Shi'a Islam

Shi'a Islam is a small minority of Islam on the fringes of the Muslim world, mainly in Mali and that nation’s diaspora in Meridia. What began as a contentious succession issue has diverged into a genuinely separate strand of the religion.

Beliefs
Shi'as follow the same core theology as Sunnis: that God is one and infinite, and that Muhammad and the Quran are the last sources of revelation. They even practice all of the same core tenets of the faith: daily prayer, studying and testifying the faith, pilgrimage, almsgiving, and fasting. The root difference, however, is in contention over the proper successor to Muhammad: Sunnis follow the succession of Abu Bakr, appointed by the community after Muhammad’s death, while Shi'as that of Ali ibn Abi Talib under the claim Muhammad personally appointed him. From this, various other theological changes have been brought, namely that the rightful Caliphs and their successors the Imams possess an extension of infallibility, meaning they are free from sin or error in knowing God’s will.

Organization
Like Sunni Islam, Shi'a is decentralized with a focus on the position of scholars who have extensively studied the religion. Shi'a has a large focus on succession from previous leaders but conditions at the fringe of the religion have made claims of a Shi'a Caliphate unlikely.