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the religion of the Muslims, a monotheistic faith regarded as revealed through Muhammad as the Prophet of Allah

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shahada(faith), salat(prayer), sawm(fasting), hajj (pilgrimig), zakat(charity)

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This article expounds on the conflict between the two branches of Islam: Sunni and Shia.

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BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: Now, the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites. It goes back nearly 1,400 years. Today it is tearing Iraq apart. But the two branches of Islam have not always been openly hostile, and in many parts of the world they live together peacefully. In fact, the sectarian violence in Iraq took many by surprise. Lucky Severson talked with a prominent Middle East scholar about the rivalry's history, and why it has exploded recently, and what the prospects are for the future.

LUCKY SEVERSON: It's become the menu of daily life in Iraq -- Sunnis killing Shiites in markets and mosques and holy sites, and Shiites retaliating, murdering Sunnis. The level of sectarian violence has grown dangerously close to an all-out civil war. Now there's a view gaining a toehold in Washington that we should we have seen it coming. That's the central message of an influential new book called THE SHIA REVIVAL by Middle East scholar Vali Nasr.

Dr. VALI NASR (Professor, Naval Postgraduate School and Author, THE SHIA REVIVAL): It goes to the very beginning. When the Prophet Muhammad died, there was a dispute over who should be his successor. The Sunnis gathered as a community and chose the most trusted, the best among them as what came to be known as a caliph; whereas the Shiites, particularly over time, would dispute that method of choosing a successor, believing that the Prophet had a spiritual charisma -- he was the chosen of God -- and that charisma went through his bloodline. They always looked at these imams, as they are called, as the true leaders of the community and believed that the Sunnis had erred by not following the progeny of the Prophet.

SEVERSON: Nasr, who is a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, says the U.S. invasion of Iraq tipped the fragile balance of power between Sunnis and Shiites who have a history of violence dating back almost 1,400 years.

Dr. NASR: Shiites, in particular, have a history of persecution, because they were the underdogs. They lost to the Sunnis early on. Their various saints were killed, and most important of them was the Prophet's grandson by the name of Hussein, who was killed at the battle of Karbala. And the brutal way in which he was killed essentially galvanized Shiism. In fact, Hussein's martyrdom is much like the crucifixion of Christ.

SEVERSON: Nasr describes Shiism as very Catholic-like, recognizing some imams as saints, also as intermediaries between man and God, and he says Shiites are much more passionate about rituals, like this one called "Ashura," which commemorates the martyrdom of Hussein at Karbala.

Dr. NASR: It is a dramatic event in which large numbers of people gather. They cry, they sing eulogies for Hussein, they beat their chests, sometimes they draw blood, and they go into a frenzy. Now in Iraq it was forbidden, because Ashura has the quality of not only affirming Shia identity, which Saddam did not want to happen, but it brings large numbers of Shiites together in a state of passion frenzy. So the very first impact of American presence in Iraq -- you had two million people showing up in Karbala performing something they hadn't been allowed to for some time. That cultural freedom then translated into political power when they began to vote and identify as one community.

SEVERSON: Under Saddam, the Sunnis ruled Iraq, even though they were the minority. But throughout the world, Sunnis vastly outnumber Shiites. There are approximately 1.3 billion Muslims, and only about 15 percent are Shiites. But Shia are the majority in Iraq and the overwhelming majority in Iran, which the Ayatollah Khomeini transformed from a secular state into an Islamic one when his followers overthrew the Shah in 1979. Nasr says Khomeini claimed to be the supreme leader of all Muslims.

Dr. NASR: The more Khomeini tried to say that he is the Islamic leader, the more Saudi Arabia and their allies in the rest of the Muslim world began to say, "No, no, no, you're a Shia."

SEVERSON: Professor Nasr says in addition to Saudi Arabia, other Middle Eastern countries like Jordan and Egypt are worried that the U.S. invasion of Iraq has emboldened Shias not only in Iraq, but in Iran as well.

(to Dr. Nasr): How important to the future of Iraq is Iran?

Dr. NASR: Enormously at this point, because Iraq is currently extremely unstable, and the Shia community of Iraq, so long as they feel enormous amount of insecurity towards the U.S. intentions and towards coexistence with Sunnis, are likely to look at Iran as an ally, as a patron. And Iranians similarly are extremely concerned about what the outcome in Iraq will be.

