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Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest religious denomination for any religion in the world and composes roughly 85% of all Muslims. Sunni Islam is sometimes referred to as the orthodox version of Islam. The word "Sunni" comes from the term Sunnah (Arabic: سنة), which refers to the collected wisdom of Prophet Muhammad's sayings and actions as recorded in the Hadith and the Sirat an-Nabi.
586 Questions
Why do the Sunnis and Shiites not get along?
They get along but Slafi Muslims (like ISIS, Al-Qaede, Wahhabis,...) do not get along with both Shia and Sunni Muslims. they want to make war between Shia and Sunni and media propaganda shows that it is Shia/Sunni war. for example in Iran Shia and Sunni are living in peace and pray at common mosques. but ISIS is a different matter. it is managed by Israel to "Divide and Rule" Muslims.
How did the issue of heredity cause the division of Islam into sunni and shiite Muslims?
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.
Disagreements over Succession after Mohammed's death. The Muslim community was united while Mohammed was the leader of this community. Most Muslims hold, however, that he never specifically chose a successor to his leadership. There was a minority in the community that supported the candidacy of 'Ali, the Prophet's son-in-law, this political faction became known as the "Supporters of 'Ali" which in Arabic is Shiat 'Ali (where the modern term "Shiite" comes from). They derived their support from specific hadiths and events that they claimed showed that God had revealed to Mohammed that 'Ali would succeed him. The majority of Muslims held that these hadiths and events showed nothing more than that 'Ali was very pious, something they did not deny. Therefore they gave power to the man who was Mohammed's second-in-command and father-in-law Abu Bakr. This majority were called the People of the Customs [of the Prophet] which in Arabic is Ahl Sunna (from where the modern term "Sunni" comes from.)
Are there more sunni or shia in the world today?
Sunnis. By FAR. But its ridiculous that muslims are fighting others based on minor differences in belief. I know its hard to believe. HAHA Get it? I know it was a lame joke lol
Salam
Who is more radical sunnis or shiites?
"Radical-ness" operates entirely separately from the Sunni-Shiite divide. There are radical Sunnis, like Islamic State, al-Qaeda, Jubhat an-Nusra, Salafists, the Saudi Government and Hamas. There are radical Shiites, like the Iranian government, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Jaysh al-Mahdi, and Asa'ib al-Haqq. Conversely, there are Liberal Muslims and Conservative-but-Gentle Muslims coming from both traditions. This is because the divide between Sunnis and Shiites concerns who has the right to lead the Islamic World more than some doctrinal difference in behavior.
Was Uthman ibn Affan a sunni or a shiite?
He was Sunni(or ahlus sunna wal jama'ah).Shiites curse and swear him.
What is the difference between Shi'ite views of Imam and the Sunni view of Caliph?
no especial difference.
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.
How did the Shiite and Sunni Muslims break apart from each other?
the issue that divied them was they developed differences
How does the split between the sunnis and shiites affect mondern society?
Muslim scholars, specifically the ones who have dedicated their lives to the study and memorization of the Koran, the study and memorization of the Hadith, have long sought a reconciliation between the two sides, blaming that major split for overall Muslim disunity. Of course the problem with that view is that there is more to Muslim disunity than just that split; Persians hate Arabs, Arabs hate Persians, poor Arabs hate oil rich Arabs, Arabs of the Arabian peninsula, see Arabs of north Africa as "Haj trash," and, overall, Arabs regard black Muslims as barely better than animals, treating with more respect white Christians or secularists from Europe, than they do black Muslims. I was a Muslim myself, I witnessed that racism first hand. Except for the most devout Muslims, the ones who have large chunks of the Koran memorized, the majority of Arabs are very racist. As a general rule within a Muslim temple, I observed, that the more of the Koran a Muslim had memorized, whatever his background was, the nicer they were.
