religion mohammad bahr al-ulloum
Islamic studies is the academic study of ___MASK19___ and Islamic culture . Islamic studies can be seen under at least two perspectives : Twelver ( Athn ' ashariyyah or Ithn ' ashariyyah ) ___MASK91___ or Imamiyyah is the largest branch of ___MASK91___ . Twelver belief is based on the Quran and the message of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad attested in hadith , and on hadith taught by their Imams . The term " Twelver " refers to its adherents ' belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders , known as the Twelve Imams , and their belief that the last Imam , Muhammad al - Mahdi , lives in occultation and will reappear as the promised Mahdi . According to Shia tradition , the Mahdi ' s tenure will coincide with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (" Isa "), who is to assist the " Mahdi " against the " Masih ad - Dajjal " ( literally , the " false Messiah " or Antichrist ). A hadith ( or plural : ahadith , ) is one of various reports describing the words , actions , or habits of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . The term comes from Arabic meaning a " report ", " account " or " narrative ". Hadith are second only to the Quran in developing Islamic jurisprudence , and regarded as important tools for understanding the Quran and commentaries (" tafsir ") written on it . Some important elements of traditional ___MASK19___ , such as the five salat prayers , are mentioned in hadith . The Yazidis ( also Yezidis , " Êzidî ") are an ethnically Kurdish religious community or an ethno - religious group indigenous to northern Mesopotamia ( see also Ezidkhan ) who are strictly endogamous . Their religion , " Yazidism " is linked to ancient Mesopotamian religions and combines aspects of ___MASK3___ , Islam , Christianity and Judaism . Yazidis who marry non - Yazidis are automatically considered to be converted to the religion of their spouse and therefore are not permitted to call themselves Yazidis . They live primarily in the Nineveh Province of Iraq . Additional communities in Armenia , Georgia , Turkey , Iran , and Syria have been in decline since the 1990s as a result of significant migration to Europe , especially to Germany . The Yazidis ' cultural practices are observably Kurdish , and almost all speak Kurmanji ( Northern Kurdish ). The Soviet Union considered the Yazidis to be Kurds , as does Sharaf Khan Bidlisi ' s " Sheref - nameh " of 1597 , which cites seven of the Kurdish tribes as being at least partly Yazidi , and Kurdish tribal confederations as containing substantial Yazidi sections . Muhammad ( c . 570 CE  8 June 632 CE ) is the central figure of ___MASK19___ and widely regarded as its founder by non - Muslims . He is known as the " Holy Prophet " to Muslims , almost all of whom consider him to be the last prophet sent by God to mankind to restore ___MASK19___ , believed by Muslims to be the unaltered original monotheistic faith of Adam , Abraham , Moses , Jesus , and other prophets . Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity and ensured that his teachings , practices , and the Quran , formed the basis of Islamic religious belief . Usulis are the majority Twelver Shi ' a ___MASK55___ group . They differ from their now much smaller rival Akhbari group in favoring the use of " ijtihad " ( i . e ., reasoning ) in the creation of new rules of " fiqh "; in assessing hadith to exclude traditions they believe unreliable ; and in considering it obligatory to obey a " mujtahid " when seeking to determine Islamically correct behavior . A ___MASK4___ ( or ) is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity , an Abrahamic , monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ . " ___MASK4___ " derives from the Koine Greek word " Christós " (  ), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term " mashiach ". Iraq (, or ; '; '), officially known as the Republic of Iraq ('; ') is a country in Western Asia , bordered by Turkey to the north , Iran to the east , Kuwait to the southeast , Saudi Arabia to the south , Jordan to the southwest , and Syria to the west . The capital , and largest city , is Baghdad . The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds ; others include Assyrians , Turkmen , Shabakis , Yazidis , Armenians , Mandeans , Circassians , and Kawliya . Around 95 % of the country ' s 36 million citizens are Muslims , with ___MASK45___ , Yarsan , Yezidism , and Mandeanism also present . The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish . ___MASK19___ (' ;) is a religion articulated by the Quran , a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God ('), and , for the vast majority of adherents , the teachings and normative example ( called the " sunnah ", composed of accounts called " hadith ") of Muhammad ( 570  8 June 632 CE ). It is the world ' s second - largest religion and the fastest - growing major religion in the world , with over 1 . 