Answer 1

The major difference is historical. The Shiitesdid not agree on the elected Caliphs (who followed Prophet Muhammad after his death). They believed that the Caliphs should only be within Prophet Muhammad descendants and family. Accordingly, they were supporting Ali Ibn Abu Taleb (Prophet cousin and the husband of his daughter Fatima) to be the first Caliph. However, they didn't protest against the elected Caliphs (Abu Bakr, Omar, and Othman) and even Ali, himself, was good supporter and adviser to the three Caliphs until he was elected as the fourth Caliph.

Both Sunnis and Shiites are Muslims. No one has the right to expel anyone out of Islam and to consider him/her a Kafir (unbeliever) so far:

• he/she witness that no god Except one God (Allah) with no partner and that Muhammad is his messenger and prophet, and that
• he/she doesn't deny intentionally any of the Islam five pillars.

As for Sunnis and Shiites:

• They, both, believe that No God except one and only one God, the Creator, with no partner, no father, no son, no companion, no associate, and no resemblance and that prophet is His messenger and prophet.
• They both believe in God Angels, all God prophets, all God holy book, the Day of Judgment, and destiny.
• They both believe in the five Pillars of Islam. They both face the direction of Kaaba when praying and both require the Hajj pilgrimage.
• They pray in any mosque regardless the praying leader is Sunni or Shiite.
• They may differ in some minor details of rituals but these details are not critical to neither the Shiites nor the Sunnis.

Today there are up to 260 groups or schools in Islam that are in two main categories of Shia and Sunni. However all these groups are not so widely different as the Orthodox and Catholic Christians for example. The conflict between Shia and Sunnis has been always amplified and agitated by world Imperialism and westerners to prevent Islam from spreading in the world and to get control over Islamic countries. Some of this negativity has corrupted some Shia and Sunnis to believe that their beliefs are dramatically opposed, when in fact the differences are small and not worthy of Takfir (calling someone a blasphemer).

Specific Differences

Imamat or Leadership: Shia and Sunni mainly have a conflict on Imamat (leadership).

The division between Shia and Sunni dates back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 C.E., and the question of who was to take over the Imamat (leadership) of the Muslim nation. Sunnis, the majority, believe that the first four caliphs, Mohammed'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 Shia say the Imamat is one of the 5 pillars of Islam and only God can select leader for people whereas the Sunnis say Imamat is not part of Islam and the leader can be selected by people by any method like Shura (for example for Abu Bakr) or by will of previous leader (for example for Omar) or by people (for example for Ali) provided he is capable of performing the job. Shia believe after death of the Prophet (Mohammed), God selected the prophet's successor who should be the political leader of Muslim community and people cannot and do not the right to select such an individual.

Self-Identification: Sunni Muslims agree with the position taken by many of the Prophet's companions, that the new leader of the Umma (Islamic Community) should be elected from among those capable of the job. This is what was done, and the Prophet Muhammad's close friend and advisor, Abu Bakr, became the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. The word "Sunni" in Arabic comes from a word meaning "one who follows the traditions [of the Prophet]."

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" (of the Prophet).

Prayer Styles: Shia pray 5 times a day just like Sunnis but usually do the second and third prayers and fourth and fifth prayers together. Thus, it may seem they do only 3 prayers a day. There are some differences in details of prayer like genuflecting (for Shia should be on a stone or part of earth and for the Sunnis it should be on carpet or floor ).

Doctrines of Karbala: Shia doctrines have their roots in Battle Karbala.

When tragedy of Karbala happened most of Iranians understood that there were two different interpretations of Islam that could not both be true. So, most of Iranians became shia and followers of "Ahl al-Bayt" and forgive their lives for them like what they did in Iranian Revolution and Iran-Iraq War.

Hadith Collections: Shia Muslims have at least 120,000 Hadith (sayings) from The Fourteen Infallibles that is the base of Shia Islam along with Qur'an. Sunni Hadith collections are much smaller as they do not contain volumes from people who lived after the Prophet. Sunni collections also differ based on the School of Sunni Islam. Abu-Hanifa, Ibn Hanbal, Ash-Shafi'i, and Ibn Annas of the Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafi'i, and Maliki Schools each have their own collections.

The Imams and Infallibles: Sunnis do not believe in any of this. However, Shia believe 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 Representatives of God in earth and they have inherited divine knowledge of prophet. Theses individuals are the 12 Imams, the Prophet and his daughter Fatimah Zahra (sa). All of them are without impurity and have no mistake and have the knowledge of everything. (This knowledge is from God according to His will 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.) They never die and they hear all sayings and even thoughts of all humans after their death by permission of God. They are intermediates between God and human.

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.

Shia believe that the 12th Imam (Imam Mahdi S.A.) is alive and because people have killed all 11 Imams before him. He is in hiding like Jesus S.A. and will rise with Jesus S.A. when people become ready and want to accept his leadership. All 11 Imams have been killed and during their life they all have been in prison or under hard control of government to avoid them having any political activity.

They never had enough serious followers to allow them to attain political power. Among them only the sixth Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq was relatively free on account of the freedom afforded during the transition of power between the Umayyads and Abbassids. He is primarily known in the West to have taken part in scientific activities, established a university, and had students from all over the world. Westerners 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 those who sought knowledge. Some researchers consider his teachings the root cause of the Renaissance.

Positions on the Mahdi: The Mahdi, according to Shia, will bring about the Kingdom of God on Earth after an apocalyptic battle between the forces of Islam (those who believe in God) and the rest of the world. Sunni Muslims also accept Mahdi and his worldwide leadership as Caliph of God on Earth at end of world, but do not accept the Shia teaching that this person is the twelfth Imam. There is a famous Hadith from prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that Mahdi in hiding 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 and at least 1000 persons have had a connection and conversation with Mahdi during his period of hiding but anyone who may have a relation with Mahdi S.A. should keep it secret and not declare it in public until death.

Seafood Consumption: Most schools of Sunni Islam permit the eating of any form of seafood. Shiites prohibit the consumption of any seafood which does not accord with the Old Testament requirement of having "fins and scales".

More Information on the Historical Circumstances of the Split

Shiite Muslims believe that ruling the Muslims is the divine right of Prophet Mohammad's (Peace be upon hin)family i.e. Imam Hussain who died in Kirbela, Iraq resisting to accept the Yazid the Son of Amir Muawiyah as the rightful ruler.

After prophet Mohammad (PBUH) demise Abu Baker was enthroned by Muslims though a small group dissented as they wanted Ali, the nephew and son in law of the prophet to be the ruler. Ali accepted Abu Baker About 6 months later and then remained a loyal assistant. After death of Abu Baker, Omar was enthroned as Abu Baker had announced before his death. Ali remained a chief Aid of Abu Baker. After Omar, Usman was elected as the ruler through a popular vote...as Muslims voted while going for the morning prayer. In the last days of Usman's reign anarchy broke out but Ali and his 2 sons Hasan and Hussain protected Usman till the last minute. After Usman was assassinated Ali accepted the leadership of Muslims on the pretext that he would avenge Usman's death.

