Shiite and Sunni Islam Groups

Shiite and Sunni Islam Groups

Islam is the second-largest religion in the whole world after Christianity. The followers of the Islamic faith make up close to twenty-five percent of the total world population. There are also two primary denominations, that is, Sunni and Shia. Of the one point seven Muslims around the world, the estimated number of Sunni people accounts for about eighty-five to ninety percent. This case means that Shiites are in the minority. Initially, the two groups were one under the prophet Muhammad. However, there erupted a lot of disputes over belief systems and political warfare. These began in 632 A.D, following the death of Muhammad (Holtmann, 2014). Muhammad did not select a successor before his death. After, a dispute arose as to who should take over. The contest was between his son in law Ali, who had married his stepdaughter Fatima, or his most trusted companion, Abu Bakr (Coughlin, 2020). A meeting of tribal leaders, shura decided on Abu Bakr after a lengthy process. The process resulted in more fighting and the eventual split of the groups. The Sunnis supported the shura and believed that the choice of Abu Bakr was legitimate. The Shia, coming from the term Shi’at Ali, meaning the party of Ali, decided that he was the rightful successor. This case led to the split of the two groups under each of the two leaders.

The two groups have their various belief systems as to why they are more legitimate than the other. According to the Sunni, the place of the elected Khalifa is supreme. This case is because Muhammad did not leave in place a system for choosing a successor (Holtmann, 2014). As a result, they believe in the order of the Islamic community or the umma and their power to decide on the next leader. They also hail the system as a right show of unity, consensus, and wisdom in the Islamic community. The Shiites, however, believe in the inheritance system. They espouse that the rightful leader should come from the lineage of the prophet Muhammad. They also believe that true Islamic leaders have to adhere to this bloodline. The Shiites refer to their leaders as imam or Mahdi. The Shiites anticipate the coming of the Mahdi, who they refer to as the rightly guided one to come and destroy all their enemies.  They believe that they have had eleven imams and that the twelfth is coming soon. This case is also evident in the Iran Constitution that prays for the speedy return of the imam in article 5.

There many differences and similarities that exist between the two facets. One of the similarities is that they both still share some common religious beliefs, especially the five pillars of Islam. Examples include; faith in the Quran as God’s holy word, Muhamad as the last prophet, the five daily prayers, the pilgrimage to Mecca, fasting during the month of Ramadhan, and also almsgiving. The two groups also believe in only one God, Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet. They also believe in trusting and praising God so that one day they will get into paradise. However, many differences arise between them. First, they have different political beliefs in who should have been their leader after Muhammad’s death. The Sunnis believed in Abu Bakr as the Khalifa chose while the Shiites were followers of Ali and Muhammad’s bloodline. Secondly, the Sunnis have a more direct relationship with the Quran and believe that anyone can approach God directly. They also trust that they will see God on judgment day. The Shiites, on the other hand, primarily rely on clerics to interpret the Quran. They also do not hold that humans will see God on Judgment day. Thirdly, while the Sunnis deem all Islamic literature as significant, the Shiites give more relevance to hadith and literature closely related to the prophet. They also revere shrines of past Imams and scholars, a practice that the Sunnis consider blasphemous. Fourth, their prayer and rituals also differ. While the Sunnis pray, they kneel and move their head to touch the prayer mat, the Shiites also kneel, but their heads only reach a block taken from a holy place or the bare earth. The Shiites have an elaborate hierarchy system of leadership and fund them through mandatory tax. The Sunnis have less hierarchical leadership and do not institute fees. Since it is the primary religion in many areas, they often receive state funding in running their institutions.

The two factions also occupy different places in the world. The Sunnis comprise the majority of all Muslims around the world. They are, therefore, the most predominant in most Islamic states. These range from West Africa to Indonesia. However, the heart of the Sunni branch is in Saudi Arabia. This place also doubles as the birthplace of the Islamic religion. The Shiites, being a minority, primarily occupy centralized locations. However, they are the leading groups in countries such as Iran and Iraq. They are also in Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and Turkey. They also have a significant presence in other countries such as Yemen, Lebanon, and Kuwait. Despite all these, the Sunnis are still more powerful and have, in some instances, even led masses comprising of Shiites (Zulkifli, 2013). Saddam Hussein is an example of a dictator who was Sunni but led a mostly Shiite population. Bahrain is also a country comprising of predominantly Shiite, although the government is Sunni.

The two states that are Saudi Arabia and Iran are the central and hearts of each of the two Islamic branches. As a result, there has been a lot of wrangles in the Middle East because of the power play between the two (Teitelbaum, 2016). The Sunni fundamentalists view the Shiite as heretics and call for their murder. The Shiite, on the other hand, claim oppression and harassment from the dominant Sunnis. In some cases, the Shiites have been living in wanting conditions. As a result, the two groups have lived in constant spite of each other. The Iranian government policies that support military groups and actions by the Shia in other countries has also increased such conflict. The response by the Sunnis has been increased funding to counter the same (Teitelbaum, 2016). In a country like Syria, despite the complexity of their situation, they also have wars along the Sunni and Shia divide. The country is mostly Sunni, although the government is Shia. There have been calls towards the unity of the two groups as their constant wars continue to weaken the Islamic faith. The two groups have made a few strides, such as supporting each other to condemn the terrorist attack on the prophet’s mosque in Saudi Arabia in 2016, a move that the world viewed as the first step towards their unity.

References

Coughlin, K. M. (2020). Shia. In Daily Life through History. Retrieved from http://dailylife2.abc-clio.com.gmclibrary.idm.oclc.org/Search/Display/1503482

Holtmann, P. (2014). A Primer to the Sunni-Shia Conflict. Perspectives on Terrorism, 8(1), 142-145. Retrieved February 29, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/26297127

Teitelbaum, J. (2016). (Rep.). Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. Retrieved February 29, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/resrep04364

Zulkifli. (2013). Sunni Responses to Shi‘ism. In The Struggle of the Shi‘is in Indonesia (pp. 229-270). ANU Press. Retrieved February 29, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hgz34.16