The Sunni and Shia factions began when the Muslim community was without a successor. Both factions had different ideas on who was the rightful heir. The Sunni group was established, they thought themselves as true believers to the Sunnah, or the prophet’s tradition. The Shia followers were known as Shiites, stemming from the phrase Shiat Ali, or followers of Ali. There are some similarities between the groups like certain religious practices and beliefs, but there are many differences that cause these groups to be extremely hostile to one another. Present day, there are many more Sunni followers than Shiites. Despite the fact that the Shiites are outnumbered, this does not stop the political disruption and instability.
The Shia and Sunni factions formed when the prophet Muhammad died in 632. The members of the Shia community, called Shiites, believed that the descendants of Ali
…show more content…
“The Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam encompass a wide spectrum of doctrine, opinion and schools of thought. The branches are in agreement on many aspects of Islam, but there are considerable disagreements within each” (Harney). A disagreement is that the Shiites consider Ali and subsequent leaders as imams. Sunnis regard imams as prayer leaders without any spiritual or political authority, a stark difference from Shiites who believe imams are a direct descendant of Muhammad. They believe in 12 imams, the last of which has vanished in Iraq after the murder of his father. The Shiites who follow this are known as Twelvers, they anticipate his return in the form of the Mahdi, or Messiah. His return will bring forth a new era of peace and justice, which precedes the Last Judgement. The Sunnis also believe that the Madhi will come and bear the name of the Prophet before the Last Judgement. But where the two differ is that the Sunnis do not believe it will be a specific person named Muhammad that is the upcoming
Dear Friend, I have traveled to Makkah and Madinah for business, and have met a man named Muhammad as well as his followers. Muhammad and his followers believe in a religion called Islam, which Muhammad teaches about. Muhammad is a teacher of the faith and religion of Islam. He was born in 570 C.E. in this city, Makkah in Arabia.
Ismail, I claimed that he was the descendant of Ali, the cousin, and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and was taken as a Mehdî el-Muntazar ( Messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice and the last of Shia Imams)by his subjects. The heritage that he received from his religious liders family (Safi-ad-din Ardabili, Sadr al-Dīn Mūsā, Shaykh Junayd and Shaykh Haydar) and These claims together helped Ismail I to gain the support of the Shia Muslims in Iran, who believed that the Safavids were the rightful rulers of the country. Ismail I also religion and especially the Shia variation of Islam to legitimize his rule by emphasizing his role as the Shia Muslims' leader and the Shia faith's defender. The Safavid Empire continued to use these claims of legitimacy throughout its history, with each new ruler emphasizing their religious and genealogical ties to the founding family. The Safavids used their claim to be descendants of the Prophet Ali to justify their rule over the Shia population and to gain the support of religious leaders and scholars.
After the death of Muhammad in 632 CE, a rift occurred within the Islamic community. There was a vacancy for leadership and a question of who was qualified to fill it. At that time the companions of the Prophet were elected to be central leaders and were known as Caliphs. The way in which Caliphs were elected, and who succeeded them, is where the difference between Sunni and Shia begins.
The similarities between Shia and Sunni are that they worship the same God, Allah. They also believe in the Prophet. They both believe in the Quran as their Bible. Ali is considered their fourth Caliph for the Sunnis and for the Shi’a is the first Imam. The differences between Shi’a and Sunni are the Shi’a believe that Muhammad agreeably ordain his cousin and son in law, Ali, in agreement with God’s authority.
From the founding of the empire, the rulers claimed to be a descendant of Ali, one of the first caliphs of Islam. Compared to the Ottoman empire, this empire was extremely religious. The Safavid rulers made their religion, Shiism, a required religion in the empire. Abbas, a ruler of the Safavid empire, slowly pressured each non-Muslim community to change to the religion of Islam. After this conversion, all non-Muslim buildings, books, and other religious items, were taken from the communities.