SEVERSON: During the U.S. occupation the insurgency was fueled by the Sunnis' fear of Shia domination. It was the Sunnis who dispatched suicide bombers to Shiite neighborhoods. But ironically it was the Shiites who historically deployed martyrs to attack their enemies. It was a practice Iran's Khomeini refined after his followers deposed the Shah.

Dr. NASR: The Iranian regime of Ayatollah Khomeini openly tried to use this veneration for martyrs, dying for the faith, in service of protecting the Islamic Republic. And Iran did so in particular during the Iran-Iraq war, where large number of Iranian youth basically used their bodies to defeat Iraqi armor because Iran did not have enough war material.

SEVERSON: It was war in Lebanon in the early 1980s that marked the beginning of the use of suicide bombers as a method of war. Hezbollah suicide bombers killed almost 600 Israeli soldiers, which eventually led to their pullout from southern Lebanon. They also bombed the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut and killed 241.

Dr. NASR: At that time, everybody thought that martyrdom is the monopoly of Shiites, that the Sunnis would never do it. But gradually Arab sort of radical Sunni groups, Palestinians as well as Al Qaeda, came to a theological shift to embrace what they had seen in Hezbollah and make it their own. We saw that they actually adopted the things the Shiites do at the very time that the Shiites stopped using it.

SEVERSON: Nasr says the Shiites' reluctance to turn to violence in Iraq was greatly influenced by the revered Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Dr. NASR: He very early on understood that this is a historical opportunity for Shiites to assume control of Iraq, and elections, democracy, one-man/one-vote benefits them, and they should not embrace violence. They should embrace the political process. But as the Sunni violence against the Shiites escalated, as Shiites died in marketplaces and were assassinated, he began to lose authority. So, you know, the Shiites began to assassinate, torture, kill, kidnap and attack Sunnis as well. And Sistani continues to call for calm, but his voice is fainter than it was two years ago.

SEVERSON: The leader whose voice is growing louder is the young firebrand Muqtada al-Sadr, not highly regarded as a religious leader, but he has a strong militia and close ties to government.

Dr. NASR: He was never a good seminary student, never finished his work, used to play a lot of video games when he was a youth. But in some ways he has surprised a lot of people, because not only has he survived, he has gained in power, and he's proven himself to be politically savvy.

SEVERSON: Nasr says one of the most significant and unintended results of the invasion of Iraq was the empowering of neighboring Shiite Iran, whose leaders use the Shiite belief in messianism for their own political gain.

Dr. NASR: There is the expectation of a second coming of the 12th imam, and therefore the Iranian regime under Ayatollah Khomeini, and even it is doing it today under the present Ahmadinejad -- uses this popular level, folk-level attachment to the myth of second coming in order to mobilize the population for various political or military activities.

SEVERSON: Military activities, Nasr says, such as the most recent war with Israel in Lebanon, a war that greatly increased the stature of the Iranian-funded Hezbollah, at the same time bolstering the influence of Iran as a major player in the Middle East -- a state of affairs that causes considerable angst among Sunnis in the region who fear that Iran is building a nuclear bomb.

Dr. NASR: The lesson of Hezbollah's showing in Lebanon is to also show that the Shiites have the ability to be a regional power. They are the ones who have the, you know, capability or courage to take on the Israelis, not the Sunnis. It doesn't hurt this attitude in the Arab world that Iran also happens to be the most powerful country in the region right now.

SEVERSON: Nasr thinks the sectarian violence is moving toward an all-out civil war.

Dr. NASR: There is not sufficient force on the ground to forcibly separate them out and impose peace on them by force. And, you know, the scale of killing, the ways in which communities are being cleansed on both sides is all suggestive that you're having -- essentially both sides are posturing for what might be a final showdown.

SEVERSON: What is needed, he contends, more than anything is diplomacy -- for the U.S. to talk to countries it now has no diplomatic ties with, namely Iran and Syria.

Dr. NASR: Now engaging Iran or Syria does not mean recognizing them. It does not mean accepting their regimes. It means, rather, that you open a door to be able to talk about some basic concerns of the U.S. It's like the way we dealt with the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan could call the Soviet Union an evil empire and yet meet with Mikhail Gorbachev and try to push for U.S. interests.

SEVERSON: The sectarian violence in Iraq continues unabated. Not everyone in the Bush administration agrees with Professor Nasr's views, but he was invited to meet with Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and the president.

For RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY, I'm Lucky Severson in Washington.

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September 29, 2006 ~ Shia-Sunni Conflict | September 29, 2006 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS

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The conflict between Sunnis and Shiites goes back nearly 1,400 years and today, it is tearing Iraq apart. But the two branches of Islam have not always been openly hostile, and in many parts of the world they live together peacefully.

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This article focuses on the discrimination of Muslims that exists in the west.

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Many are suspicious of those who practice Islam. Many more are trying to reach out.

Whatever Muslims may be in Trump's America, they're not invisible. Everyone-the president, pundits, pollsters-keeps talking about the religious minority group, which makes up roughly 1 percent of the country's population. According to new data from the Pew Research Center, the intense political focus on Islam has yielded a sort of dual life for American Muslims.

On one hand, many Americans are suspicious of their beliefs and motives, and Muslims perceive widespread hostility toward their faith. At the same time, experiences of discrimination haven't necessarily changed that much, and many other Americans have reached out to affirm their Muslim neighbors. President Trump may have said he wants to ban Muslims from entering America, but it would be impossible to take the America out of Muslims: Despite heightened anxiety around their place in U.S. culture, their experiences largely mirror those of other religious groups.

American Muslims are notoriously difficult to poll. Roughly 58 percent were born abroad, and another 18 percent have at least one immigrant parent. Many of them aren't proficient enough in English to complete a lengthy survey, and the population is religiously and racially diverse. Muslims are also geographically spread out: Unlike, say, Catholics, their communities are not centrally organized. Despite these challenges, Pew completed 1,001 telephone interviews between January and April, translating their survey into Arabic, Farsi, and Urdu to facilitate participation by non-native English speakers. While the sample is relatively small, it offers a rough look at a demographic group that is hard to track.

The researchers found that Muslims perceive significant bias against them. Seventy-five percent of respondents said there's "a lot" of discrimination against Muslims in the U.S. Sixty percent of Muslims-and 68 percent of Muslim women-said media coverage of Muslims is unfair. And when respondents were asked about the most important problems facing U.S. Muslims today, the most popular answers included "discrimination, racism, [and] prejudice," "Muslims [being] viewed as terrorists," and "Trump's attitudes [and] policies toward Muslims." In general, American Muslims are not fans of the president. Three-quarters of the respondents said Trump is "unfriendly" toward Muslims in the U.S., and 65 percent disapprove of what he's doing in office-slightly less than the percentage of Muslims who disapproved of George W. Bush on a 2007 version of this survey.

It's true that a lot of people seem suspicious of Muslims. Half of Americans say Islam is not part of "mainstream American society," and 41 percent say Islam encourages violence more than other faiths. These numbers are strongest among Republicans and white evangelicals: More than half of each group said there's a great deal or fair amount of extremism among U.S. Muslims, for example, compared to 35 percent of all Americans who said the same thing. Sixty-five percent of Republicans and 72 percent of white evangelicals also said Islam and democracy naturally conflict. (Interestingly, 30 percent of Muslims said the same thing.)

But the report reveals other layers of Muslim life that complicate a straightforward narrative of victimhood. Almost half of respondents said someone had reached out to express support for their religion within the past year, compared to 37 percent in 2011 and 32 percent in 2007. Admittedly, these performances of allyship and optimism can be fraught; Muslims might prefer seamless acceptance to handshakes and earnestness from well-meaning neighbors.

Muslims are more likely than other Americans to believe that people who work hard can get ahead and succeed; 70 percent said they believe this is true. And 92 percent of Muslims say they're proud to be Americans-roughly the same as the general public.

Although two-thirds of Muslims identify as Democrats, they may have more in common with other religiously orthodox Americans than secular liberals. Over the past decade, Muslims' growing acceptance of LGBT people has roughly mirrored trends among Christians, even as both groups have been slower to support homosexuality than the general American public. According to Pew, Christians and Muslims are equally likely to attend worship services weekly and to say religion is important to them.

People feel an abiding sense of dread. Meanwhile, life basically continues as usual.

