Sabbah, Alamut became the site of intense activity for the Shi’a Nizari Ismaili Muslims, along with a smaller subgroup known as the Assassins, between 1090 and 1256 AD. During the medieval period, the castle functioned as the major stronghold of the Nizari Ismaili state. In 1256, Ismaili control of the fortress was lost to the invading Mongols and its famous library holdings were destroyed when the castle’s library was condemned to be burned by ‘Ata-Malik Juwayni, a servant of the Mongol court. Sources on the history and thought of the Ismailis in this period are therefore lacking and the majority extant are written by their detractors.<br/><br/> After the Mongol destruction, the castle was of only regional significance, passing through the hands of various local powers. Today, it lies in ruins, but because of its historical significance, it is being developed by the Iranian government as a tourist destination.
The Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, in the Twelver or Ithna-‘ashariyyah branch of Shī‘ah Islam. According to the theology of Twelvers, the successor of Muhammad is an infallible human individual who not only rules over the community with justice, but also is able to keep and interpret the Divine Law and its esoteric meaning. The Prophet and Imams' words and deeds are a guide and model for the community to follow; as a result, they must be free from error and sin, and must be chosen by divine decree, or nass, through the Prophet.<br/><br/> According to Twelvers, there is always an Imam of the Age, who is the divinely appointed authority on all matters of faith and law in the Muslim community. ‘Alī was the first Imam of this line, and in the Twelvers' view, the rightful successor to the Prophet of Islam, followed by male descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah Zahra. Each Imam was the son of the previous Imam, with the exception of Husayn ibn Ali, who was the brother of Hasan ibn Ali. The twelfth and final Imam is Muhammad al-Mahdi, who is believed by the Twelvers to be currently alive, and hidden until he returns to bring justice to the world.
Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب;, c.598-661 CE). The son of Abu Talib, Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, Muhammad, ruling over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam.<br/><br/> Sunnis consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided) Caliphs, while Shia regard Ali as the first Imam and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of which are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad. This disagreement split the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunni and Shia branches.
This Arabic panel praises Muhammad's son-in-law 'Ali and his famous double-edged sword Dhu al-Fiqar, which he inherited from the Prophet, with the topmost statement executed in black ink: 'There is no victory except in 'Ali [and] there is no sword except Dhu al-Fiqar' (la fath ila 'Ali, la sayf ila Dhu al-Fiqar).
The Alawis, also known as Alawites, Nusayris and Ansaris, are a prominent mystical and syncretic religious group centred in Syria who constitute a branch of Shia Islam. Distinct Alawi beliefs include the belief that prayers are not necessary, they do not fast, perform pilgrimage, nor have specific places of worship. Traditionally Alawis live in the An-Nusayriyah Mountains along the Mediterranean coast of Syria. Latakia and Tartous are the region's principal cities. Alawis are also concentrated in the plains around Hama and Homs.<br/><br/> Today Alawis also live in all major cities of Syria. They are estimated to constitute slightly less than 10% of the Syrian population (which would be about 2 million people in 2010).
Hafez al-Assad (6 October 1930 – 10 June 2000) was the president of Syria for three decades. Assad's rule was praised for consolidating the power of the central government after decades of coups and counter-coups. He also drew criticism for repressing his own people, in particular for ordering the Hama massacre of 1982, which has been described as the single deadliest act by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East. Human Rights groups have detailed thousands of extra-judicial executions he committed against opponents of his regime. He was succeeded by his son, Bashar al-Assad, in 2000.
Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi (1956 – 10 September 2004), also spelled Hussein Badr Eddin al-Houthi, was a Zaidi religious leader and former member of the Yemeni parliament for the Al-Haqq Islamic party between 1993 and 1997. He was an instrumental figure in the Houthi insurgency against the Yemeni government, which began in 2004.<br/><br/> Al-Houthi, who was a one-time rising political aspirant in Yemen, had wide religious and tribal backing in northern Yemen's mountainous regions. The Houthis movement took his name after his death in 2004.