This is the belief that the twelfth imam, Mahdi, did not die but remains alive somewhere on earth and that God is hiding him, awaiting his triumphal return to conquer Satan. Adherents of the Twelver Shia posit that the occultation of Mahdi has no actual historical event, primarily because it was a divine occurrence. The hiding or occultation was ordained by God, giving rise to the name Mahdi which means one who is divinely guided. God was protecting his Prophet
After the Prophet by Lesley Hazleton is a narrative history that tells you about the cause of the split in between Muslims. The Sunnis and The Shias. Hazleton does this in three main chapters that circulate around the people that mainly cause the Sunni-Shia ordeal. Prophet Muhammad, Ali, and Hussein. When the Prophet Muhammad dies after an illness, his followers were at loss of an irreplaceable leader.
Introduction In this paper I will be discussing the means of comparing and contrasting two prominent groups located here in America. These two groups are known as the Bloods and Crips. In result of the gang violence and the continuation of the initiations across the country has led to a vast uprise in crime and homicide since the start of the groups. I will begin this paper by explaining what a “gang” is and its effects on the demographics of its community and the effect it has on society along with the violence that can be caused by the two gangs.
According to chapter 4, page 42 the factions were created because "Decades ago our ancestors realized that It is not political ideology, religious belief, race or nationalism
The religions of Christianity and Islam have very similar beliefs, but they also have a lot of differences, which make each religion distinctive from each other. Also, the Christian and Muslim merchants attitude changed over the thousands of years to match each other or go completely in the opposite way. One of their commons points included their view of fairness.
The Lebanese Civil War lasted 15 years, starting in 1975 and ending in 1990, involving mostly the Lebanese army, the Phalangists and the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Still today, there are political complications and tension in Lebanon therefore it has never really recovered from the major war that harmed the country significantly. Most of the conflict was located in Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon however there were frequent attacks in various other villages and towns throughout the war. The essay will focus on the causes and the effects of the civil war, varying from political tensions to cultural differences. The years 1975 and 1990 are especially useful for the investigation as they will display the main causes and the main effects that are related to the war.
Though the Pope’s political influence has been greatly reduced through the recent centuries, his work as the global representative of over a billion followers continues to this day. Islam, however, has no official leader. The largest leaders within Islam are known as Imam’s, who are the religious leaders of a specific Muslim community. Islam has no leader on the scale of the Pope within Christianity. Since there was no leader to aid in the spread of the Islamic faith, Islam depended solely on the natural spread of its faith through trade routes and word of mouth.
Allah in Islam stands for God and carries the same meaning as in Christianity. In Islam, the angel Gabriel spoke to Mohammed and encouraged him to preach to the people and spread the word of Allah. Jesus was said to be the son of God but spoke almost exclusively to Jews (Woodhead, 2004, p 11). The prophets, Mohammed and Jesus, are looked at as symbols of God or Allah. These prophets serve as voices that guide their people 's actions through scripture.
In the early periods of the Empire, al-Mahdi’s, the founder of the Fatimid Empire, policy included complete tolerance towards non-Ismailis thus he “made no attempt to force Ismaili practices on an unwilling populace.” His stand against the forced conversion of his people is a clear sign of how he “developed an inclusive and tolerant policy which allowed other interpretations of Islam to be practiced alongside the official Shi’i Ismaili interpretation.” His regime provided security to those under his rule, and the fact that he was the first of the Fatimid Caliphs provided people with a positive outlook on the new Empire’s policies and
Abstract Sectarianism holds hegemonic power over Lebanon that is resistant to challenges of change. Institutional and foreign actors serve to instill and reinforce sectarianism from above while political and economic elites play on sectarian sentiments to maintain and enhance their power, contributing to sectarianism from below. These efforts ensure that the Lebanese subjects remain affiliated with their respective sects, compartmentalized in self-managed communities. Introduction Sectarian democracy, the political system adopted by Lebanon, fuses formal and informal sectarian and democratic components. Democracy is manifested in the way power is organized: upholding democratic principles such as the rights of individuals through elections,