Black Spirituality Religion : Sunni and Shia: The Deep Divide in Islam...

Aqil

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The split between the Sunni branch of Islam, which counts about 90% of the world's Muslims in its ranks, and the Shiites, who form an underclass in most Muslim countries except Iran, dates from the 7th century and a dispute over the succession to Prophet Muhammad (saw).

The Shiites believe that the Prophet’s son-in-law, Ali (saw), was the rightful successor to the Muslim leadership, but his claim culminated in a civil war in which his followers were known as the “Shia,” which means, “partisans of Ali.” In 680 AD, after Ali’s death and the abdication of his eldest son, Ali’s second son, Hussein, was slain at Karbala by troops of what would become Iraq, the dominant Sunni dynasty. The death of Hussein crystallized the schism in Islam, and gave the Shiites their emphasis on suffering and martyrdom.

Iraq, Iran’s neighbor and former enemy, had a Shiite majority under a secular government, and therefore was a prime target for the export of the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic revolution while he was in exile in France. Several other Arab countries in the Persian Gulf also have substantial Shiite populations.

The bitterness between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which is ruled by adherents of the strict Wahhabi sect of Sunnis, is particularly strong because each side considers the other heretical. Shiites expelled the Wahhabi founder from his home village in the early 19th century, and Wahhabis sacked Shiite holy sites at Karbala and Najaf – both in Iraq – last century.

It is also galling to the Iranians that King Fahd has styled himself the “custodian of the two holy mosques,” a reference to the Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. The guardianship carries considerable prestige in the Islamic world.
 
As-Salaamu-Alaikum Brother IssaEL21:

The Shiites believe that the successorship should remain within Muhammad's family, and that leaders are spiritually chosen, not politically chosen. They carry with them the pain of Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali, who was murdered by Mu'awiya in order to obtain power. The Sunnis and Shi'as differ as to who was the first Caliph of Islam. According to Sunni thought the first Caliph was Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, the father-in-law of Prophet Muhammad (saw), who was elected to power in 632 AD. The Shi'a, on the other hand, believe that the honor should go to the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, Ali ibn Abu Talib, on the basis of his blood relation to the Prophet himself...

Ma Salaam.
 

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