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Shiite Islam

The Shiites (Arabic: شيعة‎, Shīʿah) represent the second largest denomination of Islam and represent roughly 15% of all Muslims. Shiites are called Shia, Shi'i, and Ahle Tashi in different parts of the world. The name is a short-form of the phrase Shīʻatu ʻAlī (شيعة علي), meaning "followers", "faction", or "party" of Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin Ali, whom the Shiites believe to be Prophet Muhammad's proper successor in the Caliphate. Shiite Islam has several major groups including Fivers (Zaydis), Seveners (Ismailis), and Twelvers, with the Twelvers being the dominant sect in modern times.

1,025 Questions

What country has a shi'a majority?

If you mean countries then:

1- Iran 89%

2- Azerbijan 80%

3- Bahrain 65-70%

4- Iraq 65%

5- Lebanon 50% ( I do not have an exact figure)

Do the Sunnis and Shiites share the same or different political views?

In different places, yes. And they fight each other for more power. They have been fighting such the death of Muhammad, peace be upon Him.

Why did the Sunni-Shiite split in Islam occur?

shia and sunni have mostly same beliefs

but shia believe after death of prophet God select the successive of prophet who is the leader of Muslim community and people can not select it.

shia believe the Imam (successor of prophet) is appointed only by God and can not be selected by people because God said in Koran: "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." (Quran 2:30)

this means only God can select an Islamic leader.

in shia they are only fourteen infallible (12 Imams and prophet and his daughter Fatimah Zahra (sa))

and all of them are the same and have no mistake and have the knowledge of everything (this knowledge is from God and by permission of God and is not absolute knowledge. absolute knowledge is only for God and they still do not know many things. but they know anything human may need to know.) and they never die and they hear all sayings and even thinks of all humans after their death by permission of God and they are intermediates between God and human.

and shia Muslims always support them and forgive their lives for them.

shia muslims do not consider selection of Abubakr as Caliphet valid because God did not select him. they believe God ordered prophet to declear Ali is selected as successor of prophet (Quran 5:3) and prophet did this mission in Ghadir event that was in last Hajj of prophet in his life and prophet did a speech for 120,000 Muslims participating that Hajj with prophet. the famous shia book Al-Ghadir is a collection of evidences and proofs for Ghadir Hadith from 100,000 sunni refrences and read all of 10,000 sunny books. one sunni scholar said if we want to reply Al-Ghadir book (by Allamah Amini) we should first destroy all our books.

What religion is the Baath Party Shia or Sunni?

the question it self is not logical , baath part is a social political movement that leads the society through certain understanding , suni or shea are Islamic groups with the same religious beliefs and small differences made big by some religious leaders serving outside agendas

^^^My only purpose in responding to this is to establish how horribly idiotic this answer is. Yes, Sunnis and Shias are of the same Islamic faith, but OH MY GOSH they cannot simply be defined as "having small differences." Sunnis and Shias have been feuding for about the past 1500 years, specifically over who would succeed Mohammad after his death: his chosen successor and cousin Mohammad Ali or someone considered to be more qualified for the position of caliph. Sunnis and Shias have been BRUTALLY MURDERING each other over this issue since the beginning of Islam, which is the very foundation of why Iraq is currently on the brink of Civil war. The current militia (the majority of which is sunni) is beating, murdering, and arresting protesters of the government and causing many to fear for their lives and flee the country. TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, the Ba'ath party was founded by a Sunni, they are a political organization that promotes socialism and "Arab unity" (which is rather ironic). Although they are not officially recognized as Sunni the majority is, in fact, Sunni, and the party agenda is probably the farthest one could get from a Shia viewpoint.

To whomever answered this question, please make sure you know what you're talking about before you answer such a politically weighted question. You have insulted hundreds of thousands of people who have died under the hand of the Ba'ath party and the Sunni/Shia feud.

How are Sunni and Shia Muslims similar and how are they different from each other?

Shia and Sunni have mostly same beliefs and both believe in fundamental beliefs of Islam. Today there is up to 260 sects in Islam that are in two main categories of shia and sunni.

the conflict of shia and sunni has been always amplified by world Imperialism to prevent Islam from gaining power.

Shia believes in Allah, prophet and all fundamentals of Islam.

Shia pray 5 times a day but usually do the 2, 3 and 4, 5 pray together and so may seem they do only 3 pray a day. there is some differences in details of pray like genuflect (for shia should be on a stone or part of earth and for sunni on carpet or floor ).

shia believe after death of prophet God selected the successive for prophet who is the political leader of Muslim community and people can not and does not the right to selected it.

