Since the creation of the universe by God, religions have occupied a huge role of human life. Through out history, humans have adopted or embraced different faiths. Those faiths are sometimes rooted from their ancestors, or sometimes the people are being forced to accept them due to the fact that their rulers are follower of those religions. Religions in general are based on a combination of different thoughts, beliefs, and books. Islam is one those religions which has had different movements and branches. Those branches differ from one to another due to various causes. One reason is that followers of a specific branch interpret the Quran to a different meaning that may slightly change how those followers may act within this religion. Another cause that has a great impact on why those groups believe differently from the other groups who follow the same faith is the historical background of such an event that may happen in the past or the future that caused an alteration, or caused a separation to create a new sector within the religion. Shi’a and Sunni are the two largest branches of Islam. Each one of them has their reasoning and sources from the Quran and the tradition of the prophet Muhammad why they are unique from each other. In this paper, I am going to provide an introduction of the Shi’a branch and the concept of Imamate, why the Shi’a believe Ali is the successor after the prophet Muhammad and I will provide a comparison of the verses from the Quran how each those verses are interpreted differently in each sector to support their point of views.
The Shi’a is the second largest group in Islam after the Sunni sector. According to Dr. Sullivan in his article “Who Are The Shia”, the Shi’a’s population is 150 million Shi’a M...
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... issues between the sectors. The benefit of this is that the Islamic world is beginning to understand that they are weak nations due to the separation and the useless argument between whose is right or wrong. In my opinion, this is a very fundamental change within the Muslims to begin to make the unity of the Islamic nations.
Works Cited
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In conclusion I would like to comment on a couple of things. First of all the Shiism makes up 10 percent and Sunnism makes up the other 90 percent of the Muslim religion. Second of all the Shiites and Sunnis both are closely related, but have many differences. The two religions are both very complicated and difficult to understand. I hope after reading this paper you have learned a little more about both.
People who practice the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam collectively comprise over one half of the world’s population, and while disparities between these three religions are widely spread and politicized, the similarities between their religious texts outweigh their differences. A crucial similarity between these three religions is their view on Abraham as their spiritual patriarch (lecture). The Koran makes use of both the Tanakh and the New Testament, and while minor differences exist between these texts, the perspectives they share are far more significant. The Koran retains many of the core ideas found in the Tanakh and the New Testament, specifically in regards to the perception of Abraham, the status of God, and the role of women. Any religious text can be interpreted in any number of ways, and while it is easy to pull apart texts of different faiths and dissect the differences, finding common ground and similarities is arguably more important.
The fights among Sunni and Shia or Shiite Muslims has been a historical mastery that covered by political authorities. These authorities want to keep up the huge split among Muslims for politician reasons and minor disagreements of Islamic understanding. Therefore, the whole world notes the conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslim which have caused the death of millions sine the begging of the conflict.
In the investigation of Islam, the five pillars of Islam provide a glimpse of the life and obligations of the Muslim. The main pillars include confession, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and pilgrimage. This essay will provide a brief overview of the pillars, how prayer is lived out in an individual Muslims life, and how Christians assimilate to Muslim culture in Saudi Arabia.
Thesis: The Sunni and Shia ideology in terms of the concept of imamate, their believe on al-Quran and Hadith and the successor of the leadership after the death of the prophet Muhammad
Hermansen, M. 2000. “Hybrid Identity Formations in Muslim America: The Case of American Sufi Movements.” The Muslim World 90: 158–197.
The Shia branch of the Muslim religion only accounts for about 15% of the total population of Muslims in the world. Shiism has the most influence in the contemporary world especially in Iran where the population is nearly 90% Muslim. The Shias revere a succession of Scholars known as Imams. The Imam has been regarded as both the political and spiritual leader. Although the two branches agree on many of the doctrinal and ritual matters, the Shia holds the Imams and saints in very high regard. The ones ...
Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.
Ludwig, P. (1999). Iranian Nation and Islamic Revolutionary Ideology. Die Welt des islams. 39(2). 183-217.
The continuous military defeats of the Arab countries against Israel (1948, 1967, and 1973) have caused a heavy burden in the psychology of the Arab Muslims. These defeats confirmed the loss of Muslim power. This led to abandoning the idea of secularism and going back towards the commitment to Islam to regain the former ...
The Islamic tradition, as reflected in Naguib Mahfouz’s Zaabalawi, has over the course of history had an incredible impact on Arab culture. In Mahfouz’s time, Islamic practices combined with their political relevance proved a source of both great power and woe in Middle Eastern countries. As alluded to in Zaabalawi, Mahfouz asserts the fact that not all Muslims attain religious fulfillment through this common tradition, and other methods outside the scope of Islam may be necessary in true spiritual understanding.
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