Shia Islam

Shia (/ˈʃiːə/; Arabic:شيعة‎ Shīʿah), an abbreviation of Shia-ne-Ali, Shīʻatu ʻAlī (شيعة علي, "followers of Ali"), is a branch of Islam which holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad's proper successor as Caliph was his son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib. Shia Islam primarily contrasts with Sunni Islam, whose adherents believe that Muhammad's father-in-law Abu Bakr was his proper successor.