What do Shiites believe?
Both Shiite and Sunni Muslims believe there is only one God, Allah, and that the prophet Mohammad (570-632 AD) is his messenger. The division between the two communities dates to a 7th-century dispute over the successors to Muhammad. Shiites believe his son-in-law, Ali, should have followed him as caliph, Islam’s supreme temporal leader. That conflict was followed by the central event of Shiite spirituality — the death of Ali’s son, Hussein, and his outnumbered party in a battle at the city of Karbala in the year 680. The memory of Hussein’s martyrdom and the powerful emotions it evokes are comparable to the sentiments inspired by the crucifixion of Jesus. Najaf, also located in southern Iraq, is a another holy city for Shiites. From The Post: Iraq’s Shiites Are Pilgrims Once Again (April 17, 2003) What are the politics of the Iraqi Shiites? There are diverse factions of Shiites, loyal to different clerics both inside and outside Iraq. While the Shiites were violently suppressed by Sa