Before Ali could bring the killers of Usman to justice a cousin of Usman Muawiyah got impatient and declared indepedance. After Ali's assasination his elder son Hasan was elected by his followers as a ruler but Hasan after negotiation for Muslims unity gave up leadership for Amir Muawiyah.

Refer to question below for more information.

More Information on Shiite Groups and the Twelfth Imam

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.

The disappearance of the Twelfth Imam 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.

More Information on the Shiite Claim of Divinely Mandated Authority

In order to buttress the claim that only Divine Authority could choose the next Caliph, the Shia refer to many verses of Qura'n like: "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 believe such verses mean that only God can select an Islamic political leader (Caliph) and there is no mention in Qur'an that people have the right to select a leader. Shura is not allowed to be used for selecting leader and the Prophet himself always selected leaders of wars and other leaders by command of God.

In Shia Islam, the Caliphs after prophet are 12 infallible Imams who have inherited divine knowledge of Prophet.

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.

The Shia believe the Ghadir event is the most important event of Islam and is mentioned in Qur'an in many verses like "Today" (اليوم) in verse 5:3 of Qur'an 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 and spiritual leadership of Ali S.A. after prophet.

Both Sunni and Shia Muslims accept the Events at Ghadir event but have different interpretations. Some Sunni writers tried to reject the event of Ghadir as declare of leadership of Ali S.A. and said at Ghadir prophet only wanted to say Ali S.A. is my friend and no one should bother him.

Ali S.A. 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 S.A. and prophet said some sayings about Ali S.A. to solve conflicts and some sunni writers have mixed stories of missions of Ali S.A. 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 who were related to Kigns have changed and deviated historical evidences about political leadership of Ali S.A. 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 all from Sunni historical books by referring to 100,000 Sunni books and full reading of 10,000 Sunni books. Allameh Amini is a famous Shia scholar and spent 40 years of his life in traveling 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 Sunni books.

Answer 2

The division between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims originated in a dispute over who should succeed Muhammad. Those on the Sunni side believed that the new leader should be elected from among those capable of the job. Muhammad's close friend and advisor, Abu Bakr,( ofcourse Ali was closer and more capable and he was the first muslim man) was elected the new leader and became the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. The word "Sunni" in Arabic comes from a word meaning "one who follows the traditions of the Prophet." By contrast, those on the Shi'a side felt that leadership should pass through the divine message . The Shi'a Muslims believe leadership should have passed directly to his cousin/son-in-law, Ali as the new leader after Muhammad died. Shia Muslims have never accepted the authority the leaders elected by the Sunni Muslims. They believe they are following a line of Imams which have been appointed by the Prophet Muhammad or God Himself. The word "Shia" in Arabic means a group or supportive party of people. The term "Shi'a" is shortened from the historical "Shia-t-Ali," or "the Party of Ali."

Over the years this division over leadership also lead to some differences over religious doctrines. Shia Muslims believe that the Imam is sinless by nature, and that his authority is infallible as it comes directly from God. Therefore, Shia Muslims often venerate the Imams as saints and perform pilgrimages to their tombs and shrines in the hopes of divine intercession. Sunni Muslims claim that there is no basis in Islam for a hereditary succession of spiritual leaders, and no basis for the veneration or intercession of "saints". Sunni Muslims believe that leadership of the community is not granted by God or heredity, but rather based on trust earned with the community and so it may be granted or taken away by the people themselves.

The Shi'a Muslims believe that leadership should have passed through divine message and do not recognize leaders elected in the Sunni side of Islam, they also do not recognize any writings or pronouncements of those elected leaders as being authoritative. Consequently there are some differences in religious practice between the two groups. These differences are most prominent in the details of some of the most visible aspects of religious life: prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, etc.

Political and ethnic rivalries are layered over the religious schism between the two types of Islam. Most Muslims are Sunni but Shi'a Muslims are the majority in Iran (around 90%), which is ethnically Persian rather than the ethnic Arab group that predominates in most of the rest of the Middle East. Their geographic neighbor Iraq is also majority Shi'a (about 70%). Saddam Hussein was Sunni and sought to suppress Shi'a Islam while he was in power which added to religious tensions between the two groups. Other large concentrations of Shi'a Muslims are present in Bahrain, Azerbaijan, and Lebanon. Note that Lebanon has had a recent history of sectarian violence between the different religious groups with major presence in the country, i.e. Sunni, Shi'a, and Christian, as each group maneuvers for political influence and Syria has backed the Sunni faction in the disputes.

Answer 3

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.

Answer 4

Practice follow ideologies. Shiya and Sunni Islam are just different schools of thoughts within Islam. The instructions of the holy Quran are both physical and spiritual in nature. All the instructions of Islam are compulsory for a Muslim. While Shiya school of thought gives more priority to the spiritual instructions, the sunni school of thought prioritizes the physical instructions. Due to different priorities in the ideology, the practices are slightly different at various places.

"SHIA" Muslims are the followers of "Ali Ibn Talib" , the cousin & the son in law of Mohammed , the founder of Islam. They believe in 12 Imams , Priests of the Islamic religion , who lived in succession guiding the Shia Muslims {with the exception of the "mehdi" who they believe will incarnate @ the time of the 2nd coming of Christ" }. They have there own doctor , and peculiar customs and festivals.

Answer 5

"SUNNI" Muslims are followers of a doctrine that postulates the ways and the lessons of prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). Popularly in Islamic mythology , it is said that Allah {the God of the Muslims , gave the Koran to Prophet Mohammed , who then taught it to his followers} but also it is written , that the Koran was largely formed after the demise of Prophet Mohammed . By his followers , who began piecing together from human recollection , the lessons that Prophet Mohammed taught. Even though the Koran under the Caliph Uthman had been completed , the tradition of documenting stories , lessons , actions of Mohammed continued , this is called the "SUNNAH" , it is from there that Sunni Muslims derive there faction from.

Both Islamic schools or groups (called Sunnis and Shiites)agree upon basic Islam pillars and fundamentals. they differ on minor Islam and historical issues. These differences appeared only after prophet Muhammad death (not murder). Some people (who are called later Shiites) called for Muslim ruling to be within Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) family and descendants and accordingly Ali Ibn Abou Taleb should by the first Muslim ruler after prophet Muhammad (PBUH) death. While the majority (who are called later the Sunnis) elected Abou Bakr (Prophet Muhammad closer companion and the first man entered into Islam faith) as the first ruler. However, the Shiites were having very sound understanding and accepted the majority decision; even Ali (All be pleased with him) supported also Abou Bakr as a ruler and supported the following rulers (or Caliphs) Omar and Othman. Then Ali became the fourth Caliph or ruler.

Refer to question below for more related information.

Answer 6

The principle difference concerns whether the successsors of the Prophet should be genetically related to him or not. Mohammed had no male heir, but he did have a son-in-law, Ali. Those who championed Ali for the khalifship became the Shiites, the rest of Islam became the Sunni. (Sunnah means "tradition"; Shiia means "party")

Answer 7

Both sects believe in the basic tenets of Islam. The differences arose for political reasons.

When prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) died, there was debate about who should be the next leader of Muslims. The group now called Sunni supported Abu Bakr, who was the father of his favorite wife. The group now called Shia supported Ali, who was the husband of his favorite daughter.

Because these two groups developed separately, they disagree on some secondary matters. For example, Shia sometimes arrange the five daily prayers into blocks of three. Where Sunnis and Shias live together in the same city, everyone is praying at different times. Sunnis believe that Muhammad abolished muta(temporary marriage) but Shia still practice it.

Shia believe that their imam (always a descendant of Ali) is perfect and inerrant, which has led indirectly to the Shia assumption that they can pray at the tomb of a saint (similar to the way some Catholics pray through saints). Sunnis believe the Muslim community should be ruled by an elected caliph, who may sometimes make mistakes. There is currently no caliph in the world.

The Shias and sunnies have no very sharp differences. They have same basic belief except a few minor differences. The Shias claim that instead of first three Rightful Caliphs, the fourth Rightful Caliph Hazrat Ali (RAU) should have been chosen the First Caliph. The other differences are the creation of later people. The Sunni and Shia scholars have joined hands and sat together to solve the problems amicably. They have decided to tolerate each other and to avoid highlighting such matters as create hatred and enmity. May Allah Karim bless us with tolerance of all religions and all humans! A'meen

Answer 8

There is nothing called Sunni Islam or Shiite Islam. The religion per Qur'an revelation to prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is Islam. The Islam followers may differ is some issues and name themselves as Sunni or Shiite Muslims. It is to be recognized that the differences between the two groups are minor and represent side differences. The basic Islam beliefs are the same for Islamic groups or schools as well as they have the same holy book Qur'an, they have the same ritual worships of praying, fasting, pilgrimage (or Hajj), same direction when praying. It is to be emphasized that the persuasion of the west to deepen differences between Islamic different schools and agitate conflicts among them to help in implementing their policies of the creative disturbance will never succeed. The differences among Islamic schools are never the same as the Christian different denominations and sects. Refer to related question below.

The Shias and sunnies have the same basic beliefs except a few minor differences. The Shias claim that instead of first three Rightful Caliphs, the fourth Rightful Caliph Hazrat Ali (RAU) should have been chosen the First Caliph. The other differences are the creation of later people. The Sunni and Shia scholars have joined hands and sat together to solve the problems amicably. They have decided to tolerate each other and to avoid highlighting such matters as create hatred and enmity. May Allah Karim bless us with tolerance of all riligions and all humans! A'meen

The other difference is in the opinion of Imaamat. Shiats say that Imam must be appointed by God; that appointment may be known through the declaration of the Prophet or the preceding Imam. The Sunni scholars say that Imam (or Caliph, as they prefer to say) can be either elected, or nominated by the preceding Caliph, or selected by a committee, or may gain the power through a military coup (as was in the case of Muawiyah).

Shi'a scholars say that Imam must be sinless. The Sunni scholars (including Mutazilites) say that sinlessness is not a condition for leadership. Even if he is tyrant and sunk in sins (like in the case of Yazid, or Today's King Fahd), the majority of the scholars from the shools of Hanbali, Shafi'i, and Maliki discourage people to rise against that Caliph. They think that they should be presevered.

Answer 9

Shiats say that Imam must possess above all such qualities as knowledge, bravery, justice, wisdom, piety, love of God etc. The Sunni scholars say it is not necessary. A person inferior in these qualities may be elected in preference to a person having all these qualities of superior degree.

Shiats say that 'Ali was appointed by Allah to be the successor of the Prophet, and that the Prophet declared it on several occasions. More than one hundred of those occasions are recorded in the history. The Sunni scholars believe that the Prophet did not appoint anybody to be his successor. This is despite the fact that there are many traditions in the six authentic Sunni collections which support this assignment.

Answer 10

shiah believed in five principles such as prophecy , divine unity , resurrection , 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 quality of the divine nature 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 belong to Sunnism and continue to do so until today.

all in all we can categorize these difference into two levels:one level lies in principles and other in interpreting of Quran .

first level:the five principles of religion as stated by shiism include:tawhid or belief in divine unity,nubuwwah or prophecy,maad or resurrection,imamah or the immamate:belief in the imams as successors of the prophet and Adl or Divine justice.in the Three bsic principles -unity, prophecy and resurrection-Sunnism and shiism agree.it ts only in the other two that they differ. in the question of the imamate it is the insistence on the esoteric function of of the imam that distinguishes the shiites perspective from the Sunni.in the question of Justice it is the emphasis placed upon this attribute as an intrinsic quality of the divine nature that is particular to shiism.we might say that in the esoteric formulation of Sunni theology,especially as contained in Asharism there is an emphasis upon the will of god .whatever god will is just precisely because it is willed by God.and intelligence is in a sense subordinate to this will and to the voluntarism which characterizes this form of theology.in shiism however , the quality of justice is considered as innate to the Divine Nature..God can not act in n 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.

second level:shiism also different in its consideration of the means whereby the original message of 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 with the period immediately following the death of the prophet.one might say that the personality of the prophet contained two dimensions which were later to become crystallized into Suunism and Shiism.each of this two schools was later to reflect back upon the life and personality of the prophet solely from its own point of view,thus leaving aside and forgetting or misconstruing the other dimension excluded from its own perspective.for shiism the dry (in the alchemical sense) and austere aspect of the 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 imams,who were considered to be a continuation.

Sunnis(or ahlus sunna wal jama'ah)are Muslims .Shiites curse and swear a lot of the companions of Nabi Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ,They also made up some strange things like Mu'ta(temporary marriage) and things like cutting slits in their backs.They have deviated from the teachings of Nabi Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

Answer 11

It is to be recognized the differences between Sunnis and Shiites never been as the differences between the Catholics and the Orthodox and the Protestant or other Christian denominations. Neiher the Sunnis have the right to expel any Shiite out of true Islam nor the Shiites have the right expel any Sunni out of true Islam so far: he/she witness that there is no god Except one God (Allah), who has no partner, no son, no father, no companion, no associate, and no equivalence and he/she witness that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is God prophet and messenger to whom God revealed the holy book Qur'an through the angel Jibril (or Gabriel), and

he/she doesn't deny intentionally any of the basic five pillars of Islam as instructed by prophet Muhammad; peace be upon him; even if they added other pillars to them.

As for Sunnis and Shiites, they, both:

• believe that there is no god except the one and only one God, the Creator with no partner, no father, no son, no companion, and no resemblance, and that the prophet is His messenger.
• believe in God's Angels, all Prophets sent from God, all of God's holy books, the Day of Judgment, and destiny.
• believe in the five Pillars of Islam.
• face the direction of Kaaba when praying.
• pray in any mosque regardless of whether the prayer leader is Sunni or Shi'ite.

They may differ in some minor details of rituals but these details are not critical to neither the Shiites nor the Sunnis.

