List of extinct Shia sects

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

The following is a list of extinct sects of Shia Islam. These branches of Shi'i thought no longer have any living followers or practitioners.

Ghulat sects

• Bazighiyya– who believed that Ja'far al-Sadiq was God.
• Dhammiyya– who believed that Ali was God and Muhammad was his appointed Messenger and Prophet.
• Ghurabiyya– who believed the angel Gabriel was mistaken when passing on the prophecy to Muhammad instead of Ali.
• Ya’furiyya– who believed in reincarnation and that a man named Mu’ammar al-Kufi was their Lord.
• Kaysanites– who believed in the Imamate of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah after the death of Husayn Ibn 'Ali Ibn abu Talib.
• Hurufiyya– who believed God is incarnated in every atom, reminiscent of the Alevi-Bektashism.
  • Nuqtavites– who believed in a cyclical view of time, reminiscent of the Isma'ili Shia.
• Soldiers of Heaven– who believed that their former leader Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim (died 2007 CE) was the Mahdi and reincarnation of Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Zaydi Shia sects

• Dukayniyya– who believed Muhammad’s followers fell into unbelief after his death because they did not uphold the Imamate of Ali.
• Jarudiyya– who believed the companions were sinful in failing to recognise Ali as the legitimate Caliph. They became extinct in Iran and Iraq but still survive in Yemen under the Hadawi sub-sect.
• Khalafiyya– who believed in a unique line of Imams after Zayd ibn Ali ibn Husayn Ibn 'Ali Ibn abu Talib, starting with a man named Abd al-Samad and continuing with his descendants.
• Khashabiyya– who believed that the Imamate must remain only among the descendents of Hasan and Husayn, even if that Imam is ignorant, immoral and tyrannical.
• Tabiriyya/Butriyya/Salihiyya– who believed the companions, including Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman, had been in error in failing to follow Ali, but it did not amount to sin.

Imami/pre-Twelver Shia sects

• Fathites– who believed Abdullah al-Aftah was the succeeding Imam after his father Ja'far al-Sadiq's death.
• Muhammadites– who believed that Muhammad ibn Ali al-Hadi was the true 11th Imam, rather than Hasan al-Askari.
• Tawussites– who believed that Ja'far al-Sadiq was the Mahdi and that he was alive and did not die.
• Waqifites– who believed in the Imamate of Musa al-Kadhim but refused to accept the Imamate of his successor Ali ar-Ridha.

Ismā'īlī Shia sects

• Hafizi– who believed the ruler of the Fatimid Empire, Al-Hafiz, was also the Imam of the Time.
• Sevener– who believed Muħammad ibn Ismā'īl al-Maktum, the son of Ismā'īl ibn Jaʻfar al-Sadiq, would return as the Mahdi.
  • Qarmatians– who believed in a world view where every phenomenon repeated itself in cycles, where every incident was replayed over and over again.
• Muhammad-Shahi Nizari Ismailis: who believe that the true successor to the 28th Nizari Ismaili Imam Shamsuddin Muhammad was his grandson Muhammad Shah bin Momin Shah (d 1404 CE). They trace their line of Imams through Muhammad Shah until the disappearance of their 40th Imam Amir Muhammad Baqir in 1796 in India. 15,000 Muhammad-Shahi Nizari Ismailis live in the Syria and are locally called the Jafariyya.

See also

• Islamic schools and branches