Imam Ali, the ancestor to the modern day King Abdullah of Jordan, was in fact murdered by Kharijites, he was not murdered by Sunni. The Kharijite sect, believed that the Caliph, or holder of power, should be a man of religious merit, e.g. they had to have the Koran and Hadith memorized, as well as spent a good five years engaged in Jyhad (traditional, not terrorist Jyhad). Additionally, they had to posses natural leadership qualities. What would become the Sunni, wanted to follow Arab tribal conventions, that is, in a pseudo democratic manner, elect the most able leader to be Caliph. What would become the Shia, felt that only descendants of Muhamad should hold power, be Caliphs, the problem the Kharijites had with that, is that, far as I know, although he knew vast chunks of the Koran, actually scratch that if he was an Imam he knew all of it, although he knew the Koran, Imam Ali was not seen as an ideal man to be Caliph, the Kharijites felt he did not posses the moral character for the job, so they killed him. Islam therefore split, more because of politics, than faith. See, the Koran used in Iran, the defacto heartland of Shia Islam, is identical to the Koran used in the Arabian peninsula. What is difference in Shia Islam, are the political views, who should be ruler, and that "who" has to be a descendant of Muhamad. Far as the Hadith, and the Koran itself, those are all identical though, far as I know. Actually, except for the Sufis, Islam is identical all around, in every sect, the thing separating them, is politics.
Muslim scholars and clerics have tried to make the argument, that political squabble keeps everyone in a state of disunity, moreover they attempt to point out the fact, that it is no longer the 9th through 11th centuries, the world is different now. Although democracy was in fact "invented" in the near east, albeit a crude form of it among the Beduin, to use old Beduin conventions to elect a ruler, just isn't practical. Among the Beduin of the deserts of Arabia, a Sheikh was elected in accordance to leadership qualities, and they did not always come from the children of the previous one. In fact most of the time they didn't. Also, votes where never cast; men who had wives and families got together, and by mutual agreement, a sheikh would be elected, that is why I am making an argument here that democracy was in fact "invented" in the middle east, or, in all reality, it has always existed, because other primitive cultures did the same thing as the ancient Beduin. The way it was done during the early days of Islam, was that powerful men, wealthy men, the heads of large clans, the Sheikhs if you will, would get together and from among themselves, by mutual agreement, a Caliph would be chosen.
In the old Arab power hierarchy within a society, slaves where at the very bottom, during Islamic times, above them, were Jews, and above Jews, were horses, who were considered more valuable, above the horses, were kids born to concubines, above them, were the concubines/slave girls, above them, where any female children born to actual wives, not just concubines, above them were wives, above wives were sons, and of course the head honcho of a household was the father. The father of the family in turn, answered to the Sheikh, and the Sheikh, answered to the Caliph. A man who was the head of a household, no matter how poor he was, if he was taking care of a family, his opinion counted regarding who would be Sheikh. Young men with no wives, were not allowed in such tribal councils, because in Arab society if you are not married, and raising a family, you are not considered a man. Again Arab society is very stratified; also in the same way single young men are below married men, unmarried girls, are similarly below married mothers. Also, yes, its true, in an Arab household, the father's word is law.
The heads of families would get together in a tribal council, to elect a Sheikh, usually, the man considered wisest, most capable and of course strongest among them, the most charismatic one. Once that Sheikh was elected, said Sheikh would be invited to an even more exclusive, Sheikh's only council, were from among that group of Sheikhs, there would be a elected a Caliph, or holder of power. Even higher than that I believe, from among the Caliphs, was elected a Sultan. Although I could have it backwards; I believe Sheikhs may have in fact elected a Sultan, and Sultans in turn, from across the Muslim empire, elected a Caliph. I get confused because, Spain was called a Caliphate, but the Sultan was in Baghdad, so I am thinking the Sultan is the one who is more powerful in this system. Sheikh means exactly that "chief." Strangely enough, even though its an Arab word, it does have some similarity pronunciation wise with the word "chief." The word Caliph means "holder of power" and Sultan I believe means "Supreme Ruler." The daughter, and pre pubescent son, answered to the mother. The mother, in the father's absence, answered to the oldest son. The oldest son, as well as everyone else in the household, answered to the father, the father, to the Sheikh, the Sheikh to the Caliph, and the Caliph to the Sultan, and the Sultan, answered only to God.