The Battle of Siffin (Arabic: صفين‎; May–July 657 CE) occurred during the First Fitna, or first Muslim civil war, with the main engagement taking place from July 26 to July 28. It was fought between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I, on the banks of the Euphrates river, in what is now Ar-Raqqah, Syria.<br/><br/> Following the controversial murder of Uthman ibn Affan, Ali had become Caliph but struggled to be accepted as such throughout the Muslim Empire. Muawiyah, the governor of Syria, was a kinsman of the murdered Caliph, and wanted the murderers brought to justice. He considered that Ali was unwilling to do this, and so Muawiyah rebelled against Ali, who attempted to put down the rebellion. The result was the engagement at Siffin. However, the battle was indecisive, and the two parties agreed to an arbitration, which was equally indecisive.<br/><br/> The battle and arbitration served to weaken Ali's position, but did not resolve the tensions that were plaguing the empire. To the Shia, Ali ibn Abi Talib was the first Imam. To Sunnis, Ali ibn Abi Talib was the fourth Rashidun Caliph, and Muawiyah the first Caliph of the Ummayyad dynasty. The events surrounding the battle are highly controversial between Sunni and Shia, and serve as part of the split between the two groups.
The Battle of Siffin (Arabic: صفين‎; May–July 657 CE) occurred during the First Fitna, or first Muslim civil war, with the main engagement taking place from July 26 to July 28. It was fought between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I, on the banks of the Euphrates river, in what is now Ar-Raqqah, Syria.<br/><br/> Following the controversial murder of Uthman ibn Affan, Ali had become Caliph but struggled to be accepted as such throughout the Muslim Empire. Muawiyah, the governor of Syria, was a kinsman of the murdered Caliph, and wanted the murderers brought to justice. He considered that Ali was unwilling to do this, and so Muawiyah rebelled against Ali, who attempted to put down the rebellion. The result was the engagement at Siffin. However, the battle was indecisive, and the two parties agreed to an arbitration, which was equally indecisive.<br/><br/> The battle and arbitration served to weaken Ali's position, but did not resolve the tensions that were plaguing the empire. To the Shia, Ali ibn Abi Talib was the first Imam. To Sunnis, Ali ibn Abi Talib was the fourth Rashidun Caliph, and Muawiyah the first Caliph of the Ummayyad dynasty. The events surrounding the battle are highly controversial between Sunni and Shia, and serve as part of the split between the two groups.
A page from illuminated codex containing a prayer attributed to ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, the fourth caliph of Islam, the manuscript by Shaykh Kamāl ibn ‘Abd al-Ḥaqq al-Sabzawārī of Astarabad (present-day Gorgan, Iran).
At the Battle of Karbala the followers of Ali, led by the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Husayn, were defeated by the forces of the Umayyad Caliph Yazid. The event, which is often depicted in popular prints, is used by Shia to recall the martyr’s role that they feel they have played throughout history.<br/><br/> Ordinary chronology has been abolished in this print. Several episodes from the battle are enacted at the same time, and on each side, the battling parties still stand in their starting positions. On the right is Husayn with a small group of adherents, and on the top left is the commander of the Umayyad caliph Yazid with rows of well-equipped forces. We can also see into the afterlife. Husayn, now glorified, is found in the uppermost part of the picture flanked by jinns (creatures of fire created by God) on the left and by angels and early prophets on the right.