It's not clear from this report that concrete experiences of discrimination have become more common under Trump, either. Experiences of most kinds of religious discrimination are roughly flat compared to rates reported in 2007 and 2011, when Pew previously surveyed American Muslims. Nineteen percent of respondents said they'd been called an offensive name in the past year, compared to 22 percent in 2011 and 15 percent in 2007, and the pattern and numbers were roughly similar for Muslims who said they'd been singled out by airport-security officials. Only 10 percent of respondents said they'd been called out by law-enforcement officials in the past year, down from 13 percent in 2011. And 6 percent said they'd been physically threatened or attacked, the same level of physical discrimination reported in 2011. Right now, it's not possible to verify these reports against data like the FBI's hate-crime statistics-the only real national system for tracking discrimination against religious minorities-since the Bureau's data is currently only available through 2015.

What has gone up are Muslims' reports of being "treated with suspicion," Pew found: 32 percent of respondents said they'd encountered this within the past year, compared to 28 percent in 2011. This stat, more than any other, speaks to American Muslim life under Trump. People feel an abiding sense of dread, hostility, and discomfort. Meanwhile, life largely continues as usual.

Ultimately, perceptions matter. In April, I spent an afternoon following Asma Akhras, a 40-something Muslim woman who decided to run for local office for the first time in part because of the 2016 election. She described a feeling similar to how people sometimes talk about ambiguous gender bias: Is it sexism, or is it me? When she knocked on a door and an old man yelled at her, it was impossible to tell whether it was because of her hijab or because he was simply rude. In the end, it doesn't really matter if social scientists can precisely measure what was going on in that interaction, or how Trump has changed the lives of Muslim Americans. It still ends up as a cloud of doubt over an otherwise placid suburban life.

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How Much Discrimination Do Muslims Face in America?

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Many are suspicious of those who practice Islam. Many more are trying to reach out. Whatever Muslims may be in Trump's America, they're not invisible. Everyone-the president, pundits, pollsters-keeps talking about the religious minority group, which makes up roughly 1 percent of the country's population.

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Islamic clothing for both men and women

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Islamic art and design are often seen in architecture and often encompass symmetry.

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Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Considered to be one of the holiest cities in Islam.

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Mosque which is a place of worship for Muslims.

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This article also focuses on the differences between Sunni ans Shia Muslims, but also describes how the groups separated.

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Although Sunni and Shiite Muslims are both sects of the Islamic faith, the differences between these two groups stem from conflicting religious beliefs.

Political conflict separates the groups as well Saudi Arabia, a Sunni nation, and Shiite Iran continue to compete for regional influence in the Arab world. Amidst anti-government protests and car bombings, Sunni leaders in Saudi Arabia have accused their Shiite populations of loyalty to Iran.

One thing that Sunnis and Shiites have in common is that they are the two largest denominations of the Islamic faith . Additionally, both Sunnis and Shiites believe that the Prophet Muhammad established the Islam religion during the seventh century.

The schism between the two sects began after the death of Muhammad in 632 A.D., at which point a dispute over the identity of Muhammad's religious successor caused the followers of Islam to divide into Sunnis and Shiites.

The Sunnis believe that Muhammad had no rightful heir and that a religious leader should be elected through a vote among the Islamic community's people. They believe that Muhammad's followers chose Abu Bakr, Muhammad's close friend and advisor, as his successor.

Shiites believe that only Allah, the God of the Islam faith, can select religious leaders, and that therefore, all successors must be direct descendants of Muhammad's family. They maintain that Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, was the rightful heir to the leadership of the Islam religion after Muhammad's death.

Another contentious religious difference between Shiite and Sunni Muslims concerns the Mahdi, which is Arabic for "guided one." Both groups perceive the Mahdi as the sole ruler of the Islamic community. But while the Sunnis hold that the Mahdi has not yet been born and anticipate his arrival, the Shiites believe that the Mahdi was born in 869 A.D. and will return to Earth under Allah's orders.

Most Muslims are Sunnis. Of the entire Muslim population in the Islamic world, only 10 percent are Shiite, according to cnn.com. The only countries that have a Shiite majority in the Middle East are Iran, Iraq and the Gulf island state of Bahrain.
Got a question? Send us an email and we'll crack it. Follow Remy Melina on Twitter @RemyMelina

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What's the Difference Between Shiite and Sunni Muslims?

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Although Sunni and Shiite Muslims are both sects of the Islamic faith, the differences between these two groups stem from conflicting religious beliefs. Political conflict separates the groups as well Saudi Arabia, a Sunni nation, and Shiite Iran continue to compete for regional influence in the Arab world.

