New York City elected Shia Muslim Zohran Mamdani as mayor despite opponents weaponizing his interfaith background throughout the campaign. Mamdani is part of the Twelver branch of Shia Islam and was raised in a family celebrating Hindu festivals alongside Islamic traditions.
Twelver Shiism is mainstream Shiism, representing approximately 85-90% of all Shiites worldwide. This branch believes in twelve divinely appointed imams following Prophet Muhammad, with the twelfth imam in occultation since 874 CE. Twelver Shiites constitute the vast majority of Shiites in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan, as well as significant populations in Pakistan, India, and the Gulf states. The other main Shia branches – Ismaili (roughly 10-15% of Shiites) and Zaidi – split from this line over disputes about the succession of leadership after the early imams.
Mamdani is part of the Khoja Twelver Shia branch of Islam. The Khoja community represents a distinct branch within Twelver Shia Islam, rooted in South Asian history and culture rather than the Persian traditions more commonly associated with Shiism in the West. However, Khoja Twelvers are not a separate theological branch but rather an ethnic and cultural subset within Twelver Shiism. While they follow the same theological principles and recognize the same twelve imams as other Twelver Shiites, Khojas maintain distinctive cultural practices rooted in their subcontinental origins, and for centuries, Khojas practiced a syncretic form of Ismaili Islam that incorporated elements of their Hindu heritage, including devotional songs (ginans) composed in local languages.
The community recognized the Aga Khan as their living imam.. They conduct some religious observances in Gujarati, Kutchi, or Urdu alongside Arabic, and their community organization reflects their unique historical journey from Hinduism to Ismaili Shiism and finally to Twelver Shiism in the 19th century. Today, Khoja Twelvers increasingly follow the same religious authorities as other Twelver communities worldwide while preserving their ethnic identity. (Read More)
