The Longest Running Fued is the Sunni and Shia Conflict

    Did you know two groups of the same religion have been fighting for over 1,400 years? The two groups are known as Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims. They are fighting over a dispute over succession to Muhammad as a caliph of the Islamic community which spread across various parts of the world. The groups have different the succession of power after Muhammad died, and disagreements about marriage briefs on leadership, but are they so different? The groups are very different, because of

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

Ever since the year 632, the conflict between the Sunni Muslims and the Shi'as failed to resolve which is why religious rivalry from the past hugely

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

Historically, the Sunnis and the Shi'ites have been at opposite sides of the ethnic/cultural/religious and political fence. Such differences have led to numerous violent encounters between the two groups, with neither group appearing to be willing to make any concessions regarding their differences. This paper will discuss the differences between Shi'ites and Sunnis based on the thesis that these differences are based on conflicting beliefs related to the successor of their Prophet Mohammad.

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:

To many, religion is seen as a critical component in living life. One of the largest religions with its millions of adherents is Islam. Mainly known for its peaceful interpretation of the world, it is currently having sectarian culture conflict between the two sects Sunni and Shiites. Sunni, the biggest sect of Islam, and Shiites, the minority sect, have been in disagreement for many centuries. Because of the similarities witnessed in both cultures, it seems odds that these two sects would be involved in a long-time feud over power and righteousness over Islam.

Conflicts within religions cause a division in society over time. In the early Islamic era, various conflicts occurred between Muslims. Early Islamic conflicts resulted in an ideological diverge after the death of the prophet, Muhammad PBUH. The most significant conflict, which occurred 1400 years ago and still reflects on Islamic society until this day, is the cleavage of Sunni and Shi'a. It's important to study the early Islamic history to understand the early Muslim division. The questions that will be researched on this subject are how and why the early division between Muslims occurred, and what the results of the division of Sunni and Shi'a were in Islamic history.

In the year 632, the Islamic faith split into two sects (branches) that would never re-unite. The of the branches are called Shia , and the other Sunni. Shia muslims thought that after the prophet Muhammad died, someone from his family should be the next leader of Islam. They favored Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law. Sunni muslims believe that the role should fall to the person who was deemed by the elite of the community to be best able to lead. And it was that political decision that began the Sunni-Shia split. The Sunnis succeeded and chose their successor to be the first caliph. Ali was to be the fourth caliph until conflict broke out and the two before him were killed, leading to civil war. This conflict eventually subsided and the two branches lived peacefully for centuries until years ago when a terrorist group reignited the dead war.

In history, there have been different types of belief systems, some polytheistic, some monotheistic. These belief systems either showed to rise in power and stayed there or plummet quickly, all these belief systems had some type of law and/or order, whether codified or not. Islam is the largest religion in the world, with over one billion followers. Islam means "surrender" and Muslim means "anyone or anything that surrenders itself to the true will of God". Islam is a monotheistic religion, although, it can be also consider polytheistic, just all those gods connected to one god.

There has been a parallel between Islamic State (IS) and the evolution of Irish Republican Army (IRA) Taylor (2015). Both IRA and IS, are believed to be minorities in divided communities Taylor (2015). Whilst IRA’s support base lies with Catholic/Nationalist community, IS supports the minority of Sunnis according to Taylor (2015). Just like power and political stance, both felt injustices, and they justified their actions of extreme violence.

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

There are so many people in the world that don't know about the Sunni and Shia split. Even worse, they don't know who or what the Sunnis and Shiites are. The Sunnis and Shiites are the two main branches of the Islamic religion with eighty-three percent being Sunnis and sixteen percent being Shiites (Hanif). Both groups, which consist of Muslims, believe that Allah chose Muhammad as a prophet of the Islamic religion (Hanif). But both groups started having their differences and eventually split when Muhammad died in 632 A.D.(Hanif). The Sunnis believed that Abu Bakr should be their first Caliph because he was a close companion of Muhammad as well as Muhammad's father-in-law (Hanif). Meanwhile, the Shiites believed that Ali should be their first

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.

Another source of conflict as reported by Sørli et. al stems from the religious differences. As a whole, the Middle East is comprised of followers of Islam. But within the Islamic religion are the Sunni (which account for the majority), and the Shia. Tension lies between the two sects, especially given the fact that the Shia often hold the positions of power (Sørli, 147). Another major