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Why is Iran mostly Shi'ite while other countries are mostly Sunni?
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
Answer 1
When the Battle of Karbala happened cause most of Iranians to convert to Shia Islam. The shia people (even without shia state) and the shia state are two different matter. currently most of people in Bahrain and Azerbaijan are shia Muslims but they are oppressed by dictators supported by US and Saudi Arabia and can not have a democratic election. shia Muslims have their own model of state and government so the political laws of Shia Islam has been always a great danger for dictators and Kings and they had different strategies to prevent shia Muslims to get power in government. some times by war and terror and some times by apparently supporting shia Islam and in fact destroying shia Islam by supporting deviated scholars who distorted and corrupted shia Islam in the name of Islam. those corrupted scholars were like spies who teach deviated and fake hadith and beleifs in stead of real shia Islam. Shia Muslims were being arrested, jailed, executed and oppressed by by sunni dictator Kings during 1000 years and it was the first that a state (Safavids) officially accepted shia Islam as an allowed religion. so shia scholars considered it an opportunity for growing of shia Islam. so instead of fighting with the safavid Kings, shia scholars decided to use it for growth of shia. many great books was written by shia schoolars at safavids. but because shia Islam has laws for selecting the leader any King basically is not accepted by shia Islam. so the Kingdom of Safavid was not an state legitimate by shia Islam but shia scholars did not have enough power to fight it and establish a pure shia state. so Safavids was a mixture of shia Islam state and Kingdom (that basically has conflict with shia Islam). if a Kings want to practice shia Islam first should unsit himself to a qualified leader by shia Islam can lead the country.
Answer 2
While the Battle of Karbala had an important influence in developing the first strands of Shiite Islam, Iran did not become majority Shiite until the late 1500s. The first Shiite Islamic State was the Zaydi Shiite Idrissid Dynasty of Morocco and the most prominent Shiite Islamic State before 1200 CE was Ismaili Fatimid Egypt. However, the Shiites in these countries were forcibly evicted or converted to Sunni Muslims in successive Islamic Empires (Almohads and Ayyubids/Mamluks respectively). Shiite Islam was generally a repressed religion and Sunni Islam was ascendant.
In the 1500s, the Safavid Empire made Twelver Shiite Islam the official religion of the Iranian empire and compelled Sunnis to convert to Shiite Islam within the empire. This led to Shiite Islam being the dominant religion of Iran.
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
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Are there more Sunni Muslims or Shiite Muslims?
There are more Sunni Muslims than Shiite Muslims. Shiite Muslims represent about 15% of the global Islamic community whereas Sunni Muslims represent 85%. The numbers of the other sects are negligible.
How did the Shiite and Sunni Muslims break apart from each other?
the issue that divied them was they developed differences
How is Islam sunni and shiite related to each other?
Sunni and Shiite are two main branches of Islam that differ primarily in their beliefs about the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad. The split originated from a historical disagreement over leadership, and the two groups have since developed distinct theological and legal traditions. Despite these differences, both Sunni and Shiite Muslims share core beliefs in the Quran and the five pillars of Islam.
Which countries in the Middle East are predominantly Shiite?
Certainly Iran. Iraq and Azerbaijan are also majority Shiite countries. Other countries like Lebanon and Yemen have large Shiite minorities.
Why is it important that Iran is mostly Shi'ite while other countries are mostly Sunni?
This is important since the religious differences between Shiites and Sunnis play an important role in shaping current Middle Eastern policies. For example, Shiites are typically more apocalyptic, which makes Sunni regimes more fearful that Iran would use nuclear weapons if they had them. Iran also supports Shiite-aligned governments in Syria and the paramilitary/terrorist organization Hezbollah.
A major problem with a reliance on hadiths is?
Some hadiths do not agree with each other.
How many Muslims in Afghanistan are Shiite and how many are Sunni?
Over 99% of the Afghan population is Muslim: approximately 80-85% follow the Sunni sect, 15-19% are Shi'a, and 1% other.
Can a Shiite girl and Sunni boy marry each other?
Yes, if they agree. Anyhow, a strict Shia and a strict Sunny will never marry.
Was Iran first a sunni country?
