The division between Sunni and Shia Muslims is rooted in a disagreement over who should succeed the Prophet Muhammad as the leader of the Muslim community(3). The Shia Muslims believe that leadership should remain within Muhammad’s family, specifically through his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, and his descendants, who are known as the Imams (2,3). Shia Muslims believe Muhammad designated Ali as his successor, and look towards the Imam more as a spiritual leader to guide the Muslim community on the interpretations of the Quran and Islamic law (3,5). On the other hand, Sunni Muslims believe that the leader (caliph) should be determined by the Muslim community based on merit and qualifications, regardless of their bloodline (1). The Sunni Muslims
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.
Islam and Christianity eventually had many similar attitudes towards merchants up to the 1500’s such as they both valued honest trade. Where their attitudes differed, however, was when it came to the status of a merchant due to the fact that the Quran praised it, whereas the Bible started disfavoring merchantry as an occupation. Islam and Christianity rose similarly, as they’re both Abrahamic religions (meaning the two faith’s are centered around Abraham being the first prophet). Because of this fact, we can see many other correlations with how both of these beliefs treat others, such as merchants.
Christianity and Islam were two very different religions, both of these religions had a different belief systems and the way they lived was different due to their beliefs. But they did have some similarities, such as both being monotheistic, believing in prophets and were both found from the Jewish faith. In addition, both of these religions were very dominant and grew a lot throughout each century; have been the world’s greatest religions for hundreds of years. The religions established their own ways toward commerce and trading. Christians had their own negative beliefs as to why merchants weren’t as valuable; Muslims had positive points toward trade because Muhammad, their founder was a wealthy merchant.
The Syrian Civil War has been prolonged further than ever anticipated. With casualties reaching the hundreds of thousands, this war has left permanent impacts on families across all of Syria. The civil war in Syria was sparked from the Arab Spring which consisted of countries in North Africa and Middle East. It then escalated to widespread violence emitting from the Syrian government, and resulting in what is now the Syrian Civil War. With all of this starting from a peaceful protest and now resulting in a violent and messy war, is it really worth it at this point?
The attitudes of Christianity and Islam towards merchants and trade are different from one another in the beginning stages, but as time progress each moderate their earlier views. In the beginning Christians found it unfit to be a rich merchant, while Islam’s judgment on trade was acceptable as long as they were honest and the trading was just. As time went by over a couple hundred years, the followers if each belief changed their views on trade, though it was acceptable, merchants were expected to trade geniuses. In the beginning Christians found it unfit to be a rich merchant, while Islam’s judgment on trade was acceptable as long as they were honest and the trading was just.
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.
Shia Leadership Ranking After the Quran, the Prophets, and the Twelve Shia Imams, Mujtahids are the highest authority on religious laws in the Twelver Shia Islam. Twelver Shias believe in twelve divinely ordained leaders known as the Twelve Imams. They believe the twelfth Imam is the Mahdi who will return from occultation bringing peace into the world. The Shia twelve Imam names in order are: 1. Ali ibn Abi Talib, 2.
The Revolutionary War, Chickamauga War, all the way up to more current fights including Iraq War and the war in Afghanistan. With currently 7.1 billion people living in the world, fighting is inevitable. Solving problems through violence has been happening since the beginning of humans and will continue on as long as humans continue to exist. Continuing this basic trend is a conflict going on in the Middle East between the Sunnis and Shiites. With 87% of the muslim religion being Sunni and the other 13% being Shiites one group is going to feel more oppressed.
First and foremost, we see goal variance with ISIS being a splinter group off of Al-Qaeda with ISIS’s goal to create an Islamic caliphate in Iraq, Syria, and a few other countries. As ISIS becomes stronger it has created an almost gravitational pull. It has attracted many other paramilitary and terrorist organizations. These smaller groups are fragments from larger militias of mostly Islamic origin. The most notable is a fragmented group from the Taliban who do not always get along with the extreme ideologies of the ISIS leaders.
The Oppression of Religion in Iraq The news coming out of Iraq is devastating. The violent extremist group known as Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) continues to take over major parts of Iraq, brutally killing and oppressing any and all who come in their way. The Yazidis are predominantly ethnically Kurdish, an ancient community that have been in Iraq for centuries. Historically the Yazidis follow Zoroastrianism and other ancient Mesopotamian religions.
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.
Middle Eastern crisis has been a big issue not only in the area where the conflict is happening but also in the countries where refugees are escaping. The refugees move to different countries in order to stay away from the wars and to search better lives. A number of countries that refugees are tying to move into face difficulties accepting them recently. Each countries have different domestic problems, and until not overcoming those problems, it is hard to accept people from outside.
Ask many in America today, and they will tell you that Islam is a violent religion of hatred and terrorism. However, even a glance at the Qu’ran proves otherwise. The Qu’ran, or what is basically the essence of the Islam religion, explicitly demonstrates ideas of both acceptance and peace throughout its teachings. Contrary to common American beliefs, the Qu’ran actually not only acknowledges, but equates followers of the other two major religions with the Muslim people by stating that “those who believe, and the Jews, and the Sabians, and the Christians—whoever believes in God and the Last Day, and does what is right—they have nothing to fear, nor shall they grieve.”
Within Islam there are further divisions: between the Shiites and the Sunnis. The Shiites are the more numerous of the two. For years though, until 2003, the Sunnis had been in power. Their ruler, Saddam Hussein, was discriminating against the Shia Muslims. Creating a national identity based on Sunni principles and beliefs was his main goal.