I report and link. You decide. - J :)
From a San Antonio Express-News article, Differences muddy in Sunni-Shiite split:
Mansour El-Kikhia: Differences muddy in Sunni-Shiite split [/] Web Posted: 08/17/2006 10:44 PM CDT [/] San Antonio Express-News
Most Americans know little about Islam and even less about its various sects. However, they are not alone. Few Muslims know the differences, either. [/] Islam has two major sects; Sunnis are 87 percent, and Shiites, with their offshoots, make up the rest.
The split between the two was initially political, not doctrinal, and precipitated by the death of Prophet Mohammad in 632. To the chagrin of the supporters of the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law Ali, the Prophet died without naming a successor. The Shiites, as they came to be called, believe all the Prophet's successors must come from the house of the Prophet.
Imam Ali was a warrior and a philosopher par excellence, but an awful politician. As a result, he couldn't maintain his hold on the Caliphate, which he lost to Muawiya, the first Caliph of the Umayyad Dynasty (661-750). Ali was murdered by a supporter in 661 for allowing Muawiya to rob him of the Caliphate.
The battle continued between Ali's son, Hussein, and Muawiya's son, Yazid. Hussein was caught and executed by Yazid's forces. Supporters who promised him an army betrayed him. Every year, Shiites around the globe lament his death with graphic displays of mourning and self-mutilation.
Sunnis are Orthodox. They believe the relationship between individuals and God is very private. Hence, there are no intermediaries, clergy or shortcuts to heaven. All physical and mental actions in this world determine one's standing in the next. A fierce battle took place between Muslims advocating reason and those advocating faith in understanding God. Faith overcame reason, and as a result, reinterpretation of the text was discouraged after the 12th century. [/] Sunnis believe faith is a personal choice. Hence, the claim by some people that Muslims want to conquer the world is hogwash.
Shiites, on the other hand, have developed a clergy system with Talibu Ilm (seeker of knowledge) as the entry level and Ayatollah ul-Uzma (the Great Sign of God) as the highest level in the hierarchy. [/] There are a number of subsects, the Threers, the Fivers and the Twelvers. These numbers refer to Imam Ali and his descendants, whom the groups revere. According to Shiite theology, the 12th Imam went into occultation and will come back to herald the coming of the Mahdi (the guided one), who will herald the return of Jesus Christ.
Every Shiite must adopt and follow a clergyman as a living source of knowledge. Unlike the Sunnis, the Shiites never closed the door on the use of rationality. Hence, one would think the possibility for rapid evolution and a reformation is possible.
So how did the sects diverge so much? Well, they don't really diverge in the fundamentals of Islam. They both adhere to the five tenets of Islam. They differ in the application. [/] For example, Sunnis insist on praying five times a day. Shiites believe the Koran gives them the leeway to combine prayers and reduce it to three times. This doesn't sit well with the fundamentalists. Also, Shiites reject many of the religious instructions attributed to the Prophet.
Shiite clergy use religious edicts, or fatwas, to institute change. Like papal bulls, they are binding on the believers. A higher authority can only overturn a fatwa declared by a clergy in the hierarchy. Therefore, new interpretations and changes are quite possible for Shiites. To nonfundamentalist Sunnis, fatwas are important but not binding.
The major concentration of Shiites is in Iran and Iraq; a sprinkling on the Arab side of the Gulf and Pakistan is not a coincidence. Until the Safavid Dynasty in the 16th century, Iran was not Shiite. Shah Ismael decided to adopt Shiism to distinguish Iranians. [/] Shiite communities in Lebanon and Syria are what are left of the Fatimid Dynasty in the Levant area. The Fatimids were Arab Shiites who controlled Egypt and North Africa during the 10th and 11th centuries. Most of North Africa was Shiite and still retains some elements of Shiism. The mixture has resulted in a very tolerant brand of Islam, quite unlike Iran and Saudi Arabia, which represent the extremes and, hence, the rivalry.
Both are so caught up in the image that they forgot what the original looks like. [My ellipses and emphasis]
