Nathan Gonzalez
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Sabra and Shatila Massacre (Sept. 16-18, 1982): A wholesale massacre of unarmed Palestinian civilians by the Lebanese Forces, a Christian militia.
Sadr City: Shia sector in eastern Baghdad, renamed from "al-Thawra" and "Saddam City," in honor of late Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr.
Sadr, Mousa (1929-1978[?]): Iranian cleric and founder of the Lebanese Amal movement. He disappeared in Libya in 1978.
Sadr, Muqtada (b. 1973): Iraqi cleric and founder of the Mahdi Army of Iraq. He is son of the late Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr.
Sadr, Muhammad Baqir (1935-1980): Politically influential Iraqi ayatollah, father-in-law of Muqtada and cousin of Muhammad Sadiq.
Sadr, Muhammad Muhammad Sadiq (1943-1999): Iraqi ayatollah and prominent Shia activist. His son is Muqtada al-Sadr.
Sadrists: Broad Iraqi Shia political movement marked by Iraqi nationalism and, in principle, independence from Iran. Named after Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr.
Safavid Empire (1501-1736): Iranian dynasty brought to power by a Turkic religious order, the Safavi, named after spiritual founder Safi al-Din (1252-1334). The Safavids undertook the mass conversion of Iran into Twelver Shiism.
Sahl ibn Salama: Ninth-century fundamentalist activist based in Baghdad.
Saladin (1139-1193): Europeanized name for Salah al-Din, a Kurdish general and statesman, best known for his anti-Crusading efforts.
Samarra: Iraqi city, home of shrines for three Shia Imams: Ali al-Hadi (Tenth), Hasan al-Askari (Eleventh), and Muhammad al-Mahdi (Twelfth)
Sasanian Empire (224-651): An Iranian dynasty of Persian lineage that helped codify the Zoroastrian faith and reigned as the last pre-Islamic dynasty of Iran.
Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI): Today known as the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), SCIRI was founded by Iran in 1982 to serve as an opposition to Saddam Hussein's rule in Iraq.
Seljuk Empire (1037-1194): Turkic Sunni dynasty based in Iraq and Iran, responsible for the dissemination of the madrasa (religious seminary) system throughout Muslim lands.
Shafi: School in Sunni Islam, founded by Imam Shafi'i (767-820).
Shatt al-Arab: Fertile waterway claimed by both Iran and Iraq, over which Saddam Hussein launched the Iran-Iraq War in 1980.
Shahrbanu ("Lady of the Land"): Historical Iranian personality of unknown authenticity, said to have been a daughter of Iran's last pre-Islamic king, Yazdegerd III, and said to have handpicked Imam Husayn for marriage. As the mother of the Fourth Imam, she serves as a connection between Iranian ethnic identity and Shia Islam.
Shia Crescent: Coined term by King Abdullah II of Jordan in 2004 when referring to the rise of Shia influence in the Middle East--from Iran, through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon--as a result of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Shi'at 'Ali (lit., "the Party of Ali"): a term of political affiliation, given to supporters of Ali ibn Abi Talib's claims to the caliphate, who later morphed into a unique sect of Islam. The term now used is simply "Shi'a," or "Shia."
Shi'at 'Uthman (lit., "the Party of Uthman"): supporters of the third caliph, Uthman, who accused Ali ibn Abi Talib of having a hand in his assassination. They fought the Shi'at 'Ali during the first fitna (Muslim civil war).
Shi'at bani al-Abbas (lit., "the Party of the Clan of Abbas"): a term denoting the political/religious faction of the Abbasid revolution, which toppled the Umayyad Dynasty in 750.
Sistani, Ali (b. 1930): Iranian-born Iraqi grand ayatollah, belonging to the quietist (i.e., nonpolitical) strain of Shia thought.
Sufi: A generic term for mystical Sunni and Shia Muslims, particularly those affiliated with unorthodox religious orders.
Sunni Awakening: A U.S.-backed Sunni movement in western Iraq, aimed at expelling al-Qaeda from the country.
Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916): British-French agreement over the division of Ottoman lands following the empire's dissolution.
Sunni Triangle: Iraqi region, largely populated by Sunni Arabs. It contains the predominantly Sunni cities of Tikrit, Ramadi, and Fallujah, as well as Baghdad and Samarra.