where the descendants of Muhammad cursed the Sunni Caliphs, Shia also curse them (which does not literally mean using inappropriate terms for them, but rather asking God to withdraw His mercy from them) when doing tabarri. This added to the persecution of the Shias by the Sunnis. To protect themselves in times where their life were in jeopardy, Shias used the doctrine of Taqiyya and were prevented from using tabarri in public. The similar concept used in Sunni theology is the doctrine of Al-Wala' wal-Bara' (al-wala’ being cognate with tawalli, and al-bara’ being cognate with tabarri). The Sunni Umayyad dynasty cursed Ali for 70 years. See also Event of Mubahala Imprecatory Psalms Shia view of Umar Tabarra agitation References Shia theology