Because Arab countries number a total of 300 million, such a method would just not be practical, that is why clerics, scholars, and political analysts urge the larger Muslim world to get over it already; yes, the death of Ali was tragic, it was sad, it was horrible, it was disgusting, it was bloody, but it was also 1,300 years ago. Naturally, many in the world of Islam see the division between Sunni and Shia, to be somewhat ridiculous and why they are crying "enough already!" The effect is has had on modern society, answering the question most directly, has been that the unnecessary conflict between Muslims, has led to corruption and waste. Disunity is what weakened the world of Islam in the first place, and it keeps it weak now. Also, indeed, the Muslim military machine was in fact never truly defeated by the Christian world, it was Muslims who defeated themselves.
How many wars were there between shi'a and sunni?
no war.
Shia and Sunni have mostly same beliefs and both believe in fundamental beliefs of Islam. Today there is up to 260 sects in Islam that are in two main categories of shia and sunni.
the conflict of shia and sunni has been always amplified by world Imperialism to prevent Islam from gaining power.
Shia believes in Allah, prophet and all fundamentals of Islam.
Shia pray 5 times a day but usually do the 2, 3 and 4, 5 pray together and so may seem they do only 3 pray a day. there is some differences in details of pray like genuflect (for shia should be on a stone or part of earth and for sunni on carpet or floor ).
shia believe after death of prophet God selected the successive for prophet who is the political leader of Muslim community and people can not and does not the right to selected it.
Shia believes the Caliph (Representative of God in earth) is selected only by God and can not be selected by people because God said in Koran: "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority" (Quran 2:30) or "O David! We did indeed make thee a vicegerent on earth" (Quran 38:26) also other verses.
Shia believes such verses means only God can select an Islamic political leader (Caliph).
In Shia Islam Caliphs after prophet are 12 Imams and all of them are the same and have no mistake and have the knowledge of everything (not absolute knowledge like knowledge of God) and they hear all sayings and even thinks of all humans after even after their death by permission of God and they are intermediates between God and human Shia Muslims always support them and forgive their lives for them.
Shia Muslims do not consider selection of Abubakr as Caliph by people valid because God did not select him. They believe God ordered prophet to declare people that Ali is selected as successor of prophet and prophet did this mission many times during his prophet-hood and mainly in Ghadir event after last Hajj of his life at a 3-4 hour speech in front of 120,000 Muslims at Ghadir in hot desert after 2 days stop of long caravan for gathering and 3 days after speech for congratulations and homage of Muslims to Ali. Islam at that time had high power in world and Some companions had high interest in leadership position after prophet. Muslims knew that it is the final Hajj of prophet (predicted by prophet) and were going along with prophet to hear what prophet says at end of his life. Shia believes Ghadir event is the most important event of Islam and is mentioned in Koran in many verses like "Today" (اليوم) in verse 5:3 of Quran is the day of Ghadir. Or Verse 5:67 (O Messenger! proclaim the (message) which hath been sent to thee from thy Lord. If thou didst not, thou wouldst not have fulfilled and proclaimed His mission. And Allah will defend thee from men (who mean mischief). For Allah guideth not those who reject Faith) is revealed at Ghadir day and is about declaring political leadership of Ali after prophet.
Both Sunni and Shia Muslims accept happening of Ghadir event But different interpret. Some Sunni writers tried to reject the event of Ghadir as declare of leadership of Ali and said at Ghadir prophet only wanted to say Ali is my friend and no one should bother him. Ali had 3 different missions to Yemen by prophet during 10 years and in 2 of them some companions of prophet had some conflicts with Ali and and prophet said some sayings about Ali to solve conflicts and some sunni writers have mixed stories of missions of Ali to Yemen with story of Ghadir to prove Ghadir event is not about Leadership of Ali and is not important.
Shia scholars believe some Sunni writers have changed and deviated historical evidences about political leadership of Ali in old historical books and republished them to destroy evidences of leadership of Ali from old Sunni books.
The famous Shia book Al-Ghadir (الغدير) by Allameh Amini is a collection of evidences and proofs for Ghadir Events written after referring to 100,000 Sunni books and full reading of 10,000 sunny books. Allameh Amini is a famous Shia scholar and spent 40 years of his life in travelling to access original old Sunni books in libraries in different countries to write this 20 volume book only from Sunni books and not using any Shia book. Some Sunni scholars tried to reply this book but then said if we want to reply this book we should first destroy all books of ourselves.
