Free Custom «Focus on Islamic Issues» Essay Paper

Islam is the second main religion in the world. It has over one billion supporters, and it is growing at extremely high speed. This religion has two main branches which are; the Sunnis which have about 940 million supporters, and the Shiites which has 120 million followers. The two factions also have their own branches and division. These two groups have numerous differences, which remain to alter the history of the world. The split between the two groups came when they were trying to choose caliphs. The Shiites believed that the caliphs should only come from the line of Mohammed while this did not matter to the Sunnis.

Although the two groups agree on some areas, they have so many differences. These include; Sunnis believe that Allah has a body although it is not exactly like that of a human being. On the other hand, the Shiites believe that Allah does not have anybody. Sunnis state that Allah is visible while the Shiites argue that Allah is not visible either on earth or in eternal life. The Shiites says that Allah authorize one to do something because he knows that it is worth doing it while the Sunnis believe that because it is the Allah who commanded it be done, it makes it palatable. Sunnis believe that Allah does things aimlessly while the Shiite knows that Allah does everything with a purpose. Sunnis believes that while they are praying, they should place their head on a piece of clay while the Shiites place theirs on a mat. The Sunnis pray three times a day while Shiites pray five times.

 

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The Sunnis holds a total of 90% of the Muslims. The split between Sunni and Shiites emerged from the succession battle of Mohammed. This brought so many political theoretical differences. The Shiites today makes a total of 10% of the Muslim in the world. They are the least in Muslims countries only in Iran where they are the state religion. Sometimes they are associated to an expectation by Persians to dismiss the inclinations for Arab rule over Islam.

The two sects were heard recently in 2006 when there was a conflict in Iraq. This made many differences. The main cause of the division between the two groups came out of taking over the leadership between Muhammad’s family and the democratically elected Abu Bakr.