Sunnis Vs. Shi'ites -- What's the Difference?

We hear a great deal about the conflict between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims in the world today, particularly in Iraq, but how many of us in the West really know what this conflict is about? As happens so often in the news, we are given plenty of detail about current events without being given the context needed to understand why these things are happening. What is a Sunni Muslim? What is a Shi'ite? What makes these two groups different from each other and why all the fighting?

As with many religious conflicts, it is rooted deep in history. As most of us are aware, Islam began with Muhammad, who was thought to have been born about 670 C.E. (or A.D.) and to have died 732 C.E.

With Muhammad's death, there was a difference of opinion about who the true leader of the religion should be. At first there they were led by the caliphs who were not related to Muhammad (except, in one case, by marriage), but after the third caliph was murdered, members of the Shi'ite branch backed 'Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son in law, as the leader of Islam. The followers of 'Ali declared that the caliph, or imam be a descendent of 'Ali and his wife (Muhammad's daughter), Fatimah. 'Ali was later killed by the members of a rival group.

Sunni Islam, on the other hand, and found its identity in and drew its name from the Sunna, or examples from the hadiths. Hadiths are collections of the words and stories about the works of Muhammad and the first Muslims. These expand upon or clarify the Koran, the holy book of Islam. For many centuries, Islam was led by Sunni leaders.

About 10 to 15 percent of Muslims worldwide are Shi'ite Muslims, the rest are Sunnis. Shi'ites are, however, the majority group in Iraq. Although the core beliefs of both groups are the same, many Sunnis contend that Shi'ites dwell excessively on the martyrdoms of 'Ali and another early leader named Hussein. Some would say that Shi'ites prefer to try to win over Sunnis to their point of view instead of attempting to proselytize non-Muslims. Shi'ites, of course, say that they are the true successors of the "house" of Muhammad.

Of course the conflict deepened over the centuries, with every incident making the rift more pronounced. In addition, as with so many religious conflicts, there are also political and economic factors. In Iran, though only about 20 percent of the population, the Sunnis dominated Saddam Hussein's government. Sunnis oppressed the much larger Shi'ites as well as the Kurds in the north of the country. After a new constitution, largely written by Shi'ites and Kurds, took effect, the Sunnis are now trying to regain their former power

As too often happens with such differences, the tension between the two groups has resulted in a great deal of violence, in such places as Pakistan and, most notably for our understanding of current events, in Iraq. In fact, conflict between the two groups is so great that some commentators are saying that the country has descended into civil war.

An analogy in the Christian world might be the violence that raged for years between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland. But let us hope the Shi'ite - Sunni conflict can be resolved more quickly than that one was.