Faith in Iran - Iran - page 595

Devout Shia Muslims might celebrate the death days of all 12 imams, but most concentrate on the first, Ali, the
third, Hossein, and the eighth, Reza ( Click here ) - the only one buried in Iran, in the lavish Haram-e Razavi ( Click
here ) in Mashhad.
The episode that ensured Sunni and Shia would be antagonistic to one another was the massacre of the third im-
am, Hossein, and his 72 followers in 680. Having set up camp at Karbala, in present-day Iraq, the group was be-
sieged for nine days, and on the 10th Hossein was killed. Hossein's martyrdom is commemorated in a 10-day an-
niversary that culminates on Ashura. It's during Ashura that the Iranian culture of martyrdom is most evident. It's
not unusual to see men flailing themselves with chains or crying genuine tears for their lost hero.
Almost as important is the 12th imam, known as the Mahdi or Valiasr (Leader of Our Time). Mahdi is the Hidden
Imam, believed to have disappeared into a cave under a mosque at Samarra in AD 874. Most Shiites believe he lives
on in occultation as their divine leader. It is believed Mahdi will eventually return when, with the prophet Jesus, he
will guide the world to peace and righteousness.
Shias believe only the imams can truly interpret the Quran and the clergy act as their representatives until the
Hidden Imam returns. Ayatollah Khomeini was given the honorary title imam after his death, and when you hear
people talking about 'the Imam' today it's usually a reference to him.
It's impossible to say how much the martyrdom of the 12 imams feeds into modern Iranian cultural traits, but
martyrdom remains a powerful motivator. During the Iran-Iraq War ( Click here ) thousands of men and boys quite
literally sacrificed their lives (some cleared mine fields by walking through them) in the name of country and/or re-
ligion.
The commonly understood names of the 12 imams in Iran, their birth and death years, and where they are buried:
» »1 Imam Ali (600-661) Najaf, Iraq
» »2 Imam Hasan (625-669) Medina, Saudi Arabia
» »3 Imam Hossein (626-680) Karbala, Iraq
» »4 Imam Sajjad (658-713) Medina, Saudi Arabia
» »5 Imam Mohammad Bagher (676-743) Medina, Saudi Arabia
» »6 Imam Jafar Sadegh (703-765) Medina, Saudi Arabia
» »7 Imam Musaye Kazem (745-799) Baghdad, Iraq
» »8 Imam Reza (765-818) Mashhad, Iran
» »9 Imam Javad (810-835) Baghdad, Iraq
» »10 Imam Hadi (827-868) Samarra, Iraq
» »11 Imam Hasan Askari (846-874) Samarra, Iraq
» »12 Imam Mahdi (868-?) In occultation
Shiism reached its greatest influence in Iran. Iranian converts to Islam were attracted by
the idea of the imam as a divinely appointed leader possibly because the Iranians pos-
sessed a long heritage of government by a divinely appointed monarch.
Sunni comes from the word sonnat, which means tradition and refers to the fact that the
Sunnis follow the traditional line of succession after the Prophet Mohammad. Sunnism
has developed into the orthodox branch of Islam and most of the world's Muslims are
Sunni, except in Iran.