Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad summary

Shiʿi, member of the smaller of the two major branches of Islam, the Shiʿah, distinguished from the majority Sunnis. The origins of the split between the Sunnis and the Shiʿah lie in the events which followed the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad was understood to be the messenger of God who,

Imam, in a general sense, one who leads Muslim worshippers in prayer. In a global sense, imam is used to refer to the head of the Muslim community (ummah). The title is found in the Qurʾān several times to refer to leaders and to Abraham. The origin and basis of the office of imam was conceived

Hadith, corpus of the sayings or traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, revered by Muslims as a major source of religious law and moral guidance. It comprises many reports of varying length and authenticity. The individual reports are also called hadith (plural: hadiths). The word hadith is derived