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Twelver Shīʿism, also known as Imāmiyya, is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 90% of all Shīas. The term Twelver refers to its adherents' belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as the Twelve Imams, and their belief that the last Imam, Imam al-Mahdi, lives in Occultation and will reappear as the promised Mahdi. Twelvers believe that the Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. According to the theology of Twelvers, the Twelve Imams are exemplary human individuals who not only rule over the Muslim community (Ummah) with justice, but are also able to preserve and interpret the Islamic law (sharīʿa) and the esoteric meaning of the Qur'an. The words and deeds of Muhammad and the Imams are a guide and model for the Muslim community to follow; as a result, Muhammad and the Imams must be free from error and sin, a doctrine known as Ismah or infallibility, and must be chosen by divine decree, or nass, through Muhammad. Globally, there are about 200 to 300 million Twelvers: most of Iran, Iraq, Bahrain and Azerbaijan; half the Muslims in Lebanon; a sizeable minority in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Nigeria, Chad, and Tanzania. Iran is the only country where Twelver Shi'ism is the state religion. Twelvers share many tenets with other Shīʿīte sects, such as the belief in the Imamate, but the Ismāʿīlī and Nizārī branches believe in a different number of Imams and, for the most part, a different path of succession regarding the Imamate. They also differ in the role and overall definition of an Imam. Twelvers are also distinguished from Ismāʿīlīs by their belief in Muhammad's status as the "Seal of the Prophets", in rejecting the possibility of abrogation of sharīʿa laws, and in considering both esoteric and exoteric aspects of the Qur'an. Alevis in Turkey and Albania, and Alawites in Syria and Lebanon, share belief in the Twelve Imams with Twelvers, but their theological doctrines are markedly different.