A comparative survey of the manner of challenge by the Shiite 12 Imams and the Zeidieh Imams from the Omavid era till the beginning of the minor absence (Gheibat Soghra)

After the death of the prophet of Islam (peace be upon Him) a great deal of controversy about his succession among the Muslims and this led to the diversification of the society into a great number of groups. Some of these groups didnot believe in the legitimacy of the power of the caliphs. Shia was one of these groups although the Shiite themselves later on were diversified into other groups. Zeidieh Shia and Ethna-ashari were two such groups that counteracted against the central government from the beginning. Each one of these groups chose its goals in the challange on the basis of its own rules and ways. One of these groups chose direct challange and the other one chose indirect challange. Their differences in the political thought led to their differences in the manner of challenge. The present study attempts to compare the challange method of Zeidieh Imams and Ethna-Ashari from the Omavid era to the minor absence (Gheibat Soghra).