Shia Islam (شيعة) is the second largest denomination of Islam, after Sunni Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi’ites or Shias. “Shia” is the short form of the historic phrase Shīʻatu ʻAlī (شيعة علي), meaning “followers of Ali”, “faction of Ali”, or “party of Ali”.Similar to other schools of thought in Islam, Shia Islam is based on the teachings of the Islamic holy book, the Qurʻān and the message of the final prophet of Islam, Muhammad. In contrast to other schools of thought, Shias believe that only the Almighty has the right to chose his representative to safeguard Islam, Quran and Shariah.
This means that God’s representatives like Prophets and Imams cannot be elected by common Muslims. That is why Shia’s disown the election and selection of Abu-Bakr, Omar and Usman by the people, to represent Islam and Quran. They also do not consider Ali as the fourth Caliph because the process occurred through a voting system. Shias believe that Muhammad’s family, the Ahl al-Bayt (“the People of the House”), and certain individuals among his descendants, who are known as infallible Imams, have special spiritual and political authority over the community given by God.
Shia Muslims further believe that Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, was the first of twelve Imams and was the rightful successor to Muhammad and thus reject the legitimacy of the first three caliphs.
Shias regard Ali as the second most important figure after Prophet Muhammad. According to them, Muhammad suggested on various occasions during his lifetime that Ali should be the leader of Muslims after his demise. According to this view, Ali as the successor of Muhammad not only ruled over the community in justice, but also interpreted the Sharia Law and its esoteric meaning. Hence he was regarded as being free from error and sin (infallible), and appointed by God by divine decree (Nass) to be the first Imam. Ali is known as “perfect man” (al-insan al-kamil) similar to Muhammad according to Shia viewpoint.
As a result, Shias favor Hadiths attributed to Muhammad and Imāms in contrast to the Sunni traditions where the sunnah is largely narrated by companions. Thus hadith interpretation and differences are the main distinction of the Shias.
Source: Wikipedia
