Marshall Berkeley

1
Sunni Shiite Split

• Marshall Berkeley
• Robbie Martin
• Paul Schmidt

2

• 632 AD Prophet Muhammad died
• Abu Bakr named 1st successor (Caliph)
• Most Muslims accepted decision, but some
  supported Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammads cousin
  and son-in-law
• Followers of Ali believed that the Prophet
  Muhammad named Ali as his successor
• Abu Bakr and his next two successors, Umar and
  Uthman, were considered illegitimate by Alis
  followers
• 656 AD Uthman was murdered by some of Alis
  followers
• Ali was named as the successor
• 661 AD Ali was assassinated by forces of Uthman

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The 2 Sides

• Disagreement over who should be the successor to
  the Prophet Muhammad
• Some believed in succession based political
  merits communal consensus
• Sunni meaning followers of customs
• Others believed in succession through bloodline
  of the Prophet
• Shia meaning supporters or helpers of
  Ali

4
Distribution of Muslims
Green Sunni Blue Shiite
5
Sunni Islam
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Religious Practices and Beliefs

• Majority of Muslims are Sunnis
• Accepted first four Caliphs as Rightly Guided
• Less powerful religious hierarchy
• Lenient on who leads prayer
• Perform Salat 5 times daily

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Interesting Fact

• Osama Bin Laden was a Sunni
• Extreme Sect

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Sunni Law

• Based on
• Quran
• Hadiths
• Sunna
• The four legal schools
• Hanafi
• Maliki
• ShafI
• Hanbali

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Sectarian Divisions

• Ibadi Sect
• Has been misrepresented as a Sunni Sect

10
Shiite Islam
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Religious Practices and Beliefs

• Centers around Alis younger son
• Hussein
• Shiites permit Muttah
• Salat can pray twice consecutively (122)
• Three Schools of Law
• Twelver Shiism
• Ismaili (Sevener) Shiism
• Zaydis (Fiver) Shiism

12
Core Fundamentals between Sunnis and Shiites

• Share common doctrines and beliefs
• Quran
• Muhammed is the messenger
• Hadiths somewhat differ
• Qiyas (Analogy)
• Ijma (Consensus)
• Ijtihad (Individual Reasoning)
• Both recognize the Five Pillars
• Recognize each other as Muslims

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Interesting/Crazy Stuff

• Shiite Muslims Ashoura Day
• Ritual in which they cut their scalps to remember
  the death of Imam Hussein
• Shows the Shiite suffering from Sunnis

- During the Islamic holy month of Moharram

• Some of the
• demonstrators
• flagellate themselves