they are two branches of Islam.sunnis as majority and shia as minority.
shiah believed in five principles such as prophecy , divine unity , ressurrection , imamah or successors of the prophet and divine justice . it is only in the imamah and divine justice that shia and sunni differ . in the question of the imamate , it is the insistence on the esoteric function of the imam that distinguishes the shiite perspective from the sunni .
in the question of justice it is the emphasis upon this attribute as an intrinsic qualiquality of the divine natture that is particular to shiism . we might say that in the esoteric formulation of Sunni theology,especialy as contained in Ash arism , there is an emphasis upon the will of God.whatever god will is just precisly because it is willed by god . and intelligence is a sense subordinated to this will and to the voluntarism which characterizes this form of theology.
in shiism the quality of justice is considered as innate to the divine nature .god cannot act in an unjust manner because it is his nature to be just .fa , him to be unjust would violate his own nature , Which is impossible .intelligence can judge the justness and unjustness of an act and this judgment is not completely suspended in favor of a pure voluntarism on the part of god . hence there is a greater emphasis upon intelligence in shiite theology and great enphasis upon will in scorn kalam ,or theology , at least in predominant asharite school .
shiism also differs sunnusm in its consideration of the means whereby the original message of the Quranic revelation reached the islamic community and thereby in certain aspects of the sacred history of Islam .there is no disagreement on the Quran and the prophet ., that is , on what constitutes the origin of the islamic religion .the difference in view begins in the period immediately following the death of the prophet .one might say that the personality of the prophet contained two dimensions which later to become crystallized into Sunnism and Shiism .each of these two schools was later to reflect back upon the life and the personality of the prophet solely from its own point of view ,thus living aside and forgetting and misconstruing the other dimension ecluded from its own perspective .for shiism the dry(in the alchemical sense) and austere aspect of the prophets personality as reflected in his successors in the Sunni world was equated with worldliness while his warm and compassionate dimension was emphasized as his whole personality and as the essence of the nature of the immams who were considered to be a continuation of him .for the vast majority of the islamic community the companions of the prophet represent the prophet's heritage and the channel through which his messge was transmitted to later generations .within the early community the companions occupied a favored position and among them the first four caliphs stood out as a distinct group .it is through the companions that the saying( Hadith ) and the manner of the living ( sunnah )of the prophet were transmited to the second generations of Muslims . shiism however concentrating on the question of the wilayah and insisting on the esoteric content of the prophetic message , saw in the Ali and the household of the prophet (ahi al -bayt),in its shiiate sense the sole channel through which the original message og islam was transmitted , although , paradoxically enough the majorty of descendants of the prophet beong to Sunnism and continue to do so untill today.
Sunnis
As far as I am aware, there is no Shiite Islamic community in Israel. The Muslims in Israel are primarily Sunnis.
Sunni and Shiite, with Sunnis being the majority of 85% of all Muslims.
Most Arabs are Sunnis, but there is a large Shiite Arab minority, especially in Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.
The Sunnis belong to Islam and Shiites are a false sect who claim to be part of Islam.
Sunnis are currently in power in Pakistan, but most of Pakistan's recent rulers are Secularists and Pakistan has been relatively free of Sunni-Shiite battles.
Shiites and Sunnis. However, they are not splits as for example in Chritianity different denominations. Sunnis and Shiites differe in minor Islam details. Refer to question below.
The Sunni-Shiite split was at first a political one and began around 630 C.E. The actual Fitna al-Kubra (Sunni-Shiite War) began in the mid-650s C.E.
Ismail I led the change in Iran from a majority Sunni to a majority Shiite region. Ismail I (the first Safavid) adopted Twelver Shiite Islam and began to persecute the Sunnis in Iran. This reduced their community to a small minority in the Persian heartland. He destroyed numerous Sunni mosques and grave sites as well as mandating curses against the first three Rightly-Guided Caliphs. He also imprisoned and killed large populations of Sunnis for their beliefs and compelled conversion to Shiite Islam through violence. The Safavids also spread this form of Sunni oppression through conquest Azerbaijan and of southern Iraq and imposing conversion to Shiite Islam there as well. He also fought several wars against neighboring Sunnis in Samarqand to the North and the Ottomans to the West. Among versions of Shiite Islam, Ismail I's choice of Twelver Shiite Islam over Zaydi (Fiver) or Ismaili (Sevener) Shiite Islam led to the supremacy of Twelver Shiite Islam as the dominant version and understanding of Shiite Islam. Additionally, as the largest Shiite majority country, Persia became the center of Shiite Islam, replacing Egypt which had been the former center of Shiite Islam.
Israel is a predominantly Jewish country (>75%). However, of the Muslims who live in Israel, they are almost exclusively Sunnis.
& I have a firm belief that Shia Muslims are on the right Islam. Sincere Muslim I believe Sunni Muslims are on the right path of Islam. Sincere Muslim
The majority of Malaysians are Sunnis, specifically following the Shafi'i school of thought within Sunni Islam. Shiite Islam represents a small minority in Malaysia. The Malaysian government officially recognizes Sunni Islam, and it is the dominant form of Islam practiced in the country.