Differences Between Shia And Sunni Conflicts

The Shia Muslims believe that following the Prophet Muhammad's death, leadership should have passed directly to his cousin/son-in-law, Ali. Throughout history, Shia Muslims have not recognized the authority of elected Muslim leaders, choosing instead to follow a line of Imams which they believe have been appointed by the Prophet Muhammad or God Himself. The word "Shia" in Arabic means a group or supportive party of people. The commonly-known term is shortened from the historical "Shia-t-Ali," or "the Party of Ali." They are also known as followers of "Ahl-al-Bayt" or "People of the Household". The historical background of the differences of the two different Muslim faiths is important to recognize due to the significance of its effect on Afghan culture and lifestyle.

To start off, even though Sunni and Shia Muslims share the same religion, they disagree who should lead after Muhammad death. Sunni Muslims take up 85 to 90 percent of Muslims. Sunni Muslims believe Muhammad did not clearly

division between Shia (followers of Ali) and Sunni (followers of the custom of the caliphate)

I have always assumed that the Sunni and Shia conflict is similar to the war between the Catholic and Protestant, however it is much more complex and different. These two branches of Islam share the same Holy Book and all agree that Allah is there God. Sunni and Shia both believe that the last prophet was Muhammad. However, when Muhammad died, there was a disagreement of who would be Muhammad’s successor. There were two candidates to be the successor of Muhammad, Abu Bakr and Ali bin Abi Talib. Ali bin Abi Talib was Muhammad’s cousin and son-in law. Abu Bakr was Muhammad’s friend and senior companion. The Sunni Muslims believed that the leadership should be granted to the person with most experience. On the other hand, the Shi’a believed the decision should be based purely through Muhammad’s bloodline. The majority of Muslim ended up choosing Abu Bakr to be the Caliph (successor). However, Abu Bakr’s rule was shortlived when he died in 634 CE.

The Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam have been feuding for hundreds of years dating back to the beginning of the Islamic religion. The deity or god of the Sunnis is Allah. The Sunni branch of Islam is the larger of the two branches with over 80% of the Muslim population. The Sunni are the majority in most of the countries that have Islamic followers. There are a few different translations of what Sunna stands for, one of which is “Habitual Practice.” The differences between the two branches can be traced all the back to the 7th century CE when the disagreements as to who should succeed Muhammad. Sunnis believe that the Muslim community should maintain the right to select who the successor to Muhammad is going to be. The Shiite branch

The history of the split of Shiites and Sunnis Muslims dates back thousands of years. It is not a new event, however the conflicts between Shi'ites and Sunnis still exist to this day and they have been increasing. Muslims were one interconnected group without divisions or conflicts. However, in 632, after the death of prophet Muhammad Muslims needed to caliph or successor to mastermind their affairs. Therefore, they divided into two groups; Sunni and Shia. Sunni claimed that prophet Muhammad did not choose caliph to him before his death, so they chose Abu-Bakr, who prophet Muhammad’s friend and the father of his wife. Then Umar, Othman and finally, Ali. The second group was Shia who believed that prophet Muhammad before

While numerous countries remain established under the ideology of Islamic fundamentalism currently, the religious conflicts between differentiating Islamic sects has initiated massive political and religious warfare. The conflicts between Shia and Sunni Muslims have dates back to the 7th century, after the death of Prophet Muhammad. This great divide still exists today, according to a 2009 study by Pew Research Center, between 10-13% of the Muslims are Shia, while 87-90% are Sunni Muslims, comprising of over 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide. While Islamic extremist may be viewed as separate from the mainstream Islamic groups, Muslim extremist groups have evolved alongside the Shia and Sunni sects. “Kharijites” were extreme doctrines which adopted

From this initial split other divisions and changes occurred within the religious practices and laws of Islam. While both share a belief in the Qur’an and the sunna (sayings or actions) of the Prophet Muhammad there are religious and legal differences. Imams are by the Shia definition the divinely guided ones but the Sunni defines Imaans as saints (Diffen n.d.). The Shia declared Ali and his descendants Imams with a special connection to the will of God with religious and legal authorities. The number of Imams and who were truly the divinely guided Imams would split Shias. There arose many branches but it came down to three main ones the Twelvers, the Seveners, and Zayids (Goldschmidt Jr. 2013). The Imams were mystical beings and the Twelvers believe that the 12th Imam disappeared and will one day return to set thing right for Muslims. Within the Sunni sect there are four branches of Islamic Law:

