- Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq and Chairman of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council from 1979 until his overthrow by US forces in 2003. He was executed after being found guilty of war crimes at his trial in 2006. He was a member of the revolutionary Ba'ath Party, which espoused secular pan-Arabism, economic modernization, and Arab socialism. Saddam played a key role in the 1968 coup that brought the party to long-term power.
- Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ) (October 20, 1966 – June 7, 2006) was a Jordanian who ran a militant training camp in Afghanistan alongside Osama bin Laden. He became known after being blamed by United States (U.S.) and Jordanian officials for a series of bombings and attacks. He formed the organization Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad while he was in Europe, and then eventually went to Afghanistan. He was believed to have led al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, …
- Iyad Allawi
Dr. Iyad Allawi (born 1945) is an Iraqi politician, and was the interim Prime Minister of Iraq prior to Iraq's 2005 legislative elections. A prominent Iraqi political activist who lived in exile for almost 30 years, the politically secular Shia Muslim became a member of the Iraq Interim Governing Council, which was established by U.S.-led coalition authorities following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
- Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim is an Iraqi theologian and politician and the leader of SIIC, the largest political party in the Iraqi Council of Representatives. He was a member of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council and served as its president in December 2003. Brother of the Shia leader Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, he replaced him as leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq when Mohammed Baqir was assassinated in August 2003 in Najaf.
- Mohammad Khatami
Mohammad Khatami, born on September 29, 1943, in Ardakan city of Yazd province, is an Iranian intellectual, philosopher and political figure. He served as the fifth President of Iran from August 2, 1997 to August 2, 2005, and was succeeded by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Khatami was elected president on May 23, 1997, and was re-elected on June 8, 2001, for a second term. Khatami won largely due to the female and youth vote, …
- Musa Al-Kazim
Musa al-Kazim (Arabic: الإمام موسى الكاظ (Approximately: October 28, 746 AD - September 1, 799 AD) was the seventh of the Twelver Shia Imams. He was the son of the sixth Shi’ah Imam, Ja'far al-Sadiq, and his mother’s name was Hamida Khatoon. He was born during the power struggles between the Umayyad and the Abbasid.
- Mowaffak Al-Rubaie
Dr Mowaffak Baqer al-Rubaie is an Iraqi politician, and the current Iraqi National Security Advisor in the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He was elected to the Iraqi Council of Representatives in December 2005 as a nominee of the United Iraqi Alliance. A Shia Muslim and neurologist by training, al-Rabai'i was born in Kadhimiya and left Iraq in the early 1980s to study in Britain.
- Ali Allawi
Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi was Minister of Trade and Minister of Defence in the cabinet appointed by the Interim Iraq Governing Council from September 2003 until 2004, and subsequently Minister of Finance in the Iraqi Transitional Government between 2005 and 2006. A Shia Muslim, Allawi was part of the Iraqi exile community in London during the rule of Saddam Hussein. He was one of the organizers of 'The Declaration of Iraqi Shia', a statement released in 2002.
- Riverbend
Riverbend is the pseudonymous author of the blog Baghdad Burning, launched August 17, 2003. Riverbend's identity is carefully hidden, but the weblog entries suggest that Riverbend is a young, unmarried Iraqi woman, from a mixed Shia and Sunni family, living with her parents and brother in Baghdad. Before the United States occupation of Iraq she was a computer programmer. She writes in an idiomatic English which appears to reflect a Western education.
- Aga Khan III
Sultan Mahommed Shah, Aga Khan III GCSI GCMG GCIE GCVO PC (Persian: آغا خان الثالث(November 2, 1877 - July 11, 1957) was the 48th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. He was one of the founders and the first president of the All-India Muslim League, and served as President of the League of Nations from 1937-38.
- Uthman Ibn Affan
‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān ("'"' is the third Caliph of Islam and is regarded by Sunni Muslims as the third of the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs of Islam. He reigned from 644 until 656. However, Shia Muslims believe Ali was the first legitimate ruler, and discount the rule of the first three Caliphs, including Uthman.