All Muslims; although differ in minor side issues; are one unity and will never follow the exterior plans of the non Muslims who try their best to create conflicts among them to have stronger control on their mineral and energy resources and to bring them under their control and directions.

Answer 12

all in all we can categorize these difference into two levels:one level lies in principles and other in interpreting of Quran .

first level:the five principles of religion as stated by shiism include:tawhid or belief in divine unity,nubuwwah or prophecy,maad or ressurrection,imamah or the immamate:belief in the imams as successors of the prophet and Adl or Divine justice.in the Three bsic principles -unity, prophecy and resurrection-Suunnism and shiism agree.it ts only in the other two that they differ. in the question of the imamate it is the insistence on the esoteric function of of the imam that distingushes the shiites perspective from the Sunni.in the question of Justice it is the emphasis placed upon this attribute as an intrinsic quality of the divine nature that is particular to shiism.we might say that in the esotericformulation of Sunni theology,especially as contained in Asharism there is an emphasis upon the will of god .whatever god will is just precisely because it is willed by God.and intelligence is in a sense subordinate to this will and to the voluntarism which characterizes this form of theology.in shiism however , the quality of justice is considered as innate to the Divine Nature..God can not act in n 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 injustness of an act and this judgment is not completely suspended in favor of a pure voluntarism on the part of God.

second level:shiism also different in its consideration of the means whereby the original message of 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 with the period immediately following the death of the prophet.one might say that the personality of the prophet contained two dimensions which were later to become crystallized into Suunism and Shiism.each of this two schools was later to reflect bck upon the life and personality of the prophet solely from its own point of view,thus leaving aside and forgetting or miscinstruing the other ddimension excluded from its own perspective.for shiism the dry (in the alchemical sense) and austere aspect of the pesonality as reflected in his successors in the Sunni world was equated with worliness.while his warm and compassionate dimevsion was emphasized as his whole personality and as the essence of the nature of the imams,who were considered to be a continuation.

Answer 13

According to my understading, the differences started due to a question about the succession; basically: Who should be the leader after Muhammad's death? One of the groups - the Shiites - said that Muhammad had passed the leadership to his son-in-law, Ali. The other group - the Sunnites - were the followers of another leader, who came to be known as the first caliph. 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.

Sunni Muslims belives that sacrifice of grandson of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) has a great importance in Islam this sacrifice is give in the way of god & justice in social values in front of yazid who was also Muslim but not a good leader his character was so rogh so people do not like him so grand son of prophet muhmmad (p.b.u.h) hazrat imam hussain not accept him so yazid order his army to murder of hazrat imam hussain faimly & his companions that is good sacrifice & evil but the shia Muslims used to weeping & torture himself on every year for this sacrifice & they said that our whole life is associated with this incident but sunni Muslims thinks that this incident is for our welfare & lesson for us & not for weeping & torturing himself

The division began after the death of the Prophet Mohamed. He had one child, a daughter. Some of his followers felt that his daughter should succeed him, some felt his brother should. Other divisions in the faith, beliefs and theology followed.

Answer 1

It is not Islam splitting. It is just different view points on non critical issues. Both Shiites and Sunnis believe in:

• one and only one God; with no partner, no companion, no son, no father, no associate, and no equivalence.
• all God prophets (from Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ismael, Isac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, ..., Jesus, and the last Prophet Mohamed (peace be upon them all)
• all God angels
• Hell and Paradise (or Heaven)
• all God holy books including Torah, Bible, and Qur'an
• destiny, whether good or bad
• Resurrection Day and 2nd eternal life

Both Sunnis and Shiites follow the same Qur'an and prophet Muhammad teachings including the five basic pillars of Islam (including praying, fasting, alms giving, and hajj and both are practicing them per prophet Muhammad detailed teachings although Shiites added to them some other minor items based also on prophet Muhammad sayings.

The main difference is that: they considered that Ali Ibn AbouTaleb (Prophet Muhammad's Cousin) was legitimate to success Prophet Muhamad (after his death) in ruling the Muslims rather than that the election of the successor Abou Bakr who was followed by Omar and Osman Ibn Affan and then Ali Ibn AbouTaleb.

The other important point is that no one has the right to expel anyone out of Islam and to consider him/her unbeliever (or Kafir) so far:

• he/she witness that no god Except one God (Allah) with no partner and that Muhammad is God messenger and prophet, and that
• he/she doesn't deny intentionally the praying (Salah), paying Zakat (Alms giving), fasting Ramadan, and pilgrimage (Hajj).

Answer 2

The main split in Islam is over how the leaders of the faith should be chosen - in particular, who should have succeeded Muhammad and over doctrinal issues stemming from which successors they accept, in particular, over what writings to accept as authoritative outside the Qur'an - these additional writing are referred to as the "hadith" and are composed of writings and collections of oral traditions.

The Sunni branch accepts the first four "caliphs" as rightful successors of Muhammad and accepts hadiths narrated by the "companions" of Muhammad. The Sunnis believe that Muhammad did not specifically appoint a successor to lead the Muslim community before his death, and a group of his most prominent companions gathered and elected Abu Bakr Siddique a father-in-law and close friend of Muhammad as the first "caliph" of Islam. The Sunni canon of hadith took its final form more than 230 years after the death of Muhammad (632 AD). Later scholars may have debated the authenticity of particular hadith but the authority of the canon as a whole was not questioned. This canon is referred to as "the six major Hadith collections".

The Shia, by contrast, believe that the leadership of Islam should have passed to his surviving family or "Ahl al-Bayt" (the People of the House)because Allah decided selected them as leader, not only because they are relatives of prophet SAWW. They assert that his descendants, known as Imams, are the only ones with special spiritual and political authority rule over the community. They also assert that Ali ibn Abj Talib, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, was the first of these Imams and was the rightful successor to Muhammad, and consequently reject the legitimacy of the first three "caliphs". In the Shia hadith you will often find sermons attributed to his successor Ali. Shi'a Muslims do not use the six major Hadith collections followed by the Sunni, instead, their primary hadith collections are written by three authors who are known as the 'Three Muhammads'.

Despite what the first answerer said - there are differences in what each group believes including what each considers to be faithful practice of Islam, acceptability of terrorist actions in the name of Islam and whether it is mandatory to kill or imprison anyone who chooses to leave Islam. Most outsiders would consider many of these to be "critical issues".

Commentary on Answer 2

I agree on the information in Answer 2, however:

• Ali ibn Abu Talib himself (Allah be pleased with him), and all who were supporting his legitimacy to the first Caliph, supported the first three caliphs during their ruling and Ali was their arm in advice and support. (according to shia Islam more than 100 Sahaba; although of much less percentage of all Muslim Sahabis; opposed Caliphate of Abubakr and did not give Bayat to him)
• The claimed differences between Shiites and Sunnis are not crucial and not expelling any of them to be true Muslims and good believers.
• Terrorist actions against civilians are condemned by both Shiites and Sunnis
• Both Shiites and Sunnis accept, of course, the Qur'an saying that no compulsion in religion. Accordingly, they don't agree to kill or imprison anyone who chooses to leave Islam unless he attacks Islam and use his convert from Islam as a way for earning money through working with some media agencies to propagate lies against Islam.