How are Sunni Muslims different from other Muslims? The word Sunni means “one who follows the traditions of the Prophet." Sunni Muslims are one of the sects of Islam religion. The majority of Sunni Muslims are in Central Asia including South Asia. After the death of Prophet Mohammed, the Sunnis and the Shi’as, another sect of Islam, split. The reason for splitting was that the Sunnis believed that the next ruler should have been someone who was most knowledgeable and closest to the prophet. It was different for Shi’as’ because they believed that the next ruler should have been blood related to the Prophet Mohammed. Sunni Muslims get their knowledge from the Quran, a holly book from Allah, meaning God. There are

As a political tactic, rulers often portray themselves in a certain way in order to stabilize their reign and rule more effectively. Some take the approach of uniqueness by setting themselves apart from their subject population while others take the approach of sameness by emphasizing the similarities in which they share with the people. Not exclusively limited to apartness or sameness, some rulers have shown to employ a mix of both ruling styles. It is these versatile rulers who have experienced more successes in their reign because they are not compelled to only one ruling style, allowing them to better adapt to the needs of their ruling population. The apartness ruling style is best seen in the Safavid Empire under the rule of Shah Ismail. Shah Ismail uses religion as a political tool to control his state and does so by declaring Shi’ism, a smaller branch of Islam, as the state religion (#). After separating himself & his people from those who are not willing to abide to his ideologies, Shah Ismail can now demand the absolute loyalties from his subjects and persecute those who are deviant. This radical act further creates a deep chasm between Shi’ite Muslims and nearby Sunni Muslims neighbors. As a result, cultural flow and the exchange of beliefs between Sunni & Shi’ite states are essentially hindered. Ismail’s apartness ruling approach is taken to the extreme with social, religious, and legal systems being strictly confined to Shi’ite doctrines (@). It is noted that

The second section of the book focuses on the origins on the Shia historical narratives which held the community together and how it lead to the fragmentation of it. Third chapter begins with detailed events of succession to the Prophet Muhammad and is often cited as the starting point for the split in the Islamic community. In a brief summary, author writes the biographical/historical narrative of the Prophet from his birth to his death, which is accepted by all Muslims. Then the author focuses on Shia historical works that extends on elaborating this biographical narrative precisely bringing the historical proof of Imam Ali’s political and religious claims. The chapter continues with Shia biographical narrative of Ali, giving details of his

Muhammad died, leaving behind an empire that had grown rapidly in the years since his conquest at Mecca, for there was no protocol for choosing a successor. Indeed, no one knew what being Muhammad’s successor actually meant! Was the successor simply the elected successor of Muhammad, or was he someone related to Muhammad, which suggested that Muhammad himself was somehow more than a man. The former view won out at first, but the latter view remained alive, eventually resulting in the split between Sunni and Shia Muslims. The latter believed that Ali (who was related to Muhammad and would be the fourth Caliph, eventually) was the divinely appointed successor to the Prophet and had been badly snubbed by the elections that eventually put Abu Bakr in power as the First Caliph. Unfortunately for Islam, this early glimmering of democracy faded and flickered out of

Disagreement between Shias and Sunni have been the most important splits in Islamic religion, which are ongoing problems since the 7th century to present-day, conflict in Islamic history has initiated blood spills from generations to generations and is still taking life’s while differences in social and equal opportunities that have taken deep roots in the minds of future leaders.

The major cause of the schism between the Islamic sects the Sunni and Shia has created a continuous state of conflict between Ali the adopted son of Muhammad and the youngest, most cherished, and trusted, and yet, the most deceitful, and vengeful wife of Muhammad, Aisha. The hostilities between Ali and Aisha were never more obvious than after the Affair of the Necklace. When Ali and others, had misjudged Aisha and accused her of having a clandestine affair with a Medinan warrior.

Islam is divided into two branches called the Shi’ite and the Sunni. The Sunni make up the majority of muslims today. The Shi’ite Muslims believe that Ali (Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law) was the rightful successor to Muhammad, and that leadership of the community should remain in the family line of the prophet. Sufism is a form of Islamic mysticism. Sufis place emphasis on the inward experience of God, and on individual acts of spiritual discipline. (Basic facts about)