The Sectarian Divide Between The Sunni And Shiite

The religion of Islam is based on the prophet Mohammad ibn-Abdullah born in Mecca around A.D.570 (Braswell, 11). “He served the Muslin community as a prophet, political and economic leader, and a commander –in –chief of his warriors” (Braswell, 19). In Islamic terms, Mohammad means, “the much praised one” and in Moslem it means “submission one”. It educates their followers that there is only one god and it is through their faith and conduct that they will go to a heaven or paradise after their death. Islam gives people principles and encourages unity (Crites, 2011). Mohammad's Islamic teachings manifested over the years. He would take trips into the

The spread of Islam throughout the world was among the most significant worldwide movements in history. Beginning as the faith of a small community of believers in Arabia in the seventh century, Islam rapidly became one of the major world religions. The core beliefs and culture of this faith is the belief that Muhammad (570-632), a respected businessman in Mecca, a commercial and religious center in western Arabia, received revelations from God that have been preserved in the Qur'an. The core of Islam remains the same today after 1396 years. Islam still translates to “submission” and Muslims still live by the Qur’an and follow the 5 Pillars of Islam. However, throughout the Pre-Islamic, Umayyad, and Abbasid

An individual known as Muhammad contemplated by himself in a cavern nearby Mecca and had acquired a godly insight. This insight established the beginning for a new creed. The ideology that emerged Muhammad’s vision turned out to be the foundation of one of the world’s most widely carry out creed, Islam. Muhammad was born in the city of Mecca, situated on the Arabian headland. Muhammad was raised by his uncle and grandfather due to his parents passing before he was six years old. His family were from a sept that was effective in Mecca politics.

The Sunni and Shia conflict is currently the longest running feud in the world. Both groups possess an extreme hatred for one another. Over the years, these two groups have openly expressed their hatred with one another through violent killings. This split between the Shia and Sunni originates all the way back in the 7th century. Their difference was based on political differences. As a part of my essay I will explain the difference and origins of the split between the Shi’a and Sunni and also cover the current issues between them.

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

In Islam there are 2 major factions: Sunni and Shia. Most Muslims are Sunni [~85%], and Shia are [~15%]. Shia Muslims, while a global minority, are the majority in Iraq [~65% of Iraqi population] and Iran [90% of Iranian population]. Most other Muslim nations have a Sunni majority: Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, ect.

Islam is a monotheistic faith founded by the prophet Mohammad. His followers, called Muslims, spread the religion throughout the Middle East, Asia and parts of Europe and Africa. The religion was founded in the Arabian Peninsula, a desert with little fertile soil and farming. Most of the Arabs lived in desert tribes, which were centered around family and ruled by clans. Mohammad was born in Mecca, now a holy city to billions of Muslims, and was orphaned at a young age and raised by his grandparents. Mohammad grew up to be a successful and honest merchant. In 610, the angel Gabriel told Mohammad that he was a prophet sent to earth

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:

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.

Muhammad, who was a merchant in the trading city of Mecca, had begun to preach his beliefs in the cities. This set of beliefs had not only tied in the roots of both Judaism and Christianity, but also cultural qualities of the Arabic people at the time. The syncretism of these religions made this new set of beliefs very appealing. Muhammad had taken good aspects of each culture and blended them together in such a way that it was supported by a number of people. Many eagerly followed Muhammad, eventually forming a bond between nomads under the same religion. They did not know it at the time, but this group of united nomads would soon start a very successful conquest throughout the Middle East and parts of Africa.

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 Shia-Sunni divide is the major challenge facing Islamic societies today. It has greatly surpassed the issue of conflict between Muslims and the West, which has been a popular topic for scholars for many years now. Sectarianism can be comprehended as an institutional set of arrangements determining familial, local, regional and even expansive kinds of loyalty and affiliation. Nowadays there is an increase in sectarian conflict and violence which can be attributed to the collapse of authoritarian rule and a struggle for political and economic power. It is also due to the dispute over which version of Islam will impact societies and their leaderships.

Sectarian identities did not have much power within the political elite in the early part of the 20th century in Iraq. Those whose affiliations lay strongly towards the political zeitgeist did not see much significance in sectarian identities. Nonetheless, this is not to say that sectarian issues did not exist at all. In the latter 50 years of the 20th century, marginalization took place in Iraq, especially those whose lives were heavily intertwined within the religious and social aspects of Sunnism. The Shia Iraqi grew towards authoritarianism, much in the same way that they sought to create a homogenized Iraqi state (Joffe). Before 2003, Sunni Muslims in Iraq were not a recognized identity with any meaningful structure worthy to be mentioned. In essence, they had no place in government, neither did they have any say in structures that dealt with religion, as well as social aspects.

Prophet Muhammad PBUH was also known as Muhammad Ibn Abd’Allah meaning “Muhammad the son of Abd’Allah”. Because mostly in some Arabian cultures, one is either surnamed by the clan or tribe or region one come from or one’s name attached to that of one’s parents mostly a father’s name. Prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca situated in Saudi Arabia in 570 CE and died June 8, 632 CE at age 62 in Medina also a city in Saudi Arabia. Muslims all over the world regarded prophet Muhammad as the real source of Islam a very well monotheistic religion that has in its verses and chapters a story about almost all the prophets and messengers that came before him. Qur’an is also very highly regarded scripture from which many Muslims used and uses to this day as a source of

Muhammad was born sometime between 570-580 A.D. – though 570 A.D. is the generally accepted date – to parents Abdullah and Amina (Al-Islam.org n.d.; Carr 2016). Muhammad’s father, Abdullah, died before Muhammad’s birth, just seven months after marrying Muhammad’s mother, Amina (Al-Islam.org n.d.). Muhammad’s birthplace was the Arabian city of Mecca (or Makkah), a center of trading and pagan idol worship. The Arabian Peninsula was brutal area during Muhammad’s time. In this harsh climate, the various tribes were often in conflict and self-preservation was the chief focus (The Religion of Peace n.d.). This primitive culture stood in contrast to the developing and advancing world of Europe and the Middle East. Clearly, these factors greatly influenced the life and Muhammah and his religion.