A primer on Twelver Shia beliefs and its advent from Sunni lens
Insights from a Sunni Perspective
This discussion centers on the mainstream Twelver Shia, also known as Jafari. Today, they form the overwhelming bulk of non-Sunni.
Many Sunni scholars pejoratively refer to them as "rafidi" because they do not acknowledge the legitimacy of the first three caliphs. I consider terms like rafidi or Shia to be too non-specific in the context of Twelvers, as it can include groups such as the Ismailis.
While I highlight several misconceptions about Twelvers, significant differences indeed remain. Twelvers believe in 12 infallible Imams. They have a completely different historical narrative of early Islamic history. They engage in excessive mourning around the Karbala tragedy. Their over-the-top scholarly reverence turns many graves into shrines, to which they perform pilgrimage. All of these practices are anathema.
Just fyi, if you want primary sources, a pretty widely accepted source from Twelvers about Twelvers is al-Islam.org. If you are looking for well-founded refutations of their views, I recommend twelvershia.net or mahajjah.com.
Mapping the Twelver footprint
Twelver Shiism only began to take shape after the Twelfth Imam's disappearance in 874 CE, when their last Imam went into hiding. There is no doubt that proto-Shia elements existed as early as the reign of Abdullah bin Zubair (R). But remember, I’m talking about Twelver theology.
While we are accustomed to viewing Twelvers as the main non-Sunni group, this wasn’t always the case. In early Islamic history, the main non-Sunni sect was Ismailis. However, Ismailis are not Muslims. This opinion is universal. Prominent Islamic scholars such as Ghazali, Ibn Taymiyyah, Dhahabi, and Ibn Kathir explicitly declared them non-Muslim due to shirk.
You'll frequently find these three described as the Shia empires. Fatimid. Buyid. Safavid. But their religious beliefs varied. The Fatimids were Ismailis. The Buyid were Twelvers who permitted their Sunni society to practice freely. And, the early Safavids were extremist Twelvers. Think ISIS-level Shia.
While Salahadin is most famous for delivering Aqsa to Muslim hands, his other lasting accomplishment was vanquishing the Fatimids in Egypt. In a future article, I plan to examine the Ismaili sect’s living offshoots. Regrettably, remnants of their traditions persist, such as the mawlid, a practice initiated during the reign of the Fatimid dynasty. Other vestiges like Azhar University have transitioned from Ismaili institution to Sunni establishment. Cairo was founded by the Fatimids as the capital of their dynasty. And so on.
Many of you will be surprised to learn that Persia was a bedrock of Sunni Islam before the Safavid took power in the 1500s. These scholars—Abu Hanifa, Muslim, Ibn Majah, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasai, Ibn Khuzaymah, Hakim, and Bayhaqi—were all Persian. Influential figures such as Nizam ul Mulk and Ghazali guided the region to adopt the Shafii school of thought.
Today, Twelvers are the majority in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain, reflecting the Safavid legacy. Originally, these regions were predominantly Sunni before the Safavid era. However, the shift to the Twelver majority was largely driven by the Safavids' policy of forced conversion. 1501 CE was a terrible year for Sunnis. While Spanish Christians were enforcing conversions to Christianity in Spain, the Safavids were simultaneously enforcing conversions to Shia in Persia. The Safavids officially mandated the public cursing of the Companions as loyalty oaths. Ending this practice was a condition for peace set by the Ottomans, as shown in the Treaty of Amasya (1555) and the Treaty of Ferhat Pasha (1590). I want to highlight the Persian conversion from Sunni to Twelver wasn’t overnight, but systemic and gradual.
This invites the question… why were the early Safavid so poisonously anti-Sunni? The answer lies in the Qezilbash deep state. This group of elites served as the linchpin to the Safavid rise. It wouldn’t be right to say they were Twelvers. They were ghulat. Heretic Twelvers who took their beliefs to an extreme, going so far as to deify the Safavid rulers. A short-lived shah — Ismail II — tried to curb some of the extreme anti-Sunni rhetoric, consequently triggering the wrath of the Qezilbash elite. Fortunately, this cancerous element was purged by Shah Abbas I (1588-1629).
But make no mistake. The Safavids were still wildly deviant. Even after the Qezilbash were chopped. Case in point, their chief royal cleric— Majlesi — believed that the Quran was missing parts from the original text. And, he presided from 1687 to 1689. To be clear, this view is rejected by Twelvers today.
