Sunni and Shia Muslims?
Read THE KITE RUNNER recently. The story SO INTENSE la!!!
So, SUNNI and SHIA muslims. HUH?? Malaysia is an Islamic country, but very seldom we, or maybe just me, heard or talked about this.
So what’s the difference between the Sunni and Shia Muslims? Below are the important facts I wanna remember so I can *cough* show off *cough* when the topic arises.
1. After the death of Prophet Muhammad, the question of who was the successor to the leadership of Muslim nation arose:
a) Sunni Muslims believe that spiritual leadership to the muslim community is not a birthright, instead the new leader should be elected from among those capable of the job, and the Prophet Muhammad’s closes friend and advisor, Abu Bakr, was elected the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. The word SUNNAH means tradition, and therefore one who follows the tradition of Prophet is called SUNNI.
b) Shia Muslims on the other hand think that the leadership should remained within the Prophet’s family, and that Ali ibn Abi Talib, husband of the Prophet’s daughter Fatimah was appointed by the Prophet to take over the role.
2. Only 10% of total Muslims are Shia Muslims, primarily located in Iran, Iraq and Yemen. The 90% Sunni Muslims are located in most Muslim countries.
3. Shia Muslims believe that the Imam’s authority comes directly from God. They think of the Imam as saints and perform pilgrimages to their tombs. Sunni Muslims on the other hand disagree on the veneration of saints, and believe that a muslim leader needs to earn his trust from the people.
4. There are also differences between the Sunni and Shia muslims in terms of religious practices such as prayer, fasting, etc.
5. MAHDI means “The Guided One”. Both Sunni and Shia muslims agree that Al-Mahdi will be a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and bear the name Muhammad. He will unite the muslims and defeat the Daijjal. However, the Shia muslims believe that Al-Mahdi was already on earth as the “hidden imam” who works through mujtahds to interpret Quran and will return at the end of time, while the Sunni muslims think Al-Mahdi will come in the future.
Of course the history and differences between these two groups are much more complicated than the above mention which is, to me, VERY COMPLICATED already!
Personally, as a non-muslim, I think SHIA is a cooler name because of the pronunciation (yes very shallow I ADMIT), but I am more attracted to the Sunni ideology that one cannot inherit spiritual leadership. Hah, like I know any better, konon! Anyway, I do believe that both groups are pretty much the same since the ultimate guideline is still the Quran, which I believe teaches nothing but good.
PS 1: These are the links to where I got most of my infomation from.
http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/comparison_charts/islamic_sects.htm
http://islam.about.com/cs/divisions/f/shia_sunni.htm
PS 2: Please forgive and educate me if I’ve totally misunderstood the whole Sunni and Shia topic. Many thanks in advance!
