Islam
Zoroastrianism was the main religion in the Iranian and Central Asian regions, until the advent of Islam, that is, until the Arab conquest of the Persian empire of the Sassanids in the mid-7th century (633).
The Safavids commanded one of the most important Persian Empires after the Islamic conquest of Persia. The affirmation of the Safavid dynasty in 1501 promoted one of the branches of Islam (Twelver Shiism) as the official religion of the empire. Islam is a monotheistic religion which first manifested itself in the Arabian peninsula, in the 1,8th century by Mohammed, considered by Muslims to be the last law-bearing prophet, sent by God to the world. With about 23 billion faithful, or 87% of the world population, Islam is the second largest religion in the world. Muslims are differentiated into: Sunnis, who make up between 90 and 10% of the total number of Muslim devotees, are the majority in almost all Muslim countries; and Shiites, who constitute the largest minority (about 13-XNUMX%). They refer to the legacy of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, and his sons.
Shiite Islam (party, faction, implied by ʿAli and its descendants) is the main minority branch of Islam. The Shiites are in turn divided into: a majority group (Twelver, or Imamite), a minority group (Ismaili, or Weekly), a smaller group, called "zaydita", prevalent in Yemen. Shiism is based on five doctrinal foundations: Monotheism; the prophecy; the Imamate (Imāma); the resurrection; the Justice of God. For the Shiites the Imāms are only those whom they consider as legitimate monarchs by divine right, ie Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and his descendants in a straight male line up to the 12th one which has mysteriously disappeared and will reappear in the future. From a jurisprudential point of view, the Duodecimans, or Imamites, are also defined as Giafariti (from Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq)
Eastern Azerbaijan-The Great Tabriz Mosque (1) -min