Notably, over the past 200 years, Shia practices have increasingly aligned with Sunni traditions— a trend that contrasts sharply with the Safavid period (1501-1736). Take for instance Friday prayers. Throughout much of Safavid and pre-Safavid history, there were no Friday prayers among Twelvers. From the 1800s onward, the prevailing view increasingly became that it’s required. Moreso, after Iran's revolution in 1979.
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Here’s some food for thought. These are Persia’s rulers in the past 800 years: Mongols (1200–1340), Timurids (1375–1500), Safavids (1500–1736), Nader Shah (1736–1747), Zand family (1750–1794), Qajar dynasty (1757–1924), Pahlavi dynasty (1926–1979), and Islamic Republic (1979–present).
From this, you can make a definitive case that today’s regime is the most Islamic government in the last 500 years. Isn’t that something?
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On a side note, Twelvers are found in minorities in Lebanon, Syria, and Pakistan. You might be surprised to learn that Pakistan has the second-largest Shia population in the world. Although Shias make up only about 10% of the population, their presence is felt. Annually, they shut down Karachi during Ashura — their Karbala anniversary. Many of Pakistan's notable political figures — including founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Zulfikar Bhutto, and Benazir Bhutto — are Shia. But a big caveat — these political leaders were all secular Shia.
Are Twelvers considered Muslims?
Short answer: Yes.
Most contemporary Sunni scholars believe that Twelvers are Muslims.
The Amman Message recognizes Twelvers as Muslims, a view endorsed by over 500 scholars including Yusuf Qaradawi, Taqi Usmani, Faraz Rabbani, Habib Umar, and several Azhar ulema. This view is also supported by Muhammad Dedew as well.
Other scholars affirm Twlevers are Muslims. They differentiate between Twelver clerics and ordinary Twelver followers. They argue that declaring a Twelver as a non-believer (takfir) should only be done on a case-by-case basis. This group includes Abdul-Aziz Tarifi, Uthman Khamis, Muhammad Hassan, Mustafa Adwi, Mohammed Hijab, and Albani. Similar views were held by many premodern scholars as well, including Ibn Taymiyyah and Hanafi jurist Ibn Abidin. I avoid premodern assessments because Twelver beliefs have evolved, often becoming less deviant.
For the sake of thoroughness, I should clarify that Bin Baz views Twelvers as non-Muslims and practices takfir against them. There was a fatwa takfiring Shia sponsored by many Deoband ulema, but it’s clear that they are unaware of what Twelvers actually believe.
Haqiqatjou points out that the Twelver sect began to emerge only after 874 CE, meaning the sect did not exist during the lifetimes of the early Islamic scholars. For instance, Abu Hanifa passed away in 767, Malik in 795, Shafii in 820, and Ibn Hanbal in 855. However, proto-Shia elements existed during their times.
A straightforward question for those who argue that Twelvers are not Muslims: Which specific belief held by Twelvers constitutes kufr?
Furthermore, it is widely understood that a disbelieving statement does not constitute kufr, as it could be due to ignorance or incorrect understanding.
Translation below for Shaykh Al-Albani’s fatwa on Twelvers (originally found here)
Modern Twelver scholars reject cursing the Companions (R)
Yes, modern Twelvers scholars reject cursing the Sahabah. Surprising? I thought so too.
The most popular Twelver website Al-Islam.org has a page dedicated to prohibiting insults to the Companions. Notably, this stands in stark contrast to the Safavid dynasty, which officially mandated the public cursing of the Companions as loyalty oaths.
Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa that firmly forbids any disrespect — let alone outright insults —towards the Prophet’s ﷺ wives and his Companions.
The lionized Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah publicly endorsed this fatwa alongside the Iranian president in 2010, urging respect for the Prophet's Companions. While Nasrallah, in his younger years, made objectionable remarks about Abu Sufyan (R), it appears that with age and wisdom, he later repudiated those views.
The highest-ranking Twelver authority today is widely regarded as Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. He condemned the cursing of the Companions. If you are curious about how they select authorities, look up the marja. Currently, there are 53 recognized Maraji within Twelver.
Many anti-Twelver commentaries will point out the founder of Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini’s repulsive opinions on Companions and Sunnis. They point specifically to quotes from writings in Kitab al-Taharah (1956) and al-Makasib al-Muharrama (1959). The latter was a collection of lectures transferred to book form. These are both more than 20 years before the Iranian revolution. People's views often evolve over decades. In addition, there is substantive evidence that his views did evolve, and he ended up becoming a proponent of Sunni-Shia unity.
Even though today’s leadership does not encourage cursing the Companions, I don’t want to give a misleading impression that fails the eyeball test. This does not mean Twelvers correctly upholds the status of the Companions. Quite the contrary.
