Shia Muslims in the context of "Ahl al-bayt"

The Rashidun Caliphate (Arabic: ٱلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ, romanized: al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) is the early Islamic polity led by the first four successive caliphs (lit. "successors") Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, collectively the Rashidun, or "Rightly Guided" caliphs. These early caliphs led the Muslim community from the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 632 CE to the foundation of the Umayyad Caliphate in 661 CE.

The title Rashidun stems from the Sunni Islamic belief that the caliphs were "rightly guided". Endowed with superior piety and wisdom, their era is regarded in Sunni Islam as a "golden age", second only to the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad in sanctity and in providing moral and religious guidance. Sunni Muslims consider the "rightly guided" reign of the first four caliphs as a model to be followed and emulated from a religious point of view. The term Rashidun is not used by Shia Muslims, who make up 10–15% of the global Muslim population, as they reject the rule of the first three caliphs as illegitimate.

The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 598 by both sides. Iraq's primary rationale for the attack against Iran cited the need to prevent Ruhollah Khomeini—who had spearheaded the Iranian revolution in 1979—from exporting the new Iranian ideology to Iraq. There were also fears among the Iraqi leadership of Saddam Hussein that Iran, a theocratic state with a population predominantly composed of Shia Muslims, would exploit sectarian tensions in Iraq by rallying Iraq's Shia majority against the Baʽathist government, which was officially secular but dominated by Sunni Muslims. Iraq also wished to replace Iran as the power player in the Persian Gulf, which was not seen as an achievable objective prior to the Islamic Revolution because of Pahlavi Iran's economic and military superiority as well as its close relationships with the United States and Israel.

The Iran–Iraq War followed a long-running history of territorial border disputes between the two states, as a result of which Iraq planned to retake the eastern bank of the Shatt al-Arab that it had ceded to Iran in the 1975 Algiers Agreement. Iraqi support for Arab separatists in Iran increased following the outbreak of hostilities; Saddam disputedly may have wished to annex Iran's Arab-majority Khuzestan province.

The Great Syrian Revolt (Arabic: الثورة السورية الكبرى, romanized: al-thawrat al-Sūriyyat al-kabir), also known as the Revolt of 1925, was a general uprising across the State of Syria and Greater Lebanon during the period of 1925 to 1927. The leading rebel forces initially comprised fighters of the Jabal Druze State in southern Syria, and were later joined by Sunni, Druze and Shiite and factions all over Syria. The common goal was to end French occupation in the newly mandated regions, which passed from Turkish to French administration following World War I.

The revolt was a response to the repressive policies of the French authorities under the Mandate for Syria and Lebanon, which divided Syria into several occupied territories. The new French administration was perceived as prejudiced against the dominant Arab culture and intent on changing the character of the country. In addition, resentment was caused by the refusal of the French authorities to set a timetable for the independence of Syria.

In Islam, taqiyya (Arabic: تقیة, romanized: taqiyyah, lit. 'prudence') is a concept that refers to a Muslim concealing their faith or religious identity to protect themselves from danger. Although the term stems mainly from discrimination against the minority Shiite tradition, it is also considered a legitimate practice under certain conditions in Sunni sources. The practice of concealing one's beliefs has existed since the early days of Islam; early Muslims did so to avoid persecution or violence by non-Muslim governments or individuals.

The use of taqiyya has varied in recent history, especially between Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims. Sunni Muslims gained political supremacy over time and therefore only occasionally found the need to practice taqiyya. On the other hand, Shia Muslims, as well as Sufi Muslims developed taqiyya as a method of self-preservation and protection in hostile environments.

ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd alʾAsadī al-ʿAmrī (Arabic: عثمان بن سعيد الأسدي العمري) was the first of the Four Deputies, whom Twelver Shia Muslims believe have successively represented their twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, during his Minor Occultation (874–941 CE). Uthman is also said to have been a trusted representative (wakīl or safīr or bāb) of the tenth and eleventh Imams Ali al-Hadi (835–868) and Hasan al-Askari (868–874) respectively. The date of his death is not certain, but most Shia scholars agree that it was in 880-81.

Uyoun Akhbar Al-Ridha (Arabic: عُيُون أَخْبَار ٱلرِّضَا, ʿUyūn ʾAkhbār ar-Riḍā), counted as a Hadith book among Shia, the book was written by Ibn Babawayh, one of the great scholars of Shia Muslims. The book concerned with saying and life of the eighth Shia Imam Ali al-Ridha.