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This article focuses on the main differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims

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Send any friend a story
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.

Sunnis and Shiites praying together on Sunday in Beirut, Lebanon, in protest of the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Credit... Hassan Ammar/Associated Press

Saudi Arabia's execution of the Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr could escalate tensions in the Muslim world even further. In the Shiite theocracy Iran, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia, which is ruled by a Sunni monarchy, would face "divine vengeance" for the killing of the outspoken cleric, which was part of a mass execution of 47 men. Sheikh Nimr had advocated for greater political rights for Shiites in Saudi Arabia and surrounding countries. Saudi Arabia had accused him of inciting violence against the state.

Here is a primer on the basic differences between Sunni and Shia Islam.
What caused the split?
A schism emerged after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632, and disputes arose over who should shepherd the new and rapidly growing faith.

Some believed that a new leader should be chosen by consensus; others thought that only the prophet's descendants should become caliph. The title passed to a trusted aide, Abu Bakr, though some thought it should have gone to Ali, the prophet's cousin and son-in-law. Ali eventually did become caliph after Abu Bakr's two successors were assassinated.

Shiite pilgrims at the shrine to Imam Hussein in Karbala, Iraq, in December. Each year millions visit the city to mark Arbaeen, the end of the 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, one of Shiite Islam's most revered figures. Credit... European Pressphoto Agency

After Ali also was assassinated, with a poison-laced sword at the mosque in Kufa, in what is now Iraq, his sons Hasan and then Hussein claimed the title. But Hussein and many of his relatives were massacred in Karbala, Iraq, in 680. His martyrdom became a central tenet to those who believed that Ali should have succeeded the prophet. (It is mourned every year during the month of Muharram.) The followers became known as Shiites, a contraction of the phrase Shiat Ali, or followers of Ali.

The Sunnis, however, regard Ali as well as the three caliphs before him as rightly guided and themselves as the true adherents to the Sunnah, or the prophet's tradition. Sunni rulers embarked on sweeping conquests that extended the caliphate into North Africa and Europe. The last caliphate ended with the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.
How do their beliefs differ?
The Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam encompass a wide spectrum of doctrine, opinion and schools of thought. The branches are in agreement on many aspects of Islam, but there are considerable disagreements within each. Both branches include worshipers who run the gamut from secular to fundamentalist. Shiites consider Ali and the leaders who came after him as imams. Most believe in a line of 12 imams, the last of whom, a boy, is believed to have vanished in the ninth century in Iraq after his father was murdered. Shiites known as Twelvers anticipate his return as the Mahdi, or Messiah. Because of the different paths the two sects took, Sunnis emphasize God's power in the material world, sometimes including the public and political realm, while Shiites value in martyrdom and sacrifice.
Which sect is larger, and where is each concentrated?
More than 85 percent of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims are Sunni. They live across the Arab world, as well as in countries like Turkey, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia. Iran, Iraq and Bahrain are largely Shiite. The Saudi royal family, which practices an austere and conservative strand of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism, controls Islam's holiest shrines, Mecca and Medina. Karbala, Kufa and Najaf in Iraq are revered shrines for the Shiites.

Saudi Arabia and Iran, the dominant Sunni and Shiite powers in the Middle East, often take opposing sides in regional conflicts. In Yemen, Shiite rebels from the north, the Houthis, overthrew a Sunni-dominated government, leading to an invasion by a Saudi-led coalition. In Syria, which has a Sunni majority, the Alawite Shiite sect of President Bashar al-Assad, which has long dominated the government, clings to power amid a bloody civil war. And in Iraq, bitter resentments between the Shiite-led government and Sunni communities have contributed to victories by the Islamic State.

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How Do Sunni and Shia Islam Differ? (Published 2016)

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Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. Saudi Arabia's execution of the Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr could escalate tensions in the Muslim world even further.

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The Quran is the central religious text of Islam.

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This article describes the different sects of Islam, and how they are different. It describes many different sects other than Sunni and Shia.

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A Sufi Ritual In Sudan. Sufis are designated as a mystical Islamic dimension.

The Islam religion has over 2 billion followers in the world. The religion itself if nearly 1,300 years old. Practicing Muslims believe that Islam began in 610 CE when the last prophet, Muhammad, began receiving revelations from God. Followers of the faith recorded these revelations in the Qur'an. As with all other world religions, Islam is represented by several major branches: Sunni, Shi'a, Ibadi, Ahmadiyya, and Sufism. These branches started to develop after Muhammad's death when people began to disagree on the successor of the religion. Although different, the major denominations all share some common beliefs of monotheism, holy books, etc.