Shia believes the Caliph (Representative of God in earth) is selected only by God and can not be selected by people because God said in Koran: "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority" (Quran 2:30) or "O David! We did indeed make thee a vicegerent on earth" (Quran 38:26) also other verses.

Shia believes such verses means only God can select an Islamic political leader (Caliph).

In Shia Islam Caliphs after prophet are 12 Imams and all of them are the same and have no mistake and have the knowledge of everything (not absolute knowledge like knowledge of God) and they hear all sayings and even thinks of all humans after even after their death by permission of God and they are intermediates between God and human Shia Muslims always support them and forgive their lives for them.

Shia Muslims do not consider selection of Abubakr as Caliph by people valid because God did not select him. They believe God ordered prophet to declare people that Ali is selected as successor of prophet and prophet did this mission many times during his prophet-hood and mainly in Ghadir event after last Hajj of his life at a 3-4 hour speech in front of 120,000 Muslims at Ghadir in hot desert after 2 days stop of long caravan for gathering and 3 days after speech for congratulations and homage of Muslims to Ali. Islam at that time had high power in world and Some companions had high interest in leadership position after prophet. Muslims knew that it is the final Hajj of prophet (predicted by prophet) and were going along with prophet to hear what prophet says at end of his life. Shia believes Ghadir event is the most important event of Islam and is mentioned in Koran in many verses like "Today" (اليوم) in verse 5:3 of Quran is the day of Ghadir. Or Verse 5:67 (O Messenger! proclaim the (message) which hath been sent to thee from thy Lord. If thou didst not, thou wouldst not have fulfilled and proclaimed His mission. And Allah will defend thee from men (who mean mischief). For Allah guideth not those who reject Faith) is revealed at Ghadir day and is about declaring political leadership of Ali after prophet.

Both Sunni and Shia Muslims accept happening of Ghadir event But different interpret. Some Sunni writers tried to reject the event of Ghadir as declare of leadership of Ali and said at Ghadir prophet only wanted to say Ali is my friend and no one should bother him. Ali had 3 different missions to Yemen by prophet during 10 years and in 2 of them some companions of prophet had some conflicts with Ali and and prophet said some sayings about Ali to solve conflicts and some sunni writers have mixed stories of missions of Ali to Yemen with story of Ghadir to prove Ghadir event is not about Leadership of Ali and is not important.

Shia scholars believe some Sunni writers have changed and deviated historical evidences about political leadership of Ali in old historical books and republished them to destroy evidences of leadership of Ali from old Sunni books.

The famous Shia book Al-Ghadir (الغدير) by Allameh Amini is a collection of evidences and proofs for Ghadir Events written after referring to 100,000 Sunni books and full reading of 10,000 sunny books. Allameh Amini is a famous Shia scholar and spent 40 years of his life in travelling to access original old Sunni books in libraries in different countries to write this 20 volume book only from Sunni books and not using any Shia book. Some Sunni scholars tried to reply this book but then said if we want to reply this book we should first destroy all books of ourselves.

Shia doctrine have root in Karbala tragedy. When tragedy of Karbala happened most of Iranians understood there is two different kinds of Islam and after happening of Karbala tragedy most of Iranians became followers of "Ahl al-Bayt" and forgive their lives for them like what they did in Iranian Revolution and Iran-Iraq War. Shia Muslims have at least 120,000 Hadith (saying) from The Fourteen Infallibles that is the base of Shia Islam along with Quran. Shia believes according to " Hadith of the two weighty things" The Fourteen Infallibles are the only valid interpreters of Quran and sayings of them are from God because they are Representative of God in earth and they do not say anything from themselves. Shia believes 12th of them (Mahdi) is alive and because people have killed all 11 Imams before him, he is in hide like Jesus and will come out of hide toghether with Jesus when people become ready and want to accept his leadership. All 11 Imams have been killed and during their life thy all have been in prison or under hard control of government to not have any political action. They never had enough serious followers to can get political power. Among them only the sixth Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq was relatively free in his life to have only scientific activities (but banned from any political action) and so only he is known in west because he established university and had students from all over the world. Westerns know him as a polymath: an astronomer, alchemist, Imam, Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian, writer, philosopher, physician, physicist and scientist. He was also the teacher of the famous chemist, Jābir ibn Hayyān (Geber), and of Abū Ḥanīfa, the founder of the Hanafi school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He never wanted be a famous man and only shared his knowledge with who wanted to learn. Some researchers consider his teachings the root cause of renaissance.

Sunni Muslims also accept Mahdi and his worldwide leadership as Caliph of God in earth at end of world. There is a famous Hadith from prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that Mahdi at hide is like sun behind cloud, he is hidden from people but people receive his benefits. Shia Muslims say some faithful believers have connection with Mahdi and use his knowledge. Shia Muslims believe that it is proved at least 1000 persons have had connection and talk with Mahdi during his hide period but Any one having relation with Mahdi keep it and does not declare it in public until is alive.

