Word: ites
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...said to spend anywhere from $15 million to $50 million a year to finance Hizballah activities. Many Lebanese villages have so embraced Khomeini's way that their mosques and squares are adorned with pictures of the Ayatullah and even Iranian flags. Tehran reciprocates by putting pictures of Lebanese Shi'ite "martyrs" on Iranian postage stamps. Says Hussein Musawi, leader of the Hizballah-allied Islamic Amal: "We do not believe in the presence of a state called Lebanon. We regard the entire Islamic world as our homeland...
...later became known as Shi'ites, Hussein's tragic attempt to establish the Prophet's true succession was the supreme sacrifice for the faith. Martyrdom thus offers Shi'ites a chance to imitate their sainted hero. In Iran, which is more than 90% Shi'ite, passion plays depicting Hussein's last hours are performed regularly. Each year, on the date of Hussein's death, thousands of penitents march through Iranian streets whipping themselves with chains and branches, seeking purification through suffering...
Faithful Shi'ites admit only to the authority of Muhammad and the Twelve Imams, who comprise Ali, Hussein and certain of their direct descendants. The Shi'ites consider the Twelve to be mediators between God and man. Though the Twelfth and last Imam went into hiding in A.D. 940, Shi'ites believe that he will re-emerge to rule the world as the messianic Mahdi. Until that time, the Shi'ite clergy are responsible for interpreting Islam. The Ayatullah Khomeini, however, has gone one step further by establishing his government as a regency for the Mahdi. Khomeini, who claims descent...
Among some Arab states on the Persian Gulf, the relationship between Sunni rulers and Shi'ite subjects remains volatile. After all, in the eyes of the Shi'ites, any regime not under the rule of the Prophet's true heirs is an abomination. Indeed, Bahrain, which is more than 70% Shi'ite, defused a 1981 coup attempt allegedly inspired by Tehran. Kuwait, which is 24% Shi'ite, has been victimized by a wave of bombings believed to be the work of pro-Iranian terrorists...
...between Iraq and Iran, however, Iraqi Shi'ites, who make up almost 60% of their country's population, have chosen to be Iraqis first and Shi'ites second. The ancient animosity between Arabs and Persians apparently transcends religious sympathies. Nonetheless, the Iraqis receive constant reminders of Iranian Shi'ite fervor. Tehran's major offensives are named Karbala, after the place where Hussein died, and captured Iranian soldiers proudly show off the "keys to Heaven" issued to them when they enlisted. The celestial keys: dog tags. Observes an Iraqi official: "The Iranians are still fighting the Battle of Hussein...