Sunni Vs Shiite Essay

After Muhammad died, many Muslims argued over who would rule and how they would be picked. The side of the Prophet’s friends argued for a single ruler as it would have been with a Prophet, but others argued that Muhammad should be succeeded by his closest male relative because it was thought special qualities were passed down through blood lines of descendants. The constant arguing and the election of Muhammad’s inexperienced young male relative led to the split into Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

The Sunni and Shiite Islamic groups followed their believed to be messenger of Allah is Muhammad. This central belief led to the adherence of the words of Muhammad, who they followed freely without conflict until his death. After Muhammad’s death, two

The beliefs of these two groups are different in many ways. One way Sunni Muslims differ from Shiite Muslims is their belief that heirs of the first four caliphs should be the religious leaders, and choosing Abu Bakr as their true successor of the prophet. These heirs ruled until the Ottoman Empire split. Contrary to this Shiite Muslims believe only the heir of the fourth Caliph Ali can be successors of Muhammad. The disappearance of the Shiites 12th Imam or successor of Muhammad was the last time the lived under a religious figure until the year of 1978 when Ayatollah Ruhollah came. The Shiites viewed Imam as the highest position and as a person who ruled as a political and religious figure. Unlike the Sunnis, who viewed their Imam as only a leader not for religious purposes. Another difference between the Sunni and Shiite is their method of prayer. Sunnis pray with their arms crossed and do five daily sessions of prayer whilst Shiites pray with their arms by their sides and do only three daily sessions of prayer. Another difference is their views on a Mahdi which means rightly guided one. Shiites believe their Mahdi has came but will return, this is contrary to the Sunnis who are still waiting for theirs. Despite their many differences, it is important to remember these two groups derived from the adherence to Muhammad which they recognized as a messenger of