What religion was the Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani Sunni OR Shia?

Of Syrian father and Turkish mother Nizar Qabbani was a Muslim. A thought provoking poet, he was also a thorn in the side of the establishment. Follow the link

What differentiates a Sunni from a Shiite Muslim?

th cause or reason of the separation of the Shiite minority from the Sunni majority :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 muslim 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 was later ti form the majority , set forth in great haste to select a caliph for the muslim 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 proteted 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 welare 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 condemn from the first moment because of the political situation of the time and thus it couild 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 aganst the existing political order which would have been of a bloody nature . yet those who proteted 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 refered to him and invited people to becime his followers

What are the differences in the relationship between religious and political leadership in Sunni and Shiite views?

shiism believes that the divine law of Islam or Shariah whose substance is found in the book of God and in the tradition or Sunnah of the Holy prophet, will remain valid to the day of judgment and can never, nor will ever , be altered . A government which is really Islamic cannot , under any pretext, refuse completely t carry out the shariah's injunctons. the only duty of an Islamic government is to make decisions by consultation within the limits set by the shariah and in accordance with the demands of the moment.

the vow of the allegiance to Abu -Bakr at Saqifah, which was motivated at least in part by political considerations and the incident described in the hadith of "Ink and paper", which ocurred during the last days of the illness of the Holy prophet, reveal the fact that those who directed and back the movement to choose the caliph through the process of election believed that the book of God should be preserved in the form of the constitution . they emphasized the Holy book and paid much less attention to the words of the Holy prophet as an immutable source of the teaching of Islam. they seem to have accepted the modification of he certain aspects of islamic teachings concerning government to suit the conditions of the moment and for the sake of the general welfare.

What do shiites believe who should be caliph?

shia and sunni have mostly same beliefs and both believe in fundamental beliefs of Islam. today there is up to 260 sect in Islam that are in two category of shia and sunni.

shia believes in Allah, prophet and all fundamentals of Islam.

shia believe after death of prophet God selects the successive for prophet who is the leader of Muslim community and people can not select it.

shia believe the Caliph (Representative of God in earth after prophet) is appointed only by God and can not be selected by people because God said in Koran: "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." (Quran 2:30)

this means only God can select an Islamic leader.

in shia they are only fourteen infallible (12 Imams and prophet and his daughter Fatimah Zahra (sa))

and all of them are the same and have no mistake and have the knowledge of everything (this knowledge is from God and by permission of God and is not absolute knowledge. absolute knowledge is only for God and they still do not know many things. but they know anything human may need to know.) and they never die and they hear all sayings and even thinks of all humans after their death by permission of God and they are intermediates between God and human.

and shia Muslims always support them and forgive their lives for them.

shia Muslims do not consider selection of Abubakr as Caliph valid because God did not select him. they believe God ordered prophet to declare Ali is selected as successor of prophet (Quran 5:3) and prophet did this mission in Ghadir event that was in last Hajj of prophet in his life and prophet did a speech for 120,000 Muslims participating that Hajj with prophet. the famous shia book Al-Ghadir is a collection of evidences and proofs for Ghadir Hadith from 100,000 sunni references and read all of 10,000 sunny books. one sunni scholar said if we want to reply Al-Ghadir book (by Allameh Amini) we should first destroy all our books.

Why did sunni and shiite separate?

shiites belive in the prophet (pbuhahf) and in his family....whereas sunnis deny the family of Muhammed(pbuhahf) and they wanted to kill Imam Ali (as) because the prophet told everyone that he is the next caliph after he dies...but since the sunnies (abu bakr, uthman and umar) denied it and gave everyone money to follow abu bakr as the next caliph ...but he is only the prophets friend nothing more...whereas Ali (as) is the prophets cousin and son-in-law and th prophet stated that Ali is his bother and he is the next caliph. since abu bakr gave everone money ....only some people took it and belived in him while the rest stayed with Ali (AS) and his family .....so the followers/supporters of ALI are the shiites and the money-hungry followers of abu bakr are the sunnis......thanks for reading! :)

i am a shiite Muslim but if i had any doubt in my religion and know its wrong (not that it is) i would switch to the right one but surely (no doubt) its the right one

Do Shiites pray like sunnis?

Not all Sunnis and Shias hate each other.

