what is the difference between shiite and sunni?

Question

anything and everything. (no hate comments please =/)

Answer 1

Shi'a (Shiite) follow the bloodline of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). They believe that his nephew Ali was appointed as his succesor. Sunni beleive that he appointed another person and they follow the teachings of him. The problem with the Sunni side is that the people that they follow killed the family members of the Prophet after his death. There are some different teachings for the two sects. Sunni pray with their arms crossed in front of them, Shi'a with their arms to the side. The Sunni has a branch called the Wahhabi in Saudi Arabia and this is where a lot of the terrorist ideals is taught (not meaning Saudi Arabia, but the Wahhabi group). Sunni and Shi'a both believe in the same Qu'ran (there is only one), but for some reason two sets of rituals have come out of the rift depending on who you believe is the succesor or the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Answer 2

nice add in about the hate comments unfortunately it didn't stop people. Shiite and Sunni are the two different types of Muslims. If you compare it to christianity, there are different types of Christianity. The main difference between the two is who, in laymans terms, became the central figure in the Islamic religion. Shiites believe that Ali became Muhammad's successor and inheritor. The Sunni's at the time, selected a Caliph, rather than go with Muhammads choice of Ali. So with seperate yet similar beliefs, the two branches were formed. This is what I was taught growing up, my father is Iranian (a Persian Shiite country) and I was raised Muslim. i hope this has helped you.

Answer 3

Different flavors of Islam. It all began with a succession dispute. The prophet died and folks fought over who would take his place. The factions became known as Shiite and Sunni. They've been fighting on and off for a millennium and a half and no end in sight. Allahu Akbar.

Answer 4

An analogy would be the difference between Apache and Cherokee which are different tribes of Indians. Shiite and Sunni are different tribes of Arabs.

Answer 5

For one thing, shiites are much more aesthetic while sunnis are generally more worldly. Sunnis make up the vast majority of Muslims.

Answer 6

One kicks the shiite out of people and the other puts it where the sunni doesn't shine LOL! I'm kidding...I really do know the difference. ;)

Answer 7

Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam. They are also referred to as Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jamaa'h (Arabic: أهل السنة والجماعة) (people of the example (of Muhammad) and the community) which implies that they are the majority, or Ahl ul-Sunna (Arabic: أهل السنة; "The people of the example (of Muhammad)") for short. The word Sunni comes from the word sunna (Arabic : سنة ), which means the words and actions [1] or example of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad. They represent the branch of Islam that accepted the caliphate of Abu Bakr because he was chosen by consensus. Most Sunni lawyers define themselves as those Muslims who are rooted in one of the four orthodox schools of Sunni law (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii or Hanbali).


ShÄ«‘a, also Shi'ah and Shi‘ite (Arabic شيعة Å¡Ä«Ê¿a), is the second largest denomination of the Islamic faith after Sunni Islam. Shias adhere to the teachings of Muhammad and the religious guidance of his family (who are referred to as the Ahl al-Bayt) or his descendents known as Shi'a Imams. Muhammad's bloodline continues only through his daughter Fatima Zahra and her husband Ali ibn Abu Talib, who alongside the Muhammad's grandsons are among the Ahl al-Bayt ("people of the house [of Muhammad]"). Thus, Shi'as consider Muhammad's descendents as the true source of guidance while considering the first three ruling Sunni caliphs a historic occurrence and not something attached to faith. The singular/adjective form is Å¡Ä«Ê¿Ä« (شيعي.) and refers to a follower of the faction of Imam Ali according to the Shia ideology.

Shia Islam, like Sunni Islam, has at times been divided into many branches; however, only three of these currently have a significant number of followers. The best known and the one with most adherents is the Twelvers (اثنا عشرية iṯnāʿašariyya) which have a large percentage in Iran 90% and Iraq; the others are Ismaili, Sevener, and Zaidiyyah. Alawites and Druzes consider themselves Shias, although this is sometimes disputed by mainstream Shias[1]. The Sufi orders among the Shias are the Alevi, Bektashi, Kubrawiya, Noorbakhshi, Oveyssi, Qizilbashi, Hamadani and Fatimid orders and denominations. Twenty percent of Turkey's population is Alevi while Lebanon and Syria have a large presence of Druze and Alawites.

Answer 8

Sunnis believe that only the word of the prophet is valid. Shias (or shittes) also believe that you can obey guidelines set forth by his family members.

Answer 9

Just to add to the already well-written (non-hate) answers... they're really not as different outside of the few differences listed, religiously speaking.

_()_

Answer 10

Sunni's taste more like chicken.