Shi'a Century
Okay, so imagine you have a big group of friends who all like playing games. But sometimes, some of your friends want to play a different game than everyone else. That's kind of like what happened with the Muslim religion a long time ago.
About 1,400 years ago, there was a man named Prophet Muhammad who started teaching people about a new religion called Islam. After he died, some of his followers disagreed about who should be the leader of the Muslim community. One group thought that the leader, or caliph, should be someone who was chosen by the people. Another group thought the caliph should be someone related to Prophet Muhammad, like his cousin Ali.
The group that believed in Ali as the rightful leader became known as the Shi'a Muslims. They have their own beliefs and customs that are different from the other group, who are known as the Sunni Muslims.
So when we talk about the "Shi'a century," we're referring to a time about 1,000 years after Prophet Muhammad's death when the Shi'a Muslims were able to establish their own empire, or government, called the Safavid Empire. This empire lasted for about 200 years and was led by Shi'a leaders. During this time, the Shi'a Muslims were able to spread their beliefs and customs throughout the Middle East and parts of Asia.
So basically, the Shi'a century was a time when the Shi'a Muslims had their own empire and were able to practice their own unique version of Islam.
About 1,400 years ago, there was a man named Prophet Muhammad who started teaching people about a new religion called Islam. After he died, some of his followers disagreed about who should be the leader of the Muslim community. One group thought that the leader, or caliph, should be someone who was chosen by the people. Another group thought the caliph should be someone related to Prophet Muhammad, like his cousin Ali.
The group that believed in Ali as the rightful leader became known as the Shi'a Muslims. They have their own beliefs and customs that are different from the other group, who are known as the Sunni Muslims.
So when we talk about the "Shi'a century," we're referring to a time about 1,000 years after Prophet Muhammad's death when the Shi'a Muslims were able to establish their own empire, or government, called the Safavid Empire. This empire lasted for about 200 years and was led by Shi'a leaders. During this time, the Shi'a Muslims were able to spread their beliefs and customs throughout the Middle East and parts of Asia.
So basically, the Shi'a century was a time when the Shi'a Muslims had their own empire and were able to practice their own unique version of Islam.