Problematic Twelver beliefs about the Imams
The Imamate is central to their theology. This is why Iran’s largest masjid is a shrine of their 8th imam. This is why Khameini refers to Shia fighters as “defenders of the shrine”. So what do they believe?
According to Twelver belief, you must recognize the authority of the Twelve Imams. These imams are infallible. Free from sins. Must be obeyed. They believe they may know some knowledge of the unseen, but not all knowledge of the unseen. They even have a hadith that states that the light of the Prophet’s family was created before the rest of creation. But, they do not believe imams received divine revelations. They see the role of the Prophets is to share divine law, whereas the role of the Imams is to serve as guides. In their perspective, a person can be a prophet and an imam at the same time.
Moreover, they believe that their 12th Imam vanished as a 5-year-old in 874 CE, yet remains alive. To them, this occurred at the same time as the 11th imam died. They also hold that he is the Mahdi.
Of course, as Sunnis, we don’t have an imamate. From our historical perspective, we do not believe their 12th imam ever existed. Because their 11th Imam — Hasan Askari — died early without leaving any descendants. Although we believe the Mahdi will come, we do not believe that he disappeared or lived an extraordinary long life. Unlike the Twelvers, we believe that the Mahdi will operate by ordinary means, not through miracles defying natural laws.
A simple counterargument to their theology: If the Imamate is such a crucial aspect of Islam, why isn’t it explicitly mentioned in the Quran? Additionally, if this was truly the teaching of the Prophet ﷺ, why did most of the Companions not embrace this belief?
Do Twelvers believe the Quran is altered?
No. Modern Twelvers firmly reject tahreef, the notion that the Quran was altered. They maintain that the Quran remains unchanged. While some Twelvers claimed parts of the Quran were altered, this notion is not accepted by the vast majority of contemporary Twelver theology.
Preeminent classical Twelver scholars — Saduq (d. 992), Mufid (d. 1022) and Tusi (d. 1067) — did not believe the Quran was altered. Some of this misconception stems from the Twelver hadith that the Quran is 17,000 verses, which is rejected by many heavyweight Twelver scholars.
However, several early Twelver did believe that the Quran was altered. There is strong evidence that Ali bin Ibrahim Qummi (d. 919), Kulayni (d. 941), Numani (d. 971), Mohsen Fayz Kashani (d. 1680), Majlesi (d. 1699), and Noori Tabrisi (d. 1902) believed in tahreef. In fact, Tabrisi wrote a book on this topic. But their blasphemous opinions on this topic are not endorsed by nearly all Twelver ulema today.
Interestingly, this topic was the initial subject matter of a Sunni vs Shia debate, where the Twelver scholar does not deny that some prominent Twelver scholars believed the Quran was altered.
Present-day Twelvers reject most of their own hadith
The four most prominent Twelver hadith books are:
Kafi (by Kulayni)
Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih (by Saduq)
Tahdhib al-Ahkam (by Tusi)
Istibsar (by Tusi)
These books were reportedly compiled between the 900s and 1000s CE. The problem is actually much deeper than unreliable narrators. What could be worse than unreliable narrators? The books themselves weren’t preserved. They contain ridiculous anachronisms, such as references to minutes and seconds, which did not exist at the time of alleged publication.
Sit back and look at the name of the author of Kafi — the largest compilation of Twelver hadith. Yes. Kulayni (d. 941) . That’s the same person who considered the Quran was altered. Perhaps that’s why around a hundred or so hadith in Kafi claim the Quran is altered? In the interests of full disclosure, there is some evidence that Kulayni did not believe that. In my opinion, rather unconvincing. If you want to do a deep dive on it, I encourage you to check out this debate on a Shia message board.
Kulayni records about 16,000 hadiths in Kafi, while Saduq (d. 992) documents 6,000 in Faqih and a total of 20,841 across his various works. Saduq often borrowed from Kafi. And this led to serious problems. Because Saduq was criticized by later scholars that Saduq was altering Shia hadiths to fit his own beliefs. This book compiles 40 instances of such alterations. This accusation didn’t originate from Sunnis. In fact, it was initially casted by a prominent Shia scholar —Majlesi (d. 1699). Because Kulayni and Majlesi both believed the Quran was altered, whereas Saduq did not.
Fascinatingly, if you examine the works of Ibn Taymiyyah or Ibn Dhahabi from the 1300s, you'll find vigorous rebuttals of Twelver works, which no longer exist today. They don't reference the well-known Twelver hadith books currently recognized. This is because the prominent Twelver texts in the 1300s have disappeared, and Twelvers have since incorporated different hadith books into their mainstream. Credits to Haqiqatjou for explaining this.
