A Comparison Between the Sunnis and Shiites
Have you ever wondered about other religions that are out there and why they are out there? I have and that is why I chose to write my paper on the Sunnis and Shiites. Read on to learn more about a brief history and then I will break each of them into separate religions.
In books written on Islam the word "hadith" usually refers to the sayings or "traditions" which have been given from the Prophet. Muslims hold these to be the most important source of Islamic teachings after the Qur’an. A lot of books have been written in English about what the hadith means in Islam and a number of important translations have been made. Almost all the studies have been limited to the point of view of Sunni Islam and based on Sunni sources and collections. Practically no one has ever paid any attention to the different nature of the hadith literature in Shiism and the different sources from which the hadiths are recieved.
The main difference to be made between Shiite and Sunni hadiths is that in Shiism the traditions are not limited to those of the Prophet, but include those of the Imams as well. I will explain more of the distinctions later on. The difference between the two religions is still hard to distinguish even with easy to understand books like the Encyclopedia of World Faiths. There, the author of the article is aware that there is some difference between Shiism and Sunnism on the question of which hadiths are included, but he thinks that it lies in the fact that the Shiite collections accept "only traditions traced through 'Ali's family." But this is incorrect, since a lot of traditions are also gotten through other sources. What the author fails to mention is that the hadith literature as understood by Shiites is not limited to the sayings of the Prophet, but includes those of the Imams as well.
The most famous and reliable collections of Shiite hadiths are four books. These books relate to the Six Correct Collections in Sunni Islam. These are al-Kafi fi 'ilm al-din (The Sufficient in the Knowledge of Religion) by Thiqat al-Islam Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni (d. 329/940), Man la yahduruhu al-faqih (For him not in the Presence of Jurisprudent) of Shaykh al-Saduq Muhammad ibn Babuyah al-Qummi (d. 381/991), Tahdhib al-ahkam (Rectification of the Statutes) by Shaykh al-Ta'ifah Muhammad al-Tusi (d. 460/ 1068) a...
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...egarding the holding of spiritual and political authority remained strong even after the end of the Caliphate itself in the 13th century.
The Sunnites’ strongest belief has an emphasis on the views and customs of the majority of the community, as distinguished from the views of other groups. The Sunnites compromised by allowing the other groups to bring their beliefs and customs that had nothing to do with the Qur’an.
The Sunnites recognize the six "authentic" books of the Hadith, which contain the spoken tradition attributed to Muhammad. In the 20th century the Sunnites constituted the majority of Muslims in all nations except Iran, Iraq, and perhaps Yemen. They numbered about 900 million in the late 20th century and made up nine-tenths of all the followers of Islam.
In conclusion I would like to comment on a couple of things. First of all the Shiism makes up 10 percent and Sunnism makes up the other 90 percent of the Muslim religion. Second of all the Shiites and Sunnis both are closely related, but have many differences. The two religions are both very complicated and difficult to understand. I hope after reading this paper you have learned a little more about both.
...god will always save Quran from variations. Also Hezb’allah did not establish to revenge the hundreds of years of oppression and marginalization. Indeed, hezb’allah along with the Lebanon military has contributed in protecting the Lebanon land from many wars with Israel. Although, second article did not have much information to set the main reason of the Sunni-Shia differences. It had a wrong Idea of the meaning of caliphs. Caliph does not has to be a leader of the whole Islamic nations. Caliph is an Arabic name of leader, there is nothing special about the word any less you do not have a good sense of the meaning of word. The Islamic aversions are very deep that have follow our ancestors, which make the aversions even harder to solve. Muslims groups need to need to believe the common essential beliefs and forget the simple disagreements to live in a peaceful life.
Hilāl, ʻAlī Al-Dīn. Islamic Resurgence in the Arab World. New York, NY: Praeger, 1982. Print.
Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion alongside Judaism and Christianity. It is currently the second largest religion in the world today. Its beliefs come from the Qur'an which literally means "the recitation" which is believed to be a literal transcription of the word of God. Its main prophet is named Muhammad who began Islam by speaking with the angel Gabriel in a cave during his meditation and then acting as an instrument of God to help write the Qur’an. Muhammad then spread Islam to the scattered tribes of Arabia by becoming the leader of Yathrib and using his wonderful leadership abilities to then grow his influence over virtually all of Arabia. Muhammad is known by Muslims to be the seal of the profits because no profits after Muhammad should be considered legitimate. Muhammad also left behind the Hadith or “tradition” which is a collection of writings compiled of reports of Muhammad’s actions as leader of Yathrib. These reports are used as a more specific code of ethics in day to day life and from these reports the 5 Pillars of Islam are derived (Smith 160). Although Islam shares many similarities to Judaism and Christianity it is often viewed in the US with hate derived from preconceived notions following the attack on September 11th 2001. This paper seeks to provide an overview of Islam’s history as well as its two major sects and 5 main pillars to remove preconceived notions and provide a glance into the minds of the Islamic people.
The Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam have been feuding for hundreds of years dating back to the beginning of the Islamic religion. The deity or god of the Sunnis is Allah. The Sunni branch of Islam is the larger of the two branches with over 80% of the Muslim population. The Sunni are the majority in most of the countries that have Islamic followers. There are a few different translations of what Sunna stands for, one of which is “Habitual Practice.” The differences between the two branches can be traced all the back to the 7th century CE when the disagreements as to who should succeed Muhammad. Sunnis believe that the Muslim community should maintain the right to select who the successor to Muhammad is going to be. The Shiite branch maintains the belief that Muhammad has selected his son-in-law to be the successor. Even though the two branches agree on most matters, the Sunni put more power behind god and his determination of fate, and are more inclusive about their definition of being Muslim. The Sunni place heavy belief in the role of religion in some aspects of life and a lot of weight is put on the Islamic law known as Shariah as the standard for a vast range of social issues including marriage and divorce. (Patheos.com)
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The word Hadith is an Arabic word and it means ‘saying’ in the English language. The Hadith is part of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) Sunnah. Sunnah (path or way) it is a primary source of law taken from the sayings, actions, and approvals of the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims are commanded by God to follow this Sunnah, together with the Quran (holy book of Islam) as sources of Islam religion teachings and rules. To Muslims and other follows the Prophet Muhammad is like a role model for human; he is the one that people should follow in the faith—in all his doings, practices, and saying. Hadith refers to the prophet’s sayings; as for, sources of man Islam moral. And it is known to still be followed by believers today. The Hadith gives details ...