We may see Islam as one religion, but Muslims today are divided into many sects (Firqas). Each sect believes in different ideologies and practice the religion in many different ways. However, the two major sects are Sunni who is Orthodox and traditionalist branch of Islam and Shia who were political faction turned into a sect. Around 80% percent of the Muslim population identify themselves as Sunni’s whereas 15% of the Muslim population classify themselves as Shias and rest of the population belongs to various sects. The historic background of the Sunni and Shia divide occurred when the Prophet Muhammad died in the year 632, which caused the dispute over succession to Muhammad as a caliph of the Islamic community spread across various parts of the world. Sunnis to this day believes that Abu Bakr, Prophets friend and father-in-law was the legitimate caliph of the whole Muslim community whereas, Shia believes that the first Imam and the rightful successor to Prophet Muhammad was his cousin and son-in-law Ali which also makes his kids Hassan and Hussain direct descendants of the Prophet. The …show more content…
But not all Sunni and Shias are in conflict with each other, there are places like UAE and other countries where people belong to both sects coexist peacefully with each other. Generally, most of the Muslim countries have Sunni majority, yet Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Bahrain have Shia majority population. Saudi Arabia follows the most traditionalist form of Sunnism whereas Iran is strictly Shia and these two countries play an important role in geopolitical conflicts in Muslim world by supporting different political factions, rebel groups or terrorist organizations. It has been suspected that Saudi Arabia has been funding ISIS and Al-Qaida; however, there is no convincing proof that the Saudi Arabian government is financially supporting
The patient is a 30 year old male with an active bacterial infection on his right leg attacking his Integumentary system. The patient is from Tanzania, Africa but came back to work in a factory that produces plastic. If he has Cellulitis, it can get bad enough to travel to other organs like the Liver and Kidney and cause failure. If this happens, Edema can form, usually on one half of the body; this is the Urinary system being attacked. The main system being attacked is the Lymphatic system because Cellulitis attacks the lymphatic draining system. For Cellulitis to travel to organs, it had to go through the blood, so the cardiovascular system is also in effect.
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.
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.
Have you ever wondered about other religions that are out there and why they are out there? I have and that is why I chose to write my paper on the Sunnis and Shiites. Read on to learn more about a brief history and then I will break each of them into separate religions.
to be a good Muslim. It is also struggle against the oppression, as well as holy war against enemies to defend Islam, but fight only if needed.
Sixty-three percent of Iraq’s population is Shia Muslim, thirty-three percent is Sunni Muslim (Lunde, 2002). For the past five centuries the minority, Sunni Muslims, have held political power in Iraq. It was not until recently that the majority, the Shia Muslims, was able to experience political power. The tensions between Sunni and Shia in Iraq are not due to religious differences formed after Muhammad’s death 1,382 years ago and are not inevitable, as proven by the relationships between Sunni and Shia in other countries and in the past (Shuster, 2011). The state of unrest surrounding the Sunni and Shia Muslims of Iraq is due to politics, power, and privilege, caused by the change of attitude in Islamic leaders in government and the discrimination of the Shia by the Sunni minority. This has been partly due to the fact that early in their history Shias were not the majority and therefore lost political power. This unbalance and the differences between the two sects are most unstable and evident during times of political unrest (Hunter, n.d).
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).
The knowledge and understanding of blood feuds helps in the develop understanding of the current conflicts in the Middle East. The Middle East conflict started after World War II when the United Nations handed the Jewish people land once owned by the Palestinians. A conflict has occurred with the Palestinians who live together with Israelis that has led to terrorism and tyranny. Israelis believe they must control the Palestinians to stop their terrorism; while the Palestinians use terrorism to seek independence from Israelis. Blood Feuds in Thull are similar to the situation in the Middle East and are violently depicted in Lincoln Keiser's "Friend by Day Enemy By Night."
...ussion concluded whereas faith practiced by the Shia obviously been in conflict with the faith that underpinned by Sunni. It is not only against the consensus of “the scholars, even worse, it has been inverting the texts that have been handed down by God as understood by the majority of scholars to mankind. Based on this differences, there is no way to achieve unity and strengthen them to adopt beliefs or withholding resources unless one of the parties to leave their positions and recognized source of resources. Although there is a meeting point between the two parties, but much dispute on the ground that creates a gap in the far east and far west. In the case, there is no better shield strong in facing the challenges of this movement effectively unless Muslims should return adheres to the belief that authentic knowledge legacy of the Prophet and his companions R.A.
Huda. "Shia and Sunni Muslims: What's the Difference?" Religion and Spirituality. Ask.com, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014. .
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)
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...
Throughout history it is evident that many religions have been tried, tested, and, for some, radically changed. Many religions have gone through periods of time in which the way they were run or enforced underwent changes in practice and leadership. In many cases disagreements and differing outlooks among members of certain religions were to blame for these changes. Christianity and Islam are two examples of religions that have experienced changes over the course of their existence. While these religions seem to have little in common at first glance, both have strikingly similar pasts that consist of radical splits due to disagreements among members of the Christian and Islamic churches, resulting in new branches within each religion.
Syria is currently all over the news regarding what many have to come to see as a civil war. A term like civil war needs to identify the players and the reasons for the war. In this case the players are being identified as pro government or antigovernment with a Sunni or Shia overtone. Sunni and Shia are the two major sects of Islam and both have a historical based conflict going back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad and how Muslims should be governed. This conflict has caused tensions and violence to flare up throughout Islamic history. This conflict has carried into modern times and has becoming a rallying point for Muslim people calling for change with their government and across the Middle Eastern region. The Sunni Shia conflict is major division within Islam that has and continues to shape Islam and the Middle East.