Lesson video

Hello, my young scholars of religion.

My name is Ms. Marks, and I'm going to be your religious education teacher today.

Today we're going to be doing about the five roots of Shi'a Islam, and we're going to get quite philosophical and theological when we're doing this.

So when you're ready, let's go.

So by the end of this lesson, you'll be able to explain the five roots of Usul ad-Din, their importance, and how they link to Twelver and Sevener Shi'a Islam.

So let's start with our key terms then.

Adalat.

God's justice, one of the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

Imamah.

The authority of the Imams as Allah's chosen guides after prophets, starting from Ali as a member of the Prophet's household.

Resurrection.

When someone is raised again after death.

Shi'a Islam.

Muslims who believe in the successorship of Imam Ali and other Imams from the Prophet Muhammad's bloodline.

And tawhid, belief in Allah's oneness and unity.

So look out for those in today's lesson.

So our lesson today is going to have three sections.

The five roots of Usul ad-Din, the importance of the five roots, and Seven and Twelver Shi'a Islam.

So let's start with our first section, the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

Fatemeh and Hassan are Muslims, and here they're going to explain what this means to them.

Fatemeh says, "Being Muslim means that I can trust Allah no matter what is going on in the world around me.

Allah has sent guidance to us to know how to live, and I try to follow this in my life." And Hassan says, "Being a Muslim means that I believe Allah created everything, including me and my mind.

I love to learn more about my religion and use reason and my intellect to understand it more fully." Now Fatemeh and Hassan are Shi'a Muslims, and the term Shi'a Islam comes from Arabic, Shi'a Islam.

Shi'a is a term that means "a supporter of", and Islam comes from aslama, meaning "submitting to God", and you might know the word "salam" meaning peace.

So it's to do with someone supporting something in Islam.

And Shi'a Islam is a branch of Islam who are supporters of the succession of Ali as the leader of the Muslims after the death of the Prophet Muhammad.

Shi'a Muslims follow the traditions and teachings of Islam as passed down from the Prophet Muhammad and members of his bloodline.

Now within Shi'a Islam there are five key beliefs, known as the five roots of Usul ad-Din, roots of the religion.

Muslims in Sunni Islam may also have some of these as part of their key beliefs, but not call them the Usul ad-Din.

So these are the oneness of God, tawhid, justice of God, adalat, prophethood, nubuwwah, Imamah, and the day of resurrection, mi'ad.

So these are the five key important beliefs within Shi'a Islam, often called the five roots of Usul ad-Din, or the five roots of faith.

So an important term to understand for Shi'a Islam then is Imamah, and the term Imamah is related to the title Imam.

Imamah.

So we've got from the word Imam, meaning guide or leader.

Now, in Shi'a Islam, the Imam is the guide and leader of the Muslim community as chosen by Allah, and announced or designated by Prophet Muhammad or previous Imams, so the first one being Ali, designated by the Prophet Muhammad.

And then each Imam designates the following one, and they're all from the bloodline of the Prophet Muhammad.

Now you might also know the term used in Sunni Islam as an imam being the leader of other Muslims, for example, an imam leading prayers at a local mosque.

But in Shi'a Islam, the title Imam has a different meaning.

So now let's think more about the five roots of Usul ad-Din and Shi'a Islam.

We have the oneness of God, tawhid.

So this is a belief that there is only one God, and that God is Allah.

The justice of God, so we can know about God's nature, that God is just and fair.

And this comes from the title Al-Adl.

Also, in Shi'a Islam, there's a belief in prophethood, which is sometimes known as Nubuwwah.

These are prophets who've been sent as God's messengers to humanity with revelations to help us understand God.

And then we have the day of resurrection, sometimes known as Mi'ad, and this is a belief in the resurrection and life after death, and that there is some hereafter.

And then we have that belief in the Imamah, which is the authority of the Imams. So if you remember, the term Imam here has that special meaning as being the guides and the leaders of Islam following the passing of the Prophet Muhammad.

Let's do a quick check.

State three of the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

You're going to tick the three which could be used for this task.

Holy Books, Imamah, Prophethood, and the Justice of God, adalat.

Which three of these could you use for this question? "State three of the five roots of Usul ad-Din." Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've got in a moment.

Well done.

Imamah, Prophethood, and the Justice of God.

Holy books are also important within Shi'a Islam, as they're revealed to those prophets, but they're not one of the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

So where might Shi'a Muslims have sources of authority to support these beliefs then? Well, let's go to the Qur'an as the ultimate source of authority within Islam, and Surah 112 is a really good Surah, or chapter of the Qur'an, which can tell us about the nature of God and beliefs about God in Islam.