Shia doctrine have root in Karbala tragedy. When tragedy of Karbala happened most of Iranians understood there is two different kinds of Islam and after happening of Karbala tragedy most of Iranians became followers of "Ahl al-Bayt" and forgive their lives for them like what they did in Iranian Revolution and Iran-Iraq War. Shia Muslims have at least 120,000 Hadith (saying) from The Fourteen Infallibles that is the base of Shia Islam along with Quran. Shia believes according to " Hadith of the two weighty things" The Fourteen Infallibles are the only valid interpreters of Quran and sayings of them are from God because they are Representative of God in earth and they do not say anything from themselves. Shia believes 12th of them (Mahdi) is alive and because people have killed all 11 Imams before him, he is in hide like Jesus and will come out of hide toghether with Jesus when people become ready and want to accept his leadership. All 11 Imams have been killed and during their life thy all have been in prison or under hard control of government to not have any political action. They never had enough serious followers to can get political power. Among them only the sixth Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq was relatively free in his life to have only scientific activities (but banned from any political action) and so only he is known in west because he established university and had students from all over the world. Westerns know him as a polymath: an astronomer, alchemist, Imam, Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian, writer, philosopher, physician, physicist and scientist. He was also the teacher of the famous chemist, Jābir ibn Hayyān (Geber), and of Abū Ḥanīfa, the founder of the Hanafi school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He never wanted be a famous man and only shared his knowledge with who wanted to learn. Some researchers consider his teachings the root cause of renaissance.
Sunni Muslims also accept Mahdi and his worldwide leadership as Caliph of God in earth at end of world. There is a famous Hadith from prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that Mahdi at hide is like sun behind cloud, he is hidden from people but people receive his benefits. Shia Muslims say some faithful believers have connection with Mahdi and use his knowledge. Shia Muslims believe that it is proved at least 1000 persons have had connection and talk with Mahdi during his hide period but Any one having relation with Mahdi keep it and does not declare it in public until is alive.
What are Sunni and Shiites always fighting about and why can't they just get over it?
Answer 1
Mohammad died without a son to lead Islam. Some Muslims felt his warrior followers were qualified to become Islamic leaders known as Caliphs. These warrior following Muslims became known as Sunnis. Others felt Islamic leaders should be from Mohammad's family. They supported his son-in-law, grandchildren, etc. These family members are known as Shiites.
Unless one side or the other dies off from the fighting, there seems to be no solution.
Answer 2
The Sunni-Shiite Split
The main reason for the split here was: Disagreements over Succession after Mohammed's death.
The Muslim community was united while Mohammed was the leader of this community. Most Muslims hold, however, that he never specifically chose a successor to his leadership. There was a minority in the community that supported the candidacy of 'Ali, the Prophet's son-in-law, this political faction became known as the "Supporters of 'Ali" which in Arabic is Shiat 'Ali (where the modern term "Shiite" comes from). They derived their support from specific hadiths and events that they claimed showed that God had revealed to Mohammed that 'Ali would succeed him. The majority of Muslims held that these hadiths and events showed nothing more than that 'Ali was very pious, something they did not deny. Therefore they gave power to the man who was Mohammed's second-in-command and father-in-law Abu Bakr. This majority were called the People of the Customs [of the Prophet] which in Arabic is Ahl Sunna (from where the modern term "Sunni" comes from.)
Why Can't They Just Get Over It?
The Divisions between Sunnis and Shiites have persisted for the same reason that the divisions between Catholics and Orthodox Christians have persisted. Once a religious sectarian division comes into existence it is impossible to theologically heal it unless at least one side concedes that its position on the theological issues that the two sects disagree on is wrong.
However, since Catholics and Orthodox Christians have stopped killing each other and cursing each other as heretics for the last 400 years or so, it begs the question as two why Sunnis and Shiites continue to do this. (Note that the majority of Sunnis and Shiites do not feel this way, but a large vocal minority in each camp still do.) There are several reasons for this animosity.