The Sunnis have no objection to the beliefs of Shias like:

Imamat or the way they offer prayer or the Kalma they recite, or Muttaa (temporary marriage), taqqiya, so and so on. The thing that provokes Sunnis to fight against Shias is:

The derogatory, insulting and offensive remarks and filthy uttering of Shias against the holy Companions (RAU) whom Almighty Allah has many times mentioned as the criterion of Eeman (Faith). In Sura Fateh 1400 Companions (RAU) woved to sacrifice their lives at the hands of the Holy Prophet (SAW) to avenge the rumored about death of Hazrat Usman (RAU). Almighty Allah likes that wove and appreciates the Companions (RAU). The holy Companions of the Prophet (SAW) sacrificed their lives, properties and even kith and kin for the sake of Islam. Almighty Allah has given them a certificate of His pleasure in the following words:

Translation: Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him.

The Shias curse them, and also curse the wives (Mothers of all Muslims) of the holy Prophet (SAW). How can a true Muslim tolerate his Mothers being cursed and blamed, and their effigies being burned and thrown shoes at? How can a true Muslim tolerate Hazrat Abu Bakr RAU and Hazrat Omar RAU being disgraced publically and cursed on loudspeakers? It was Hazrat Abu Bakr RAU whom the holy Prophet (SW) appointed to lead the Muslims in their prayers. It was not Hazrat Ali RAU or even Hazrat Abbas RAU, the beloved Uncle of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW). Worldly Caliphate is not inherited by Prophets. The Companions RAU chose Hazrat Abu Bakr RAU their Caliph who proved the only suitable choice for this important duty.

This is the only cause of fighting between the two groups. Shiaism is the only religion in which abusing and cursing the holy personalities of Islam is the basic belief. Keeping one's true ideas and faith hidden (Taqiyya) is also considered to be their basic belief. Hazrat Ali RAU, Hazrat Hassan RAU, Hazrat Hussain RAU never started doing such nefarious and immoral activities, neither did they initiated Ashoora processions, beating their chests and wounding them with chains. Islam does not permit hateful remarks and such things even against Hinduism, Budhism or any other religion. The holy Prophet (SAW) is Rahmat (Mercy) for all creatures of all Ages. He never taught or preached cursing others. Those who claim to be Muslims should surrender unconditionally to the Will of Almighty Allah, Who has created us all and loves us all, humans, birds, animals, fish and even plants. Let us tolerate humans belonging to different religions. Each of us is answerable to Allah Almighty for his own deeds, not of others.

Why do Sunnis Shiites and Kurds hate each other?

There is an incorrect assumption in the wording of the question, so be careful. Not all Sunni and Shi'a are fighting. The vast majority of Iraqis are tolerant people who have been living side-by-side for thousands of years. Intermarriage between sects is very common, especially in urban areas.

There are many factions within both the Shi'a and Sunni camps, so one must not lump them all together.

Currently there is violent fighting for control of Iraq. The Shi'a are the majority or larger sect and have gained an advantage in their present form of government ( officials elected by popular vote).

Although there has been competition for thousands of years it was the United States intervention and support of Sadaam Hussein that began the modern Iraqi Sunni-Shi'a political/power competition with control being given to Sadaam's Sunni side.

One of the historical reasons for fighting between Sunni and Shia, and Tableegh and Shia for that matter, is that one side believes the other opposes the very core of Islam, and yet claim still claim to be Islamic. Some believe they are contradictory to Islam in almost every aspect and as such, cannot be accepted as Islam. The "battle" began when sides tried to force this belief onto the Islamic community.

Prior to the U.S. occupation the larger cities in Iraq were generally well integrated and marriages between sects common. Baghdad was especially harmonious with respect to religion.

What are the cultural differences between shiites and sunnis?

their differences relate to their beliefs.

Shia and Sunni have mostly same beliefs and both believe in fundamental beliefs of Islam. Today there is up to 260 sects in Islam that are in two main categories of shia and sunni.

Shia believes in Allah, prophet and all fundamentals of Islam.

Shia pray 5 times a day but usually do the 2, 3 and 4, 5 pray together and so may seem they do only 3 pray a day. there is some differences in details of pray like genuflect (for shia should be on a stone or part of earth and for sunni on carpet or floor ).

shia believe after death of prophet God selected the successive for prophet who is the political leader of Muslim community and people can not and does not the right to selected it.

Shia believes the Caliph (Representative of God in earth) is selected only by God and can not be selected by people because God said in Koran: "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority" (Quran 2:30) or "O David! We did indeed make thee a vicegerent on earth" (Quran 38:26) also other verses.

Shia believes such verses means only God can select an Islamic political leader (Caliph).

