Tunisia is located north of the African continent. Tunisia is surrounded by countries such as Algeria and Libya. The capital city of Tunisia is Tunis. The population of Tunisia is approximately 9 million. The government in Tunisia is a republican government. The spoken language in Tunisia is Arabic as well as the French language which is spoken amongst a large number of the Tunisian people. The most practised religion in Tunisia is Islam, however there is approximately 1% of Jewish and Christian believers.
The majority of the Muslims in Tunisia are followers of the Malki school of thought and approximately 85% of the Muslims follow this school of thought, there also exists a minority number of believers of the Shia school of thought. The Sufi belief is also amongst the minority of Muslim faiths in the country.
The Islamic history in the country is old, the year 57 AD was the first established holy site for Muslims in the city of Qirawan and from there the Islamic faith spread rapidly across Tunisia. In Qirawan there is the mosque of Aaqaba son of Nafih al-Sahibeey al-Jaleel, it is this individual who established the mosque in the year 50AD.
The roots of Shia Islam in Tunisia was before the Fatemia empire, and the Shia faith spread via the city of al-Mahdia al-Tunisia. The ‘barber’ people were the first people on this land and it is through them that the message of Ahlulbayt spread.
The Shia faith has recently spread in Tunisia. The ‘barber’ people, were originally the first people on Tunisian land, they also had a specific role during the time of the martydom of Imam Hussain (AS), and they were killed, tortured and hurt as were the people of al-Madina by the Umayyad dynasty.
It can be said the belief in the Household of the Prophet(PBUH) spread into Tunisia during the 1950’s / 70’s, after Tijani al-Samowey left to Iraq, it is when the light of Shia Islam started shining Tunisia.
Today the Shia belief is found across many cities and villages in the country, if not all the cities and villages. The cities which have a major population of Shia’s are Qafsa, and the state of Qabass, Soosaa, al-Mahdia and in the capital city Tunis.
The activities of the Shia, include celebrating and commemorating the births/ deaths of the Holy infallibles (AS), publications of literature concerning the belief as well as other activities. There are some Shia from Tunisia who study Islamic theology in Iran and Syria. Amongst the respected Shia scholars in Tunisia is Sayed Mohammed al-Tijani al-Samowey and Sheikh Mobarak Baghdash.
The Shia belief was able to spread in Tunisia due to the availability of open minded people and the lack of extreme individuals as well as the high level of educated people which is found amongst the population of Tunisians.
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