Sunni Shia Split Rough Draft Muhammad was a man born in Mecca in AD 570, becoming a trader in his late twenties and taking an interest to religion around the age of forty. It is believed that during prayer, Muhammad was visited by angel Gabriel, a messenger of the Lord who Muhammad realized was Allah. Muhammad began to proclaim that Allah was the only God; those who agreed with this were called Muslims and they formed a religion called Islam. The word of Muhammad as Prophet of Allah was sacred and was compiled into the Qu’ran, which became the Muslim holy book used for prayer and guidance. When Muhammad died in 632 without a formal heir, there was an immediate rush to find a practicing Muslim man to fill Muhammad’s role as political, religious, …show more content…
Just after the death of Muhammad, the Shia claimed that “the Prophet had designated Ali as his political successor and had imparted him the power of interpreting religious knowledge” . However, this could not be proven because at the time of Muhammad’s death, “Ali was busy with the Prophet’s burial”, therefore the role of caliph was assumed by an elected leader. This decision finalized the primary difference in Sunni-Shia belief- the “Shiites wanted the successor to be blood related to the Prophet; whereas Sunnis had different criteria for selection… Sunnis therefore elect their caliphs or leaders.” The three caliphs after Muhammad were Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthman, and although they were not blood related to the Prophet, they were acquainted and therefore no major conflict broke out between the Sunnis and Shiites at this time. During the rule of each of the caliphs, Ali remained neutral and “did not participate in any of the military expeditions of the first three caliphs”. The third caliph ‘Uthman had been assassinated and “In 650...they [Uthman’s opponents] asked Ali to be their leader” leaving the Shiites satisfied; one Sunni caliph from Jerusalem named Muawiyah became angry that Ali had not punished the assassins who took the life of ‘Uthman, and other Sunnis began rebelling. Ali’s second son, Hussein, and Muawiyah’s son Yazid I fueled the