What is the difference between Sunni and Shi'ah Muslims that causes them to fight each other?

Question

Jeff Stein asks Washington D.C. officials in this article and they seem not to know the answer.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/opinion/17stein.html?pagewanted=print

I know the basics of the religious differences, following the succession of Muhammad with Abu Bakr or Ali but what causes the Sunni and Shi'ah Muslims in Iraq to kill each other now?

Iraq's most violent Ramadan ends in bloodshed
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/237019/1/.html

Answer 1

They are not shia and sunni that are killing each other, as they had been living in peace with each other for hundreds of years.
They are Wahhabies who are killing both Shia and Sunni Muslims.
Let me explain briefly about Wahhabies.
It was about 200 years ago which a new belief related to Islam but completely to the contrary founded in Saudi Arabia. That was preached by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. His opponents derived their name for the movement from him, but eventually his followers came to use it themselves
The people related to these believes are called Wahhabies.
What they don't understand is that they are NOT real muslims. they are just getting an excuse to fight and then renaming it Jihad and they certainly will not go to heaven or w/e they believe in.
They're taking it to the point of extremism and radicalism and they're fanatics.
Al-Qaeda is consisting of Wahhabi people who cannot tolerate anybody but themselves. They even kill Muslims not believing like them.
Their origin is Saudi Arabia and they are related to it's government and so they are spreading in the name of Islam, specially in Pakistan and now in Iraq.

Answer 2

Gaspode is correct. This fight can be traced back to the death of Muhammad. Sunni Muslims believe in the Caliphate, or rule under the Caliph, a religious leader chosen by the community. The Shi'ah believe Muhammad named his relative, Ali, as his successor. The whole thing is over who Muhammad chose to lead the PEACEFUL religion. Kind of ironic, isn't it?

Answer 3

Our elected employees almost always depend on advisers for their information, and are usually poorly informed.

I think most educated people are aware of the rift in the Muslims caused by Mohamed not leaving an heir. The uninformed at this point have to be intentionally ignorant, and wishing to stay that way which means they are also stupid.

Answer 4

I am currently in the region. It's b/c they are all so stupid they dont understand their own religion. Ramadon(spelling?) is supposed to be a peacful holiday, the most peacful time of the year actually. But what do they do? I can tell you, they use it as an excuse to kill each other and the infadels(Who they say are the Americans) as much as they can for their religion.

Answer 5

Have you read this book ?
What is your opinion, from the list below, provided by Spencer in his book?

The Truth About Muhammad
by Robert Spencer

Meet the real Muhammad:


Muhammad's bizarre reaction to his first "revelation": "I will go to the top of the mountain and throw myself down that I may kill myself"

The heretical Christian who convinced Muhammad he was a prophet – and may have taught him his erroneous views of Christianity

Islamic borrowings from Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism – and Muhammad's enraged replies to charges that he borrowed material rather than received actual divine revelations

The "revelation" that allowed Muhammad to marry his beautiful daughter-in-law

The strange incident in Muhammad's life that makes it virtually impossible to prove rape in Islamic countries today

The real "Satanic Verses" incident (not the Salman Rushdie version): how Muhammad's attempt to win over his opponents ended with his saying he had been inspired not by God, but by Satan

How the Qur'an's teaching on warfare against unbelievers developed – with constant war to establish the hegemony of Islamic law as the last stage

The first year of the Muslim calendar: not when Muhammad was born or became a prophet, but when he became a warlord

How Muhammad used the graphic lure of Islamic Paradise to urge his warriors to fight furiously to extend his rule

"Kill every Jew who comes into your power": why Muhammad became so angry with both Jews and Christians – with disastrous consequences that are still playing out in the world today

The momentous command by Muhammad that led to good being identified with anything that benefited the Muslims, and evil with anything that harmed them --without reference to any larger moral standard

Muhammad's child bride – and the terrible consequences his marriage to a nine-year-old still has in the Islamic world

"This is the caravan of the Quraysh possessing wealth. It is likely that Allah may give it to you as booty": how Muhammad gave divine sanction to the Muslims' bloody raids

"War is deceit": the permission Muhammad gave his followers to lie in order to gain an advantage over their enemies

How Muhammad broke the principal treaty he entered into, again setting a pattern for Muslim states thereafter

Muhammad's commands to his followers to wage perpetual war against non-Muslims, including Jews and Christians

Muhammad on women's rights: women "are prisoners with you having no control of their persons"

"If justice is not to be found with me then where will you find it?" Why Muhammad still stands for Muslims as the supreme model for human behavior

"I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula, and will not leave any but Muslims" – and other statements by Muhammad that contemporary jihadists take very seriously

Islamic tolerance? The onerous tax burden and other discriminatory regulations mandated for non-Muslims under Islamic law

How Muhammad ordered the killing of apostates from Islam

The massacre of a Jewish tribe by Muhammad that was invoked by modern-day jihadists at the beginning of Israel's July 2006 operations against Hizballah in Lebanon

"Embrace Islam, and your lives and property will be safe": Muhammad's threatening letters to the rulers of the lands around Arabia

Muhammad's frequent avowals that the Muslims would overcome the empires bordering on Arabia and one day stand as masters of the world

"I have been made victorious with terror" – and other statements of Muhammad on his deathbed

Six steps that American leaders can and must take in order to protect our nation from Islamic jihad terrorism

Answer 6

I am going to give you a couple of websites to read. They should explain fully why this is going on.
http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/sfdetails.php?id=52
http://www.prophetofdoom.net/chapter.aspx?g=401&i=41023
http://koranexposed.tripod.com/

Answer 7

Different branches of islam like catholics and protestants.