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Differences And Similarities Between Sunni And Shia

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Making up nearly one third of the Abrahamic Faiths, Islam is practiced worldwide amongst a vast populous. Many people who do not practice Islam believe that all Islamic followers are the same; but as I conducted research to identify the distinctness between the main two types of Islam, Sunni and Shia, I can conclude that there are, in fact, differences and similarities between the two. Roughly 85% of Muslims are Sunni, and 15% are Shia; Sunni Muslims believed that Abu Bakr should be the first caliph, whereas Shia Muslims believed that Ali was the rightful heir to Islamic leadership. Although the Sunni and the Shia share many core beliefs and practices, the two sects disagree over certain interpretations of Islamic law and duty as handed down
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After the death of Muhammad in 632 CE, a rift occurred within the Islamic community. There was a vacancy for leadership and a question of who was qualified to fill it. At that time the companions of the Prophet were elected to be central leaders and were known as Caliphs. The way in which Caliphs were elected, and who succeeded them, is where the difference between Sunni and Shia begins.

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This article uses only two pictures. Although they have differences and are split up, in one of the pictures, they have all gathered to pray together. It also explains where Sunni and Shia Islam are concentrated. John Harvey is the author of this article. The authors purpose to write this article was to inform us on various ways Sunni and Shia Islam are different and how they came to have complications that led them to split up. .

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After the Islamic leader, Muhammad, died, there formed a huge divide around who was to take his place. This divide ended up in the formation of two opposing groups within Islam – the Sunni and the Shi’ites. War broke out between the Sunni and Shi’ites after a Shi’ite leader claimed the title of Imam and began to establish Shia rule throughout the Middle East. Unfortunately, the conflict between the Sunni and the Shi’ite is one that still goes on today. When Europeans were brought into the Middle East as advisors and trade partners to the Ottomans, the culture in that region changed further.

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Muhammad- In Islam too, there is division. 90% of the Muslim population is Sunnis, and the other 10% is Shiites. They both have dress codes, but the Shiites is much more strict than the Sunnis. For example, the Shiites believe that woman should always be completely covered in public.

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The division between Sunni and Shia Muslims is rooted in a disagreement over who should succeed the Prophet Muhammad as the leader of the Muslim community(3). The Shia Muslims believe that leadership should remain within Muhammad’s family, specifically through his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, and his descendants, who are known as the Imams (2,3). Shia Muslims believe Muhammad designated Ali as his successor, and look towards the Imam more as a spiritual leader to guide the Muslim community on the interpretations of the Quran and Islamic law (3,5). On the other hand, Sunni Muslims believe that the leader (caliph) should be determined by the Muslim community based on merit and qualifications, regardless of their bloodline (1). The Sunni Muslims

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1066 Words | 5 Pages

“The Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam encompass a wide spectrum of doctrine, opinion and schools of thought. The branches are in agreement on many aspects of Islam, but there are considerable disagreements within each” (Harney). A disagreement is that the Shiites consider Ali and subsequent leaders as imams. Sunnis regard imams as prayer leaders without any spiritual or political authority, a stark difference from Shiites who believe imams are a direct descendant of Muhammad. They believe in 12 imams, the last of which has vanished in Iraq after the murder of his father.

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1273 Words | 6 Pages

Both Sunni and Shia Muslims allocate the most frank Islamic beliefs and articles of faith. The contrasts amid these two main sub-groups inside Islam primarily stemmed not from divine contrasts, but governmental ones. Over the centuries, though, these governmental contrasts have spawned a number of fluctuating habits and positions that have come to hold a divine significance. The difference in Religious wise is a little aspects of divine existence have been altered and nowadays differ amid the two clusters of Muslims. It is vital to recall that even though these contrasts in opinion and exercise, Shia and Sunni Muslims allocate the main articles of Islamic belief and are believed by most to be brethren in faith.

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This caused two groups to from from Islam: the Shi’a and the Sunni. The Sunni makes up 85% of the Islamic religion. The Sunni’s, which mean tradition in Arabic,

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The Colors of Oz Countries play a major role in the in the novel, The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The colors symbolize the different countries of Oz & how they are related. The Blue of the East Munchkin Country, The Green of the Emerald City and the Yellow of the West Winkie Country. Silver plays a Major role to protect Dorothy on the journey to visit the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy 's journey begins in a Kansas cyclone and her house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East and kills her.

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After the Prophet by Lesley Hazleton is a narrative history that tells you about the cause of the split in between Muslims. The Sunnis and The Shias. Hazleton does this in three main chapters that circulate around the people that mainly cause the Sunni-Shia ordeal. Prophet Muhammad, Ali, and Hussein. When the Prophet Muhammad dies after an illness, his followers were at loss of an irreplaceable leader.

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These two sects are divided mainly over a disagreement over who should succeed Muhammad following his death. The Shia support Ali as a direct descent to Muhammad to lead. The Sunni followers value exceptional teachers to lead them. They also have differences over a few doctrines and how the Islam beliefs should be practiced in the modern world.

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First would be that of Shia Islam which has a theology known for their emphasis on Ali (the son-in-law of Muhammed) and their belief that the authority of Muhammed lives through his successors via their understanding of the law. Next would be that of Sunni Islam which gives a lesser role towards Ali and asserts that interpretation of the law varies and should be approached via consensus of Islamic scholars. Sufi Islam is a branch of Sunni Islam which adds in many mystical type notions into the theology such as the recognition of personal spirit guides. Meanwhile, the Islamic Wahhabism movement is a fundamentalist movement which is known for their opposition to change to Islamic teachings and their goal of restoring Islam to an earlier state. Thus we can see that while Islam is a singular religion so to speak, there certainly are many schools of thought within it with regards to how such diversity in theological thought has developed.

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1337 Words | 6 Pages

After the death of Prophet Muhammad, there were two distinct branches of Islam believers with differential views on who was the next true leader of Islam. These two branches evolved into the Sunnis and Shiites. The controversies of Muhammad’s successor between the two branches started to diverge over time from each other because of their pillars of faiths, practices and customs. The Diffen article declared many differences between the Sunni and Shiites, such as while the Shiites believed that the twelve Infallible Imams should lead, the Sunni believed the four rightly guided caliphs should(T., et.al). Both branches of Islamic followers believed that the other group did not practice the religion properly, and the leaders of each branch always fought against each other.

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861 Words | 4 Pages

In the early periods of the Empire, al-Mahdi’s, the founder of the Fatimid Empire, policy included complete tolerance towards non-Ismailis thus he “made no attempt to force Ismaili practices on an unwilling populace.” His stand against the forced conversion of his people is a clear sign of how he “developed an inclusive and tolerant policy which allowed other interpretations of Islam to be practiced alongside the official Shi’i Ismaili interpretation.” His regime provided security to those under his rule, and the fact that he was the first of the Fatimid Caliphs provided people with a positive outlook on the new Empire’s policies and

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2077 Words | 9 Pages

A. PREAMBLE The terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 has sparked intense curiosity and interest in the world especially the West to learn and investigate the religion of Islam. The Muslim people are portrayed as violent and barbaric, and Islam as oppressive and antithesis to human rights values. Thus, escalation of public opinion about Islam has encouraged debates and forums, and also stirred demonstrations and movements which have compelled the Muslims to speak out their minds and interpret and recast their texts viz. Quran and Sunnah of prophet Mohammad and even question and challenge the prevailing culture and practices, and domineering structures.

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