Shiʿa Islam Study Plan - Inter-Faith Study Group (IFSG)

Session 1 – Overview of Shiʿa Islam

Focus: Provide a clear foundation so later sessions make sense.

Historical origins: succession to ʿAli after the Prophet Muhammad; early disputes over leadership and identity.
Main branches: Twelver (largest), Ismaʿili, Zaydi, with emphasis on Twelver Shiʿism.
Central role of the Imams as divinely guided leaders who interpret revelation and guide the community.
Key themes: Karbala and martyrdom, taqiyya (religious dissimulation under persecution), expectation of the Mahdi.
Activity: Create a simple timeline from the Prophet to Karbala to the “occultation” of the Twelfth Imam.

Focus: How Shiʿa Muslims practice their faith day‑to‑day and across the year.

Daily prayer: five daily prayers, often performed in three blocks (combining noon/afternoon and evening/night); distinct wording in the call to prayer.
Ten Obligatory Acts: duties such as prayer, fasting, charity, pilgrimage, and “enjoining good and forbidding evil.”
Ritual purity: ablutions (wudu), full ritual bath (ghusl), and dry ablution (tayammum) as conditions for worship.
Annual rituals: Ramadan fasting, pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj), and visits to shrines (ziyarat).
Muharram and ʿAshura: intense mourning rituals for Husayn, including gatherings, sermons, processions, and recitations.
Activity: “A day in the life” exercise following a practicing Shiʿa believer through their ritual moments.

Focus: The inner feelings and experiences cultivated by Shiʿa devotion.

Spirituality of mourning: weeping for Husayn and the family of the Prophet as a sign of love and solidarity with the oppressed.
Emotional tone: grief at injustice, moral resolve to stand with truth, hope for ultimate divine justice.
Devotional practices: personal supplications (duʿa), whispered prayers, and meditative reflection on God and the Imams.
Sacred music and recitation: rhythmic lamentations, elegies, and recited poetry that evoke sorrow, love, and resolve.
Taqiyya and emotion: living under threat historically fostered a strong sense of inner faith, caution, and tight communal bonds.
Activity: Read a short translated lament or prayer and name the emotions and spiritual attitudes it expresses.

Focus: The stories and texts that shape Shiʿa understanding of God, history, and humanity.

The Qurʾan: shared scripture of all Muslims, interpreted with special attention to the teachings of the Imams.
Karbala narrative: Husayn’s stand against tyranny and his martyrdom as a central drama of sacrifice and fidelity to God.
Ahl al‑Bayt: the Prophet’s family and the line of Imams as models of piety, knowledge, and justice.
Occultation of the Twelfth Imam: story of the hidden Imam who will return as the Mahdi to establish justice.
Hadith and sayings: reports from the Prophet and Imams that fill out Shiʿa narrative memory.
Activity: Build a “story map” connecting Qurʾan, Prophet, Ahl al‑Bayt, Karbala, and the awaited Mahdi.

Focus: Core beliefs expressed in systematic, reflective form.

Shared beliefs with other Muslims: oneness of God, prophethood of Muhammad, divine revelation, angels, and the Last Day.
Imamate: belief that God appoints a continuous line of infallible Imams to guide the community after the Prophet.
Mahdism: belief that the final Imam lives in hiddenness and will return to restore justice and true religion.
Divine justice: strong emphasis on God’s fairness and human responsibility, influencing views of free will and moral accountability.
Reason and theology: use of rational argument to clarify doctrine, defend faith, and address social questions.
Activity: Compare “prophet” and “Imam” in small groups (role, authority, function).

Focus: Moral guidance, religious law, and how they are lived in community.

Ethical ideals: justice, siding with the oppressed, loyalty to truth even at great cost, balanced with mercy and compassion.
Religious law (fiqh): rulings on worship, family life, finance, and social matters, derived through Shiʿa legal methodology.
Sources of law: Qurʾan, prophetic and Imam traditions, consensus, and reason as used by qualified jurists.
Marjaʿ al‑taqlid: senior jurists whom lay believers follow for practical rulings in daily life.
Social vision: religion as embracing personal and public life, including politics, economics, and social welfare.
Activity: Case study on a contemporary ethical issue and how a Shiʿa believer might seek guidance from a marjaʿ.

Focus: Community life, institutions, and physical expressions of faith.

Congregational life: mosques, husayniyyas (halls for gatherings about Husayn), schools, and seminaries.
Clerical structures: local leaders and higher‑ranking scholars, and how they guide and organize community life.
Pilgrimage to shrines: visits to the graves of Imams and their family members as acts of devotion, learning, and communal gathering.
Material culture of devotion: shrine architecture, calligraphy, banners, black clothing in mourning, devotional objects.
Global communities: Shiʿa populations in majority and minority settings, and how rituals adapt in diaspora while preserving core meanings.
Activity: View photos of a shrine or Muharram procession and discuss what the architecture, colors, and symbols communicate.