INDEPTH: ISLAM
Sunni and Shia
CBC News Online | April 5, 2004
Within Islam, there are many believer groups; the two largest being Shia and Sunni. The roots of their division can be traced back centuries. When the Prophet Muhammad died in 632, two groups couldn't agree on who would be his successor. The group now known as Sunni believed the new leader (or caliph) should be Abu Bakr (who led from 632-634). The group known as Shia believed Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali (who led from 656-661), was the rightful successor to the Prophet and that Sunnis usurped Ali's rightful leadership. Each group interprets the Qur'an to support its position.
Sunni Islam
- Means "one who follows the 'Sunna' or 'middle path.'"
- Make up 90 per cent of the world's estimated one billion Muslims.
- Base religion on the Qur'an and lessons contained in the Sunnat (sayings, actions or stories of the Prophet Muhammad)
- Interpret Islam through Hanbali, Hanafi, Maliki and Shaafii schools of thought
- Obligatory prayers (salat) five times per day.
Shia Islam
- A contraction of the phrase "Shiat Ali," meaning the "party of Ali."
- Most Shiites live in Iran, where they make up some 93 per cent of the Muslim population. There are Shia populations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, among other places.
Iraqi Shiites display a portrait of their prominent leader Ayatollah Mohammed Al-Sadr, right, and Ayatollah Mohammed Al-Ya'aqoobi, outside Sunni's 14th Ramadan Mosque, March 12, 2004, in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo)
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- Believe the Prophet's family are the rightful caliphs of Islam. Hussein, the last relative of the Prophet, was killed during a battle in 680. A series of imams – believed divinely appointed by the Prophet's family – ruled into the ninth century, until the election of an ayatollah, a supreme spiritual leader. (e.g. Ayatollah Khamenei is the supreme ayatollah of Iran.)
- Use fasting day Ashura to mark the martyrdom of Hussein. Martyrdom is an important theme within Shia.
- Combine prayers into three times per day; place holy tablet on forehead while praying.
- The Twelvers make up the largest subgroup within Shia. They believe the 12th divinely-appointed imam (Muhammad al-Muntazar al-Mahdi) was hidden alive and will return to restore leadership to the family of the Prophet.
- Other Shia sects include the Ismailis, the Zaidis and the Fatimids.
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