And Surah 112 says this.

"In the name of God, the gracious, the merciful, say, 'He is God, the One.

' God, the Absolute.

He begets not, nor was He begotten.

And there is none comparable to Him." So how does this Surah support a belief in tawhid then? Pause the video and have a think, and you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well I've got here, "the One", "Absolute", "begets not", and "none comparable", and begetting is a kind of old-fashioned word that we used to use to do with having children.

So it's the idea that God hasn't had children and wasn't born.

So we've got here, this Surah shows that God is One, Absolute, and there's none comparable, which all support this idea of tawhid and the oneness and uniqueness of God.

Well done.

So what about the Hadith as a source of authority then? So these are sayings that the Prophet Muhammad has said and things that he did that have been passed down through different chains of narration.

And it's reported that the Prophet Muhammad said to his Muslim community towards the end of his life, "I leave behind for you two weighty things, the one being the Book of Allah, the second are the members of my household," and this is in the Hadith.

So what could this show us about the five roots of Usul ad-Din? Pause the video and have another think and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well done.

Here I've got "the Book" and then "my household".

So the oneness of God could be known through the Qur'an, the book of Allah.

The oneness of God, also prophecy could be linked here as the book that was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

But the second part of this, "the second are the members of my household" could be used to support a belief in the Imamah, that the prophet's household and those born from his bloodline, so Ali and then the other imams after him were also left behind, along with the book of Allah.

And the Prophet Muhammad is saying these two things are very important for Islam.

Well Izzy and Alex are discussing how these sources of authority can support a belief in the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

Izzy says, "The Qur'an supports a belief in the oneness of God, tawhid, and Prophethood, as it's revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad.

When it says we believe in God and his messenger, it supports both these beliefs." And Alex says, "The Hadith could be used to support a belief in the Imamah, as it's reported that Prophet Muhammad said he was leaving behind the Qur'an and the household members as guidance after he died.

Ali was in the Prophet's household, and he was his cousin, and Ali was the first Imam." And what I really like about what they've both done here is they've said the source it came from.

Well done, Izzy and Alex.

Let's do another check.

State three beliefs about tawhid shown in Surah 112.

So as I said, it's a really useful Surah for helping us understand tawhid.

So you're going to tick the three of these that could be used for that question.

God is one, God is absolute, God begets children, there is none comparable to God.

Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

It was A, B, and D.

C is incorrect, because that Surah says God does not beget children and was not begotten.

Well done.

Let's do a task to see what we've learned.

Your question is to explain two Muslim beliefs that are part of the five roots of Usul ad-Din, and in your answer you must refer to sacred writings or another source of Muslim belief and teaching.

And the way you're going to do this is, you're going to give a point and develop it twice.

And for one of these, you're going to name a source that links to your point and what it says and teaches.

And it could be a quotation, a general belief, or teaching.

And you're going to say how this links to the point that you're making.

So your question again is to explain two Muslim beliefs that are part of the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

Pause the video, off you go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

Some really good thinking there.

So I asked you to explain two Muslim beliefs that are part of the five roots of Usul ad-Din, and your answer may look like this.

One of the key beliefs of the five roots of Usul ad-Din is a belief in God's justice, adalat.

This means that Allah is just and fair no matter what is happening in the world.

This is a key belief in Shi'a Islam, as one of Allah's 99 names is al-Adl, the Just.

Another key belief in the five roots of Usul ad-Din is a belief in the Imamah.

This means that Allah continued to choose people to guide Muslims after the revelations to the Prophet Muhammad.

This is supported by the Hadith where the Prophet Muhammad said, "I leave behind for you two weighty things, the one being the Book of Allah, the second are the members of my household." Shi'a Muslims believe this was referring to the Imams. And I chose in my second point to use my source of authority, and I've quoted it and said it was in the Hadith.

I linked it to my point about the Imams. Well done.

So onto the second section of our lesson then.

The importance of the five roots.

So the five roots of Usul ad-Din are important for Shi'a communities today, and we can see this in some of the practises that Shi'a Muslims might take part in.

So here we've got a picture of somebody praying, somebody donating their time and effort and serving others in a time of need, and people attending a pilgrimage or prayers at a shrine.

So could you think of how any of these could connect to the five roots of Usul ad-Din then? Pause the video and have a think, and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Praying could be connected to the idea of tawhid, so showing that tawhid is an important belief, because somebody is praying to the one God and only praying to and worshipping one God.