Answer 3 (shia view)

The reason is for Imamat (leadership). shia Muslims believe Imamt is one of pillars of Islam and only God has the right to select the leader (Caliph) for leading humans and this leader is deputy of God on earth and has divine knowledge and never says "I do not know" and can answer any question of humans and can lead humans to meet God. Shia Muslims believe God selected Imam Ali as first leader after prophet Muhammad SAWW and prophet declared it at Ghadir in front of 120,000 Muslims and companions including Abubakr and Umar and Uthman congratulated this to Ali a.s. and given him Byat (pledge of alliance). this made Shia Muslims do not recognize Abubakr as leader and follow in Ali and 11 other Imams after him as their leaders even if not officially in power. please refer to below books for more details about Imamat.

Answer 4

Differences in the Five Pillars:

Five Pillars of Islam according to shia Muslims are:

1. Monotheism: The Oneness of Allah (tawhid)

2. Divine Justice ('adl)

3. Prophethood (nubuwwa)

4. Succession to Muhammad (imamat)

5. The Day of Judgement and the Resurrection (Qiyama)

Practices of Islam according to shia Muslims:

1- Prayers (salaat) - 5 times a day

2- Fasting (sawm) during Ramadan

3- Alms giving (zakaat and khums)

5- Pilgrimage to the city of Makkah (hajj)

6- Holy Defense (Jihad)

7-8. Enjoining good (amr bil-ma'rouf) and forbidding evil (nahiy an al-munkar)

9- Supporting those who walk in the path of Allah (tawalli li awliyaa' Allah)

10- Turning away from the enemies of Allah (tabarri min a'daa Allah)

Five Pillars of Islam according to Sunni Muslims are:

1. professing (Shahadah)

2. Prayer (Salat)

3. Alms-giving (Zakāt)

4. Fasting (Sawm of Ramadan)

5. Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)

also different sects of sunni have differs in five pillars. for example Mu'tazilate Sunni Scholars like shia consider Adl as one pillar. but Ash'arites does not believe Adl is one of Pillars although believing in Adl as an attribute of God but with an interpret of Adl that in view of shia and Mu'tazilate is equal to not having Adl.

a question about succession to the khalifahship, or deputy status, after Mohammed died. The Sunnis wanted it to be by a political process open to all the early and important followers, the Shia wanted it to be a family or dynastic line.

Somewhat ironically, the Shia candidate, Ali, did eventually become Khailfah under the political process and equally ironically, the khalifahship has become defunct. However, the hostilities stirred up by the conflict lived on and the two sects have grown apart in other ways.

Answer 5

They just got divided on the way the successor of the prophet (after his death) should be. Muslims elected Abou Bakr to be the first Caliph after prophet Muhammad (PBUH) death. However, some Muslims believed that the successor should be from the family of the prophet and hence should Ali Ibn Abou Taleb (the prophet cousin and husband of his daughter). However, after the election of AbouBakr, they joined the majority and even Ali Ibn Abou Taleb (God be pleased with him) supported the elected Caliph. The same scenario was repeated after election of Omar Ibn Alkhattab as the second Caliph and Othman Ibn Affan as the third Caliph. Ali Ibn Abou Taleb was then elected as the fourth Caliph.

However, Sunnis and Shiites are just two Islamic schools that differ in minor issues.The outsiders are trying to feed up assumed differences and conflicts between Muslim groups to gain control on Muslim countries and on their resources. The two main groups are Sunnis and Shiites. Both groups agree upon basic Islam pillars, believe in same and only version of Quran, believe and follow the sunnah of same prophet (PBUH), pray to same direction (facing Kaba in Makkah or Mecca in Saudi Arabia, go to same places on pilgrimage (or Hajj), and adhere to same Islam morals and ritual worships. They only differ on some side issues that are not critical.

Some other groups as Taliban and Al-Qaeda are in conflict with both Sunnis and Shiites true Muslims.

Answer 6

They just got divided on the way the successor of the prophet (after his death) should be. some of top Arab tribe bosses at Saqifeh elected Abou Bakr to be the first Caliph after prophet Muhammad (PBUH) death and other Muslims were forced and even killed (for example سعد ابن عباده Saad Ib Ebadeh) to accept this ruler. Some like Ali ., Salman, Abuzar, Miqdad, Bilal,... disagreed this election. they believed that the successor should be Ali a.s. because God selected him as leader and not because he is relative of prophet SAWW. However, after the election of AbouBakr, they did not fight for power and Ali a.s helped the elected Caliph for survive of real Islam and to big enemies like Roman and Persian empires can not destroy Islam using civil war of Muslims. and always declared his disagreement with this election bu did not made civil war for power. The same scenario was repeated after election of Umar as the second Caliph by will of Abubakr and Othman as the third Caliph by election in a 6 persons meeting. When Uthman was killed in civil war , Ali was then elected as the fourth Caliph by majority of Muslims while he was not interested in power.

However, Sunnis and Shiites are two Islamic schools that differ in major (pillars of Islam) and minor issues. The world Imperialists know Islam is truth and if people know this they will lost power. so they try to make wars between Muslim groups to gain control on Muslim countries and on their resources. for example they bomb a shia mosque and tell in media that sunni did it and so on. The two main groups are Sunnis and Shiites. Both groups agree upon basic Islam pillars(unless Imamat (Islamic rules for political leadership)) and believe in same and only version of Quran and follow the sunnah of same prophet (PBUH), pray to same direction (facing Kaba in Makkah or Mecca in Saudi Arabia, go to same places on pilgrimage (or Hajj), and adhere to same Islam morals and ritual worships. Thier main differ is in Imamat.shia beleives based on Quran and Islam the only one who has the right to elect the leader is God and Muslims do not have such a right in Islam.

Answer 7

No one has noticed the wording of question which says " Why did Islam split into ......." while all answers are related to splitting of Muslim in two groups . Islam is the religion as per Quran , its interpretations by its followers vary. Majority of the Muslim is Sunni while Shia are in minority .This split in Muslim is a ground reality and can't be denied , and such issues can't be settled .Final conclusion is Sunni and Shia muslim disagry on many basic principals including caliphate or imamat.

Answer 8

As explained above; It is no splitting. It is just different view points on non critical issues. Both Shiites and Sunnis believe in:

• one and only one God with no partner, no son, no father, no companion, no associate, and no equivalence,
• believe in all God prophets (from Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ismael, Isac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, ..., Jesus, and last Prophet Mohamed (peace be upon them all),
• all God angels
• all God holy books including Torah, Bible, and Quran
• destiny, whether good or bad
• Resurrection Day, judgement, and 2nd eternal life

Both are bound to the five pillars of Islam and following them. These five pillars; despite the different interpretations of Sunnis and Shiites; are based on the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) hadith.

