Jul 28 2008
Sunni vs. Shi'ite: Learning the difference
Here's how I keep them straight in my head.
- I start with Iran by remembering the phrase, "She is from Iran." Iran is Shi'ite.
- I recall the mistake McCain made saying that Iran was training al Qaeda. That is incorrect because al Qaeda is the opposite, Sunni.
- Osama Bin Laden is from Saudi Arabia, which makes the country Sunni.
- Most in the world are Muslims are the same as Saudi Arabia, Sunni.
- Iraq is between Iran and Saudi Arabia, so they're approximately half Shi'ite and half Sunni, but they're politically closer to Iran, so a slight majority of Iraqis are Shi'ite.
How does that work for you?
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9 Responses to “Sunni vs. Shi'ite: Learning the difference”
Works for me! Oh a great book dealing with all that is called "No god but God" by Razan Islan. I think I spelled his name correctly. He talks about the past, present and future of Islam and what is happening with it like with the different groups and how AlQida fits in etc. Oh sometime when you get the chance do some research on BCCI, BinLadin, Russia and Afghanistan. Oh and look up the BinLadin and Bush families too. Very interesting stuff. You should send your little ditty to McCain. Heh!
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hey rich,
well being a sunni myself, i feel a little uneasy with al-qaeda being described as the same but i cant fault you! you might even say al-qaeda started as part of a newer sect in the 80s; CIA'ites ;). bin-laden's family is actually originally yemeni. the yemenis built up saudi arabia so alot of the big businesses are yemeni there.
if we want to go into the the actual religious difference, then we could be here for a while… i agree maybe mccain should read your post.
I was under the impression that the Iraqi population is *significantly* more Shi'ite than Sunni, and that this is the primary reason for the high influence that the neighboring Iranian regime has over Iraqi politics and religious figures.
I am told (by people who I can only hope know what they are talking about) that the important distinction between the two sects is that the Sunni believe that there are no surviving relatives of the muslim prophet Muhammad (no blood line) and that this is God's will (so as to prevent idol worship of Mohammed's brood). Whereas the Shi'ites believe there *are* surviving members.
Please do correct me if it turns out I've been misinformed.
CIA World Fact book says Shi'a 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37% in Iraq. It was somewhere else (maybe a BBC article) I read that said there were only slightly more Shi'a than Sunni, but now I can't find it.
As for the religious differences between the two, I keep reading and hearing about them but it hasn't stuck yet. If I told you what I do know I'd probably sound like a complete idiot.
Well, let me try and put across what i understand as the main difference between traditional sunni Islam and the Shi'ites. The Shi'a do still adhere to the teachings of Muhammad (pbuh) but they believe that his family, including his descendants, have special spiritual and political rule over the community. Unlike Sunni Muslims, the Shi'a believe that Ali, Muhammad's cousin and husband of his daughter, Fatimah, was the true successor to Muhammad who was appointed by God and his prophet, and thus reject the legitimacy of the first three rightly-guided caliphs.
Also, about 10-15% of the world muslims are Shi'a with the majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Azerbaijan.
Hope that helps a little guys.
Thanks for the lesson, Zobe. Shia: family. Sunni: caliphs. I know it's a lot more complicated than that, but it's a start.
haha in fact Rich, thats exactly how alot of muslims divide them. you see, it doesnt have to be complicated.
Thanks Zobe for that.
I took a world religions class two terms ago and we briefly touched on Islam so I learned some of the religion and got the book "No god but God" by Razan Islan (sp?) which is a good read. I saw a seminar done by him in a political class (live feed of him at another university) and it was pretty good. He's been on the Daily Show before and CSPAN so you might can find video's of him speaking with Islam online. He does a great job in talking about Islam and he has a degree from I believe Harvard in religion so he knows his stuff and he's easy to listen to and understand what he's saying. 