The Major Denominations Of Islam

Sunni

The Sunni branch is by far the largest denomination of Islam and represents 89-90% of all followers of Islam. They are present throughout the Middle East with large concentrations in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Sunni followers believe that Muhammad had not appointed a specific successor and many years after his death and significant debate, followers chose Abu Bakr Siddique. This man was one of Muhammad's fathers-in-law and a close friend. One of the positions within the religion is that of Imam, who under Sunni belief is the formal prayer leader. Sunnis believe that the Qur'an applies to all of life and that individuals can approach God directly and that he will present himself on Judgment Day.

Shi'a

The Shi'a followers believe that Muhammad did choose a successor, Ali ibn Abi Talib, his son-in-law. Shi'a believers also have Imams, who are more central figures and community leaders because they are the perfect manifestation of God. This branch is less about the individual's relationship with God and more about the cleric's interpretation of the Qur'an. Unlike the Sunni, the Shi'a do not believe that humans will see God on Judgment Day. Since they are a minority sect, calculating their numbers is difficult. The majority, however, seem to reside in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan.

Ibadi

Another lesser known branch of Islam is Ibadi. This denomination pre-dates Sunni and Shi'a and is considered a highly orthodox version of Islam. They share the Shi'a belief that God will not show himself on Judgment Day. Unlike Sunni and Shi'a, the Ibadi believe that the Muslim community can rule itself without a single leader. Ibadi also differs in that they do not agree that the Muslim ruler must be a descendant of Muhammad's tribe, the Quraysh. Seventy-five percent of the population of Oman is Ibadi.

Ahmadiyya

This denomination is newer than the previous. Followers of Ahmadiyya do not recognize Muhammad as the last prophet. It has its roots in the teaching of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908), their prophet. His followers believe he was divinely appointed as the renewer of Islam. They hold similar beliefs to Sunni and also recognize the Qur'an as their holy book. The largest concentrations of Ahmadiyya are in West and East Africa, Indonesia, and South Asia.

Sufism

The majority of Sufis follow the Islam direction as given by Ali, Muhammad's successor as believed by the Shi'a. Though not technically a sect of Islam, Sufism is an Islamic teaching that focuses on purification of the inner-self. They believe that humans can have an experience with God through intuitive and emotional abilities that Sufis learn through training. This experience does not have to happen in Paradise but can be achieved in life. Turkey and Persia are considered centers for Sufism although it has also reached Greece, Albania, and Macedonia among others.

Strength Of Beliefs

Though not an exhaustive list of the branches of Islam, the previous denominations are some of the most well-known. Islam is an old religion, one of the largest in the world, and full of intricate beliefs and traditions. No matterr the sect, Islams believe that the purpose of humans is to live and praise God so that one day they may gain entrance to Paradise.

Rank

Major Branches Of Islam

Estimated Global Adherents

1

Sunni

1.39 billion

2

Shi'a

200 million

3

Ahmadiyya

15 million

4

Ibadi

3 million

5

Sufism

Widely Disputed

1. Home

2. Society

3. The Major Branches Of Islam

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Sunni, Shi'a, Ibadi, Ahmadiyya, and Sufism are each important branches of contemporary Islam.

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This article also describes the 6 articles of faith and other facts about Islam.

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BBC - Religions - Islam: Basic articles of faith

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Learn more about what Muslims believe. Muslims have six main beliefs, called the Articles of Faith. The primary Muslim belief is that there is only one God.

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This article describes the beliefs of Muslims and facts about the faith such as how many Muslims there are, facts about the Qur'an, and more.

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Islam is a monotheistic faith centered around belief in the one God (Allah). In this regard, it shares some beliefs with Judaism and Christianity by tracing its history back to the patriarch Abraham, and ultimately to the first prophet, Adam. All the prophets preached the same universal message of belief in one God and kindness to humanity. The last in the series of prophets, according to Muslims, was Muhammad. Muhammad was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia around 570 CE. He worked first as a shepherd and then as a merchant. He was not happy with the people around him because of superstitions and social and economic injustice. The people were worshipping many gods and had forgotten the message of prophet Abraham to worship one God. Muhammad loved to pray and meditate in the mountains. On one of those occasions, in the year 610 CE, when he was about 40 years old, he received a revelation from God through the angel Jibril (Gabriel). He continued to receive messages from God throughout his life and he began preaching to others what he had learned. His main message is that there was no other God but Allah and that people should lead their lives in a way that was pleasing to Allah.