It’s important to understand that Twelvers reject many of their own hadith, even those in their most respected Twelver "four books." Similar to how Sunnis would reject weak or fabricated hadith. Some uninformed individuals wrongly takfir Twelvers, based on certain hadiths, despite the Twelvers rejecting these hadith themselves. Sleazy, if you ask me. Or just lazy?
Problem within rijali books
Anyone familiar with hadith knows that each hadith is transmitted through a chain of narrators. Rijali books are dedicated to evaluating these narrators.
In Sunni rijali books, you’ll typically find detailed information about each narrator, including:
Their full name
Place and year of death
Travel history
Names of their teachers and students
Statements from scholars, both praising and criticizing them
On the other hand, Twelver rijali books tend to be lists. They often only list the names of narrators, without providing any additional context—similar to a "phonebook without the numbers." Occasionally, you might find some information about a narrator, but this is rare and scattered, appearing perhaps once every 100 entries or so.
You may already be familiar with some of the authors of famous Sunni rijali books, such as Bukhari, Abu Hatim, Ibn Hibban, Mizzi, Dhahabi, and Ibn Hajar.
The authors of the famous Twelver rijali books are Kashshi, Najashi, and Tusi. In fact, Najashi did not even intend for the book to be treated as a rijali book. But it was repurposed by later Twelver scholars as a rijali book. Their narrator collections also suffer from issues like anachronisms. For example, a narrator might be listed, even though he died after the author of the rijali book had already passed away.
It's not just the quality of these books that is lacking—the quantity is also limited. For instance, Rijal Tusi, the largest Twelver rijali book, contains only about 6,500 narrators, while Rijal Najashi includes around 1,300 narrators. In comparison, Sunni rijali works are far more extensive, with Bukhari documenting around 12,300 narrators and with Abu Hatim including approximately 18,000 narrators.
Recently, Ayatollah Abu Khoe (d. 1992) compiled all the earlier Twelver rijali books into one comprehensive work. He was the teacher of Ali Sistani, who inherited his legacy. Today, Sistani is considered the most highly regarded Twelver authority in the world. It all ties in, doesn’t it?
This subsection, primarily transcribed from a lecture on Twelver hadith issues, aims to share the speaker's insights with some corrections. It's been spiced with additional information for clarity and flow.
Twelvers are divided on istigatha
Like some Sufis, many Twelvers practice istigatha (seeking help from the unseen). Many Twelver authorities allow saying "Ya Ali, help me", but affirm that only Allah has absolute power. They justify this by explaining that they view some people only as an intercessor, not as a possessor of power.
As a starter to this discussion, it’s undoubtedly haram. Of course, this is unanimously considered shirk if they believe anyone other than Allah has absolute power or if they are asking someone what only Allah can give. Some scholars, especially from the Islamic University of Madinah, define shirk to be inclusive of this action, regardless of intention. Among Sunnis, discussions on istigatha range from a more tolerant to a more restrained perspective.
The intensity of istigatha among Twelvers has significantly decreased over the last 200 years. One of their major scholars — Ayatollah Fadlullah (d. 2010) — has condemned this practice, writing a book and issuing a fatwa against it. Fadlullah had the largest following in Lebanon while he was alive. Another notable Twelver scholar — Muhammad Hussain Najafi (d. 2023) — also condemned istigatha.
Other Twelver scholars condemning the practice include Yaser Awda, Muhammad Hadi Yusufi Gharawi, Ammar Nakhswani, Arif Abdulhussain.
Some other differences
In their azan, they say “I bear witness that Ali is the friend of Allah” and “Hasten to the best of deeds”. They prefer rings on the right hand, while some Sunnis prefer them on the left. There is also some Shia cultural affinity for the pagan Hamsa hand. But really, with all these other more serious differences, who's splitting hairs? You could go on forever.
Further references
al-Bahraini, F. (2019). The Martyrdom of Al-Husayn in Light of the Authentic Traditions. Dar al-Arqam.
al-Bahraini, F. (2018). The distortions of al-Ṣadūq. Retrieved from http://www.twelvershia.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Distortions-of-Al-Saduq.pdf
Amanat, A. (2017). Iran: A Modern History. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv19prrqm
Brown, J. A. C. (2007). The canonization of Al-Bukhārī and Muslim: The formation and function of the Sunnī ḥadīth canon. Brill.