Shia Islamism

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Shia Islamism is the implementation of Shia Islam in politics and opposition to Sunni Islamism. Most study and reporting on Islamism has been focused on Sunni Islamist movements. Initially a very small ideology, it gained popularity after the Iranian Revolution (1978–1979) led by Ruhollah Khomeini, whose Shia Islamist policies became known as Khomeinism. Khomeini's form of Islamism was unique not only for being a powerful political movement which successfully came to power, but for having completely swept away the old regime, created a new one with a new constitution, new institutions and a new concept of governance (the velayat-e-faqih). A historical event, it changed militant Islam from a topic of limited impact and interest, to one that few inside or outside the Muslim world were unaware. However, there are also Shia Islamist movements outside of Khomeinism, such as the Islamic Dawa Party of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and the Sadrist Movement of Muqtada al-Sadr. Though a minority of the...

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