The divide originated with a dispute over who should succeed the Prophet Muhammad as leader of the Islamic faith he introduced. Today, about 85 percent of the approximately 1.6 billion Muslims around the world are Sunni, while 15 percent are Shia, according to an estimate by the Council on Foreign Relations.
A disagreement over succession after Mohammed's death in 632 split Muslims into Islam's two main sects, Sunni and Shia.
What were the main reasons for the split between the Sunni and the Shi'a? The future of Islam was placed in crisis after the death of Muhammad. Sunni's claimed that following Muhammad's example was sufficient to be caliph, while Shia's believed that the successor to Muhammad should be part of his bloodline.
The society has shunned the idea of a Shia marrying a Sunni (and vice versa) not because of the religious difference, but because of “what will we tell the society?” The matter has become less of a religious debate, but more of a societal symbol, which then leads to two individuals being punished for choosing each ...
The main difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims is based on whether or not they believe that Prophet Muhammad explicitly designated a successor. Sunni Muslims believe that the Prophet did not explicitly declare a successor.
The Taliban, predominantly Sunni Pashtuns with a support base concentrated in the country's south, have refused to include other ethnicities or religions in their regime.
The U.S. government estimates the total population at 82.5 million (midyear 2021). According to the Turkish government, 99 percent of the population is Muslim, approximately 78 percent of which is Hanafi Sunni.
Muslim societies allow for up to four wives, but not without specific rules and regulations.
Mecca is the only pilgrimage site officially accepted by all Muslims, but Iran and Iraq are home to a number of sites considered holy to the Shia faithful: Hussein was buried at Karbala, for example, and the tomb of Ali is in nearby Najaf.
The great majority -- upwards of 85 to 90 percent -- of the world's more than 1.6 billion Muslims are Sunnis. Shia constitute about 10 to 15 percent of all Muslims, and globally their population is estimated at less than 200 million.
Non-Muslims are not expected to obey sharia, and, in most countries, they are under the jurisdiction of special government committees and adjunct courts. Secularism.
Despite these unifying features, the Muslim community has, over time, split into different branches and groups. This is largely the result of leadership disputes which arose for the first time after the death of the prophet Muhammad.
Sunni Muslims hold the belief that they must have faith in Allah and his prophets, believe in the righteous deeds presented in the Quran, and accept Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) as the final prophet in order to even get a chance at entering Paradise.
Islam is practiced by 90% of Egyptians. Most Egyptian Muslims are Sunni and follow the Maliki school of jurisprudence, though all legal schools are represented. Shi'a Muslims make up a small minority.
Today, Shia Muslims make up the majority of the Iraqi population. Iraq is the location of the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, pilgrimage sites for millions of Shia Muslims. Najaf is the site of Ali's tomb, and Karbala is the site of the tomb of Muhammad's grandson, third Shia imam Husayn ibn Ali.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar is a Muslim nation, with laws, customs and practices rooted in Islam. The country is neither as liberal as Dubai in the United Arab Emirates nor as conservative as parts of Saudi Arabia. Most of its citizens are Sunni Muslim.
The Shī'ah use the same Qur'an as Sunni Muslims, however they do not believe that it was first compiled by Uthman ibn Affan. The Shī'ah believe that the Qur'an was gathered and compiled by Muhammad during his lifetime.
Large numbers of Shia Arab Muslims live in some Arab countries including Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the UAE, and Qatar. Shia Muslims are a numerical majority in Iraq and Bahrain.
Shia Islam
Shia Ayatollahs Ali al-Sistani and Ali Khamenei believe there are no authoritative Islamic prohibitions on tattoos. The Quran does not mention tattoos or tattooing at all. Grand Ayatollah Sadiq Hussaini Shirazi ruled: "Tattoos are considered makruh (reprehensible but not forbidden).
Answer. Praise be to Allah. It is not obligatory for the husband to tell the second wife that he is already married and this does not affect the validity of his marriage to her. So long as the marriage contract fulfilled the necessary requirements and conditions, then it is valid.
Dogs in Islam, as they are in Rabbinic Judaism, are conventionally thought of as ritually impure. This idea taps into a long tradition that considers even the mere sight of a dog during prayer to have the power to nullify a pious Muslim's supplications.
There is a general consensus among Sunni and Shia fiqh experts that Surah Al-Baqarah 221 and Surat Al‑Mumtahanah 10 ban Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men. This consensus is still standing strong. On the other hand, the Quran allows Muslim men to marry non-Muslim women (“People of the Book”).
The largest religious group in Syria are Sunni Muslims, who make up about 74% of the population, of whom Arabic-speaking Sunnis form the majority, followed by the Kurds, Turkmens/Turkomans, Circassians, and Palestinians.
Though the two main sects within Islam, Sunni and Shia, agree on most of the fundamental beliefs and practices of Islam, a bitter split between the two goes back some 14 centuries.
However, not only do the interpretations between three sects within Islam – Sunni, Shia, and Alawite – differ in terms of observable practice (Alawites, for example, do not worship in mosques or wear traditional hijab), but even within these three sects there can vast differences.