But also the idea of prophethood, because Shi'a Muslims are praying in the way that Prophet Muhammad prayed and wanted to follow Prophet Muhammad's example.

So I've got here praying to one God as Muhammad did.

And then here, with somebody offering to help others and helping those facing hard times, maybe facing injustice, could link to the belief in adalat and the justice of God.

This is a sign of Muslims helping others who are facing injustice and hard times, just as they know God will help them.

And finally, visiting shrines and places connected to the imams could link to a belief in the Imamah, which is to do with the importance of those imams as guides and leaders of the faith.

So here we have people going on a pilgrimage to the site where the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was the third imam, was martyred.

So there's a shrine built to him there.

So some Shi'a Muslims choose to go to visit this site as a sign of their belief in the Imamah.

Let's do a quick check.

A belief in the justice of God, adalat, can influence a Muslim to help people who are facing injustice in the world.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

That's true.

Because a belief in the justice of God, adalat, is a belief in God's justice.

A Muslim may want to help people facing injustice in order to be more pleasing to Allah.

So let's ask Fatemeh now.

"How are the fives roots of faith important for your community, Fatemeh?" Alex asks.

And Fatemeh says, "A belief in the five roots of Usul ad-Din influences my community because our belief in adalat means when things are tough and don't seem fair in life, we can trust that God will be just.

This links to my belief in the day of resurrection.

God will judge fairly everyone, which encourages me to stay strong in my religion and helps me to feel comforted." So which of the five roots of faith can you see that Fatemeh has mentioned here then? Pause the video and have a think, and talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well here we can see she's mentioned adalat, the justice of God, and the day of resurrection as two parts of the five roots of faith which are important for her community.

Thank you Fatemeh.

And now Izzy's asking Hassan, "How are the five roots of Usul ad-Din important in your community, Hassan?" And Hassan says, "A belief in the Imamah is important in my community because we know they were chosen as guides to help us understand our religion more, so we follow their guidance.

I've taken a pilgrimage to the shrine of Imam Hussein in remembrance of the role that he played in shaping my religion.

He was one of the chosen Imams." So which of the five roots of Usul ad-Din has Hassan said is important in his community, then? Pause the video and have a think, and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

That's right.

Hassan has talked about the Imamah, and the idea of the chosen Imams being important for him and his community.

Well done.

Thank you Hassan.

So part of this question has been completed for you, and the question is, "Outline three ways that a belief in the five roots of faith can influence a Shi'a Muslim." Now, because this question says "outline", it needs to be sentences, it can't just be words.

So we've got here a sentence, "Going on a pilgrimage to Imam Hussein's grave." We've got another sentence, "Feeling comforted by a belief in the afterlife." So over to you then for a third way.

Remember, it needs to be a sentence and not just a word.

Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

Well I've got here helping other people who are facing injustice.

So let's do another practise task to see what we've learned, then.

Explain two ways the five roots of Usul ad-Din are important for Shi'a Muslim communities.

So first of all, a point, one way they're important for Shi'a Muslim communities.

Develop it with how and why this could impact their life.

And then a second way they're important for Shi'a Muslim communities, and then explain how and why this could impact their life.

So pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

Some great thinking there.

So I asked you to explain two ways the five roots of Usul ad-Din are important for Shi'a Muslim communities, and your answer may look something like this.

"The roots of Usul ad-Din may be important for Shi'a Muslim communities through the belief in prophethood, encouraging someone to copy the actions of the prophets of Islam.

This means that by praying in the way the Prophet Muhammad did, Shi'a Muslims are hoping to please God.

The roots of Usul ad-Din may be important for Shi'a Muslim communities through the belief in the Imamah, encouraging someone to take a pilgrimage to important places in the lives of the Imams, like the shrine of Hussain.

This means that by taking a special journey to these places, Shi'a Muslims are remembering the actions of these important guides of the religion." Well done.

So onto our third section then.

Twelver and Sevener Shi'a Islam.

So all Shi'a Muslims believe in the Imamah.

Each of the Imams designated which person had been chosen by Allah to be the next Imam.

So the first Imam was Ali, chosen by Allah, announced by the Prophet Muhammad, and then Ali announced who the next Imam would be, and so on and so forth, through a chain of the different Imams as the Imamah, all born from the bloodline of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Imam is a sign of Allah's justice, adalat, and we know that's a really important belief in Shi'a Islam.

One of the five roots of faith is that God is just and God is fair, and that these Imams, the Imamah, is seen as a sign of this justice.