In Shia Islam Caliphs after prophet are 12 Imams and all of them are the same and have no mistake and have the knowledge of everything (not absolute knowledge like knowledge of God) and they hear all sayings and even thinks of all humans after even after their death by permission of God and they are intermediates between God and human Shia Muslims always support them and forgive their lives for them.

Shia Muslims do not consider selection of Abubakr as Caliph by people valid because God did not select him. They believe God ordered prophet to declare people that Ali is selected as successor of prophet and prophet did this mission many times during his prophet-hood and mainly in Ghadir event after last Hajj of his life at a 3-4 hour speech in front of 120,000 Muslims at Ghadir in hot desert after 2 days stop of long caravan for gathering and 3 days after speech for congratulations and homage of Muslims to Ali. Islam at that time had high power in world and Some companions had high interest in leadership position after prophet. Muslims knew that it is the final Hajj of prophet (predicted by prophet) and were going along with prophet to hear what prophet says at end of his life. Shia believes Ghadir event is the most important event of Islam and is mentioned in Koran in many verses like "Today" (اليوم) in verse 5:3 of Quran is the day of Ghadir. Or Verse 5:67 (O Messenger! proclaim the (message) which hath been sent to thee from thy Lord. If thou didst not, thou wouldst not have fulfilled and proclaimed His mission. And Allah will defend thee from men (who mean mischief). For Allah guideth not those who reject Faith) is revealed at Ghadir day and is about declaring political leadership of Ali after prophet.

Both Sunni and Shia Muslims accept happening of Ghadir event But different interpret. Some Sunni writers tried to reject the event of Ghadir as declare of leadership of Ali and said at Ghadir prophet only wanted to say Ali is my friend and no one should bother him. Ali had 3 different missions to Yemen by prophet during 10 years and in 2 of them some companions of prophet had some conflicts with Ali and and prophet said some sayings about Ali to solve conflicts and some sunni writers have mixed stories of missions of Ali to Yemen with story of Ghadir to prove Ghadir event is not about Leadership of Ali and is not important.

Shia scholars believe some Sunni writers have changed and deviated historical evidences about political leadership of Ali in old historical books and republished them to destroy evidences of leadership of Ali from old Sunni books.

The famous Shia book Al-Ghadir (الغدير) by Allameh Amini is a collection of evidences and proofs for Ghadir Events written after referring to 100,000 Sunni books and full reading of 10,000 sunny books. Allameh Amini is a famous Shia scholar and spent 40 years of his life in travelling to access original old Sunni books in libraries in different countries to write this 20 volume book only from Sunni books and not using any Shia book. Some Sunni scholars tried to reply this book but then said if we want to reply this book we should first destroy all books of ourselves.

Shia doctrine have root in Karbala tragedy. When tragedy of Karbala happened most of Iranians understood there is two different kinds of Islam and after happening of Karbala tragedy most of Iranians became followers of "Ahl al-Bayt" and forgive their lives for them like what they did in Iranian Revolution and Iran-Iraq War. Shia Muslims have at least 120,000 Hadith (saying) from The Fourteen Infallibles that is the base of Shia Islam along with Quran. Shia believes according to " Hadith of the two weighty things" The Fourteen Infallibles are the only valid interpreters of Quran and sayings of them are from God because they are Representative of God in earth and they do not say anything from themselves. Shia believes 12th of them (Mahdi) is alive and because people have killed all 11 Imams before him, he is in hide like Jesus and will come out of hide toghether with Jesus when people become ready and want to accept his leadership. All 11 Imams have been killed and during their life thy all have been in prison or under hard control of government to not have any political action. They never had enough serious followers to can get political power. Among them only the sixth Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq was relatively free in his life to have only scientific activities (but banned from any political action) and so only he is known in west because he established university and had students from all over the world. Westerns know him as a polymath: an astronomer, alchemist, Imam, Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian, writer, philosopher, physician, physicist and scientist. He was also the teacher of the famous chemist, Jābir ibn Hayyān (Geber), and of Abū Ḥanīfa, the founder of the Hanafi school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He never wanted be a famous man and only shared his knowledge with who wanted to learn. Some researchers consider his teachings the root cause of renaissance.

Sunni Muslims also accept Mahdi and his worldwide leadership as Caliph of God in earth at end of world. There is a famous Hadith from prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that Mahdi at hide is like sun behind cloud, he is hidden from people but people receive his benefits. Shia Muslims say some faithful believers have connection with Mahdi and use his knowledge. Shia Muslims believe that it is proved at least 1000 persons have had connection and talk with Mahdi during his hide period but Any one having relation with Mahdi keep it and does not declare it in public until is alive.

the conflict of shia and sunni has been always amplified by world Imperialism to prevent Islam from gaining power.

Can you name me all the countries that are shia Muslims and sunni Muslims?

