Both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims are part of Muslim faith, but the differences between the two groups arise from conflicting religious beliefs.
Political conflicts divide these groups and Saudi Arabia, Sunni, and Shiite Iran continue to compete for regional influence in the Arab world. In anti-government protests and automobile bombing cases, the Sunnish leaders in Saudi Arabia accuse the population of their Shiites in respect of their loyalty to Iran
Sunni and Shias have one thing in common. In short, these are the largest two sects of Muslim faith. Furthermore, Sunni and Shiites believe that the Prophet Muhammad founded Islam in the seventh century.
The division between the two sects began after the controversy on the identity of Muhammad's religious heirs died in 632 when they broke Islamic believers into Sunnis and Shiites.
Sunnis believe that Muhammad has no legitimate heirs and that religious leaders should be chosen by voting by Islamic community people. They believe that the followers of Muhammad chose Abu Bakr, his close friend and advisor to Muhammad as his successor.
Shias believe that only God, the God of Islamic religion, can choose religious leaders, so all heirs must be direct descendants of the Muhammad family. They believe that after the death of Muhammad, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali, were legitimate heirs of Islamic leaders.
Another controversial religious difference between Shiites and Sunni Muslims includes Mahdi, Arabic 'guided'. Both organizations believe that Mahdi is the only ruler of the Islamic society. But while believing that Sennis was not born to believe that Mahdi was looking forward to his arrival, the Shians believed that Mahdi was born in 869 BCE and returned to Earth under the command of Allah.
Most Muslims are Sunnis. According to cnn.com, only 10% of the Muslim population in the Islamic world is Shi'a. The only countries in the Middle East with the majority of Shiites are Iran, Iraq, and the Bahrain Bay Islands.
Muslims generally belong to Sunnis and Shiites. Sunnis believe that Muslim leaders died in the early days of a series of Caliphs, while Shi'a Muslims became mentors of Ali, the leader of Muhammad's cousin I believe that. The law and its descendants. Shias are often more ecstatic in religious practice and have Messianic hope for the future Imam. Sufism is a complete Muslim abstinence movement, pointing directly to mysticism and personal experience with God.
Sunni and Shiites are two subgroups of Muslims, as Catholics and Protestants are two groups within Christianity. The difference between Sunni and Shi'a is about 1400 years ago and goes back to the controversy over the leaders of the Muslim community after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632. The two groups have agreed to some basic principles of Islam, but there is a difference in faith and practice, Sunnis do not believe that Shiites are Muslims in some cases. Most Muslim countries, except some countries, such as Iran (most Shi'a), Iraq and Lebanon (isolated) have more Sunnis than Shiites. In the United States, I believe that 55% are Sunnis and 16% are Shiites (others say that other groups are Muslims).