YES. Prior to the Safavids in the 1500s, the majority of Iran was Sunni, even though the Shiite minority there was more plentiful than in many other parts of the Islamic World.
What sorts of crimes did the Sunnis perpetrate against the Shiites?
Answer 1There was no Shia or Sunni even till the days of the Caliphate of Hazrat Ali Ul Murtaza (RAU). The last Prophet of Islam was neither a Sunni nor a Shia. A hypocrite Jew, Ibn-i-Saba conspired against the Muslims and they fell a prey to his conspiracy dividing the Muslims into different sects. May Allah Karim guide us to the right path and make our hearts free from hatred against each other. The Enemy bombers and guns make no distinctions between a Sunni Muslim or a Shiea Muslim. The people of Koofa were Sheean-i-Ali who betrayed the dearest Imam Hussain (RAU) along with the dearest Ahl-i-Bait. Were they the Sunnies?Answer 2Many of the historic Sunni Muslim Empires actively repressed and persecuted Shiite Muslims. As Answer 1 notes, the seminal event beginning this persecution was when Yazid I of the Umayyad Caliphate ordered the execution of Imam Hussein and a large remnant of the Ahl-al-Bayt (Prophet Mohammed's family). The Umayyad Army followed through with this. Additionally the Umayyad government wanted to create a Sunni Arab aristocracy and therefore applied the jiyza tax not only to Jews and Christians, but to Mawali (non-Arab Muslims) and the Shiite Muslims, regardless of whether they were Arab or Mawali. Shiite Muslims were also banned from most government positions under the Umayyads. Finally, the Umayyads continued to seek out the Shiite Infallible Imams, torture them and murder them.Shiite Muslims joined arms with the Sunni Abbassids in 750 CE who promised a better situation for the Shiite Muslims, but they were later deceived. The Abbassid Caliphs continued the Umayyad trend of torturing and murdering the Shiite Infallible Imams, but extended this as well to Shiite leadership (Mullahs and Faqihs). Shiite Mosques were destroyed and worshipers during Ashura processions were murdered. Shiite Muslims and their property were also periodically attacked as scapegoats for Abbassid military problems, such as the Byzantine offensive in 971 CE. The Abbassid Caliphs also provided financial support to those Faqihs (Islamic Jurists), especially from the Hanbali School, that would propagate anti-Shiite attitudes.The Ottoman Empire saw the Shiites under its purview incorrectly as a fifth column for its rival in Persia, the Safavid Empire, which was a Shiite Islamic State. To prevent Shiite Muslims from becoming a critical mass in the country, the Ottomans massacred large numbers of Shiites, especially the Turkish Alevis, the Syrian Alawites, and many Lebanese Shiite Muslims (mostly Twelvers).Currently, there is government-level repression of Shiite Islam in several countries, including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. In both of these countries, the Shiite population (66% and 15% respectively) are actively banned from government positions, have many sectors of the economy closed to them, and have minimal say even in their own protection. In Saudi Arabia, Wahhabis have issued fatwas against Shiite Muslims, written textbooks slandering their faith, actively banned Ashura and other Shiite festivals, and in some cases prevented the creation of Shiite burial grounds. In other countries, such as Indonesia and Pakistan, violent Radical Sunni-Affiliated Groups terrorize portions of the Shiite population and the government takes no action to protect the Shiite Muslims. Finally, there are a number of Muslim countries like Malaysia, where Shiite Muslims are on good-footing with Sunni Muslims but are prohibited from open proselytization.Commentaries on the Murder of Hussein and His Family have been moved to the Discussion Section.
How were Sufis different from other Muslims?
Sufism is mysticism whereas Sunni and Shiite are orthopractical orthodoxies. It is hard to exactly explain what this means, but probably the best way to imagine it would be that Sufism is like poetry whereas Sunni or Shiite are like instruction manuals. Sufism doesn't have exact rules, is more about emotion than procedure, makes every syllable and motion count, etc. Sunni and Shiite are about form, regimentation, rules, study, and devotion. They are both roads to God through Islam.
What was the chief unique trait of the Safavid Empire as compared to other Islamic empires?
The Safavids were Twelver Shiite Muslims in comparison to the Ottomans and the Mughals who were Sunni Muslims.
