Syria's communities and civilizations – history, sites and heritage
Twelver Shia Muslims
Self-designation: الشيعة الإمامية (al-Shīʿa al-Imāmiyya)
المسلمون الشيعة الاثنا عشرية
Religious communities
Twelver Shia Muslims are a small minority living around Damascus, Aleppo and Homs and in several Shia-majority towns in Idlib and Aleppo governorates. Damascus holds major Shia pilgrimage shrines, above all Sayyida Zaynab and Sayyida Ruqayya.
Twelver Shia presence in Syria is old: the shrine of Mashhad al-Nuqta on Jabal Jawshan in Aleppo bears a plaque of 944, and the Bab al-Saghir cemetery in Damascus contains tombs venerated as those of members of the Prophet's family and of the martyrs of Karbala.
Sources and details
Syrian Twelvers look to the Shia centres of Najaf and Karbala and to Iran for religious guidance. The shrine of Sayyida Zaynab south of Damascus became a major pilgrimage destination, especially after 1979; its present building dates from 1990-91.
The U.S. State Department groups Alawites, Ismailis and Twelver Shia at about 13 percent of the population and gives no separate figure; MRG notes that Twelver communities were among those displaced during the conflict. The Uwais al-Qarni shrine in Raqqa was blown up by the Islamic State in 2014.
Sites connected with this community 10
- Mashhad al-Nuqta (al-Nuqtah Mosque / Mashhad al-Muhsin)Aleppo (Jabal Jawshan), Aleppo · Islamic heritage
Shia shrine in Aleppo around a stone said to bear a drop of Husayn's blood (plaque of 944).
- Bab al-Saghir CemeteryDamascus, Damascus · Islamic heritage
Cemetery with tombs venerated by Shia and Sunni Muslims.
- Maqam Ru'us al-Shuhada (heads of the martyrs of Karbala) (Bab al-Saghir Cemetery)Damascus, Bab al-Saghir cemetery, Damascus · Islamic heritage
Maqam of the heads of the martyrs of Karbala.
- Sayyida Ruqayya ShrineDamascus (old city), Damascus · Islamic heritage
Shrine of Sayyida Ruqayya in old Damascus.
- Tomb attributed to Fatima al-Sughra bint al-Husayn (Bab al-Saghir Cemetery)Damascus, Bab al-Saghir cemetery, Damascus · Islamic heritage
Tomb attributed to Fatima al-Sughra bint al-Husayn.
- Tomb attributed to Umm Kulthum bint Ali (Bab al-Saghir Cemetery)Damascus, Bab al-Saghir cemetery, Damascus · Islamic heritage
Tomb attributed to Umm Kulthum bint Ali.
- Tomb of Sukayna bint al-Husayn (Bab al-Saghir Cemetery)Damascus, Bab al-Saghir cemetery, Damascus · Islamic heritage
Tomb of Sukayna bint al-Husayn.
- Uwais al-Qarni Mosque / Shrine of Ammar ibn Yasir and Uways al-QaraniRaqqa, Raqqa · Islamic heritage
Shrine of Ammar ibn Yasir and Uways al-Qarani, blown up by IS in 2014.
- Sayyida Zaynab ShrineSayyida Zaynab, Rif Dimashq · Islamic heritage
Main Twelver pilgrimage shrine, venerated as the tomb of Zaynab bint Ali.
- Shrine of Hujr ibn AdiAdra, Rif Dimashq · Islamic heritage
Shrine at Adra over the tomb ascribed to Hujr ibn Adi; desecrated 2013, rebuilt.
These categories describe history, language and faith – not exclusive identities. Many Syrians belong to several, and some names refer to civilizations of the past.