The fact that not many people know is that Shia Islam (Shiism) was founded after the demise of our Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him by a Jew called Abdullah Ibn Saba who outwardly professed to be a Muslim while inwardly concealing his evil intentions to destroy Islam and the unity of its nation, especially among the Companions.
Abdullah Ibn Saba succeeded in winning the hearts of the followers of the Caliph Ali (hence they're known as Sabaites) and splitting the Ummah into factions. He was the leader of both the Kharijites and the Shiites; the Kharijites being responsible for the death of Ali may Allah be pleased with him.
The Kharijites opposed Ali for agreeing to the arbitration with Muawiyah, and later after Ali's death 'emerged' as Shia of Ali to avoid persecution by the Umayyad dynasty.
There is a hadith in Sunan Ibn Majah 174 that mentions about the advent of the Antichrist and the Kharijites.
Ibn Umar reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “People will appear who recite the Quran but it will not go beyond their throats. Every time a faction emerges it will be cut off.” I heard the Prophet say this more than ten times until he said, “The False Messiah will appear in their midst.”
There is a possibility that the Antichrist will appear among the Shiites based on that hadith alone. Anyway the hadith is graded 'hasan' (fair) by Syaikh Al-Albani.