Countries that are mainly Sunni Muslim:

  • Indonesia
  • Pakistan
  • Nigeria
  • Bangladesh
  • Egypt
  • Turkey
  • Sudan
  • Algeria
  • Morocco
  • Afghanistan
  • Malaysia
  • Uzbekistan
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Yemen
  • Syria
  • Kazakhstan
  • Niger
  • Burkina Faso
  • Mali
  • Senegal
  • Tunisia
  • Guinea
  • Somalia
  • Tajikistan
  • Sierra Leone
  • Libya
  • Jordan
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Turkmenistan
  • Chad
  • Palestine
  • Kuwait
  • Albania
  • Mauritania
  • Oman
  • Kosovo
  • The Gambia
  • Comoros
  • Qatar
  • Djibouti
  • Brunei
  • Maldives
  • Northern Cyprus

Countries that are mainly Shia Muslim:

  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Azerbaijan
  • Lebanon (Shia: 26%, Sunni: 25% of population)
  • Bahrain
Twelver shia Muslims live in many countries. Iran is the main Shia county and the leader of Shia Islam in world. Twelver Shia Islam constitute the majority of the population in Iran (90%), Azerbaijan (75%), Bahrain (70%), Lebanon (65% of Muslims) and Iraq (65%), Yemen (45%). Other countries with a significant proportion of Shia are Syria (15%), Kuwait (35%), Pakistan (20%), India (23% of Muslims), Afghanistan (15%), Saudi Arabia (18%), Turkey (20%), United Arab Emirates (16%), Qatar (15%), Albania(25%).

other Muslim countries are mainly sunni with minor shia population. Qum in Iran and Najaf in iraq are two main city of Shia Islam.

Who caused the split between Sunni and Shiites?

Ali is the central figure at the origin of the Shia / Sunni split which occurred in the decades immediately following the death of the Prophet in 632. Sunnis regard Ali as the fourth and last of the "rightly guided caliphs" (successors to Mohammed (pbuh) as leader of the Muslims) following on from Abu Bakr 632-634, Umar 634-644 and Uthman 644-656. Shias feel that Ali should have been the first caliph and that the caliphate should pass down only to direct descendants of Mohammed (pbuh) via Ali and Fatima, They often refer to themselves as ahl al bayt or "people of the house" [of the prophet].

When Uthman was murdered while at prayer, Ali finally succeeded to the caliphate. Ali was, however, opposed by Aisha, wife of the Prophet (pbuh) and daughter of Abu Bakr, who accused him of being lax in bringing Uthman's killers to justice. After Ali's army defeated Aisha's forces at the Battle of the Camel in 656, she apologized to Ali and was allowed to return to her home in Madinah where she withdrew from public life.

However, Ali was not able to overcome the forces of Mu'awiya Ummayad, Uthman's cousin and governor of Damascus, who also refused to recognize him until Uthman's killers had been apprehended. At the Battle of Suffin Mu'awiya's soldiers stuck verses of the Quran onto the ends of their spears with the result that Ali's pious supporters refused to fight them. Ali was forced to seek a compromise with Mu'awiya, but this so shocked some of his die-hard supporters who regarded it as a betrayal that he was struck down by one of his own men in 661.

Mu'awiya declared himself caliph. Ali's elder son Hassan accepted a pension in return for not pursuing his claim to the caliphate. He died within a year, allegedly poisoned. Ali's younger son Hussein agreed to put his claim to the caliphate on hold until Mu'awiya's death. However, when Mu'awiya finally died in 680, his son Yazid usurped the caliphate. Hussein led an army against Yazid but, hopelessly outnumbered, he and his men were slaughtered at the Battle of Karbala (in modern day Iraq). Hussein's infant son, Ali, survived so the line continued. Yazid formed the hereditary Ummayad dynasty. The division between the Shia and what came to be known as the Sunni was set.

An opportunity for Muslim unity arose in the 750's CE. In 750 except for a few who managed to flee to Spain, almost the entire Ummayad aristocracy was wiped out following the Battle of Zab in Egypt in a revolt led by Abu Al Abbass al-Saffah and aided by considerable Shia support. It was envisaged that the Shia spiritual leader Jafar As-Siddiq, great-grandson of Hussein be installed as Caliph. But when Abbass died in 754, this arrangement had not yet been finalised and Abbas' son Al Mansur murdered Jafar, seized the caliphate for himself and founded the Baghdad-based Abbassid dynasty which prevailed until the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258.

Is Shehzad Roy a Shia Muslim?

Yes indeed Shehzad Roy is a Shia Imami Ismaili Muslim. He was born in 16 February 1977. He is a very famous pop singer in Pakistan who brought a revolutionary approach to Pakistani pop music. He was born in Karachi.