Because how would it be fair and just for God to judge people and have them not go to heaven because they didn't follow the religion properly if they hadn't had guides that could have shown them how to do it? So it's a sign of God's justice and fairness to have these Imams who are chosen as guides to help guide people through the faith.

The Imam guides and helps Muslim communities to understand and follow the religion in the right way.

So for example, a quote that supports this is in the Qur'an in Surrah four.

"O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you." So this verse is used within Shi'a Islam to say, "Yeah, those people with authority among us are those chosen Imams who are all from the bloodline of the Prophet Muhammad." So let's check.

Who would Shi'a Muslims believe the "in authority" part is referring to then? Pause the video and have a think, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Shi'a Muslims would believe that this is referring to the Imams who are all from the bloodline of the Prophet Muhammad.

So Twelver Shi'a Muslims believe there've been 12 imams, starting with Ali, and ending with Imam Mahdi.

They believe that Imam Mahdi is alive today, but not physically present in the world.

So here's the list of the Imams that Twelver Shi'a Muslims believe were the correct Imams in that chain, coming down from Ali, the first one, who was the Prophet Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, who was chosen by Allah, but announced by Prophet Muhammad before he died to be his successor.

And then we've got Ali's sons, Hasan and then Husayn, and then it goes through the bloodline of the Prophet Muhammad, down to Muhammad al-Mahdi.

And then we've got Muhammad al-Mahdi, who's born about 250 years after the Prophet Muhammad dies.

And this is the one that Twelver Shi'a Muslims believe is the last Imam.

He is alive today, but not physically present in the world.

Let's understand Al-Mahdi, The Guided One, a little bit more.

So Twelver Shi'a Muslims believe Imam al-Mahdi is in spiritual hiding, and will return in the last days.

So if you remember, Twelver Shi'a Muslims believe there've been 12 Imams, Ali being the first, and then Mahdi being the final Imam.

And this Imam has gone into spiritual hiding.

So he's not physically on the earth, he's not here, his body's not here, but he is around the earth in a non-physical way, and will return physically in the last days.

But it's not only Twelver Shi'a Muslims who have beliefs about a figure called Mahdi being around in the last days.

In Sunni Islam, there is also a figure called Mahdi who'll be part of what happens in the Last Days, and before the Day of Judgement.

And the term Mahdi means "The Guided One".

So there'll be the righteous Guided One there, to help guide us through the Last Days before Judgement Day.

For Sunni Muslims, this figure will come in the Last Days.

For Twelver Shi'a Muslims, this figure was born and lived and was the 12th Imam, who's now gone into hiding and is waiting for the Last Days.

Let's hear Fatemeh explain this to us.

Fatemeh is a Twelver Shi'a Muslim, and she says, "My belief that Imam Mahdi is in spiritual hiding is important to me, because it comforts me and gives me hope that Allah's representative is close.

His role in the Last Days reminds me to prepare for resurrection by doing good actions and avoiding evil." Thank you, Fatemeh.

Let's do a quick check before we move on.

Which of the Imams do Twelver Shi'a Muslims believe is in spiritual hiding in the world today? Is it Imam Ali, Imam Mahdi, or Imam Hussein? Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

It's Imam Mahdi.

Imam Ali was the first Imam, and Imam Hussein was the third.

So Imam Mahdi is the 12th.

Well done.

So within Shi'a Islam we have the Twelver Shi'a Islam branch, but there's also another branch called Sevener Shi'a Islam.

And this is a branch of Shi'a Islam that's sometimes referred to as Ismaili, and that gives us a clue as to why the name "Sevener" is there as well.

So if you remember, Twelver Shi'a Islam have a belief that there were 12 Imams, the first being Ali, and the final one being Mahdi.

The name Sevener, however, for Sevener Shi'a Islam, doesn't mean that there's a belief in only seven Imams, but it shows the significance of their seventh Imam, Ismail Ibn Jafar.

So Ismail Ibn Jafar means he was the son of Jafar, and Jafar was the sixth Imam that we had in the list of who Twelver Shi'a Muslims believe were the Imams. The seventh Imam of Twelver Shi'a Islam was his brother, Musa.

So we had Jafar who's the sixth imam for both groups, and he had two sons, Musa and Ismail.

And Sevener Shi'a Muslims believe Ismail was the correct Imam following him.

Twelver Shi'a Muslims believe Musa, the brother, was the correct one.

So who the seventh Imam is, is what's very significant, which is why this group are often referred to as Sevener Shi'a Muslims, or Ismaili.