Islam spread quickly first throughout Arabia and surrounding countries and then throughout the world. There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world with 7 million in the United States. Only about 18% of Muslims are Arabs and live in the Middle East. The countries with the largest Muslim populations are Indonesia and India. There are two basic groups of Islam: the Sunnis (about 80% of the world's Muslims) and the Shi'ites (about 20% of the world's Muslims). Although they share the same basic beliefs, they disagree on who was the rightful leader of Islam after Muhammad's death.

Islam is an Arabic word which means "surrender, submission, commitment and peace." Thus, Islam can be defined as a path to attain complete peace through voluntary submission to the divine will.

"Allah" is simply the Arabic word for God. He is the same universal God worshipped by people of all faiths. The word "Allah" is sometimes preferred over God because it is neither masculine nor feminine. Also, there is no plural for "Allah."
Muslims have six major beliefs:

Belief in one God (Allah)

Belief in the Angels

Belief in the holy books sent to all the prophets including Torah that was revealed to the prophet Moses, Bible that was revealed to the prophet Jesus, and Qur'an (Koran) that was revealed to the prophet Muhammad

Belief in all the prophets sent by God including Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. Although Muslims believe in Isa or Jesus they don't think of Jesus as the Son of God the way Christians do.

Belief in the Day of Judgment and life after death. The best reward for performing good deeds is getting closer to God.

Belief in divine decree. This means that God is all-powerful and nothing can happen without His permission, however, he has given human beings freedom to choose whether to be good or bad. In the end, everyone will be questioned about how they lived in this life.

These are guides for daily life for putting the beliefs of Muslims into practice:

Shahadah (declaration of faith)-to bear witness or testify that there is no god except one God (Allah) and Muhammad is His prophet or messenger.

Salat (ritual prayer)-the five daily prayers are performed at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and night. The prayers are offered in Arabic language and facing the direction of Mecca.

Zakah (alms tax) -Giving 2.5% of one's wealth to the poor and needy.

Sawm (fasting)-Muslims fast during the daylight hours in the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar called Ramadan. The purpose is to remind people of the goodness of what they have and to show equality with the poor. Ramadan is a time for study and self-discipline.

Hajj (pilgrimage): Muslims believe in making a pilgrimage to Mecca to the Ka'bah at least once in their lifetime. The kA'bah is believed to have been built by Ibrahim (Abraham) and one of his sons. Muhammad restored it to worship Allah. For this reason it is a very sacred place to Muslims.

Muslims believe that the last revealed scripture sent by God is the Qur'an or Koran. It is the speech of God revealed in the Arabic language to Muhammad during his mission of twenty-three years. The Qur'an was written down by scribes and memorized during the lifetime of Muhammad. The Qur'an emphasizes moral, ethical and spiritual values with the aim of establishing justice for everyone. Many Muslims try to learn to read the Koran in its original language, Arabic. It is not uncommon for Muslims to memorize whole chapters of it. They read part of it every day. The Sunnah is a record of Muhammads words and deeds. The Sunnah is used to help interpret the Koran. There is also instruction in it on belief, worship and behavior.

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Islam is a monotheistic faith centered around belief in the one God (Allah). In this regard, it shares some beliefs with Judaism and Christianity by tracing its history back to the patriarch Abraham, and ultimately to the first prophet, Adam. All the prophets preached the same universal message of belief in one God and kindness to humanity.

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This article describes the 6 major beliefs of Muslims and their practices and duties

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Islam teaches the importance of both belief and practice; one is insufficient without the other (except for some Sufis). The following six beliefs are those that are commonly held by Muslims, as laid out in the Quran and hadith.

Six Major Beliefs
Belief in the Divine Decree: This article of faith addresses the question of God's will. It can be expressed as the belief that everything is governed by divine decree, namely that whatever happens in one's life is preordained, and that believers should respond to the good or bad that befalls them with thankfulness or patience. This concept does not negate the concept of "free will;" since humans do not have prior knowledge of God's decree, they do have freedom of choice.