The main difference is that: they considered that Ali Ibn AbouTaleb Prophet Mohammed's Cousin) was legitimate to success Prophet Mohamed (after his death) in ruling the Muslims rather that the successor Abou Bakr who was followed by Omar and Osman Ibn Affan and then Ali Ibn AbouTaleb

No one has the right to expel anyone out of Islam and to consider him/her unbeliever (or Kafir) so far:

• he/she witness that no god Except one God (Allah) with no partner and that Muhammad is his messenger and prophet, and that
• he/she doesn't deny intentionally the praying (Salah), paying Zakat (Alms giving), fasting Ramadan, and pilgrimage (Hajj).

Refer to related question below.

Answer 9

The Shia-Sunni split is not a recent phenomenon. The root of this division can be traced to just a few days after the death of our Prophet (pbuh&hp). Shi'as believe that the Prophet within his lifetime unambiguously appointed Imam Ali bin Abi Talib as his successor, and the caliph of the Muslim ummah (nation) after his death.

However, Sunnis believe that the Prophet did not decicively fix the choice of the caliph after him, nor did he fix or proscribe any method of selection of this next caliph. As a result, Sunnis accept Imam Ali (a.s.) to be the fourth caliph, not the first (the first three recorded in their histories are Abu Bakr, Umar al-Farook and Uthman bin Affan).

The Shi'a call themselves so, because we describe ourselves as "Shi'an-e-Ali" (Party/Followers of Ali - "Shia" means party member or follower). Now this difference of belief did not immediately result in a division amongst Muslims at that time. The division occurred later when the self-appointed caliphs of the Islamic nation began persecution of Shi'as because of their refusal to acknowledge the caliphate of these rulers.

These Shi'a refused to acknowledge the caliphate of these rulers because of the Shi'a belief that only the Prophet (under instructions from Allah) could appoint a caliph for the Muslim ummah, as he had already done so during his lifetime.

The history of the Muslim ummah, after the demise of the Prophet, unfolded in the following manner. After a large portion of Muslims refrained from acknowledging Imam Ali as the first caliph, he (Imam Ali) chose to wait with patience over this affair, rather than fight for his right, since the Prophet had advised him in the last days of his life to deal with the clamities that followed his (the Prophet's) death with patience, so as to not cause divisions within the Muslim ummah. As a result, he withrew himself from active participation in political affairs and with matters regarding the handling of the government.

After the death of the third caliph, the state of the Muslim nation had severely deteriorated since the time of the Prophet, and much of the injustice and suffering that was prevalent during the pre-Islamic era had creeped back into society. Muslims, acknowledging the dire situation their nation was in, then earnestly appealed to Imam Ali to take up the caliphate as they realized that there was no one more worthy than him for that position. After a lot of persuasion, Imam Ali reluctantly agreed.

Now within the rule of Imam Ali, Muawiyah bin Abu Sufyan rose up and waged a bloody war against him. He (Muawiyah) unjustly claimed that Imam Ali was either responsible or connected to the death of the previous caliph, and that this war of his was revenge for that death. Eventually, after a long war, a compromise was reached, and partial peace was restored.

However, after the death of Imam Ali, Muawiyah declared himself caliph of the Muslim ummah, and confronted Hasan bin Ali (a.s.), the son of Imam Ali, who was appointed by him as his successor. Again Muawiyah tried to wage a war against the true caliph, but this time Hasan bin Ali (a.s.) managed to work out a compromise with him that permitted him governance of the Muslim ummah till his death, after which it would return to Hasan bin Ali (a.s.) or his successor.

However, before Muawiyah died, he appointed his son Yazeed bin Muawiyah as the next caliph, blatantly contradicting the terms of the peace-treaty that he had given his oath of allegiance to earlier with Hasan bin Ali (a.s.). Meanwhile Hasan bin Ali (a.s.) had appointed his brother Husayn (a.s.) as his successor, and he was thus the rightful caliph. But Yazeed had taken that title for himself, and ordered Husayn (a.s.) to pay allegiance to him. Husayn (a.s.) refused. As a result, Yazeed's forces salughtered Husayn (a.s.), the grandson of the Prophet (pbuh&hp), and his family members in the land of Karbala, on the day of A'shurah.

In Yazeed's rule, and in the rule of the succeeding rulers appointed by him, the Shi'as suffered extreme levels of injustice and mistreatment from these rulers, who deliberately persecuted Shi'as without inhibition, and without any regard for Islam or morality. As a result the Shi'as withdrew themselves from the government (which was mainly Sunni), and remanied secluded from matters of caliphate for hundreds of years that followed, and this seclusion has resulted in the prominent Shi'a-Sunni split that you see today.

For a much more detailed analysis of the historical causes of this issue, read the online book in the Related Links below.

Answer 10

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 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 condemn 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 protested 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 followersIslam is Sunni and it did not split.It passed down from the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of god be upon him).Shias are a sect which changed alot of the teachings of the Prophet.Most of the Muslims regard them as non Muslim.

Answer 11

Islam is Sunni and it did not split.It passed down from the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of god be upon him).Shias are a sect which changed alot of the teachings of the Prophet.Most of the Muslims regard them as non Muslim.

Answer 13 The question phrasing is wrong. There is no splitting in Islam. The westerners are trying to amplify some differences between Sunnis and Shiites to create unjustified conflicts to allow the West in getting control of the Islamic countries and putting hands on the resources of the Islamic countries.

As explained before, it is just different view points on non critical issues. Both Shiites and Sunnis believe in:

• one and only one God; with no partner, no companion, no son, no father, no associate, and no equivalence.
• all God prophets (from Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ismael, Isac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, ..., Jesus, and the last Prophet Mohamed (peace be upon them all)
• all God angels
• Hell and Paradise (or Heaven)
• all God holy books including Torah, Bible, and Qur'an
• destiny, whether good or bad
• Resurrection Day and 2nd eternal life

Both Sunnis and Shiites follow the same Qur'an and prophet Muhammad teachings including the five basic pillars of Islam (including praying, fasting, alms giving, and hajj and both are practicing them per prophet Muhammad detailed teachings although Shiites added to them some other minor items based also on prophet Muhammad sayings.

The main difference is that: they considered that Ali Ibn AbouTaleb (Prophet Muhammad's Cousin) was legitimate to success Prophet Muhamad (after his death) in ruling the Muslims rather than that the election of the successor Abou Bakr who was followed by Omar and Osman Ibn Affan and then Ali Ibn AbouTaleb.

The other important point is that no one has the right to expel anyone out of Islam and to consider him/her unbeliever (or Kafir) so far:

• he/she witness that no god Except one God (Allah) with no partner and that Muhammad is God messenger and prophet, and that
• he/she doesn't deny intentionally the praying (Salah), paying Zakat (Alms giving), fasting Ramadan, and pilgrimage (Hajj).

