Shi Ites And Sunnis: A Comparative Analysis

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Introduction The factions of Islam among the Shi’ites and Sunnis involve different understandings of the Islamic succession. This paper will compare the Shi’ites and the Sunnis by exploring the differences and similarities between the two. Both factions of the Muslim faith have various perspectives that have molded the Islamic world. “This initial rift was compounded over the centuries by a recurring pattern of struggle within Islam between strains of militant puritanism and the less rigorous attitudes of various ruling classes”(Ryan,2016). Islam was a religion developed by the Arabians. During Pre Islamic times, Islam was a polytheistic faith. It involved tribe members without any known priesthood. Leadership In later times, a man of spiritual visions named Mohammad took over the Islam world. Mohammad was born in the country of Mecca. As Mohammad grew, he began to acknowledge a gap between the beliefs of the generosity and honesty amongst the people. Mohammad experienced a period of prayer and seclusion. After that time Mohammad set out to preach the gospel that had been put upon him. As a result, Islam was rebirthed as a monotheism religion. Muhammad formed a single unity of believers to have faith in one god (Hoyland, 2014). Sacred Texts and Beliefs Mohammad dictated his revelations thorough the Quran. …show more content…
Mohammad taught that all believers must believe that Allah is the most powerful being whom created the world all must themselves to the will of Allah. As the religion of Islam evolved, five pillars of Islam system were set established. These pillars consisted of prayer five times a day, and Friday prayers and also the holy month called Ramadan. Ramadan involved fasting and being of service to others.
However, after the death of Muhammad, confusion began among his supporters on who would be his successor. Muhammad had offspring’s no male children (Hawting, 2011). This was the beginning of a major impartiality in the Islam community that caused division and instability of the nation of Islam that created the Sunnis and the Shi’ites. The resentments between the Sunnis and the Shi’ites have devastated the core of the Muslim religion (Ryan, 2013).
Sunni’s faction The Sunnis were known as people of orthodoxy. In modern society, the Sunnis take up the majority of Islam (Ryan, 2013). The Sunnis agreed that Abu Baker was the best choice to succeed Muhammad. The Sunnis formalized their own aspects of the Islam faith.” Sunnis adopted the position that any faithful, able Muslim who was able to gain consensus of the majority could lead the community ;”( Patterson, 2016). The Sunnis held that the position of Caliph is a position that is chosen by the spiritual leaders of the Islamic communal and not reliant on direct extraction from Mohammed. The Sunnis have a rarer elaborate religious ladder than the Shi’ites. Shi’ites faction The Shi’ites did not agree that Abu Bakr should have been successor to the prophet Muhammad.” From this initial disagreement over political succession developed differences in theology, with the Shias adopting a more hierarchical and mystical approach to Islam that saw Ali and his descendants as imams playing a vital role in communicating to people the inner truths of the religion “(Patterson, 2016). The Shi’ite population makes up only a small percentage of Islam (Ryan, 2013). The Shi’ites approved that

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