Shia Islamism

Shia Islamism is the implementation of Shia Islam in politics. Most study and reporting on Islamism has been focused on Sunni Islamist movements. Shia Islamism, a previously very small ideology, gained in popularity after the Iranian Revolution led by Ruhollah Khomeini, whose Shia Islamist policies became known as Khomeinism. 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 world Muslim community, Twelver Shias form the majority of the population in the countries of Iran, Iraq, and Azerbaijan, and substantial minorities in Afghanistan, Bahrain, India, Lebanon, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Islamism in general has been defined as a religious revivalist movement for a return to the original texts and the inspiration of the original believers of Islam, but one which requires Islam to be a "political system".