Xiitas
Xiitas, also written Shiites, are adherents of Shia Islam, one of the two main branches of Islam alongside Sunnism. The name derives from shi‘atu Ali, meaning the party or followers of Ali, the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law. The central difference between Shiites and Sunnis concerns legitimate leadership after Muhammad’s death: Shiites maintain that leadership should remain within the Prophet’s family, in the line of Imams believed to be divinely chosen.
The Imamate is a key concept for many Shiites. In Twelver Shiism, the largest branch, the Imams
Practices commonly observed by Shiites include the commemoration of Husayn ibn Ali’s martyrdom at Karbala, especially
Geographically, Iran has the largest Shia population, with sizable communities in Iraq, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and Lebanon