How did Islam split into Sunnis and Shiites?

Answer 1

There was a disagreement amongst Muhammad's relatives for succession after his death.

The difference between the two groups was originally political, with the Shiites supporting Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law as the next viable Caliph. The majority of Muslims however, supported Muhammad's father-in-law, Abu Bakr for Caliph. The resulting political dispute became further amplified when Ali actually became the fourth Caliph and a number of Syrian Sunnis rose up against his leadership and murdered his two sons. This led to a further isolation and repression of Shiites and their development of unique doctrines in their communities. Conversely, Sunni Islam redefined the role of the Caliph as the political leadership became increasingly estranged from religious values.

The friends and followers of Ali believed that after the death of prophet, the caliphate and religious authority belonged to ALI. this belief came from consideration of Ali's position and station in relation to the prophet , his relation to the chosen among the companions , as well as his relation to Islam as general.

it was only the events that occurred during the few days of the prophet final illness that indicated that there was opposition to their view, contrary expectation, at the very moment when the prophet died and his body lay still unburied while his household and a few companion occupied with for his burial and funeral services , the friend and followers of Ali received news of the activity of another group who had gone to the mosque where community where gathered faced with this sudden loss of its leader.

This group, which later formed the majority, set forth in great haste to select a caliph for the Muslims with the aims of the ensuring the welfare of the community and solving its immediate problems. they did this without consulting the household of the prophet , his relatives or many of his friends who were busy with funeral and without providing them with the least information. thus Ali and his companions were presented with a fait accompli .

Ali and his friends such as Abbas , Zubayr , Salman . Abu Dharr , Meghdad and Ammar, after finishing with the burial of the body of the prophet became aware of the proceedings by which the caliph had been selected . they protested against the act of choosing the caliph by consultation or election , and also against those who were responsible for carrying it out.

They even presented their own proofs and arguments but the answer they received was that the welfare of the Muslims was at sake and the solution lay in what had been done.it was this protest and criticism which separated from the majority the minority that were following Ali and made his followers known to society as the partisans or Shiah of Ali . the caliphate of the time was anxious to guard against this appellation being given to the Shiite minority and thus to have Muslim society divided into sections comprised of a majority and a minority .

THE supporters of the caliph considered the caliphate to be a matter of the consensus of the community , and called those who objected the opponents of allegiance . they claimed that the shiiah stood, therefore opposed to Muslim society .sometimes the Shiiah were given other pejorative and degrading names.

Shiism was condemned from the first moment because of the political situation of the time and thus it could not accomplish anything through mere political protest.

Ali in order to safeguard the well-being of Islam and the Muslims and also because of lack of sufficient political and military power did not endeavor to begin an uprising against the existing political order which would have been of a bloody nature . yet those who protected against the established caliphate refused to surrender to the majority in certain questions of faith and continued to hold that the succession to the prophet and the religious authority belonged by right to Ali. they believed all spiritual and religious matters should be referred to him and invited people to become his followers.

Answer 2

The Shia shahadah (declaration of faith) states:

"There is no god but Alláh, Muhammad is the Messenger of Alláh, Alí is the Friend of Alláh. The Successor of the Messenger of Alláh And his first Caliph."

this is the reason why there is a split.

The prophet muhammed (pbuh) said that if anybody adds anything to Islam we should withdraw it and reject it.

Answer 3

History of the Shi'ites

The Islamic religion was founded by Muhammed in the seventh century. In 622 he founded the first Islamic state, a theocracy in Medina, a city in western Saudi Arabia located north of Mecca.

There are two major branches of the religion he founded.

The largest group, called the Sunnis believe that the first four caliphs--Muhammed's successors--rightfully took his place as the leaders of Islam. They recognize the heirs of the four caliphs as legitimate religious leaders. These heirs ruled continuously in the Arab world until the break-up of the Ottoman Empire following the end of the First World War.

The smaller of the major groups are the Shi'ites. There are a number of subdivisions under the 'umbrella' of 'Shi'a' and although they differ in the details all of them believe that only the heirs of the fourth caliph, Ali, are the legitimate successors of Muhammed.

The Shi'ites call these successors Imams. Shi'ites do not accept that the Imam is to be only a political leader but they believe that they are literally 'manifestations of God', they are sinless, infallible and the bringers of true understanding to all humanity. They are referred to within the Shi'ite tradition as being masum, that is, free from error or sin.

The last Imam, the Mahdi, is believed not to have died but to be in hiding and Shi'ites believe that he will appear at the end of time in order to bring about the victory of the Shi'a faith (see third paragraph below).

The main groups under the Shi'ite umbrella are the Zaydiyyah or Fivers, the Isma'iliyyah or Seveners and the Imamiyyah or Twelvers. The numbers five, seven and twelve refer to the last authorised interpreter of the law or Imam that each group accepts. Of the three the Twelvers are the biggest & it was in 931 that the Twelfth Imam disappeared.

This was a seminal event in the history of these Shi'ite Muslims. According to R. Scott Appleby, a professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, "Shi'ite Muslims, who are concentrated in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, [believe they] had suffered the loss of divinely guided political leadership" at the time of the Imam's disappearance. Not "until the ascendancy of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1978" did they believe that they had once again begun to live under the authority of a legitimate religious figure.

The other important concept in Shi'ite Islam concerning the Imam (regardless of whether he was the Fifth, the Seventh or the Twelfth) is that he will return. He is called the Mahdi and will bring about the Kingdom of God on earth after an apocalyptic battle between the forces of Islam and the rest of the world. [Note that other groups descended from Shi'ia Islam such as the Babis and Baha'is define the 'battle at the end of time' as a symbolic or metaphysical one rather than an actual battle.]

A useful site for information on the various groups is the Overview of World Religions site hosted by St Martin's College in the UK.

http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/islam/shia/index.html

Answer 4

There were disagreements over Succession after Muhammad's death. The Muslim community was united while Muhammad was the leader of this community. Most Muslims hold, however, that he never specifically chose a successor to his leadership. There was a minority in the community that supported the candidacy of 'Ali, the Prophet's son-in-law, this political faction became known as the "Supporters of 'Ali" which in Arabic is Shiat 'Ali (where the modern term "Shiite" comes from). They derived their support from specific hadiths and events that they claimed showed that God had revealed to Muhammad that 'Ali would succeed him. The majority of Muslims held that these hadiths and events showed nothing more than that 'Ali was very pious, something they did not deny. Therefore they gave power to the man who was Muhammad's second-in-command and father-in-law Abu Bakr. This majority were called the People of the Customs [of the Prophet] which in Arabic is Ahl Sunna (from where the modern term "Sunni" comes from.)