what are Sunnis and Shiites in Irak?

Answer 1

In islam, before the prophet muhamaad(pbuh) died he told his believers"when I die you must elect one caliph(leader) for the whole nation of islam.Otherways there will be great wars and disbelief."And I did not study in detail of this situation because I tried to avoid becoming a sunni or shia.I try and capture the essence of islam.But the war is between who they chose to be the caliph.And no disrespect to other muslims who read this, but I do not remember who were the ones elected.They could not agree with who shall be caliph and so they separated.Both of the caliphs of both sects were murdered and they have been in war ever since.They were sons of the prophet muhamaad(pbuh).But to what I am lead to believe, the sunnis are the correct ones.And the shias are not believers.That they have characteristics of catholics.I am a hanif-muslim and I choose not to follow any of that.And anything that I read or hear that will disturb my peace, I stay away from.A hanif-muslim believes in allah, the prophet muhamaad(pbuh), the quran whole hearted, and follow the seventh heaven.And I don't know about others but I LOVE the first wife of the prophet muhamaad(pbuh).Khadija.She is one of the greatest loves of my heart.A true friend.She has a great importance within islam .I don't think most notice.

Answer 2

They are two different secs in Islam. Just like being a catholic or a Lutheran. I think the difference is that Shiites believe in the return of the Mahdi, while Sunnis do not. I could be wrong though. There are other differences as well, but I can't remember them.

Answer 3

The main difference between Sunni and Shia are that the Shia believe that Ali was the first caliph, while Sunni's believe he was the 4th.
The Shia believe that Muhammed (saw) said he wanted Ali as his successor (Ali was his son in law, husband of Fatimah), and the Sunni's elected 3 successors before Ali took the reigns.
Aisha (the wife of Muhammed (saw)) went in battle against Ali, and now the Shia tend to view Aisha in a poor light, regardless of the fact that she was the prophets favored wife. They demean her and disgrace her with words, because the wives were not supposed to leave their homes after Muhammed died, out of respect for them as they were viewed as the mothers of the Muslim followers.
Shia reject the rules the first 3 caliphs placed onthe ummah (those of the islamic faith), including the ruling on marriage, where Shia believe in a marriage called Mutta where a man and woman can marry for a specified period of time. Sunni's are not allowed to marry with a time limit.
Shia also pray differently than Sunni. Shia combine the 5 prayers into 3 prayers daily (two back to back), while Sunni pray at 5 specified times in the day. Shia pray with their hands facing upward on their stomach, Sunni pray with their hands on their stomach or chest.
Some Shia also engaged in a ritual of mourning over Hassan, the 11th imam, where they flog themselves with razors and shed their blood in great spiritual pain. Sunni do not do this because harming one's body is not allowed.

Answer 4

They are like Methodists and Baptists but with a lot more anger, well maybe. They are different sects of the same religion, Muslim, and there different beliefs can put them at odds with each other. They have the same fundamental belief system but different rules and some people think those rules are so important that you need to kill to keep people in line. Most people in any religion do no belief this, so it is the extremist that cause all the problems.

Answer 5

good question... i learned this last year...sadly i have forgoten already...