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Shia Islam
Adherents of Shia Islam form the second largest congregation of the Islamic faith. The beliefs and practices upheld by these followers are not only crucial in their social interactions but they also have a vital position in political developments in various countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon. For this reason, numerous evaluators have analyzed this religion as an influential institution at the regional and international levels. Enhancement of this persuasion has a notable connection with its operational transformations in the recent past. This is because of the effects of modernity and the subsequent modification of its beliefs and practices. The communities comprising of a larger portion of adherents of this religion differ in size with the lesser societies being in India and Bahrain and the extensive regions including Lebanon, Iran, and Iraq.
As discussed by Cole and Keddie, one of the major effects of this transformation is evident in the political domain. Although this population category forms only 11 % of the total Islamic populace, its level of political activism is intense. This is apparent in such historic events as the Iranian Revolution, which occurred between 1978 and 1979 and the foreign policies formulated by the federal government of the United States with reference to the Middle East. A similar approach of evaluating the history of Shia Muslims is obvious in The Vanished Imam. By evaluating the life of Musa al Sadr, this literature piece highlights the significant modification of the values and principles upheld by this population category from the ancient period of Arabic nationalism to the modern form of political radicalism. This is the outcome of strategic community organizations through the inclusion of contemporary principles.