Who is there instead of the pope in the Muslim religion?

Answer 1

I imagine your question means the living leader of Islamic practitioners. Well, just like in Catholicism, Islam had a person who was in charge of their religion. His name was Muhammad. The problem is that the prophet Muhammad died, and this provoked a crisis. He died without any male progeny and without a clearly designated successor. In June 8th, 632 CE, Abu-Bakr (Muhammad's father-in-law) was designated Muhammad's successor by some form of election in which those leaders present at the capital, al-Madinah took part. ("History of the Arabs", by Philip Hitti)

The successor to the prophet would be a ruler, a khalifah, or caliph. However, the question of the true successor to Muhammad became a cause for divisions in the ranks of Islam. The Sunni Musilims accept the principle of elective office rather than blood descent from the prophet. Therefore they believe that the first three caliphs, Abu Bakr (Muhammad's father-in-law), Umar (the prophet's adviser), and Uthman (the prophet's son-in-law), were the legitimate successors to Muhammad.

That claim is contested by the Shiite Muslims, who say that the true leadership comes through the prophet's blood line and through his cousin and son-in-law, Aliibn Abi Talib, the first imam(leader and successor), who married Muhammad's favorite daughter, Fatimah. Their marriage produced Muhammad's grandsons Hasan and Husayn. The Shiites also claim "that from the beginning Allah and His Prophet had clearly designated Ali as the only legitimate successor but that the first three caliphs had cheated him out of his rightful office." (History of the Arabs) Of course, the Sunni Muslims view that differently.

During his rule as the fourth caliph (656-661 C.E.), a struggle over leadership arose between him and the governor of Syria, Muawiyah. They joined battle, and then to spare further Muslim bloodshed, they threw their dispute open to arbitration. Ali's acceptance of arbitration weakened his case and alienated many of his followers, including the Khawarij (Seceders), who became his deadly foes. In the year 661 C.E., Ali was murdered with a poisoned sabre by a Khariji zealot. The two groups (the Sunni and the Shiah) were in disagreement. TheSunni branch of Islam then chose a leader from the Umayyads, wealthy Meccan chiefs, who were outside of the prophet's family.

For the Shiah, Ali's firstborn, Hasan, the prophet's grandson, was the true successor. However, he resigned and was murdered. His brother Husayn became the new imam, but he too was killed, by Umayyad troops on October 10th, 680 C.E. His death or martyrdom, as the Shiah view it, has had a significant effect on the Shiat Ali, the party of Ali, down to this day. They believe that Ali was the true successor to Muhammad and the first "imam (leader) divinely protected against error and sin." Ali and his successor were considered by the Shiah to be infallible teachers with "the divine gift of impeccability." The largest segment of the Shiah believe that there have been only 12 true imams, and the last of these, Muhammad al-Muntazar, disappeared (878 C.E.) "in the cave of the greate mosque at Samarra without leaving offspring." Thus "he became 'the hidden (mustatir)' or 'the expected (muntazar) imam.' ... In due time he will appear as the Mahdi (divinely guided one) to restore true Islam, conquer the whole world and usher in a short millennium before the end of all things." (History of the Arabs)

Every year, the Shiah commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Husayn. They have processions in which some cut themselves with knives and swords and otherwise inflict suffering on themselves. In more modern times, Shiite Muslims have recieved much publicity because of their zeal for Islamic causes. However, they represent only about 20% of the world's Muslims, the majority being Sunni Muslims.