After Muhammad’s death, all the followers of Muhammad were in confusion because they did not have the next Caliph (Meaning rightly guided leader) to lead the Muslim community. However,Muhammad’s closest companion, Abu bakr, was elected to be the first Caliph. He expanded the Muslim empire until his death in 634. Quran is the holy book for Muslims. Muslims live their life by following the Quran accordingly. Quran was originally written in Arabic in 7th century, and the book is made up of 114 chapters. The Quran was intended for the correction of the other sacred texts such as New and Old testament from Judaism and Christianity. The Quran is believed to be the most accurate and sacred book that God has ever written in the history. Quran contains …show more content…
Abu Bakr gained many supporters from the people in the Islamic community, however, not all believed he was a valid successor to Muhammad. These group of people believed that Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad’s first converter and adopted son was more fit to lead the community. The supporters of Abu Bakr and the Caliphs following Abu Bakr’s rule also believed that successors of the Islamic community should be annointed politically. This group of people soon became known as the Sunnis. The Sunnis today holds the majority of the Islamic population with nearly 80 percent of the muslim population. On the other hand, the people who believes Ali and those related to him should lead became known as the Shiites. As the years go by, many political as well as physical disputes have occurred between these groups of people. The disagreement between leadership is not all that differentiates these two sects. There are many key points that separates Sunni from Shiites. For instance, the belief of the twelve Imams by the Shiites. In Sunnis, Imam are just a name given to the people who often lead prayers in places such as mosques. They also believe that Muhammad was the last prophet and he has not anointed an actual caliph to the Islamic community. It is up to the people to decide who should be the caliph for
The first man, named Abu Bakr, many people believed he was a good candidate because he was an old friend and was one of the first ones to convert to Islam. Yet others believed that Ali Talib was the best choice because he was a cousin and a son-in-law to the prophet. The disputes between the two groups of people would lead to a split; the followers of Abu Bark became the Sunnis and the followers of Ali became the Shia. In the end, the majority of people decided to choose Abu Bark and he became Islam’s first caliph. Abu Bark was Muhammad’s caliph for only two years until he died; even though it was a short period of time, he accomplished big things.
At that point Shia and Sunni Muslims were separated in different directions. Sunni believed that the legitimate leaders of Islam are the leaders who ruled after Mohammed’s death (Abu Bakr- Umar- Othman- Ali). On the other hand Shia believed that Ali should’ve been the first leader of Islam after Mohammed’s death and the first three leaders just illegitimately took over Ali’s leadership. Ali had his leadership of Islamic world after Othman’s murder. Umayyah family were against Ali’s leadership and involved Ali of murdering Othman. Therefore, Ali had to fight his enemies over the first five years of his leadership.
Both Shia and Sunni are Muslims who practice five pillars of Islam and believe in the Quran. However, their main division is a political, and it began after the death of Prophet. Shia refused to accept the first three caliphs because they believe that Ali should have been recognized as the first legitimate caliph. Shia started to recognize and celebrate Ali as a Mohamed’s intended successor. They also believe prophet’s family members and their descendants should be caliphs. While Sunni is another branch of Islam who believe that Prophet did not appointed a successor who leads Muslim society after his death. In that case, Muslims elected Abu Bakr. Sunni members accepted all four caliphs as the rightful successors of Prophet Mohammed. Sunni Muslims believe that any Muslim man can be elected as long he is qualified for the job.
The Islamic Caliphates worshipped the Quran which was a religious text which the Islamic Caliphates believe is a religious text from God.
Islam was broken into two different sects immediately following Muhammad’s death; this was due to arguments surrounding whether or not he had named a successor. These two sects were the Shia and Sunni. The Shia believed that leadership of the Muslim community should stay with in the prophet’s family and therefore believed Ali, Muhammad’s son in law, to be the rightful leader of the Muslim world. The Sunni believed that this honor and responsibility should be given to someone deemed responsible to lead the community by the community. The Sunni’s large numbers won this debate and they chose the first caliph. This was the first and not the last time the Sunni would be in political power. Ali wo...
The division between Shia and Sunni dates back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad, and the question of who was to take over the leadership of the Muslim nation. Sunni Muslims agree with the position taken by many of the Prophet's companions, that the new leader should be elected from among those capable of the job. This is what was done, and the Prophet Muhammad's close friend and advisor, Abu Bakr, bec...
