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Today
Shi'a and Sunni Muslims
Islam is the world's fastest growing religion boasting 1.2 billion Muslims (18% of the world's total population) worldwide.
Today, Islam extends from Turkey to the west coast of Africa across southern Asia
to the Philippines and Indonesia, and north to India.
The twentieth century saw an explosion of Islam in North and South America, accounting
for approximately four million followers. However, Asia retains the highest proportion
of Muslims in the world.
At the heart of Islamic belief are the three fundamental elements of religion: the unity of God (Tawhid), the prophethood (Nubuwwa) and the resurrection (Ma'ad).
Muslims believe in one God (Allah) and that the last Prophet was Mohammad. They believe in the word of God as written in the Qur'an. Muslims follow the Sunna (patterns of words and deeds as conveyed in the tradition) of the Holy Prophet and believe one day Allah will resurrect us all to face judgement.
Like most faiths, Islam has undergone splits, much like Judaism and Christianity, into separate branches. The principal branches of Islam are the Shi'a and the Sunni with the latter making up the vast majority of 80%. Shi'a accounts for approximately 19% with smaller branches such as the Sufi, Wahhabi and Isamaili making up the remaining 1%.
Sunnis form the majority in most Muslim countries excluding Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Bahrain and the Lebanon. For instance in Iran, Shi'a make up an estimated 93% of the population and in Iraq, 65% of Muslims are Shi'a.
Sunnis and Shi'a both recognise the fundamental tenants of Islam known as the
Five
Pillars. The five pillars of Islam include faith, prayer, religious tax (zakat),
fasting and the pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj).
Although Shi'a and Sunni Muslims recognise each other as Muslims they differ significantly. This principally stems from a disagreement about succession after the death of the Prophet Mohammad which has also created theological differences.
The first split between the Shi'a and the Sunni occurred after the death of the Prophet Mohammad in 632CE. It involved the question of who should succeed Mohammad as successor (Caliph) to the Muslim community (Ummah). The Shi'a believed that only a direct descendant of the Prophet could rule the Ummah and that the role of the Prophet's successor should have gone to 'Ali ibn abi - Talib who was the husband of Fatima, the only surviving daughter of the Prophet, as well as the Prophet's cousin.
Shi'a is an abbreviation of Shi'a at Ali (the party of 'Ali). Shi'a also refer to themselves as followers of Ahl al Beit (the Prophet's Household). 'Ali became the fourth and last of the rightly guided caliphs but as far as the Shi'a are concerned he should have been the first and the caliphate could only be passed down though the descendants of the Prophet Mohammad through Ali and Fatima. So to Shi'a the Caliphate is both religious and temporal. The authority of the Imam derives from his designation by his predecessor to a spiritual station and is independent of his temporal standing.
This different interpretation of correct rule of succession has a bearing on Islamic jurisprudence. The Shi'a consider their Imams to be free of sin and have the right to create new rulings where there is no clear text in the Quran. They believe that their supreme Imam is a divinely chosen guide, immune from wrongdoing, a recipient of some of Muhammad's inspiration and that his views and opinions should be the primary source of their jurisprudence. They are the authorised interpreters of the Quran as well as the supreme arbiters of the Holy Law.
The Sunnis do not agree, they believe the role of Caliph is political. After the death of the Prophet, the Caliph was essentially a temporal leadership, first amongst equals elected ideally by consensus. Unlike the Shi'a, the authority of the Caliph was derived by the affirmation of other Muslims. The Sunnis looked to theologians and experts, to expound upon religious questions who offered non-binding opinions but the rule of their political leader was absolute.
Ritual Elements
The ritual elements and laws for Shi'a differ little to their Sunni brothers.
They are traditionally:
-obligatory prayer (Salat or Namaz)
- fasting (Siyam)
- obligatory alms or religious tax (Zakat)
- the one fifth tax (Khums) which is not practiced by Sunnis
- pilgrimage (Hajj)
- religious war (jihad)
- enjoining other to do good, applies to all Muslims
- extorting other to desist from evil, applies to all Muslims
In practice, Shi'a have a different approach to prayer. Their call to prayer, their preparation and the number of times they pray daily differs to Sunni Muslims. Instead of praying five times a day at sunrise, noon, evening and night, Shi'a pray just three times a day, combining the noon and afternoon and the evening and night prayers. They also insist on praying on earth. They place their forehead on dust or the earth (preferably a block of baked mud from the earth of Karbala) during prostration, whereas the Sunnis prostrate onto their prayer mats.
Another difference is in the recitation of the sayings or traditions of the Prophet (hadith).The Shi'a prefer these narrated by 'Ali and Fatima to those related by other companions of the Prophet.
During the entire month of Ramadan, food, drink, smoking and sexual intercourse are forbidden from dawn to sunset. Shi'a fast marginally longer they wait until the sun has completely set before partaking of food and drink.
Another obligation is alms or a poor rate levied on crops, livestock, gold, silver and cash and is intended to assist the poor and needy. Sunni Muslims pay this tax to the state which is responsible for supervising its disbursement whereas Shi'a pay it to their religious leader (murja' at-taqlid) for disbursement.
A once in a lifetime, pilgrimage
to Mecca is enjoined for those who can afford it. The details of this are
much the same for Shi'a and Sunnis. Shi'a are highly recommended to complete their
pilgrimage by travelling to Medina and visiting the tomb of the Prophet and of
Fatima.
There are certain social observances where Sunni practice tends to differ from Shi'a. This is particularly true in the case of the fixed marriage, divorce and inheritance.
Shi'a Islam permits mut'a - fixed term temporary marriage -which is now banned by the Sunnis. Mut'a was originally permitted at the time of the Prophet and can be for any length of time, even for a matter of hours.
In general terms, divorce (Talaq) is more difficult under Shi'a law then for Sunnis. As distinct from Sunni law, Shi'a hold that the statement of the divorce formula must be made explicitly in the presence of two witnesses and is not allowable if made in the state of intoxication or rage. Both Shi'a and Sunni do agree that if a man divorces his wife three times, he cannot marry her again unless she is first married to another. Shi'a however do not allow the statement of divorce to be made on one occasion.
Under Sunni law, on the question of inheritance where there are males and females that are equally close to the deceased, their inheritance passes to the male in preference to the female. In Shi'a law the presence of male heirs does not exclude the female, although the share of the female is accordance with the Qur'anic rule, double that of the female.
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