1) Historical Grievances: The primary reason this division persists is that there has never been an atonement by either side for the pain and persecution that it has suffered when the other was in power over a given territory. Although, Shiites endured more persecution at the hands of Sunnis than the reverse, this is not to say that Sunnis have not endured persecution at Shiite hands. Both groups remain defiant that since they have the moral high-ground as granted from their faith, their actions in repressing the other sect, torturing its adherents, and murdering its leaders was progress towards removing the heresy. Compare this to the Catholics, who have apologized for the Rape of Byzantium, which was huge historical grievance between them and the Orthodox.
2) Ethnic Identities: In many countries, especially Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, people identify "ethnically" by their sect of religion. Therefore saying somebody is Shiite in Iraq is similar to how people view being Irish-American or Japanese-American in the United States. It marks you socially and it determines who your friends are, who you marry, what jobs you take, who you love, who you despise, etc. As a result, whenever conflict has broken out, each religious group comes together to defend its people's interests. This results in political and social hatred of the other religion in addition to any theological issues.
3) Rumors of the Other's Theology: Some Sunnis think that Shiites are deluded into believing that 'Ali was a second prophet, which would violate Mohammed being the final capstone of the Prophets, a huge theological issue. Some Shiites believe that Sunnis were paid off to accept the three Rightly-Guided Caliphs before 'Ali and that Sunni Islam was therefore corrupt and ineligible to continue the Islamic tradition. Both have alleged the other was deceived by Jews, which says more about how Muslims view Jews than each other. Of course, both of these are mis-characterizations of the actual theologies of these two sects, but the point remains that as long as these problematic rumors exist, the two sides cannot reconcile.
4) Approaches to Government: Ever since the abolition of the Caliphate in 1936, Sunni Islam has been leaderless and there has come to be an understanding that religion does not participate in actual governance. (This is not a separation of church and state since the two can cooperate closely, but this prevents direct theocracy.) Shiites, on the other hand, have religious leaders called Ayatollahs who do attempt to have terrestrial authority and in Iran have actually achieved it.
Answer 3
The Islamic religion was founded by Muhammad 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--Muhammad'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 Muhammad.
The Shi'ites call these successors Imams. Shi'ites do not accept that the Imam is to be only a political leader but they believe that they are literally 'manifestations of God', they are sinless, infallible and the bringers of true understanding to all humanity. They are referred to within the Shi'ite tradition as being masum, that is, free from error or sin.
The last Imam, the Mahdi, is believed not to have died but to be in hiding and Shi'ites believe that he will appear at the end of time in order to bring about the victory of the Shi'a faith (see third paragraph below).
The main groups under the Shi'ite umbrella are the Zaydiyyah or Fivers, the Isma'iliyyah or Seveners and the Imamiyyah or Twelvers. The numbers five, seven and twelve refer to the last authorised interpreter of the law or Imam that each group accepts. Of the three the Twelvers are the biggest & it was in 931 that the Twelfth Imam disappeared.
This was a seminal event in the history of these Shi'ite Muslims. According to R. Scott Appleby, a professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, "Shi'ite Muslims, who are concentrated in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, [believe they] had suffered the loss of divinely guided political leadership" at the time of the Imam's disappearance. Not "until the ascendancy of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1978" did they believe that they had once again begun to live under the authority of a legitimate religious figure.
The other important concept in Shi'ite Islam concerning the Imam (regardless of whether he was the Fifth, the Seventh or the Twelfth) is that he will return. He is called the Mahdi and will bring about the Kingdom of God on earth after an apocalyptic battle between the forces of Islam and the rest of the world. [Note that other groups descended from Shi'ia Islam such as the Babis and Baha'is define the 'battle at the end of time' as a symbolic or metaphysical one rather than an actual battle.]
A useful site for information on the various groups is the Overview of World Religions site hosted by St Martin's College in the UK.
Answer 1
They don't necessarily HATE them (though, yes, some do); mainly they just look down on them because they're a minority within Islam. It's a very old human story: whoever is sufficiently different is bad.
The split goes back to the question of who was going to be the Top Muslim after Mohammed died. Most Muslims thought it should be a merit decision (which is to say, the people who would do the deciding were themselves in the running) whereas the friends of Mohammed's son-in-law Ali, thought it should stay in the family. The latter became the Shiites (the partisans of Ali), while the former became the Sunni, the traditionalists.
