Please refer to our Copyright page for full details. Understanding the differences between the two most populous branches of Islam is essential for comprehending many of the geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East as well as community tensions in diasporic communities in the West.
Kim Knott and Matthew Francis put a few of the key issues in context. Close menu. His tragic death is still to this day a founding event of their branch and the death of his son, Husayn, is the reason behind the festival of Ashoura, where followers mourn their loss of a leader through a variety of customs which vary from country to country, going from large mourning processions to self-mutilation with swords.
From that difference, each branch of the religion had its own famous commentors and it is the work of those commentors which has brought in differences in the way the religion is lived.
It must be said though that both branches are not monolithical organisations themselves, with both branches having hundreds of schools focusing on certain tenants rather than others or applying a liberal or conservative interpretation of the religion so Shia and Muslims is not the only difference in the diverse world that is Islam. It can be said that generally, Shia islam emphasize sacrifices and devotions towards the next world while Sunni islam is more material and focused on the affairs of this current life and how one should live it.
On the other hand, the holy sites of Islam found in Iran and in Iraq, since they are mostly related to Shia history, are under the control of Shia muslims. The rest of the sites in the world, such as Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, are under Sunni administration too. When he is not blasting through the night on top of iron ore trains in Mauritania or fighting off iguanas in Socotra, he likes to discuss the revolutionary history of China or sing pop hits in an intolerable high-pitched voice.
See author's posts. The Difference between Sunni and Shia Islam. A historical cause to the split The split between Shia and Sunni surged from a historical event. A difference in number While the Shia tradition has continued up to this day, it has never been more than a minority of Muslims.
Control of Holy sites. About Post Author. Both sides agreed that Allah is the one true God and that Muhammad was his messenger, but one group which eventually became the Shiites felt Muhammad's successor should be someone in his bloodline, while the other which became the Sunnis felt a pious individual who would follow the Prophet's customs was acceptable.
It was over political leadership," Robin Wright, a joint fellow at the non-partisan U. Institute of Peace and the Woodrow Wilson Center, said.
Both Sunnis and Shiites read the Quran, the sayings of the Prophet. Both believe Prophet Muhammad was the messenger of Allah. And both follow the five tenets of Islam: They fast during Ramadan, pledge to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, practice ritual prayer which includes five prayers each day , give charity to the poor, and pledge themselves to their faith. And when it comes to leadership, the Shia have a more hierarchical structure of political and religious authority invested in formally trained clergy whose religious authority is transnational.
There is no such structure in Sunni Islam. The greatest splits today, however, come down to politics. Although the majority of Sunni and Shia are able to live peacefully together, the current global political landscape has brought polarization and sectarianism to new levels.
Shia-Sunni conflicts are raging in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Pakistan and the divide is growing deeper across the Muslim world. Portsmouth Climate Festival — Portsmouth, Portsmouth. Edition: Available editions United Kingdom.
Become an author Sign up as a reader Sign in. A mosque in Herat, Afghanistan was attacked on Aug. Ken Chitwood , University of Florida.
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