Zaidīy(y)a, al-

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Zaidīy(y)a, al-, Zaidis, or Zaydis (sometimes called ‘Fivers’ because they seceded over the fifth Imām), a sect of Shīʿa Muslims, in contrast to the Ithna ʿAsharīy(y)a (Twelvers) and the Seveners (see also ISMĀʿĪLIY(Y)A). When the fourth Shiʿite Imām, ʿAli Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn, died in 713 (AH 95), the Zaidis followed Zaid rather than his brother, Muḥammad al-Baqīr, as Imām. Zaid al-Shahīd rebelled against the Umayyad caliph in 737 (AH 121), but was killed in battle. Strict in their observance, they reject mutʿa and Sūfī claims. The Imām is not a matter of succession (hence there can be periods without an Imām) but of recognition.