Islam - Shiite versus Sunni

Updated April 2016

The long conflict in Iraq, Syria and Yemen has once again brought the divisions in the Islamic world to the forefront.  While many of us in the West look at all Muslims as though they are the same, this is far from factual.  In fact, as in the case of Christianity with its Catholic - Protestant divide, during its long history, Islam has experienced divisions among its members, none more significant than the Sunni - Shia divide.  

Even though both branches of Islam have the same basic belief system, the differences between the two groups have been responsible for centuries of sectarian violence and infighting.  Both groups believe that the Prophet Muhammed was the messenger of God and that Muslims must abide by his revelations as recorded in the Quran.  As well, both groups follow the five pillars of Islam including the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), the salat (five daily prayers), the shahada (reciting the creed "There is no God but Allah and Muhammed is his Prophet) and the sawm (fasting from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan).  Today the differences between the two groups can be boiled down to one key difference; Sunnis believe that only the prophets in the Quran should be given exalted status whereas Shiites venerate their imams.  This results in Sunnis having a less powerful religious hierarchy than Shiites.

The roots of the split between the Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam harken back to disagreements over who would be the successor to the Prophet Muhammed after he died in 632 A.D.  The basic split occurred on whether the successor would be a member of Muhammed's bloodline or a qualified and pious individual who would follow the Prophet's customs.  The community leaders had two choices:

1.) Abu Bakr who was a companion of the Prophet Muhammed but was not in his bloodline.

2.) Ali ibn Abi Talib who was the Prophet's cousin and the husband of the Prophet's daughter Fatima.

The community leadership chose Abu Bakr as the first Caliph or successor.  Ali, although he played a significant role in the Prophet's life, was not chosen as leader because he did not have the necessary seniority in the tribal system.  Ali's followers, however, considered Abu Bakr and the next two caliphs to be illegitimate and that Muhammed had selected Ali as his successor.   Those who supported Ali were known as "shi'at Ali" or "supporters of Ali" which later became known as Shi'a or Shiites.  Those who became the majority of Muslims eventually became known as "Sunni" which means "followers of (the Prophet's) customs (sunna)".  

In 656 A.D., followers of Ali took matters into their own hands and assassinated the third Caliph Uthman and Ali took his place as Caliph.  Ali was assassinated five years later in 661 A.D. near Najaf (in modern Iraq) and his son, Hussein (Muhammed's grandson), died in 680 A.D. fighting what he saw as a corrupt and tyrannical Sunni caliph at Karbala (also in Iraq).  Here is a map showing the location of both cities in Iraq:

This is why the twin holy cities of Najaf and Karbala are so important to Shia followers.  Hussein's death is still commemorated by ritual self-flagellation in a remembrance known as "Ashura".  On top of Hussein's death, Ali's son Hassan died in 670 A.D. under the suspicion that he was poisoned by the Sunni caliph.

That's enough history.  Let's look at Islam today.

Today, the majority of the world's Muslims are Sunni, comprising between 85 and 90 percent of the total Muslims in the world compared to only 10 to 15 percent of Muslims who follow Shiite beliefs.  The Shiite branch is the majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain and Azerbaijan.  As well, there are significant numbers of Shiites in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

On top of the split between Sunni and Shiite, each branch has its own divisions.  The Sunni branch has more prominent internal divisions than the Shiite branch.  One key movement in Sunni is Wahhabism, a puritanical movement that is one of the most pervasive movements in Islam since the 18th century.  It is this group that has a close relationship to the Saudi ruling family stemming back to the 18th century alliance between Muhammad ibn Saud, the founder of the modern Saudi dynasty, and Abd al-Wahhab, the scholar who encouraged a return to the fundamentals of Islam.  The most conservative Wahhabi followers believe that both Shiites and non-Wahhabi Muslims are heretics.  After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Shiite uprising in Iran, Saudi Arabia's ruling family began to actively promote their Wahhabi brand of Islam around the world.  On the other hand, Shia Muslims are divided into two main sects which includes "Twelvers" who believe that there were 12 infallible imams who were descended from Ali and were appointed by God.  This group expects the 12th imam to return at some point in time.  The Ismaili sect of Shiites recognizes only the first seven imams; the seventh being named Ismail.  This group established powerful ruling states until the 16th century and played an very important role in Islamic history.

Now let's look at today's issues in Iraq where ISIS has made great strides in taking over control of a great deal of territory.  In Iraq, the relationship between the two branches of Islam has been greatly complicated by the dramatic end of the Sunni-dominated regime of Saddam Hussein.  The sudden removal of centuries of Sunni control stirred up old disputes and opened old wounds that existed between the Sunnis and the Shiites.  This resulted in the creation of insurgent groups that have battled each other as well as intra-sect infighting.  The delicate balance of power that existed In Iraq under the strong hand of Saddam Hussein was destroyed and the chances of peaceful co-existence ended.  The end result - thousands of civilian deaths.

The western powers that entered Iraq in 2003 either chose to ignore centuries of Islamic tensions in the region or were ignorant of the differences between the Shiites and the Sunnis.  To both groups, what happened centuries ago is still as fresh as though it happened yesterday.  Attempts by western forces intervene in this conflict will continue to be a no-win situation.  The fact that the fight is taking place on Shia holy ground complicates the issue greatly and makes any solution to the current violence in Iraq insolvable.