The Islam And The Muslim Community

As statistics show, there are more than 1.8 billion Muslim around the world, which equals almost a quarter of the world’s population. There are many denominations of Islam, but the big ones are Sunni, Shia, and Sufism. After Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) died, Muslims started separating based on who was supposed to be the next Caliph of Muslims; Sunni believe that Abu-Bakr Mohammed’s father-in-law was the first Caliph of Islam; whereas, Shias and Sufis believe that Ali-Bin-Abi-Talib was supposed to be the first. Ismai’lism, to which I belong, is the second biggest branch of Shia after the Imami or Jaafari group. The majority of Isma’ilists live in Najran, located in the south region of Saudi Arabia, near the Saudi-Yemeni borders. There are many things that distinguish Islma’ilists from other branches of Shia such as: the Imams, religious rituals and the dates of religious holidays.

55). Not understanding this diversity could lead non-Muslims to a biased position and see all things as equal. According to Qureshi (2014) Shia make up approximately 10 to 15 percent of the world Muslims that follow after the authority of Muhammad, the Sunni’s make up about 80 percent that follow after caliphate Abu Bakr and 5 to 10 percent fall in the other category (Qureshi, 2014, p. 55). There are instances where Muslims will consider other Muslims as non-Muslims, as such where someone claims to be a prophet or places their authority above Allah. Although there is some disparity among Muslims, Qureshi believes the pillar that identifies a man as Muslim is if he exclusively declares that Allah is God and Muhammad is Allah’s messenger (Qureshi, 2014, p. 57-58). All Muslims through the practices, disciplines, and teachings of Allah share differences, but there are ambiguities among the sects and depending on which sect you believe, the others may be viewed as infidels. Where there are differences in opinion, they rely on the Ulema, which are religious Muslim scholars that are wise and experienced in Islam (Qureshi, 2014, p.

One of the most famous religious splits in human history is the well known Sunni-Shia split. The Sunni-Shia split is highly divisive throughout the world, and predominantly in the Middle East. These sects share similarities, such as they all believe that Allah is the one true god, and Muhammad is his messenger. They also believe in the same five religious pillars that Muslims follow. Although these sects are very similar, there is one big schismatic difference that separates the two. This difference lies with the question of: “Who is the rightful successor of the Prophet Muhammad?” Through this 1,400 year conflict Most sunnis believe that Abu Bakr the Prophet 's closest companion is the true successor. In contrast most Shias believe that Ali, who was the prophet 's cousin and son in law is the true successor. Abu bakr was the rightful heir to lead Muslims after the Prophet’s death. Abu Bakr was arguably his closest confidant throughout their lives, and Abu Bakr understood the Messenger teachings the best. It can also be argued that that Ali would be the fourth caliph instead of the first because choosing a successor to the Prophet based on bloodline could be seen as committing idolatry according to Islamic teaching.

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)

Many non-Muslims believe the cause of the Shi’ite and Sunni violence originated from their religious differences. However the differences in tradition, education, law, and religious practices are a small factor in this escalating problem. The core of their faith is practically identical. Both factions believe that Muhammad, their prophet, was the messenger of Allah. They also believe that all Muslims must abide by Muhammad’s teachings as outlined in their

Additionally, in the Islamic religion, there are two separate factions named the Sunni and the Shia. Sunnis, who make up about 85%-90% of the total Islamic population, were derived from Muslims who believed that Abu Bakr should take over after Prophet Muhammad died. The Shias, who take up an approximate 10% of the population, thought that Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali, should take over (BBC, 2016). During The Kite Runner, the subject of religion comes up continuously pertaining to if you are a Sunni or a Shia. The majority of the characters are Sunni Muslims, but there is a portion who are ethnic Shia Muslims like Hassan and his family.

Christianity has numerous sects; in comparison, Islam has only two major branches. The main sects of Islam are Sunni and Shi'a. The partition between these two sects is the disagreement over authority. For example Sunni believes authority is political. On the other hand, Shi'a believes authority is political and religion.

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:

The differences between Shia and Sunni’s took place after the death of Prophet Muhammad. “There are 1.6 billion Muslims across the world. Roughly 85%-90% of them are Sunnis”. (Ward) Sunni’s decided that the person/leader to guide the Islamic

Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of the Islamic faith and the most orthodox. Claiming approximately 90% of all Islamic faith traditions, Sunnism is know for its rigorous study of the Quran and Hadith. The word “Sunni” is derived from the word “Sunnah” which is literally translated as “habit” or “literal practice.” Thus, the Sunni tradition of Islamic faith dealt with issues of doctrine and practice. Furthermore, Sunnism is based on what they call the Five Pillars of Islam. The first deals with the faith and proclamation that there is only one God “Allah” and Muhammad as its prophet. The second, concerns prayer and the importance of adhering to one’s prayer life. The third emphasizes the good works and charitable giving to one’s neighbor

A religion that will employ great influence in a civilization of more than one and a half billion people. The Prophets death also had the opportunity to split the religion into two main branches the Sunni and Shi’a. The Sunni who are 80 percent of Muslims, and they believed that, Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s father-in-law, to the successor. As for the Shi’a who only make up 15 percent of the Muslims in the world, believed an imam, in their case Ali, cousin, and son-in-law, should be the successor; due to their blood relations. However, with their differences aside, they shared the common belief that Prophet Muhammad was a messenger of Allah. Both the Sunni and Shi’a also share the belief that there are five pillars of Islam: (1) the harmony of Allah and the prophethood of Muhammad, (2) the five obligatory prayers, (3) fasting, (4) charity, and (5) the pilgrimage to Mecca. Both branches oppose several kinds social change that is done by western ideas, and instead have the primary objective of the establishment of Islamic law as the sole basis of their government. The question still is who should have been the rightful successor of the Prophet Muhammad. Someone who is in blood relations or someone who was a close

Unicity exists in all three, but in Islam it is divine unicity; the idea that “there is is no god but God,” which conflicts with the present sectarianism (57). Sunni, Shī‛a, and other Islamic sects all believe in Allah as all Christians and Jews believe in God, however, division comes through interpretation, which varies from person to person and the acceptability of beliefs depended on the influence of their leaders. Each sect has different answers to particular questions, such as what qualifies a person to be Muslim, which groups like the Seceders believed that any serious sinners could no longer be Muslims but the Murjia believe “anyone making the profession of faith was a Muslim.” There is also the question of predestination and free will that coincides with whether or not the Quran was created. The Mu‛tazila believed in the Created Quran while the Ash‛aris believed in the Uncreated Quran, differing on the essence of God and his unicity, with that latter having a philosophy of acceptance without asking questions (66-67).

known as Sunni Muslims; and all other Muslims belong to the Shi'i sect and are