It remains to mention that:

• Ali ibn Abu Talib himself (Allah be pleased with him), and all who were supporting his legitimacy to be the first Caliph, supported the first three caliphs during their ruling and Ali was their right arm in advice and support.
• The claimed differences between Shiites and Sunnis are not crucial and not expelling any of them to be true Muslims and good believers.
• Terrorist actions against civilians are condemned by both Shiites and Sunnis
• Both Shiites and Sunnis accept, of course, the Qur'an saying that no compulsion in religion. Accordingly, they don't agree to kill or imprison anyone who chooses to leave Islam unless he attacks Islam and use his convert from Islam as a way for earning money through working with some media agencies to propagate lies against Islam.

Answer 12

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.

This is a controversial question. As such it has been split into three variants of answers and the order is no indication of the correctness of the response:

Answers A: Shiites are more radical and this is why

Answers B: Sunnis are more radical and this is why

Answers C: Neither is more radical in and of itself; the "radicalness" comes from elsewhere

Answers A

Answer A1:

Obviously, Answers B are written by Shiites. Shame on you.

We Sunni Muslims are not radical. If there are some groups from among us who are, there are certainly from among you Shiites who are as well.

Shiites always do that. They hate the majority of us - so they spread falsehoods about us. They especially hate the ones they call "wahabis" - because, of all the Sunnis, they are the best at showing how the Shiites have gone far, far away from what Islam really says. They worship people - like Ali, Fatimah, Hussein - instead of worshipping God alone.

But of course, the rightly-guided Muslims are the majority - we are at least 85%. So the Shiites can just go on and hate us all they want. God will never give them the upper hand. Ever.

Answer A2:

To add to the above answer, Sunni Muslims aren't a sect of Islam, Sunnis are original Muslims. When it split into Shi'as, and a bunch of other sects, the original Muslims who followed the teachings of the prophet Muhammad (S) and the Qur'an and his sunnah started to use the name Sunni to distinguish themselves as those who follow the teachings of Muhammad (S) and those who are on the straight path.

Answers B

Answer B1:

Actually this is a false statement, it is actually the Sunni sect, namely Wahabbi's, who are considered the radical Islamists in the current day and age. The Wahabbi's make up the current radical groups such as Al-Qaeda and the Talaban. They promote killing in the Name of Allah towards anyone who is non-muslim, and even those who are Shiite.

Answers C

Answer C1:

The saying that Shiites are more radical than Sunnis or the opposite is not true. Both Shiites and Sunnis are believers of the same prophet, same holy book, same faith pillars, and they orient their faces during praying to same Kaabah. Both schools are radical in obeying God and prophet Muhammad teachings.

Answer C2:

this is false statement .all sects of islam are following the prophet saying but of course they have some different beliefs which each sects has different beliefs which prove it to prophet saying and Quran .surely which one of them are following exactly islam instrument.all sects have common Allah and prophet and the book .unfortunately there are some sects which have false beliefe of islam and killing shia and even sunni followers or other un islamic religion in order to accept power or poltical issue.

Answer C3:

The difference between Sunnis and Shiites is a question of internal arrangement and religious hierarchy. Sunnis have a much more informal congregationalist approach and Shiites have a much more formal hierarchical system with the equivalents of bishops, archbishops, and patriarchs. The strength or "radicalness" of belief is determined to a much greater degree by any individual Sunni or Shiite congregation or its followers. On a personal level, those Muslims who value freedom, justice, equality, for all people, regardless of whether they are Sunni or Shiite, have a much lower likelihood of becoming radicals than those who believe that Islam should have a superior political position.

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Sunnis and Shiites disagree on who the true successors of the Prophet Muhammad are. The Sunni believe they were the first four caliphs, and the Shiites believe that they are Muhammad's blood relatives. Also, they believe that Hazrat Ali (the forth caliph) was supposed to be the fist however, Hazrat Abubakr, Hazrat Umar Farooq and Hazrat Uthman cheated. Some Shias flagellate themselves to show the pain that Hazrat Ali was subjected to, while Sunnis believe this is bad as the Shiites killed Hazrat Ali them self.

The basic beliefs in the five pillars of Islam are the same in both the sects.

Interestingly enough, Hazrat Ali RAu, had been an active advisor of Hazrat Abu Bakr RAU, Hazrat Umar RAU, and Hazrat Usman RAU. The real Uncle of the Prophet (SAW) Hazrat Abbas had been also the assistant of the firs three ightful Caliphs. There was no problem at that time.
Shia and Sunni are not fighting. but Wahhabi Muslims are fighting both shia and sunni.

shia and sunni have mainly conflict on Imamat (leadership).

shia say Imamat is one of 5 pillars of Islam and only God can select leader for people. but sunni say Imamat is not part of Islam and leader can be selected by people by any method like shura (for example for Abubakr) or by will of previous leader for example for Omar) or by people (for example for Ali).

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

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 refers to many verse of Quran like: "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) and there is no mention in Quran people have the right to select leader. and shura is not allowed to be used for selecting leader and prophet himself always selected leaders of wars and other leaders by command of God.

In Shia Islam Caliphs after prophet are 12 infallible Imams who have inherited divine knowledge of prophet.

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 guide not those who reject Faith)" is revealed at Ghadir day and is about declaring political and spiritual leadership of Ali S.A. 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 S.A. and said at Ghadir prophet only wanted to say Ali S.A. is my friend and no one should bother him.

Ali S.A. 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 S.A. and prophet said some sayings about Ali S.A. to solve conflicts and some sunni writers have mixed stories of missions of Ali S.A. 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 who were related to Kings have changed and deviated historical evidences about political leadership of Ali S.A. 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 all from sunni historical books by referring to 100,000 Sunni books and full reading of 10,000 sunni books. Allameh Amini is a famous Shia scholar and spent 40 years of his life in traveling 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 sunni books.

Shia doctrine have root in Battle Karbala.

When tragedy of Karbala happened most of Iranians understood there is two different interpret of Islam that both can not be true. so most of Iranians became shia and 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 Infallible are the only valid interpreters of Quran and sayings of them are from God because they are Representative of God in earth and they have inherited divine knowledge of prophet.

Shia believes 12th of them (Imam Mahdi S.A.) is alive and because people have killed all 11 Imams before him, he is in occultation like Jesus S.A. and will rise with Jesus S.A. when people become ready and want to accept his leadership. All 11 Imams have been killed and during their life they all have been in prison or under hard control of government to not have any political activity.

They never had enough serious followers to can get political power. Among them only the sixth Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq was relatively free (for transition of power between Umayyads and Abbasids) to have only scientific activities 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 seekers of knowledge. 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 occultation 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 and at least 1000 persons have had connection and talk with Mahdi during his occultation but Any one having relation with Mahdi S.A. should keep it secret and does not declare it in public until death.

Shia Islam is the A branch of Muslims that believe in Imamat as one of five pillars of Islam. Imamat means that based on Quran only God has the right to select the leader and no human even prophet SAWW has such a right. Imam (political leader) has divine knowledge of prophet SAWW from God and is the only human that can lead all humans to all be in welfare and can meet God. according to shia prophet declared 12 Imams for leadership of humans after his death but for some political reasons they never could lead humans and all of them were killed or poisoned for political reasons. according to shia 12th Imam is currently alive and by will of God has a long life and guides and protects real believers all over the world but he is in occultation untill people of world really want him as their leader and do not kill him like his 11 fathers who were Imams of their own times after prophet. according to shia granted from God, Imam has the power of controlling all the universe (miracle) and can perform any miracle and has knowledge of everything ( but still there are things that only God knows). but he use this power only when is needed to protect real believers and surviev of real Islam for truth seekers.

