The Sunni Shia And The Muslim Sunni Essay

A change that occurred in the political life of Islamic civilization was the shift from the election of a Caliphate to a more dynastical system. Previously, the caliphates were elected by the Islamic community. Capable leaders were preferred over heirs who were not as qualified. Sunni Muslims were firm believers of this concept, while Shia muslims believed that Ali should’ve

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

The history of the Islamic world has been one of weak state institutions and state underperformance, coupled with a high prevalence of violence, both by the state and by individuals. A major reason for these negative trends has been the role of political Islam in privileging homogeneity over diversity, in stifling dissent in public and private life, and the societal stagnation that follows such rigid controls. Malaysia and Indonesia have been notable exceptions to the underperformance of Islamic cultures.

emphasis on the guiding role of the imam. About 90% of the world's Muslims are Sunni and

Ali shared the same blood as Muhammad. In their opinion, this made Ali holy. Shi’ites saw caliphs more as spiritual and temporal leaders rather than rulers. Each side had its rational notions, but since more people followed Bakr, he was appointed the next caliph. Shi’ite remained under his guidance, but felt it was an abomination.

the main distinction between them is who has power over the community. sunni islam is the most dominant sect of islam worldwide and established the rule of elections for mohammed’s successors

The discrepancies with the main ideas cause the split in Islam as we see it today.

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:

Losing a leader can be very chaotic when they retire or pass on. Questions occur about the next leader, arguments begin, and relationships divide. Islam is a prime example of these events when the founder of the religion, Muhammad, passed on and left the Muslims without a leader. Thus started the separation of Islam into the factions the Shiites and Sunnis because of a disagreement of who will succeed Muhammad as his predecessor.

After reading this excerpt, I discovered that there was also theological debates within the Muslim community (Hillenbrand, 171). While in class, we had learned about a divide in the Muslim community; this divide is between two different groups, the Shi‘ites and the Sunnis. Although there is a divide between these two groups, the Shi‘ites and the Sunnis both agree on the fact that Allah is the one true God in the Islamic faith. Furthermore, these two groups also believe that Muhammad was the messenger of God. Unfortunately, these two groups have opposing theories on the rightful successor to the prophet Muhammad. The Shi‘ites feel that Muhammad’s successor should be someone from his bloodline; therefore, the Shi‘ites sought leadership from Muhammad's closest male relative, his cousin Ali ibn Abu Talib. Conversely, the Sunnis felt that a caliphate or religious leader should be elected by the Islamic community as his successor and sought leadership from the rightly guided caliphate, Abu

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.

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

Historians, specifically American historians of the 21st century have demonstrated an interest in the Middle East in Islam, due to Americans frequent contact with the Middle East in the early 1960s. Islam and the Middle East have played a remarkable role in Americans discussion and reaction to the events that took place on September 11th, 2001. During this time Americans were beginning to regard the Middle East, Muslims, and Islam as one entity. Americans and the world regarded the Middle East as Islam and Islam as the Middle East. Thus, this correlation between the two made Muslims say Muslim Americans and Muslims in America as less western and more of another, but they were also seen as untrustworthy individuals. Additionally, prior to the September 11th, attacks and an after effect of September 11, was that Muslim men were violent and Muslim women as oppressed individuals. Thus, the perception of Islamophobia and the threat it brings to western society has impacted the discussion of Islamophobia in America.

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)