The Early History of the American Shi‘a Community

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This paper will examine the provenance and development of the American Shi‘a community. It will discuss some of the challenges the community has had to face and argues that, with time, the demography of the community has changed. It will also explore some of the dividing lines that have fractured American Shi‘as. It will also demonstrate that for a long time Shi‘as had to rely on Sunnis to represent them. However, with time, Shi‘as have sensed the need for self‐representation and that the community has developed infrastructure and institutions to make it more visible to the American public.