Answer 2
Hate is mostly from Wahhabi groups like Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Ansar,... toward shia Muslims. it is not from all sunni Muslims. please refer to question below:
Answer 3
It is not true that there is hatred between Sunnis and Shiites. They are both Muslims believing in same God, same holy book Qur'an, same God prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them), praying to same direction, going for pilgrimage (hajj) to same places and doing same rituals, and fasting same month of Ramadan. Accordingly, the relations between Sunnis and Shiites are normal relations with no hatred, conflicts, or clashes.
Answer 4
There is no universal conflict between Sunnis and Shiites and the majority of Sunnis bear no ill will towards the Shiites. However, a significant minority do and where it occurs, it occurs for the following reasons:
1) Historical Grievances: Although, Shiites endured more persecution at the hands of Sunnis than the reverse, this is not to say that Sunnis have not endured persecution at Shiite hands. Both groups remain defiant that since they have the moral high-ground as granted from their faith, their actions in repressing the other sect, torturing its adherents, and murdering its leaders was progress towards removing the heresy.
2) Ethnic Identities: In many countries, especially Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, people identify "ethnically" by their sect of religion. Therefore saying somebody is Shiite in Iraq is similar to how people view being Irish-American or Japanese-American in the United States. It marks you socially and it determines who your friends are, who you marry, what jobs you take, who you love, who you despise, etc. As a result, whenever conflict has broken out, each religious group comes together to defend its people's interests. This results in political and social hatred of the other religion in addition to any theological issues.
3) Rumors of the Other's Theology: Some Sunnis think that Shiites are deluded into believing that 'Ali was a second prophet, which would violate Mohammed being the final capstone of the Prophets, a huge theological issue. Some Shiites believe that Sunnis were paid off to accept the three Rightly-Guided Caliphs before 'Ali and that Sunni Islam was therefore corrupt and ineligible to continue the Islamic tradition. Both have alleged the other was deceived by Jews, which says more about how Muslims view Jews than each other. Of course, both of these are mis-characterizations of the actual theologies of these two sects, but the point remains that as long as these problematic rumors exist, the two sides cannot reconcile.
4) Approaches to Government: Ever since the abolition of the Caliphate in 1936, Sunni Islam has been leaderless and there has come to be an understanding that religion does not participate in actual governance. Saudi Arabia is an example of this policy where the Wahhabi Clerics do not have direct power, but maintain a great amount of influence in the decisions. (This is not a separation of church and state since the two can cooperate closely, but this prevents direct theocracy.) Shiites, on the other hand, have religious leaders called Imams (infallibles Imams) and Ayatollahs (at occultaion of current Imam) who do attempt to have terrestrial authority and in Iran have actually achieved it. This has led to animosity over who has the right to govern and how they should do so.
What issues divided Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims?
The Sunni's believe after Muhammad's death, he left his followers with his book Quran and the culture. They also had 3 ''khalifahs'' after Muhammad's death. The Shiites believe after Muhammad's death, he left his followers with his book Quran and another follower that gave guidance, Imam Ali.
That was later on that the shiites formed the doctrine of Imamat. Hazrat Ali (RAU) expressed his pact of obedience (BA"AT) to the three Rightful Caliphs and acted as an active counsel/advisor to them. He was the Fourth Rightful Caliph. He never claimed that the first three were not Rightful Caliphs. He was not a coward to keep this in his heart and serve the first three rightful Caliphs.
What are political differences between Sunnis and Shiites?
the political Method of the Selection of the Caliph by vote and its disagreement with the shiite view
shiism believes that the divine law of Islam or Shariah , whose substance is found in the book of God and in the tradition or Sunnah of the Holy Prophet , will remain valid to the day of judgment and can never, or nor will ever , be altered. A govenment which really is Islamic cannot, under any pretext , refuse completely to carry out the shariah's injunction. the only duty of an Islamic government is to make decisions by consultation within the limits set by Shariah and in accordance with the demands of the moment.
the vow of allegiance to Abu-BAkr at Saqifah, was motivated at least in part by political considerations and the incident described in the hadith of "INK and Paper" which occurred during the last days of the illness of the Holy prophet reveal the fact that those who directed and backed the movement to choose the caliph through the process of election believed that the book of God should be preserved in the form of constitution . they emphasized the Holy book and paid much less attention to the words of the Holy prophet as an immutable source of the teaching of islam. they seems to have accepted the modification of the certain Aspects of islamic Teachings concerning government to suit the conditions of the moment and for the sake of the general welfare.
