The Origins of the Sunni/Shia split in Islam

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Introduction

The Shia shahadah (declaration of faith) states:

"There is no god but Alláh, Muhammad is the Messenger of Alláh, Alí is the Friend of Alláh. The Successor of the Messenger of Alláh And his first Caliph."

If you are already familiar with standard Sunni beliefs, you will immediately notice the addition to the shahadah regarding Imam Ali (ra), cousin of the Prophet (pbuh), husband of his daughter Fatima, father of Hassan and Hussein and the second person ever to embrace Islam. The term Shia or Shi'ite derives from a shortening of Shiat Ali or partisans of Ali.

Full version: http://www.islamfortoday.com/shia.htm

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Practical Differences

On a practical daily level, Shias have a different call to prayer, they perform wudu and salat differently including placing the forehead onto a piece of hardened clay from Karbala, not directly onto the prayer mat when prostrating. They also tend to combine prayers, sometimes worshipping three times per day instead of five. The Shias also have some different ahadith and prefer those narrated by Ali and Fatima to those related by other companions of the Prophet (pbuh).

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How many Shia are there in the world?

Many people mistakenly think that Muslims are divided into two halves: Sunnis and Shi'it. In reality Shia are between 7.5% to 11%. All the rest (93.5%) are Sunnis (ignoring the fact the Shi'ism is a totally different religion than Islam). The word Shia includes all kinds of Shi'it Sects such as (Twelvers Imami Rafidi Shia, Isma'ili Shia, Alawi (Nusairi) Shia, Druze Shia, Zaidi Shia).

The first statistic was all taken from the British Encyclopedia for the year 1997. However, we feel that it has some incorrect numbers for some countries such as Iran. Their number is compared to the total number of Muslims which is 1,482,596,925

Country Name Total Population Percentage of Shia

Afghanistan 22,664,136 15% 3,399,620 Imami

Azerbaijan 7,676,953 75% 5,757,715 Imami

Bahrain 590,042 61.3% 361,696 Imami

India 952,107,694 3% 28,563,231 Isma'ili, Imami

Iran 66,094,264 93.4% 61,732,043 Imami

Iraq 21,422,292 62.5% 13,388,933 Imami

Kuwait 1,950,047 30% 585,014 Imami

Lebanon 3,776,317 41% 1,548,290 Imami, Druze

Oman 2,186,548 2% 43,731 Imami

Pakistan 129,275,660 20% 25,855,132 Imami

Qatar 547,761 5% 27,388 Imami

Saudi Arabia 19,409,058 3.3% 640,499 Imami

Syria 15,608,648 15.3% 2,388,123 Nusairi, Druze

Turkey 62,484,478 20% 12,496,896 Nusairi

United Arab Emirates 3,057,337 16% 489,174 Imami

Yemen 13,483,178 46.9% 6,323,610 Zaidi

Total 11.0% 163,601,094

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Shia Islam, like Sunni Islam, has at times been divided into many branches; however, only three of these currently have a significant number of followers. The best known and the one with most adherents is the Twelvers (اثنا عشرية iṯnāʿaÅ¡ariyya) which have a large percentage in Iran 90% and Iraq; the others are Ismaili, Sevener, and Zaidiyyah. Alawites and Druzes consider themselves Shias, although this is sometimes disputed by mainstream Shias[1]. The Sufi orders among the Shias are the Alevi, Bektashi, Kubrawiya, Noorbakhshi, Oveyssi, Qizilbashi, Hamadani and Fatimid orders and denominations. Twenty percent of Turkey's population is Alevi while Lebanon and Syria have a large presence of Druze and Alawites.

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What is Sufism?

Sufism is the mystical dimension of Islam based on the esoteric, or "inner-meaning" of its scripture, namely the Qur'an. Sufism's central doctrine is based on a verse of the Qur'an; in which God says, "I created man and breathed My spirit into him." This "Divine spark" placed into every individual, says the Sufi, must be nurtured and cherished. Furthermore, each individual "spark" or "spirit" separated from the Universal Spirit, desires to return and reunite with the Universal spirit. This is confirmed by another verse in the Qur'an, which says "from God we came, and to God shall we return." This "returning" is vital and central to the Sufi doctrine. Now, the Sufi embarks on a spiritual journey known as the Sufi Path; a path of devotion and love; which leads to none other than God Himself.

The formative years of Sufism were between 620 to 1100 AD. It was during this time the Sufi masters, known in Arabic as "Shaikhs," started to form the first Sufi fraternities. These early fraternities, and indeed some individual Sufis, met with great hostility and resistance from certain sections of the Muslim community; on points of interpretation of Islamic Theology and Law. Some early Sufis were even persecuted on account of their mystical utterances and beliefs. The most famous Sufi-martyr was AL HALLAJ of Basra in Iraq.