7 billion followers or 23 % of the global population , known as Muslims . ___MASK19___ is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion that upholds that God is one and incomparable and that the purpose of existence is to worship God . Muslims consider Muhammad to be the last prophet of God . In Islamic eschatology , the Mahdi ( ISO 233 : "" " guided one ") is the prophesied redeemer of ___MASK19___ who will rule for five , seven , nine , or nineteen years ( according to differing interpretations ) before the Day of Judgment (/ literally , " the Day of Resurrection ") and will rid the world of evil . Ayatollah ( or ; from " Sign of Allah ") is a high - ranking title given to Usuli Twelver Sh  ah clerics . Those who carry the title are experts in Islamic studies such as jurisprudence , quran reading , and philosophy and usually teach in Islamic seminaries . The next lower clerical rank is Hujjat al - ___MASK19___ . ___MASK45___ is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ , who serves as the focal point for the religion . It is the world ' s largest religion , with over 2 . 4 billion followers , or 33 % of the global population , known as Christians . Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah ( the Christ ) was prophesied in the Old Testament . The Quran (; ', literally meaning " the recitation "; also romanized Qur ' an or Koran "') is the central religious text of ___MASK19___ , which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God (" Allah "). It is widely regarded as the finest work in classical Arabic literature . The Quran is divided into chapters (" surah " in Arabic ), which are then divided into verses (" ayah "). Ayatollah Mohammad Bahr al - Ulloum ( Arabic :      ; 17 December 1927 -- 7 April 2015 ) was a Twelver Shi ' a Islamic leader and politician in Iraq . He died of natural causes in 2015 . Al - Ulloum was a longtime opponent of the rule of Saddam Hussein . By 1992 he had moved to London where he opposed Saddam ' s rule for many years . He was an active member of London ' s Shi ' a community and was the head of AhlulBayt Centre in South London . In November 1992 , at the Salahuddin gathering , within the safety of the southern air exclusion zone , along with Masoud Barzani and Colonel Hassan al - Naqib , he was one of the three men to be appointed to the presidential council by the Iraqi National Congress . Mohammad al - Ulloum continued to live in London prior to the 2003 Iraq invasion . After the United States deposed Saddam Hussein in 2003 , as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom , al - Ulloum was appointed to the Iraq interim governing council . He agreed to participate in the interim government and was appointed to the nine - member rotating presidency . He was the first president of the council , in an interim capacity , serving in that position from July 13 , 2003 , until August 1 , 2003 . In August 2003 , Mohammed Baqir al - Hakim , a friend of al - Ulloum , was killed in a car bombing . Shortly after , al - Ulloum announced his voluntary suspension from the council , citing the failure of the council ' s ability to maintain law and order in post - war Iraq . He later returned to the council , and became president again on March 1 , 2004 , serving until April 1 , 2004 . He is the father of Ibrahim Mohammad Bahr al - Ulloum , Oil Minister of Iraq from September 2003 to June 2004 , and again during 2005 . Shia (" Shah ", from " Shatu Al ", followers of Ali ) is a branch of ___MASK19___ which holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor ( Imam ). ___MASK91___ primarily contrasts with Sunni ___MASK19___ , whose adherents believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor . Instead they consider Abu Bakr ( who was appointed Caliph through a Shura , i . e . consensus ) to be the correct Caliph . The Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Twelver or " Athn  ashariyyah " branch of ___MASK91___ and in Alevi Islam . According to the theology of Twelvers , the Twelve Imams are exemplary human individuals who not only rule over the community with justice , but also are able to keep and interpret " sharia " and the esoteric meaning of the Quran . Muhammad and Imams ' words and deeds are a guide and model for the community to follow ; as a result , they must be free from error and sin , known as Ismah or infallibility and must be chosen by divine decree , or " nass ", through the Prophet .