Islam is a monotheistic religion which is originated from the Middle East or more specifically in the Arabian Peninsula early in the 7th century. This religion was founded on the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed who named this religion after the Arabic word acceptance. Islam has 2 major sects the Sunni and Shi’a. This split occurred when Mohammed died. The Sunni believed that the new leader of Islam should be determined through election but the Shi’a thought that the new leader should be Imam Ali a cousin and son in law of Mohammed. Another branch of Islam is Druze but only a small minority of Muslims who live in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine are followers of this sect (3 Faiths with One God - Islam, Arab American National Museum).
Muhammad is the founder of the religion of Islam which he taught to the people. He made great accomplishments to the Muslim world like telling people to believe in one god. Even though Muhammad’s childhood wasn’t full of luxury, he became a great person.
The Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam have been feuding for hundreds of years dating back to the beginning of the Islamic religion. The deity or god of the Sunnis is Allah. The Sunni branch of Islam is the larger of the two branches with over 80% of the Muslim population. The Sunni are the majority in most of the countries that have Islamic followers. There are a few different translations of what Sunna stands for, one of which is “Habitual Practice.” The differences between the two branches can be traced all the back to the 7th century CE when the disagreements as to who should succeed Muhammad. Sunnis believe that the Muslim community should maintain the right to select who the successor to Muhammad is going to be. The Shiite branch maintains the belief that Muhammad has selected his son-in-law to be the successor. Even though the two branches agree on most matters, the Sunni put more power behind god and his determination of fate, and are more inclusive about their definition of being Muslim. The Sunni place heavy belief in the role of religion in some aspects of life and a lot of weight is put on the Islamic law known as Shariah as the standard for a vast range of social issues including marriage and divorce. (Patheos.com)
Overall, it is critical to acknowledge that, despite differences in opinion and practice, both Shi’a and Sunni Muslims maintain belief in the main fundamental beliefs of the Islamic religion, and are considered by most to be brethren in faith. In fact, most Muslims do not distinguish themselves by claiming membership in any particular group, but prefer to call themselves simply, "Muslims."
It has been estimated that Sunnis make up approximately 85 percent of the world’s Muslim population, with Shi’as accounting for much of the rest. When people talk of sectarianism in Islam, these two names, which are rooted in the earliest days of the Islamic caliphate, are the most often mentioned. It may be tempting to make a passing comparison here with the great Protestant-Catholic divide in Christianity. However, whereas that division didn’t occur until well over a thousand years into the life of the church, the great Sunni-Shi’a break came within the lifetime of the surviving companions of the Prophet Muhammad and was not centered on doctrinal disputes. The main reason for the existence of the Shi’a sect is directly related to the election of Abu Bakr as the first caliph of the Muslim community in the year 632. The Prophet had just passed away, and the leaders of Medina gathered to choose a political successor to keep the fledgling Muslim nation united. There was no question about doing this because the Prophet had spoken about it so often. After a heated debate, Abu Bakr was chosen to lead. Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad (he was married to Muhammad’s favorite daughter, Fatimah), was not present at that meeting, and he later protested that he should have been given a fair shot at being selected the caliph. Although Ali refused to swear allegiance to Abu Bakr for a few months, eventually he caved in and both he and his supporters took the oath. The stage was set for bad blood, however; and as each new caliph was elected, Ali’s friends stood by in anger, watching other men being given the nod while their beloved leader was passed over. Finally, in 656 when Ali was elected the fourth caliph, his group felt vindicated...
Muslims believe that the absolute deity is Allah. However, they also believe that there was a string of prophets sent by God to teach his word. The last of these prophets was Muhammad. His life is used as a foundation for Muslims to see how they are supposed to live and to help explain the teachings of the holy book of Islam, which is called Holy Qur’an. These teachings are said to have been revelations that Muhammad received that confirmed the God’s unity and the direct life in the world.
Muslims follow in accounts of Prophet Muhammad's teachings following his death by following the faith from the words of Allah found in the Qur’an. “There are three matters in
...p of the Islamic community , is hereditary to his male descendants they call Imams . These Imams are both seen as religious and political leaders . In addition there are a number of these theological issues their mark on society pressures (eg, whether the Qur'an is created or not). Although these differences generally not resulted in major conflicts, it does show that in the Middle East, despite the large Muslim majority, there is no question of an Islamic identity.
The Origins and Importance of the Quran The Quran is the Islamic Holy book. The word Quran means recitation and its verses are recited by Muslims throughout the world. The Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad in Ramadan, the holy month of the Islamic calendar, in the year 610CE. One night that came to be known as ‘The night of power’, when Prophet Muhammed was 40 years old, while meditating in his usual place, Cave Hira on Jabal-al-Nur ( mountain of light), he suddenly saw an angel appear before him. This angel was angel Jibr’eel (Gabriel).