- Mohammed Baqir Al-Hakim
Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim was one of the foremost Shia Muslim leaders in Iraq until his assassination in a bombing in Najaf. He was the son of Grand Ayatollah Sayed Muhsin al-Hakim Tabatabai
- Abdul Majid Al-Khoei
Sayyid Abdul Majid al-Khoei, 16 August, 1962 – 10 April, 2003) was a Shia cleric and the son of Ayatollah Al-Udhma Sayyid Abul Qasim al-Khoei who was born in the holy city of Najaf. He lived and studied under his father in Najaf until 1991. During the Shia uprising of 1991 he actively took part in the fighting against Saddam's Ba'ath Party but also acted as a force of moderation attempting to minimize revenge killings.
- Aisha
Aisha bint Abi Bakr (Arabic "`ā'isha", "she who lives", also transcribed as A'ishah, Ayesha, 'A'isha, or 'Aisha, Turkish Ayşe, Ottoman Turkish Âişe etc.) was a wife of Muhammad. In Islamic writings, she is thus often referred to by the title "Mother of the Believers" (Arabic: أمّ المؤمنين "umm-al-mu'minīn"), …
- Azam Tariq
The mullah ("maulana") Azam Tariq (Urdu: اعظم طارق was chief of the anti-Shi'a political machine Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan ("warriors of the Prophet's companions in Pakistan"), and was one of Pakistan's most powerful sectarian leaders between Karachi and Gilgit. Between 1997 and 2003 he was accused of having coordinated massacres of hundreds of Shia Muslims in Pakistan, according to Shia sources.
- Geber
Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. 721-c. 815), known also by his Latinised name Geber, was a prominent Shia Muslim polymath, chemist, alchemist, pharmacist, philosopher, astronomer, astrologer, engineer, physician and physicist. He has been widely referred to as the "father of chemistry". His ethnic background is not clear; although most sources state he was an Arab, others describe him as Persian.
- Ali Salman
Ali Salman is the president of the Al-Wefaq political society in Bahrain. He is a Shia cleric educated in Qom. In January 1995 the Bahraini government forcibly exiled him to Dubai for leading a popular campaign demanding the reinstatement of the constitution and the restoration of parliament during the 1990s Uprising. From there he made he went to London and sought asylum.
- Kalbe Jawad
Maulana Syed Kalbe Jawad Naqvi is a Shia scholar from Lucknow, India comes from a family of scholars known as "Khandaan-e-Ijtehad", notably Syed Dildar Ali, also known as Ghufran Ma'ab. His father was Syed Kalbe Abid, his grandfather Syed Kalbe Hussain. The word "Kalb" means "heart" so his name "Kalbe Jawad" means "Heart of Jawad", "al-Jawad" being the title of the 9th Imam of Islam (Mohammad at-Taqi al-Jawad (a.s)), notably the Twelver Shia.
- Walid Hassan
Walid Hassan (born c. 1959 - d. 20 November 2006) was a Shia Muslim Iraqi comedian. At the time of his death he was one of five actors on "Caricature," a 45-minute comedy satire on Al-Sharqiyah TV, that did not hesitate to make fun of U.S. forces, Shiite militias, Sunni-Arab insurgent groups, and the chaotic governments that have tried to rule Iraq since Saddam Hussein was overthrown in the 2003 invasion.