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One branch of Sufism that has become better-known in the West in recent years is the Mevlevi. Within this tradition, which was founded upon the example of Mevlâna Jalâluddîn Rumi, women have always been deeply respected, honored, and invited to participate in all aspects of the spiritual path. Rumi's family itself had a long tradition of recognizing the spiritual beauty and wisdom of women. It was his grandmother, the princess of Khorasan, who first lit the spark of inquiry in Rumi's father, Bahaeddin Weled. Under her care, he grew to be the "sultan of the learned" and a great spiritual light in his time. Rumi's mother, Mu'mine Hatun, a devout and saintly lady, was very dear to him. She died shortly after Rumi's own marriage to Gevher Hatun, the daughter of one of Bahaeddin's closest disciples. Gevher Hatun had grown up beside Rumi, listening to his father's discourses. This beautiful woman, who was known to have the heart of an angel, was the mother of Sultan Weled, to whom Rumi's own teacher, Shams-i-tabriz, conveyed many mysteries. In his Conversations (Maqalat), Shams himself stressed the equal capacity of women to be intimate with the Ineffable and to "die before death."

The Conversations (Maqalat)

of Shams of Tabriz

http://www.sufism.org/books/maqalat.html

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Chart Presentation on Major Differences between Sunni and Shia with regards to Holy Cities, Al Mahdi, Holidays, Current Leaders

http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/compari...lamic_sects.htm

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Glossary of Islamic Words

Caliph: Leader of a Muslim community. The title of those who succeeded Mohammed and continued to lead into the 20th century.

Dhimmis: Submissive non-Muslims (Jews and Christians) living under Sharia regime, forced to follow humiliating regulations designed to enforce the Qur'an's command that they "feel themselves subdued" (Sura 9:29). See www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch

Fatwa: Binding regulations and decisions made by Muslim imams or clerics.

Hadith: Compiled two hundred years after Mohammed's death, it includes the sayings and works of Mohammed. It is part of four main sources of Islamic faith and law: The other three are the Quran, the Ijima (consensus), and Qiyas (analogy).

Haji: Annual pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina - the fifth pillar of Islam.

Hijab: A woman's shawl covering the head, and the belief that women should be modestly dressed in public.

Imam: A Muslim religious leader, the spiritual head of a mosque.

Islam: Submission or surrender to the will of Allah.

Jihad: An "exertion" - usually refers to holy war or crusade in the name of Islam against unbelievers or rivals. Moderate Islamic leaders have modernized the meaning to include any good efforts to help others and further the reputation and spread of Islam.

Mahdi: The coming messianic leader -- "the rightly guided one" -- expected (especially by Shi'ites) to restore the purity and order of Islam.

Mullah: Islamic clerics among the Shi'ites.

Qur'an: The sacred book of revelations given to Mohammed by the supposed angel Gabriel in 612 AD.

Ramadan: The holy month of Islam commemorating the time Mohammed began to receive the series of angelic revelations. During this month, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.

Shari'a: Koranic law - "the way," "the path to God" or "the path to a water hole" -- the sacred law which guides a Muslim's life, choices and community. It calls for the death of any Muslim who converts to Christianity.

Sheikh: A respectful title for leaders, clerics and elders in the in a Muslim community.

Shia: The Islamic division or sect first led by Ali, Mohammed's son-in-law and cousin, which separated from the Sunnis.

Shi'ite: Follower or member of the Shia.

Sunni: Follower of the Sunna, the largest division (83% of Muslims worldwide) within Islam.

Wahhabi: A strict, fundamental code of beliefs and law named after Mohammed ibn Abdul Wahhab, an eighteenth-century cleric. In the 20th century, it was used by Abdel Aziz ibn Saud to unify the Saudi Arabian tribes.

Umma: "People" - the global community of Muslims

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THE PROPHETS OF ALLÃH (mentioned in the Holy Qur'án)

1) Adam

2)Idrís (Idrees)

3) Núh (Noah)

4) Húd

5) Sálih

6) Ibráhím (Abraham)

7) Ismá'íl (Ishmael)

8) Isháq (Isaac)

9) Lút (Lot)

10) Ya'qúb (Jacob)

11) Yúsuf (Joseph)

12) Shu'aib

13)Ayúb (Job)

14) Músa (Moses)

15) Hárún (Aaron)

16) Dhu l-kifl (Ezzekiel)

17) Dawúd (David)

18) Sulaimán

19) Ilyás (Elijah)

20) al-Yasa' (Elisha)

21) Yúnus (Jonas)

22) Zakaríya (Zakariyah)

23) Yahyá (John the Baptist)

24) 'Ãsa (Jesus)

25) Muhammad

After Muhammad, the formation of various sunni and shia sects and dates are described in a tree-like formation on this website:

http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/islam/index.html

For Shia sects, this website:

http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/islam/shia/index.html

For Isma'iliyyah sub-shia sects, this website:

http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/islam/shia/ismal.html

For Sufi sects, this website:

http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/islam/sufi/index.html

[Guest Javanmard]

"Shia: The Islamic division or sect first led by Ali, Mohammed's son-in-law and cousin, which separated from the Sunnis in the 1690s. "

Wrong!

The Sunni-Shi'a split is 1400 years old and the word Shi'a is already contaied in the Qur'an.

Get a brain before you post inaccurate lies about Shi'ism.

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You are free to point out inaccuracies, so that I can correct them via edit.

As you can see I have no bad intentions over here. I started the thread with Goodwill in mind. So please don't get me wrong and use bad language. My whole idea is to get a clearer picture about Islam and this will also benefit many others.

Tell me more places to alter so that there are no misunderstandings. I can even erase the whole thread, if more than two object to posting this thread. But that will require Admin help.