“There is no god but god, and muhammad is the prophet of god.” these words are the islamic statement of faith. Islam is the second of the largest religions in the world, with over 1.3 billion followers. It is a monotheistic faith based on revelations received by the Prophet Muhammad in 7th-century in Mecca (Saudi Arabia). In Arabic the word islam means “submission”, reflecting the faith central idea of submitting to the will of allah (god). followers of islam are called muslims and the islamic holy text is the Quran. The major split within islam is between the Sunni and Shia muslims. the division between muslim sects is intensely related to Islamic history. The debate and split is revolved around key historical figures and deep beliefs, all …show more content…
The division between Sunni and Shia is dated way back to the death of the prophet Muhammad when his followers were faced with the dispute of who would be his successor as the leader of the Muslim people. Shiites are those who followed Ali, the closest relative of Muhammad, and believe him to be as Muhammad's successor. The Shi'ites believe that shortly before his death, the Prophet Muhammad nominated his cousin and son in law Ali publicly, to be his successor. According to Shi'ites, in opposite to what the wishes of the Prophet were, the community came under the leadership of three of his Muhammad's companions. These three companions were Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman ibn Affan. Due to the assassination of Uthman, Ali himself was chosen as caliph. Not everyone accepted Ali's authority over the believers. Prior to that in 656 a rebellion led by A'isha, the daughter of Abu Bakr and wife of the Prophet, was defeated by Ali's supporters at the Battle of the Camel, in which took place near Basra (City in modern day Iraq). A second rebellion, led by Mu'awiyya of the Umayyad clan, reached a climax and still the conflict was unsettled. The conflict between Ali and Mu'awiyya was brought to conclusion in 661 when Ali was stabbed and killed in front of