offprint THE JERUSALEM QUARTERLYThe Evolution of the Shi'a Etan Kohlberg World reaction to recent events in Iran has ranged from the ecstatic to the panicky. Whatever else may be said about Khomeini’s revolution, it has had the merit of focusing inter national attention on Shi‘ Islam, a religion hitherto largely neglected and often misunderstood. After all, the Muslim world which the Europeans came to know ~as adversaries or allies, con querors or subjects ~ was chiefly that of Sunni Islam, Sunnt institutions, customs and beliefs thus became at least partially known. In contrast, Shi Islam, which was largely concentrated in areas far removed from Western penetration, remained for the ™most part a mystery, Whatever information there was about it came from Summ sources and was therefore fragmentary, unreliable or distorted. It was only in the latter half of the nineteenth century that the picture began to change, thanks to the pioneering studies of scholars such as Goldziher and Noldeke, who based their researches on both Sunni and Shi sources and were thus able to achieve a more balanced view. Despite the progress made since then in the study of the Shi'a, there is much that remains to be investigated. The significance of Shi'ism for understanding Islam past and present has by now become manifest: the Shi'is (who comprise roughly ten per cent of the ‘world’s Muslim population) represont an independent branch of Islam, and though always a minority, they have exerted a crucial influence on the course of Muslim history. * E. Kohlberg eetres on Islam and Arabic erature atthe Hebrew University of Jervsolem. His articles deal mainly wih the Shi'a and with Sufism (samc Le terse Ouarery, Number 27, ring 1963)All Shi'is believe that the legitimate successor of the Prophet ‘Muhammad was his cousin and son-in-law ‘AIT. Abi Talib, and that rule over the Muslim community must rest solely with ‘Ali's descendants, (Shia in fact stands for Shi‘at “Alf, ‘Al's faction.) Differences as to the identity of these descendants arose among the Shia ot an early stage. Disagreements over questions of doctrine, religious law and theology also developed in the course of time. ‘Thus it was that a number of Shi' sub-sects arose in the Middle ‘Ages, many of which have since disappeared without trace. The ‘main branches which have survived until today are the Zaydiyya (concentrated chiefly in the Yemen), the Isma'lliyya (whose various offshoots are tobe found on the Indian subcontinentandin Bast Africa), and the Imamiyya (who constitute a majority in Iran and in southern Iraq, and who are also to be found on the Indian subcontinent, in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and elsewhere’, ‘The prevailing view, according to which the Imamiyya is the central Shi'l branch, is based on a number of considerations, ‘Numerically the Imémiyya have, atleast since the sixteenth cen tury, formed an absolute majority among the Shi'a [the number of Imam Shi's today is estimated at between sixty and ninety million]; moreover, the Imamiyya have played an active role in central regions of the Muslim world, while the Isma’liyya (except for a period of about three hundred years) and the Zaydiyya were restricted to the periphery. The Imami creed, too, occupies a middle position betwoon that of the Zaydiyya (which in certain respects is close to the Sunn) and the Isma'liyya (which contains ‘lomonts far removed from orthodox Islam), The purpose of what follows is to sketch some of the major characteristics of the Ima: miyya (which, for reasons to be elucidated below, is also called Ithnd ‘Ashariyya ~ "Twelver’ ~ and Ja'fariyya u The origins of the Imamiyya are closely connected with the events surrounding the death of the Prophet Muhammad (632) ‘According to Sunni historical sources, Mubammad died without ‘naming a successor (his son Ibrélhim having died in infancy) and without determining the procedures for choosing the ruler of the community. Following a brief power struggle, the choice fell on Muhammad's father-in-law, Abi Bakr (ruled 632-634), who later became known as the first caliph. He was succeeded by ‘Umar b. al-Khajjab (634-644) and then by ‘Uthman b. ‘Aifan (644-656), both sons-in-law of Muhammad and members of his tribe, the Quraysh. The qualities of the first three caliphs and the method of their election (as soon by Sunni theoroticians in following 10