Did Profet Muhammad was a Shia Muslim?

At the time of prophet Muhammad there was no sunni shia, the reason that we were divided is because of first of all when the prophet clearly said at ghadeer that Imam Ali would be his next Succesor "some" people took matters in their own hands at his death and decided for a different caliph, also the thing about folding arms is different is because some of the leaders eg. the caliph and other people who were nobles and well known in history would fold their arms and hide idols in them. Lastly, also though the prophet would sometimes pray with his arms folded (without idles ofcourse) his last prayer was prayed with his arms straight like a shia's and that is why we are different. Also at many times you see the the so called caliphs who were not supposed to be drank beer and commited bad crimes and in the battle of neherwaan they refused water to the Muslims, even though when Muslims had control of the water we let them have some. This shows just how cruel the unfairly picked caliphs were.

Who was the first shia imam?

Shia and Sunni have mostly same beliefs and both believe in fundamental beliefs of Islam. Today there is up to 260 sects in Islam that are in two main categories of shia and sunni.

the conflict of shia and sunni has been always amplified by world Imperialism to prevent Islam from gaining power.

Shia believes in Allah, prophet and all fundamentals of Islam.

Shia pray 5 times a day but usually do the 2, 3 and 4, 5 pray together and so may seem they do only 3 pray a day. there is some differences in details of pray like genuflect (for shia should be on a stone or part of earth and for sunni on carpet or floor ).

shia believe after death of prophet God selected the successive for prophet who is the political leader of Muslim community and people can not and does not the right to selected it.

Shia believes the Caliph (Representative of God in earth) is selected only by God and can not be selected by people because God said in Koran: "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority" (Quran 2:30) or "O David! We did indeed make thee a vicegerent on earth" (Quran 38:26) also other verses.

Shia believes such verses means only God can select an Islamic political leader (Caliph).

In Shia Islam Caliphs after prophet are 12 Imams and all of them are the same and have no mistake and have the knowledge of everything (not absolute knowledge like knowledge of God) and they hear all sayings and even thinks of all humans after even after their death by permission of God and they are intermediates between God and human Shia Muslims always support them and forgive their lives for them.

Shia Muslims do not consider selection of Abubakr as Caliph by people valid because God did not select him. They believe God ordered prophet to declare people that Ali is selected as successor of prophet and prophet did this mission many times during his prophet-hood and mainly in Ghadir event after last Hajj of his life at a 3-4 hour speech in front of 120,000 Muslims at Ghadir in hot desert after 2 days stop of long caravan for gathering and 3 days after speech for congratulations and homage of Muslims to Ali. Islam at that time had high power in world and Some companions had high interest in leadership position after prophet. Muslims knew that it is the final Hajj of prophet (predicted by prophet) and were going along with prophet to hear what prophet says at end of his life. Shia believes Ghadir event is the most important event of Islam and is mentioned in Koran in many verses like "Today" (اليوم) in verse 5:3 of Quran is the day of Ghadir. Or Verse 5:67 (O Messenger! proclaim the (message) which hath been sent to thee from thy Lord. If thou didst not, thou wouldst not have fulfilled and proclaimed His mission. And Allah will defend thee from men (who mean mischief). For Allah guideth not those who reject Faith) is revealed at Ghadir day and is about declaring political leadership of Ali after prophet.

Both Sunni and Shia Muslims accept happening of Ghadir event But different interpret. Some Sunni writers tried to reject the event of Ghadir as declare of leadership of Ali and said at Ghadir prophet only wanted to say Ali is my friend and no one should bother him. Ali had 3 different missions to Yemen by prophet during 10 years and in 2 of them some companions of prophet had some conflicts with Ali and and prophet said some sayings about Ali to solve conflicts and some sunni writers have mixed stories of missions of Ali to Yemen with story of Ghadir to prove Ghadir event is not about Leadership of Ali and is not important.

Shia scholars believe some Sunni writers have changed and deviated historical evidences about political leadership of Ali in old historical books and republished them to destroy evidences of leadership of Ali from old Sunni books.

The famous Shia book Al-Ghadir (الغدير) by Allameh Amini is a collection of evidences and proofs for Ghadir Events written after referring to 100,000 Sunni books and full reading of 10,000 sunny books. Allameh Amini is a famous Shia scholar and spent 40 years of his life in travelling to access original old Sunni books in libraries in different countries to write this 20 volume book only from Sunni books and not using any Shia book. Some Sunni scholars tried to reply this book but then said if we want to reply this book we should first destroy all books of ourselves.