Human has freedom and beleiving in Shia Islam or Sunni Islam is a personal choice and according to Quran no compulsion should be in religion. every human is free claim one is better but it needs reasoning and evidence based on Quran and Hadith and authentic history. when prophet Muhammad SAWW died and Ali a.s was at funeral of prophet SAWW quickly a leader was elected while prophet SAWW was not still buried. and it was start of division between supporters of Ali a.s. and supporter of elected ruler.

They just got divided on the way the successor of the prophet (after his death) should be. some of top Arab tribe bosses at Saqifeh elected Abou Bakr to be the first Caliph after prophet Muhammad (PBUH) death and other Muslims were forced and even killed (for example سعد ابن عباده Saad Ib Ebadeh) to accept this ruler. Some like Ali a.s., Salman, Abuzar, Miqdad, Bilal,... disagreed this election. they believed that the successor should be Ali a.s. because God selected him as leader and not because he is relative of prophet SAWW. However, after the election of AbouBakr, they did not fight for power and Ali a.s helped the elected Caliph for survive of real Islam and to big enemies like Roman and Persian empires can not destroy Islam using civil war of Muslims. and always declared his disagreement with this election bu did not made civil war for power. The same scenario was repeated after election of Umar as the second Caliph by will of Abubakr and Othman as the third Caliph by election in a 6 persons meeting. when Muslims killed Uthman for his corruptions Ali a.s. was then elected as the fourth Caliph by majority of Muslims while he was not interested in power.

However, Sunnis and Shiites are two Islamic schools that differ in major (pillars of Islam) and minor issues. The world Imperialists know Islam is truth and if people know this they will lost power. so they try to make wars between Muslim groups to gain control on Muslim countries and on their resources. for example they bomb a shia mosque and tell in media that sunni did it and so on. The two main groups are Sunnis and Shiites. Both groups agree upon basic Islam pillars(unless Imamat (Islamic rules for political leadership)) and believe in same and only version of Quran and follow the sunnah of same prophet (PBUH), pray to same direction (facing Kaba in Makkah or Mecca in Saudi Arabia, go to same places on pilgrimage (or Hajj), and adhere to same Islam morals and ritual worships. Thier main differ is in Imamat.shia beleives based on Quran and Islam the only one who has the right to elect the leader is God and Muslims do not have such a right in Islam.

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.

Answer 1

Sunnis and Shiites share all the basic Islamic teachings and rules. They differ in some minor and side issues. Both Sunnis and Shiites are true Muslims who:

• Believe in same one God
• Believe in Prophet Muhammad (and all other God prophets; peace be upon them all) and his Sunnah (sayings and practices)
• Believe in Qur'an holy book (and other God holy books)
• Believe in the five pillars of Islam
• Perform the same Salat (praying) facing the same direction of Kaaba (Mecca)
• Perform thr same Hajj (pilgrimage) with same rituals
• Believe in the same Islam articles of faith

Answer 2

The similarity between the Shi'a and Sunni is that, both the sects accept the things that happened before the occasion of Ghadeer-e-Khum when Rasoolullaah (saws) appointed Maulana 'Ali (as) as his Wasi and Wali thereby decreed upon the people his love and acceptance. The things that happened before the death of Rasoolullaah (saws) are more or less common for both the main sects of Islaam, because the bifurcation in Islam tool place after his demise.

Answer 3

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 ).

Answer 4

Both are true Muslims who believe that Allah (God in English) is the one and only one God with no partner, no son, no father, no companion, no associate, and no resemblance and that Muhammad is his prophet and messenger to whom Qur'an was revealed by God reflecting God real words.

Other similarities are:

• Both believe in God Angels, all God prophets, all God holy book, the Day of Judgment, and destiny.
• Both believe in the five Pillars of Islam.
• Both face the direction of Kaaba when praying.
• Both could pray in any mosque; regardless the praying leader; is Sunni or Shiite.
• Both recite the same Qur'an without single letter difference.
• Both perform the same hajj rituals side by side.
• Both follow same Qur'an and prophet Muhammad teachings and morals.

Answer 5

They both revere Muhammad as the last of the Prophets, they both look to the Qur'an for guidance. They both worship Allah and keep the Five Pillars of Islam.

Answer 6

Both Sunnis and Shiites follow the same holy book Qur'an, practice the same 5 Islam pillars and same Islam major teachings, and pray facing the Same direction of Kaaba. No restriction for Shiites to pray together with Sunnis and to be led by a Shiite or a Sunni. They all believe in the oneness of God with no partner or son or father, in all God prophets, in all God holy books, in all God Angels, in the Day of Judgment, and in the destiny.
They are alike in all basic principles and fundamentals of Islam. They differ only on some side and historical issues. They are both true Muslims and believing in same God, same prophet, same holy book and same five Islam pillars and faith issues. Refer to question below.
Islam has 5 pillars. They are similar in 4 pillars of Islam and different in 1 pillar of Islam. unless political aspects of Islam (Imamat) other aspects are similar.
the sunni and shiites have similarities in the principles of religion such that both of them believing in the unity of God, prophecy and the day of resurrection in common. also they are similar in the some reasons of Islam such as consensus , trdition and the Holy book.
Islam(Sunni) was thought by the prophet Muhammad(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).Shias are a sect which claim to be Muslim. Shias changed alot of the teachings of the Prophet.Most of the Muslims consider the shias Non Muslims.
the five principles of religion as stated by shiism include:tawhid or belief in divine unity,nubuwwah or prophecy,maad or ressurrection,imamah or the immamate:belief in the imams as successors of the prophet and Adl or Divine justice.in the Three bsic principles -unity, prophecy and resurrection-Suunnism and shiism agree.it ts only in the other two that they differ.
the five prnciples of religion(Usul Al din) as stated by shiism include: tawhid or belief in divine unityy; nubuwwah or prophecy, Maad or resurrection; Imamah or the Imamate , belief in imams as successors of the prophet and Adl or divine justice. in the three basic principles -unity, prophecy, and resurrection-Shiism and Sunnism agree.
All Islam fundamentals are common for both Shiites and Suniis. refer to questions below.
The basic beliefs of both the Shias and the Sunnies are the same. They believe in the five pillars of Islam. They also believe in the life hereafter and the day of judgment. They worship the same Almighty Allah and believe in the finality of the holy Prophet SAW.
The basic beliefs of both the Shias and the Sunnies are the same. They believe in the five pillars of Islam. They also believe in the life hereafter and the day of judgment. They worship the same Almighty Allah and believe in the finality of the holy Prophet SAW.
Both groups used gunpowder weapons to establish extensive empires in the Middle East.