Ismail I (July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), known in Persian as Shāh Ismāʿil (Persian: شاه اسماعیل‎; full name: Abū l-Muzaffar bin Haydar as-Safavī), was Shah of Iran (1501-1524) and the founder of the Safavid dynasty which survived until 1736. Isma'il started his campaign in Iranian Azerbaijan in 1500 as the leader of the Safaviyya, a Twelver Shia militant religious order, and unified all of Iran by 1509.<br/><br/> The dynasty founded by Ismail I would rule for two centuries, it was one of the greatest Persian empires after the Muslim conquest of Persia. It also reasserted the Iranian identity in Greater Iran, the revival of Persia as an economic power, the establishment of an efficient state and bureaucracy, architectural innovation and their patronage for the fine arts.<br/><br/> Ismail played a key role in the rise of Twelver Islam; he converted much of Iran from Sunni to Shi'a Islam, importing religious authorities from the Levant. In Alevism, Shah Ismail remains revered as a spiritual guide.<br/><br/> Ismail was also a prolific poet who, under the pen name Khatā'ī (which means 'sinner' in Arabic) contributed greatly to the literary development of the Azerbaijani language. He also contributed to the literary development in Persian, though only a few specimens of his Persian verse have survived.
The Shi'ite cleric Allamah Muhammad Baqir Majlisi (1616–98) who devoted himself to the eradication of Sunnism in Iran. In the 17th century the Safavid state made major efforts to Persianize Shi'ite practice and culture in order to facilitate its spread in Iran among its Sunni populace. It was only under Majlisi that Shi'a Islam truly took hold among the Iranian masses.
The Shahnameh or Shah-nama (Persian: شاهنامه Šāhnāmeh, 'The Book of Kings') is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c.977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Iran and related Perso-Iranian cultures. Consisting of some 60,000 verses, the Shahnameh tells the mythical and to some extent the historical past of Greater Iran from the creation of the world until the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century.<br/><br/> The work is of central importance in Persian culture, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of ethno-national cultural identity of Iran. It is also important to the contemporary adherents of Zoroastrianism, in that it traces the historical links between the beginnings of the religion with the death of the last Zoroastrian ruler of Persia during the Muslim conquest.
Mohammad Ali Mirza Dowlatshah (1789- 1821); was a famous Persian Prince of the Qajar Dynasty. He is also the progenitor of Dowlatshahi Family of Persia. He was born in Mazandaran, a Caspian province in the north of Iran. He was the first son of the Fath Ali Shah the second Qajar king of Persia and Ziba Chehr Khanoum a noble Georgian woman. He was also the elder brother of Abbas Mirza. Dowlatshah was the governor of Fars at age 9; Qazvin and Gilan at age 11; Khuzestan and Lorestan at age 16; and Kermanshah at age 19. In battles with the Russian and Ottoman Empires, he defeated the Ottomans in Baghdad and Basra and crushed the Russians in Yerevan and Tbilisi.
The Safavids were one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Persia and established the Twelver school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam. This Shia dynasty was of mixed ancestry: Kurdish, Azerbaijani, Georgian and Greek, and ruled Iran from 1501 to 1722.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( born 28 October 1956) is the sixth President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. An engineer and teacher from a poor background, Ahmadinejad joined the Office for Strengthening Unity after the Islamic Revolution. Appointed a provincial governor, he was removed after the election of President Mohammad Khatami and returned to teaching. Tehran's council elected him mayor in 2003. He took a religious hard-line, reversing reforms of previous moderate mayors. His 2005 presidential campaign, supported by the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, garnered 62% of the runoff election votes, and he became President on 3 August 2005.
Eighteenth century mirror writing in Ottoman calligraphy. Depicts the phrase 'Ali is the viceregent of God' in both directions.
Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب) was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam.<br/><br/> Sunni Muslims consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided Caliphs), while Shi'a Muslims regard Ali as the first Imam and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of whom are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad.<br/><br/> This disagreement divides the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunni and Shi'a branches. Ali is greatly revered in Shia Islam. Zulfiqar 'bifurcated' (Arabic: ذو الفقار‎ Dhū l-Fiqār) is the sword of Ali. In Arabic the name is commonly transliterated as Dhu al-Fiqar, Thulfeqar, Dhulfiqar, Zoulfikar etc.<br/><br/> Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.