What is the difference between the Shiites and the Sunnis and why are they killing each other/?

Answer 1

Shiites (shē'ītz) [key][Arab., shiat Ali,=the party of Ali], the second largest branch of Islam, Shiites currently account for 10%–15% of all Muslims. Shiite Islam originated as a political movement supporting Ali (cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam) as the rightful leader of the Islamic state. The legitimacy of this claim, as initially envisioned by Ali's supporters, was based on Muhammad's alleged designation of Ali as his successor, Ali's righteousness, and tribal customs, given his close relation to the Prophet. Ali's right passed with his death in 661 to his son Hasan, who chose not to claim it, and after Hasan's death, to Husayn, Ali's younger son. The evolution into a religious formulation is believed to have been initiated with the martyrdom of Husayn in 680 at Karbala (today in Iraq), a traumatic event still observed with fervor in today's Shiite world on the 10th of the month of Muharram of the Muslim lunar year.

The Shiite focus on the person of the Imam made the community susceptible to division on the issue of succession. The early Shiites, a recognized, if often persecuted, opposition to the central government, soon divided into several factions. The majority of the Shiites today are Twelve-Imam Shiites (notably in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, India, and Pakistan). Others are Zaydis (in Yemen), and the Ismailis (in India, Pakistan, Syria, and Yemen).

Sunni are the main group in Islam, making up 90% of the religion's adherents. Has been dominating almost continuously since 661, when the Shi'is departed from the main fold (the Kharijis left in 658). Sunni Islam claims to be the continuation of the Islam as it was defined through the revelations given to Muhammad and his life, a claim which is substantiated through the fact that Shi'i Islam for a number of decades had very little following and had no real, formal organization. As for the theology, Sunni Islam represents no more of a continuation of Islam than the other orientations.
Hence one should be careful about thinking of Sunni Islam as mainstream Islam, and clearly refrain from calling it "orthodox". None of the 3 orientations of Islam coming out of the schisms of the 7th century, can do no less than trace their origins back to the very first Muslim societies, and for the bystander none of the orientations must be deemed as inferior to the others.
Sunni Islam has its name from its identification with the importance of the Sunna (the examples from the hadiths), which earlier than in Shi'i Islam was established as a central element in Islam, and central to understanding the full truth in the religion. There was a need to establishing a law, called Shari'a (for which the hadiths served as a central source), as Sunni Islam was the religious orientation of the rulers, while the Shi'is did not establish administrative organizations for yet a long time to come.
The actual theological and ritual differences between Sunni and Shi'i Islam, came over a couple of centuries with development. For a long time, Sunni Islam was defined from Shi'i Islam by its adherence to the Caliph as the leader of the Muslim world. But there are many small and some large differences between Sunni and the other orientations, in all aspects of the religion. Sunni and Shi'i Islam share only three core doctrines, oneness of God, the belief in the revelations of Muhammad, and the belief in resurrection on the Day of Judgment.
Sunni Islam has a different set of hadiths from Shi'i Islam. Sunni Islam puts far more importance into the hajj to Mecca, while Shi'i Islam has some other very important pilgrimages as well. Sunni Islam revere Ali, but does not hold him up as the only true continuation of the tradition from Muhammad, and has no emphasis on him bringing on a divine light from the Prophet.

Excerpt: "Shias record the start of the schism with the death of Muhammad, and in their view, a violent coup d'état against Ali in his first day as caliph, which they argue was automatic without recourse to an election or a formal investiture. After that, Shias contend that they were systematically persecuted and killed by the first three Caliphs of Islam, with a brief respite ensuing during the caliphate of Ali, although he was at constant war with those the Shia regarded as their enemies. Sunnis hold that the schism did not begin at the accession of the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, since Ali ultimately swore allegiance and served all his predecessors before his own accession. Sunnis in general reject dynastic claims of the Prophet's household to the Caliphate. They hold that First Islamic civil war between Ali and the Umayyad Muawiyah I, whose 20 year rule Shias regard as the most difficult in early Islam, marked the beginning of the breach. For more detailed information, see Succession to Muhammad. It is noteworthy that the terms "Shi'a" and "Sunni" were not yet in general usage at this time."

Excerpt: "Some Sunni scholars, mainly from the Salafi sect* of Sunni Islam have been known for producing Fatwas, legal edicts of Takfir or labelling other Muslims as infidels, on Shi'a with some even promoting and legalising their murder."

* the sect of Osama bin Laden, Taliban, and Al Qaida

Answer 2

It is a rift in their belief system and interpretation of islam. All to do with who took over, like a son, when the evil mohammed kicked the bucket. Whichever, as was said above, they tolerated each other while saddam was tyrannising the country but law and order has collapsed and the old tribal warlord factions are being fed arms by other interested parties and are largely able to do what the q'ran tells muslims to do ... kill and destroy those who are not what you want them to be. Extremely dangerous religion. Stupid in the extreme. Add into the mix the validation of murder and destruction associated with the non-muslims. How pathetic is that? The whole idea hinges on the lie that such acts will see the perpetrator immediately transported to a paradise, where 72 virgins will be waiting to pleasure him. That same idea applies if you are a female suicide bomber, so there's something screwy there? Why don't they all accept the fact that allah is a figment of their imagination? Why don't they then stop teaching this rubbish to every child born to a mulsim family with no choice? The myth gets perpetuated. The killing continues. Religion is a disease. Atheism is the cure.

Answer 3

When Muhammed died his believers were left to decide who to follow as leader of the Islamic faith. The two primary candidates were his brother on one hand, and his most devout follower on the other. Islam split. Over the centuries the two groups remained separate from each other and more or less aggressively opposed. This has been getting better. Shi'a have be fighting to gain greater acceptance by the Sunni majority and have been able to establish positions of acceptance. Now in some countries the two groups mingle more or less freely and even intermarry.

Although the reasons are different, the relations are in a lot of ways similar to the Catholic/Protestant split in Christianity, with the same kinds of tensions and violence between the two.

Answer 4

Im a Sunni Muslim, one of my best friends is a Shiite Muslim and we are not killing each other!

Answer 5

Shift in decades of sectarian governmental reign struggles

Answer 6

Maybe they are Islam's Catholics and Prostestants.