- William Chittick
William C. Chittick is a renowned scholar of Sufi thought and literature and Islamic philosophy. Born in Connecticut, he completed a Ph.D. in Persian literature at Tehran University in 1974. He then taught comparative religion in the humanities department at Tehran's Aryamehr Technical University and left Iran just before the revolution in 1979. He has also served as assistant editor of Encyclopaedia Iranica, …
- Mohammed Burhanuddin
His Holiness Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (TUS) is the 52nd "Da'i al-Mutlaq" of a minority group of Shia Muslims, the Dawoodi Bohras. His Holiness Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (TUS) was born on March 6, 1915 in Surat, Gujarat, India. He was appointed to be the future Da'i al-Mutlaq at the age of 19 by his father, the previous Da'i al-Mutlaq, Syedna Taher Saifuddin. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin succeeded his father, upon the latter's death, …
- Muawiyah I
Mu‘āwīyah ibn Abī Sufyān ‎ (602-680) was the founder of the Umayyad dynasty of caliphs. He engaged in a civil war against the fourth Rightly Guided caliph, Ali (Muhammad's son-in-law) and met with considerable military success, including the seizure of Egypt. He assumed the caliphate after Ali's assassination in 661 and reigned until 680. Because he opposed Ali, whom the Shia Muslims believe was Muhammad's true successor (see Succession to Muhammad), …
- Miqdad Ibn Aswad
Miqdad ibn al-Aswad al-Kindi is one of the Sahaba. Miqdad is venerated by Shi'a Muslims as one of the Four Companions, early Muslims who were followers of Ali ibn Abi Talib. He was one of the Muhajirun He is among the List of Sahaba not giving bay'ah to Abu Bakr. Miqdad ibn Aswad is among Shias regarded as one of the most respected Sahaba. He is mentioned in one hadith regarding the perfect Shia.
- Shia Labeouf
Shia Saide LaBeouf (born June 11, 1986) is a Daytime Emmy Award-winning American actor and comedian. After growing up in California, he became known with a starring role in the Disney Channel series "Even Stevens". He made the transition to film roles with "Holes", a box office success, and has since appeared in several Hollywood films, including "Constantine" and "The Greatest Game Ever Played".
- Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi is an Iranian politician and Shia cleric. He has been the head of the judicial system of Iran since 1999, when he replaced Mohammad Yazdi, and, according to a recent extension, he will serve at least until 2009. Hashemi Shahroudi had been the leader of Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which has been the reason for the many objections to his serving as head of the Judiciary System.
- Mohammad Baqir Al-Sadr
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr (March 1, 1935 – April 9, 1980) was an Iraqi Shia cleric born in al-Kazimiya, Iraq. He is the father-in-law of Muqtada al-Sadr and cousin of both Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr and Imam Musa as-Sadr. His father Haydar al-Sadr was a well respected high ranking shi'a cleric. His lineage goes back to Muhammad, through the seventh Shia Imam, Musa al-Kazim. (See Sadr family for more details.)
- Mohammad Sadeq Al-Sadr
Grand Ayatollah is an Iraqi Shia cleric of high rank. He is the father of Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Muhammad Sadiq as-Sadr (1943-1999) and grandfather of Muqtada al-Sadr (b.1973). Sometimes the son is called by his father's name. He is the cousin of Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr (d.1980). The al-Sadr family are considered Sayyid, which is used among the Shia to denote persons descending directly from Muhammad.
- Abdul Hakeem
Dr. Abdul Hakeem Buturabi, PhD, is an influential Shia Scholar from Karachi, Pakistan. He gained his PhD in Islamics from the Quaid-e-Azam University in Karachi.
- Hassan Sadiq
Maulana Hassan Sadiq, is a Twelver Shia cleric from the city of Hyderabad, Pakistan. Moulana Sadiq Hasan is a world renowned Islamic scholar. He has 25 years of experience as a teacher, preacher, alim and zakir with international standing. Over 3,000 video/audio cassettes of his majalis/lecture on wide ranging topics are catalogued in Islamic libraries worldwide. Lots of these lectures are on this website for your benefit A brief description of some of his works, …
- Sadeq Rohani
Grand Ayatollah Sadeq Rohani is an Iranian Marja. He received his Ijtihad Authority at the age of 14, from Grand Ayatollah Abul-Qassim Khoei , which makes him one of the youngest to achieve this in history of Shia Islam. He became a Marja, after death of Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi, at the age of 35. Among his most notable decrees and opinions are:<sup></sup> * Asking officials to teach Nikah Mut‘ah (temporal marriage for pleasure) to students, …
- Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari
Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari (b.1936 Iran) is a highly influential Iranian theologician, philosopher and thinker. In the spirit of the political Shia in 60s and 70s Iran, Shabestari also felt closely associated with the thinking of religious intellectuals such as Jalal Al-e Ahmad and Ali Shariati, as well as the politically motivated cleric Morteza Motahhari. In 1970 Shabestari became director of the Shiite Islamic Center in the Imam Ali Mosque in Hamburg, …
- Mohammad-Reza Khatami
Seyyed Mohammad Reza Khatami (also known as Reza Khatami, born 1959 in Ardakan, Iran) is an Iranian politician. He was the first Secretary-General of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, the largest Iranian reformist party. He is now a member of the central council of the party. He is also the younger brother of the fifth Iranian president Mohammad Khatami, and the former deputy speaker of the Iranian parliament.
- Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali or Haidar 'Ali (c. 1722 - 1782), was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Hyder Ali was a Shia Muslim soldier-adventurer, who, followed by his son Tipu Sultan, became one of the most formidable Asiatic rivals the British had ever encountered in India. He was the great-grandson of an Islamic fakir from Gulbarga, Deccan. His father was a "naik" or chief constable at Budikota, near Kolar in present-day Karnataka.
- Kazem Al-Haeri
Ayatollah Kazem Husseini Haeri is a prominent Shia leader. Haeri was born in Iran, but moved to Iraq to lead the Shia community there. He was a top leader of the Al-Da'wa Party in Iraq. His involvement in the party led to his exile in the 1970s, when he moved to Iran, where he remains to this day in the holy city of Qom. Haeri is a supporter of an Islamic state in Iraq, …
- Wajid Ali Shah
Wajid Ali Shah (official name ".M. Hazrat Khalid, 'Abul Mansur Nasir ud-din, Padshah-i-'Adil, Kaiser-i-Zaman, Arangha Sultan-i-'Alam, Muhammad Wajid 'Ali Shah Bahadur") (1822-1887) was the tenth and last nawab of the princely kingdom of Awadh (Oudh) in present day Uttar Pradesh in India. He ascended the throne of Awadh in 1847 and ruled for nine years. His kingdom, long protected by the British under treaty, …
- Qazi Muhammad
Qazi Muhammad (1893 - March 30, 1947) was a nationalist and religious Kurdish leader and the Head of the Republic of Kurdistan, (Republic of Mahabad) the second modern Kurdish state in the Middle East (after the Republic of Ararat). Qazi Muhammad acted as the President of the Soviet backed Republic of Mahabad, in Kurdistan of Iran, (Eastern Kurdistan) in 1946. He was also the founder of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran, the PDKI, …
- Abu Bakr
Abū Bakr was a senior companion of and the first Muslim ruler after Muhammad (632–634). Sunnis regard him as his rightful successor ("caliph") and the first of four righteous Caliphs ("Rashidun"). The Shi'a believe he violated Muhammad's direct orders and orchestrated a coup d'état. Scholarly consensus lists him as the first Muslim Caliph.
- Nada Haffadh
Dr Nada Haffadh became Bahrain's first female cabinet minister when she was appointed Minister of Health in 2000. Previously she served in Bahrain's upper house of parliament, the Consultative Council. Dr Haffadh studied Medicine in Egypt and at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland before returning to Bahrain to practise, working for the Health Ministry both as a doctor and in administration.
- Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi
Ayatollah Haj Shaykh Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi is an Iranian Shia cleric and politician. He is widely seen as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's spiritual advisor, and a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for choosing the Supreme Leader. Mesbah Yazdi espouses complete isolation from the West and proclaims non-literal interpretations of the Quran as heretical.
- Syed Ali Naqi Naqvi
Sayyed Ali Naqi Naqvi (26th. Rajab; 1323 Hijri - 1st. Shawal; 1408 Hijri), also known as Naqqan, was a mujtahid from Lucknow, India who graduated from Najaf, Iraq. He is famous for his writings in Urdu, including the books "Shaheed-e-Insaniyat" and "Tareekh-e-Islam". He was one of the most highly regarded scholars of Shia Islam at his time. He was a genius of his time and wrote more than 100 books and 1000 short books.