Shia doctrine have root in Karbala tragedy. When tragedy of Karbala happened most of Iranians understood there is two different kinds of Islam and after happening of Karbala tragedy most of Iranians became followers of "Ahl al-Bayt" and forgive their lives for them like what they did in Iranian Revolution and Iran-Iraq War. Shia Muslims have at least 120,000 Hadith (saying) from The Fourteen Infallibles that is the base of Shia Islam along with Quran. Shia believes according to " Hadith of the two weighty things" The Fourteen Infallibles are the only valid interpreters of Quran and sayings of them are from God because they are Representative of God in earth and they do not say anything from themselves. Shia believes 12th of them (Mahdi) is alive and because people have killed all 11 Imams before him, he is in hide like Jesus and will come out of hide toghether with Jesus when people become ready and want to accept his leadership. All 11 Imams have been killed and during their life thy all have been in prison or under hard control of government to not have any political action. They never had enough serious followers to can get political power. Among them only the sixth Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq was relatively free in his life to have only scientific activities (but banned from any political action) and so only he is known in west because he established university and had students from all over the world. Westerns know him as a polymath: an astronomer, alchemist, Imam, Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian, writer, philosopher, physician, physicist and scientist. He was also the teacher of the famous chemist, Jābir ibn Hayyān (Geber), and of Abū Ḥanīfa, the founder of the Hanafi school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He never wanted be a famous man and only shared his knowledge with who wanted to learn. Some researchers consider his teachings the root cause of renaissance.

Sunni Muslims also accept Mahdi and his worldwide leadership as Caliph of God in earth at end of world. There is a famous Hadith from prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that Mahdi at hide is like sun behind cloud, he is hidden from people but people receive his benefits. Shia Muslims say some faithful believers have connection with Mahdi and use his knowledge. Shia Muslims believe that it is proved at least 1000 persons have had connection and talk with Mahdi during his hide period but Any one having relation with Mahdi keep it and does not declare it in public until is alive.

Is Shiite Islam a universal or ethnic?

Shiite was initially a small group of people, its not a religion but a group of Muslims who have certain views. They are in nearly all Muslim countries. There was never any ethnic nature tied to being a Shiite. Shiites have been Arabs, Amazigh (Berbers/Moors), Persians, Turks, and Indians. However, because Shiites have been persecuted in almost every Sunni Muslim country in pre-modern history (and even some to this day), many Shiites do not openly proselytize Sunnis to avoid political repercussions. However, Shiite Islam is just as evangelistic as Sunni Islam.

What were the disputes that led the Sunni and shiites to split?

shia and sunni have mostly same beliefs and both believe in fundamental beliefs of Islam. today there is up to 260 sect in Islam that are in two category of shia and sunni.

shia believes in Allah, prophet and all fundamentals of Islam.

shia pray 5 times a day but usually do the 2,3 and 4,5 pray together and so may seem they do 3 pray a day. there is some differences in details of pray like how to hold hands in pray and on what do the genuflect (for shia should be on a stone or part of earth and for sunni on carpet or floor ).

shia believe after death of prophet God selects the successive for prophet who is the leader of Muslim community and people can not select it.

shia believe the Caliph (Representative of God in earth after prophet) is appointed only by God and can not be selected by people because God said in Koran: "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." (Quran 2:30)

this means only God can select an Islamic leader.

in shia they are only fourteen infallible (12 Imams and prophet and his daughter Fatimah Zahra (sa))

and all of them are the same and have no mistake and have the knowledge of everything (this knowledge is from God and by permission of God and is not absolute knowledge. absolute knowledge is only for God and they still do not know many things. but they know anything human may need to know.) and they never die and they hear all sayings and even thinks of all humans after their death by permission of God and they are intermediates between God and human.

and shia Muslims always support them and forgive their lives for them.

shia Muslims do not consider selection of Abubakr as Caliph valid because God did not select him. they believe God ordered prophet to declare Ali is selected as successor of prophet (Quran 5:3) and prophet did this mission in Ghadir event that was in last Hajj of prophet in his life and prophet did a speech for 120,000 Muslims participating that Hajj with prophet. the famous shia book Al-Ghadir is a collection of evidences and proofs for Ghadir Hadith from 100,000 sunni references and read all of 10,000 sunny books. one sunni scholar said if we want to reply Al-Ghadir book (by Allameh Amini) we should first destroy all our books.

Shia doctorin has root in Karbala. when tragedy of Karbala happened most of iranians became shia.

What is the basic difference between sunni and shi'ite Islam?

it relates to this question that who was the right political leader of Islam world after death of prophet?

Shia says it was Ali (PBUH) because of event of Ghadir.

sunni says it was Abubakr.