Sunni Islam and Shia Islam

[gringo300]

From what I can tell, a lot of the fighting between Muslims is between Sunnites and Shiites.

The first question is:

What exactly are the differences between Sunni Islamic doctrine and Shia Islamic doctrine?

[decrumpit]

What exactly are the differences between Sunni Islamic doctrine and Shia Islamic doctrine?

There's quite a few, but the main difference is the Sunnis believe that Islamic governance was to be given to a man known as the Khalifa (Caliph) who would rule the Islamic empire. He could be just any man of good standing (also from the Hizaj, and some other qualifications).

Shia Islam believes that the rightful heir to succeed Mohammed was his son-in-law/cousin Ali, and that the governance of the Islamic Empire was to be passed through Mohammed's relatives.

http://islam.about.com/cs/divisions/f/shia_sunni.htm

[HisLeast]

Hopefully Clavicula_Nox stops by. That dude has an encyclopedic knowledge of the culture.

[Clavicula_Nox]

There's quite a few, but the main difference is the Sunnis believe that Islamic governance was to be given to a man known as the Khalifa (Caliph) who would rule the Islamic empire. He could be just any man of good standing (also from the Hizaj, and some other qualifications).

Shia Islam believes that the rightful heir to succeed Mohammed was his son-in-law/cousin Ali, and that the governance of the Islamic Empire was to be passed through Mohammed's relatives.

http://islam.about.com/cs/divisions/f/shia_sunni.htm

This is a pretty good resource and has a good overview.

Currently, the only recognized surviving bloodline from Mohammad is that leading to Aga Khan IV, but this is a bloodline that was strenuously (and dubiously)established centuries ago by...uh...Muhamed I who ruled as the 3rd Nizari Ismaili ruler of Alamut as a crazy means of consolidating his power on the hashashin, both in Alamut, and in Masayf.

Of course, while there isn't much doctrinal difference between mainstream Sunni and Shi'a, there are "denominations" in each sect, like the Ismailis, and the different sects have their own divisions, like the Nizari and these divisions and sects vary in ways ranging from the miniscule to the extreme.

But, essentially, the whole argument began over who would be the next to wear the Big Hat (or turban) and the first major conflicts between Muslims occured over this very issue. Oh, and the assassination of Ali on 22 Ramadan in 661 probably left a sore spot on Shi'as.

[RevLogos]

The standard Sunni declaration of faith:
• "There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah."

The Shia declaration of faith:
• "There is no god but Alláh, Muhammad is the Messenger of Alláh, Alí is the Friend of Alláh. The Successor of the Messenger of Alláh And his first Caliph."

Ali is the cousin of Muhammad, husband of his daughter Fatima. Sunnis regard Ali as the fourth and last of the "rightly guided caliphs" (successors to Muhammed as leader of the Muslims) following on from Abu Bakr 632-634, Umar 634-644 and Uthman 644-656. Shias feel that Ali should have been the first caliph and that the caliphate should pass down only to direct descendants of Mohammed via Ali and Fatima, They often refer to themselves as ahl al bayt or "people of the house" [of the prophet].

After Muhammad’s death there was a power struggle that split the Muslims and that split remains today.

The line of Mohammed through Ali and Hussein became extinct in 873CE when the last Shia Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, who had no brothers disappeared within days of inheriting the title at the age of four. The Shias refused, however, to accept that he had died, preferring to believe that he was merely "hidden" and would return in the end-times, as the 12th Imam, AKA the Mahdi.

When this didn’t happen, spiritual power transferred to a council of twelve scholars who elect a supreme Imam – much like a Pope with the same idea of infallibility. These are the Ayyatollah, and the best known today is Ayyatollah Khomeni.

Suni Islam has no such Imam. It is a little like the contrast between the Catholics and Protestants. Sunnis have no pope, but have various schools of jurisprudence (4 main ones, much like Protestant denominations) that can offer fatwas. The Shia look to the Ayyatollah.

Because Ali was martyred, there is a strong theme of martyrdom and suffering in Shia Islam. Core beliefs are the same. There are some technical differences in the rules.

Almost 90% of Muslims are Sunni. Most Shia are Persian, most Sunni are Arab. Modern relations are tense and violent. In populations where one dominates, the other is often repressed. I am convinced some of the conflict is racism - Persians vs. Arabs.

[Free Indeed]

Almost 90% of Muslims are Sunni. Most Shia are Persian, most Sunni are Arab. Modern relations are tense and violent. In populations where one dominates, the other is often repressed. I am convinced some of the conflict is racism - Persians vs. Arabs.

But aren't the majority of Muslims in the world neither Arab nor Persian?

[decrumpit]

But aren't the majority of Muslims in the world neither Arab nor Persian?

True, the vast majority of Muslims are non-Arab Sunnis.

Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, sub-Saharan Africa, some of Europe (Somalia could be classified either non-Arab or Arab). All these people are non-Arabs, and the majority of the people in these countries are Muslims.

Actually, if you want to get technical, Arabic speaking nations aren't necessarily ethnically Arab. Arab as an ethnicity is limited to people in the Arabian peninsula. For all intents and purposes, however, an Arab is a person whose ethnicity is from an Arabic speaking country.

[gringo300]

Indonesia is mentioned.

Indonesians aren't a single ethnic group.

From what I understand, Balinese are predominantly Hindu.

[decrumpit]

Indonesia is mentioned.

Indonesians aren't a single ethnic group.

From what I understand, Balinese are predominantly Hindu.

Also true, Islam in Indonesia is mostly located in the Western part of the country, and primarily on the island of Java. The Eastern part is pretty solidly Christian, but Jakarta is the real population center. Those are just the main countries, even Pakistan has some non-Islamic minority groups.

[Clavicula_Nox]

Add Iran to your list as they are primarily Persian, Hazara, and Kurd.

[decrumpit]

Add Iran to your list as they are primarily Persian, Hazara, and Kurd.

Good call.

Also, we can add Azerbaijan to that.

You could also classify Oman as distinct from the two, seeing as though they follow Ibadi Islam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibadi