Sunni v Shi'a

Islam

Sunni Islam

Shi'a Islam

Sunni-Shi'a Divorce

The Historic background of the Sunni-Shi'a split in Islam started with prophet Muhammad's death in 632 CE, which was followed by a dispute over who was to lead the Muslim community, and how the leader was to be chosen. A gathering of Muslims at Saqifah gave their allegiance to Abu Bakr, Muhammad's father-in-law, as the first caliph. Sunni Muslims accept Abu Bakr as a righteous and rightful caliph. Shi'a Muslims believe that the prophet had appointed his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor and that in following Abu Bakr, the Muslim community had strayed from the true path. For further discussion of this contentious matter, see Succession to Muhammad.

Later, some thirty years after Muhammad's death, the Islamic community plunged into the First Islamic civil war. This civil war led to the emergence of three distinct Islamic groups:

Sunnis - Sunnis regard the first four caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman, and Ali) as Rightly Guided Caliphs, that is, caliphs who ruled in accordance with the Qur'an and the sunnah, or way of Muhammad. Sunnis believe that most of the succeeding caliphs failed to live up to these standards. In spite of these failures on the part of the secular leadership, the Sunni clergy (the ulema) counseled believers to submit to the authorities; this was better than constant community strife. The full name of the Sunni branch is Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama'ah.

Shi'a - Shi'a generally reject all caliphates except that of Ali, believing that his was the only "Rightly Guided" caliphate, and that only the household and descendants of Muhammad have the right to rule. Shi'as and a handful of Sunni scholars accepted Hasan ibn Ali's claim as caliph, though historical consensus states that Hasan never ruled, and never actually held the title. Some Sunnis, particularly the Salafis, do not accept certain groups of the Shi'a as Muslims.

Khwarij, or Kharijites - The Khwarij were initially loyal to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph, but turned against him after he accepted arbitration during the First Islamic civil war. Because the Khwarij had a very narrow view of what constitutes kufr (acts that invalidate one's Islam), they quickly split up into sects within themselves, each accusing one another of having fallen into disbelief. Though one branch of the Khwarij survives in Yemen and Oman as the Ibadi denomination of Islam, Khwarij doctrine has been largely rejected and relegated to the history books.

Other divisions have arisen since the civil war of the 7th century CE. Some groups are now extinct. Of the existing groups, Sunni Muslims do not accept members of the Nation of Islam, Ahmadiyya, and Zikri as fellow Muslims.