Nakhawila

The Nakhawila (Arabic: النخاولة‎) are a community of Arab Hijazi Shias who live in the city of Medina in Saudi Arabia. They are Twelver Shi'a ; a branch of Shia Islam that forms majority of shias worldwide and predominant in the Eastern Province of Saudia Arabia as well. The religious leader of Shia community in Medina was Sheikh Muhammad Ali al-Amri who died in 2011. Now his son takes care of the shia community of Medina Al-Munawarah.

References

• The Nakhāwila, a Shite Community in Medina Past and Present, Werner Ende, Die Welt des Islams, New Series, Vol. 37, Issue 3, Shiites and Sufis in Saudi Arabia, (Nov., 1997), pp. 263-348
• Marja and the Survival of a Community: The Shia of Medina, Yousif al-Khoei in "The Most Learned of the Shiʻa: The Institution of the Marjaʻ Taqlid", ed Linda Walbridge, 2001, Oxford University Press US
• More Questions than Answers: The Origin of the Nakhāwila, Werner Ende in I. Abbas et al. (eds.), Studies in History and Literature in Honour of Nicola Ziadeh (London: Hazar Publishing Ltd., 1992), pp. 68-72.