Muslims are asked to put their beliefs into practice by performing certain acts of worship. As in all faiths, since adherence to religious obligations and practices is a matter of individual choice, some people are very strict in performing these duties, while others are not.

The five pillars or acts of worship in Islam

Fasting (sawm): Muslims are required to fast from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar calendar. People gather in the evenings for a festive breaking of the fast. When fasting, Muslims refrain from food, liquid, and sexual activity. During Ramadan, Muslims are also supposed to abstain from negative behaviors such as lying, gossip, petty arguments, and negative thoughts or behaviors, including getting angry. Muslims are required to start fasting when they reach puberty, although some younger children may also fast. People who are sick, traveling, menstruating, and pregnant or nursing may break their fast, but may make up the days later in the year. The elderly and people with disabilities are excused from fasting.

Ramadan was the month in which the revelation of the Quran to Muhammad began. Therefore Muslims are encouraged to read the Quran during this month and often gather in the evenings in mosques to listen to recitations from the Quran.

Eid al-Fitr (eed' al fi'-ter), or the "Festival of the Fast-Breaking," one of the major Muslim holidays, celebrates the completion of the Ramadan fast and occurs on the first day of the month after Ramadan. This is a day of celebration, prayers, feasts and gift giving.

Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj): Every Muslim is required to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, located in Saudi Arabia, once in their lifetime if financially and physically able. Mecca is home to the first house of worship of God, the Kaaba, said to have been built by the prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael. Muslims all over the world face towards the Kaaba when they pray. All outward symbols of rank and wealth are erased during the pilgrimage, as Muslim from every part of the globe come together for the purpose of worshipping God. Muslims who complete the pilgrimage are referred to as "Hajji" and greeted with great celebration and respect in their communities when they return.

Eid al-Adha (eed' al ad'-ha), or the "Festival of the Sacrifice," is the second major holiday in Islam. It falls on the tenth day of the month at the conclusion of the pilgrimage, and is celebrated by all Muslims with special prayers, feasts, gifts and the sacrifice of an animal (usually a lamb or goat). The meat is distributed to relatives, friends and the needy.

Islam contains many rules for daily life and human relationships. The first source of these rules is the Quran and the second is the hadith or reports of the prophet Muhammad's words or actions.

Conversion to Islam: Muslims are encouraged to share their faith with others. However, Muslims are told not to attack others' beliefs or engage in conflicts or debates about matters of religion. There is no formal ceremony for conversion. People must merely believe in and recite the shahada to convert to Islam.

Contrary to how popular culture portrays Muslim women's rights and privileges, Islam gives women many rights, including the right to inherit, to work outside the home, and to be educated. As in all cultures and communities, these rights are often violated. This is the result of the intersection of Islam with existing cultural norms, which may reflect male-dominated societies. In Muslim communities, women often have a strong influence in the family, the workplace, the religion and society in general. This section provides an overview of women's roles and rights in several areas.

Marriage: Since men and women are not supposed to date, parents arrange marriages in some Muslim countries. However, the ultimate decision lies with the prospective couple. In Western countries, prospective spouses usually meet in a family setting or a public place, and often choose their partner on their own, although they still seek the approval of their parents.

Marriage in Islam is a mutual contract between a man and a woman to live together according to the teachings of Islam and to bring up their children in their faith. According to Islamic law, the man is completely responsible for taking care of his wife's and children's financial needs. A woman's earnings are hers to spend as she chooses, although she may contribute to the expenses of the household if she wishes. Although Islam permits men to practice polygamy, it is an exception, not the norm, and carries the condition that a man must treat his wives equally. Since the Quran says that no man can treat more than one wife equally, many Muslims consider polygamy forbidden.

Relations between Men and Women: Islam requires that Muslim men and women observe modesty in their interactions. Muslim men and women should relate as brothers and sisters, and avoid any interaction that might lead to sexual or romantic activity prior to marriage. Although this prohibition is often affected by Westernized ideas, Islam requires that both men and women remain chaste until marriage.

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Teachers Guide - Muslims | Teacher Center | FRONTLINE | PBS

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Islam teaches the importance of both belief and practice; one is insufficient without the other (except for some Sufis). The following six beliefs are those that are commonly held by Muslims, as laid out in the Quran and hadith. Six Major Beliefs Belief in the Divine Decree: This article of faith addresses the question of God's will.