So the list we have here of Sevener Shi'a Imams are, starting with Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad, through his sons Hasan and Husayn, and then we get to the sixth Imam, Jafar, and his son, Ismail, is the seventh Imam in Sevener Shi'a Islam.

His brother, Musa, was the seventh Imam in the Twelver Shi'a Islam that we saw earlier.

So Sevener Shi'a Muslims believe that other Imams were designated through that line of Imam Ismail.

So Ismail being the one that Sevener Shi'a Muslims believe was the seventh Imam following down the line from Imam Ali as the first.

And one group of Sevener Shi'a Muslims believe there's a living Imam to this day who was born from that line.

And here's a picture of Prince Karim Al-Husseini, who has the title Aga Khan IV, and let's understand what that means now.

The living Imam for this group of Sevener Shi'a Muslims has the title Aga Khan, and the fourth Aga Khan, who the picture is of, died in 2025, and now his son is the fifth Aga Khan, and the 50th Imam.

The Aga Khan can guide Sevener Shi'a Muslim communities in understanding and following their religion in modern times.

Let's have a think about that.

Why might a living Imam be able to guide Muslims in modern times, then? Pause the video and have a think, and we'll see what you've come up with in a moment.

Well, we could say that the world changes so much and has changed so much since the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the revelations of the Qur'an and the different Imams who have lived previously, that having someone who's alive today and can understand what's happening in the world and see the different challenges that might face different Muslims can help to interpret that and understand it with them and therefore guide them as the infallible Imam.

So here's a centre called the Ismaili Centre in London.

It's in central London.

And Salim is a Sevener Ismaili Shi'a Muslim who lives in the UK, close to this Ismaili Centre in London, and he explains why belief in the Aga Khan as the living Imam is important to him.

Salim says, "This belief is important to me because he's able to guide us through modern issues when they come.

Aga Khan IV was educated at Harvard in the USA, and used modern education along with our traditions.

His son will also help us live as good Muslims today." Thank you, Salim.

Let's do a quick check.

Is this true or false? All Shi'a Muslims believe there've been 12 Imams, with Ali as the first, and Mahdi as the last.

Is that something that all Shi'a Muslims believe? Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've come up with in a moment.

Well done.

That is false, isn't it? Because Twelver Shi'a Muslims believe there was Ali and then Mahdi as the last, and 12 Imams, with Imam Mahdi as the final Imam.

Other Shi'a Muslims believe there have been other amounts.

For example, some Ismaili Sevener Shi'a Muslims believe their current Imam is the 50th.

Well done.

So let's do a practise task to see what we've learned, then.

You're going to decide if the statements below are beliefs that Fatemeh, a Twelver Shi'a Muslim, or Salim, a Sevener Shi'a Muslim, would hold about the Imamah.

And the different beliefs are, the final Imam is Imam Mahdi.

The current Aga Khan is the 50th Imam.

The final Imam is in spiritual hiding.

The seventh Imam was Ismail, son of Jafar.

The seventh Imam was Musa, son of Jafar.

The Aga Khan is the living Imam.

There have been exactly 12 imams. And they are sometimes known as Ismailis.

So which of these statements goes with Fatemeh, the Twelver Shi'a Muslim, and which of these statements goes with Salim, Sevener Shi'a Muslim? Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've come up with in a moment.

Well done.

So I asked you to decide if the statements were to do with Fatemeh as a Twelver Shi'a Muslim, or Salim as a Sevener Shi'a Muslim.

And your answer should look like this.

Fatemeh, as a Twelver Shi'a Muslim, would believe that the final Imam was Imam Mahdi, and the final Imam is in spiritual hiding.

And that the seventh Imam was Musa, son of Jafar.

And that there have been exactly 12 Imams. Salim, who's a Sevener Shi'a Muslim, he would believe the seventh Imam was Ismail, son of Jafar.

And that the Aga Khan is the living Imam.

And sometimes this group of Shi'a Muslims are known as Ismailis.

And the current Aga Khan is the 50th Imam.

Well done for all your hard work there.

So let's summarise everything we've learned today.

The five roots of Shi'a Islam.

Shi'a Muslims have the five roots of Usul ad-Din as their foundational beliefs.

These beliefs are tawhid, prophethood, adalat, Imamah, and mi'ad, the day of resurrection.

Sources of authority which support these beliefs include the Qur'an, collections of Hadith and the 99 names of Allah.

These beliefs are important to Shi'a Muslim communities today.

Twelver and Sevener Shi'a Islam are two branches of Shi'a Islam.

So well done for your hard work today, my young philosophers, theologians, and scholars of religion, and I'll see you again soon.

Bye bye!.