Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Walter G. Andrews, et al., eds., Otto-

man Lyric Poetry: An Anthology (Austin: University of 

Texas Press, 1997); Geoffrey Lewis, The Turkish Lan-

guage Reform: A Catastrophic Success (Oxford: Oxford 

University Press, 1999); Kemal Silay, ed., An Anthology 

of Turkish Literature (Bloomington: Indiana University 

Turkish Studies, 1996); Talal Sait Halman, ed., Contem-

porary Turkish Literature: Fiction and Poetry (Ruther-

ford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1982); 

Nermin Menemencioglu and Fahir Iz, eds., The Penguin 

Book of Turkish Verse (New York: Penguin, 1978).

Turkmenistan

  See c

entral

 a

sia

 

and

 

the

 

c

aucasus

.

Twelve-Imam Shiism

 

(also called  

Twelver Shiism, Ithnaashari Shiism, and 

Imami Shiism)

s

hiism

 is the leading sectarian alternative to Sunni 

Islam. The largest of the three major Shii tradi-

tions is Twelve-Imam Shiism (the other two being 

i

smaili

 s

hiism

 and z

aydi

 s

hiism

). Its name is based 

on belief that 12 male descendants from the family 

of Muhammad (d. 632), starting with a

li

 

ibn

 a

bi

t

alib

 (d. 661) and ending with the m

ahdi

 Muham-

mad al-Muntazar (entered concealment in 874), 

are Imams—exemplary authorities for the commu-

nity and focal points for religious devotion.

It is estimated that the Shia as a whole con-

stitute between 12 percent and 15 percent of the 

total Muslim population today (1.3 billion, 2008 

estimate), or between 156 million and 195 million 

K  676  

Turkmenistan

---

adherents. The largest Twelver populations are 

located in i

ran

 and i

raq

, where there are about 

58.9 million (90 percent, est. 2007) and 17 million 

(60–65 percent, est. 2007) adherents, respectively. 

Twelvers are also majorities in Azerbaijan (85 

percent) and Bahrain (70 percent); they are large 

minorities in l

ebanon

 (30 percent), Kuwait (25 

percent), the United Arab Emirates (16 percent), 

s

aUdi

  a

rabia

 (15 percent), a

Fghanistan

 (19 per-

cent), Tajikistan (5 percent), p

akistan

 (18–20 per-

cent), and i

ndia

 (2–5 percent). In addition, since 

the latter part of the 20th century, small immigrant 

communities of Twelver Shii Muslims have arisen 

in Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States, 

and Canada. Although Twelvers have often avoided 

overt involvement in politics, and developed reli-

gious doctrines to make this permissible, their 

understanding of Islam changed significantly in the 

latter part of the 20th century, leading to what some 

scholars have called a “revival” of political Shiism.

bEGINNINGS

The historical roots of Twelve-Imam Shiism date 

back to the crisis that confronted the early Mus-

lim community in Medina when Muhammad died 

in 632, before succession to leadership had been 

clearly determined. Arabian society was strongly 

patrilineal, but Muhammad had no sons to suc-

ceed him. The consensus of leading members 

of the 

umma

 was that Muhammad’s successor, or 

caliph

, should be a

bU

 b

akr

 (r. 632–634), one of 

his closest companions and a respected member 

of the community. However, a minority favored 

Ali, Muhammad’s paternal cousin and son-in-law. 

Ali’s backers became known as his shia (party 

or faction), which is the basis of the English 

term “Shiism.” They also became known as the 

Alids. According to Shii accounts and the hadith, 

shortly before his death Muhammad had identi-

fied Ali as the “master” (mawla) of those who had 

also regarded Muhammad as their master. Even 

though Ali became the caliph in 655, his reign 

was troubled by civil wars and the strong opposi-

tion of the Umayyad clan of Mecca and Damas-

cus. Ali was assassinated by a disgruntled former 

supporter, one of the k

haWariJ

, thereby setting a 

pattern for 

martyrdom

 that would eventually pro-

foundly shape Shii thought and worship. Muslim 

factions in the Hijaz and southern Iraq continued 

to agitate for a male descendant of Muhammad’s 

family to claim leadership of the umma, and a 

number arose and were defeated. Foremost among 

these was Ali’s son Husayn, who was killed by 

Umayyad forces at k

arbala

 in southern Iraq in 

680, together with most of his male supporters. 

This event solidified martyrdom for a just cause 

as a key component of Shii piety.

Another significant stage in the development of 

Twelve-Imam Shiism occurred during the imam-

ate of J

aaFar

 

al

-s

adiq

 (ca. 699–765), the great-

grandson of Husayn. A highly respected scholar 

in Medina, he lived when the Abbasid Revolu-

tion overturned the U

mayyad

  c

aliphate

 and then 

turned against Shii partisans who had been their 

allies against the Umayyads. Jaafar was reportedly 

imprisoned several times by the Abbasid caliph 

al-Mansur (r. 754–775) and chose to distance him-

self from anti-Abbasid politics as a consequence. 

Despite difficulties, he won a wide following as 

both a scholar and a proponent of political quiet-

ism, which developed into the doctrine of taqiyya,

or pious concealment of one’s Shii beliefs in the 

face of persecution or punishment. He has also 

been credited with affirming his father Muham-

mad al-Baqir’s idea of nass, the divinely inspired 

designation of an Imam by his predecessor, as a 

way to resolve conflicting claims to Alid leader-

ship. To further enhance this idea and elevate 

the Imams to a position as leading authorities in 

matters of religion, the doctrine of the infallibil-

ity (isma) of the Imams was also asserted during 

Jaafar’s time. Additionally, Shii tradition remem-

bers him as an expert in 

fiqh

  (jurisprudence). 

Consequently, the Twelver tradition of law is 

known as the Jaafari School. Succession to Jaafar 

became confused when his designated heir, Ismail, 

predeceased him in 755. Those remaining loyal to 

Ismail recognized his infant son Muhammad as