What was the main disagreement between sunni and shi'a Muslims during the rule of ali?
The main reason for the split here was: Disagreements over Succession after Mohammed's death.
The Muslim community was united while Mohammed was the leader of this community. Most Muslims hold, however, that he never specifically chose a successor to his leadership. There was a minority in the community that supported the candidacy of 'Ali, the Prophet's son-in-law, this political faction became known as the "Supporters of 'Ali" which in Arabic is Shiat 'Ali (where the modern term "Shiite" comes from). They derived their support from specific hadiths and events that they claimed showed that God had revealed to Mohammed that 'Ali would succeed him. The majority of Muslims held that these hadiths and events showed nothing more than that 'Ali was very pious, something they did not deny. Therefore they gave power to the man who was Mohammed's second-in-command and father-in-law Abu Bakr. This majority were called the People of the Customs [of the Prophet] which in Arabic is Ahl Sunna (from where the modern term "Sunni" comes from.)
Islam Sunni Shi'ite statistics in Saudi Arabia?
In Saudi Arabia, there are 24,949,000 Muslims, and about 85% are Sunnis, 15% are Shi'as.
No, he believed there was only one group of muslims and thats it.
How can a real accord be reached between Shia and Sunni Muslims?
To answer this question, one must first understand the fundamental differences or disagreements between the two sects. There are many sources for this so I will not go into great detail.
Typically what causes the most anamosity between Shia and Sunni Muslims is an argument over certain historical figures. The Shia Muslims have a deep set hatred for the first three Caliphs, respectively Abu Bakr, Umar and Usman, as well as others. The Sunni Muslims have a great love for these men, and are understandably offended by any disrespect shown to them. Sunni Muslims view them as faithful men who were loyal to the prophet.
Shia Muslims view these figures as the enemies of God and His prophet, and so it makes sense that they do not have a favourable view of any who would speak well of the first three Caliphs.
The Sunni Muslims do not hold the 12 Imams in the same reverence as the Shia, but do not speak ill of them, or at least not openly.
So what we are essentially left with is a difference in historical accounts. At this point it would be useful to mention the major similarities between the two sects. They both believe in and love God, and love The Holy Kor'an and the Prophet. With respect to this, the most significant point of this discussion is made apparent. That is, regardless of which historical account is the most accurate, the fact remains that the Sunni revere the first three Caliphs because they believe they were good Muslims, and the Shia despise the same three Caliphs because they believe that they were against the prophet and were only Muslims by word and not by deed.
This shows that both sides hold their views out of love for God, Islam and the Prophet. So, fundamentally and in essence, there is no difference in principle between Shia and Sunni Muslims, and this must remain the focus.
What is the division of sunni and shiite muslims?
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.
Do Sunnis and Shiites comprise two factions within a Buddhism b Hinduism c Islam or d Christianity?
the shiite and sunni comprised two factions within Islam religion.
Who were the sunnis in history?
Those who rejected the Leadership of Imam Ali a.s. as the first Caliph after death of prophet Muhammad SAWW.
What is the correct usage of a Sunni Indian woman's name surname after her divorce?
Actually as per Islamic law, even after marriage a women's surname should not change. It should either be her father's name or her family name But in India like in most other countries, after marriage a women adopt's her husbands name or her husbands family name. If she were to be divorced, she would again use her father's name or her family name.
Are the Sunni or Shiite Iranians?
not all of them. some of Iranians are shiites and some of them are sunnis. besides some of sunis are not Iranians and some of the shiites are not iranian.
However, the overwhelming majority of Iranians are Shiites.
How long have the Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims been fighting?
They have been in disagreement since the death of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
