Understanding Sunnism and Shi'ism

[ZulFiqar786]

I’ve decided to start this thread to explain the basics about Islamic branches and their history, because from my experience, including on this discussion board, non-Muslims and even many Muslims seem to be very confused, due to a fundamental misunderstanding of Islamic history and politics.

The Prophet Muhammad passed away in 632 CE. In his final years, he was not only a Prophet but had succeeded in conquering virtually all of the Arabian Peninsula and subduing the various Bedouin tribes who decided to convert to Islam. Therefore, when he died, his community and Arabia required leadership. Though the death of the Prophet meant that Islam as a religion was complete, the Qur’an as scripture and the Prophet’s teachings formed the source of Islam. So the function of the one to succeed the Prophet was not to act as a ‘Pope’ who speaks on behalf of God. Since the revelation is complete and Prophecy terminated after Prophet Muhammad, the only function of a leader would be to administer the politics of the Muslim community that was now dominant in Arabia.

The Sunni narrative is that the Prophet never appointed anyone to succeed him, since whoever would succeed him would not occupy a position of religious authority but only political authority. Therefore, the Sunnis say that after the Prophet died, it was up to the Muslim community to consult among themselves and elect someone qualified to succeed Prophet Muhammad only in the political and administrative sense. Historically, the Prophet’s disciples and the elders of his community in Medina ended up electing his close associate Abu Bakr to be the first successor, or Khalifa (anglicized as ‘Caliph’). The Sunnis say that Abu Bakr, because he was the Prophet’s most senior disciple, was best qualified to lead the community after the Prophet. The Sunnis admit that the Prophet never designated Abu Bakr as his successor, but gave some hints that he expected Abu Bakr to succeed him after his death, such as appointing Abu Bakr to lead the congregational prayers in the Mosque since the Prophet was in his final illness and too weak to go to the Mosque.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Sometimes known as the Orcs of Mordor and the Orcs of the Uruk-hai.

 

[ZulFiqar786]

Although the vast majority of the community of Muslims in Medina agreed that Abu Bakr should be in charge as ‘Caliph’ (for them a purely administrative position since religious authority to speak on behalf of God has terminated with Prophet Muhammad); not everyone accepted Abu Bakr, at least initially. There were some who felt that the Prophet should be succeeded by a relative. Now the Prophet has no surviving son. All three or four of his sons had died in infancy. But he was survived by his paternal uncle Abbas, and by his daughter Fatima. Fatima was married to the Prophet’s cousin Ali. Thus Ali was not only the Prophet’s cousin but also his son-in-law. Ali’s father, Abu Talib, had initially raised the Prophet, since the Prophet was an orphan whose parents died when he was still young. Abu Talib, the Prophet’s paternal uncle, though he never converted to Islam, nevertheless protected the Prophet when the latter was in Mecca.
Some of the community felt that either Ali or Abbas should succeed the Prophet, not Abu Bakr, because Ali and Abbas were blood relations to the Prophet, especially Ali. Ali himself initially did not pledge his allegiance to Abu Bakr, but when he saw that virtually the entire community was behind Abu Bakr and recognized him as their leader, Ali then pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr himself.

Meanwhile, the Bedouin Arabs outside of Medina had become ‘apostate’ for various reasons. Though they had accepted the Prophet in his final years, they now questioned how could a Prophet of God die? Some of them still believed in the Prophet and the practices and doctrines of Islam, but refused to accept Abu Bakr. They felt that Arabia should go back to its old tribal system and there should be no central authority. They therefore refused to pay the Zakat (religious tax) to Abu Bakr and his central government in Medina. Still others, having seen the success of Prophet Muhammad, decided to claim to be Prophets themselves in an attempt to replicate that success. Hence a few false prophets, like Musaylima emerged. Another false prophet, Aswat Ansi, emerged in Yemen. They too naturally rejected the central government’s authority and the caliphate of Abu Bakr. Hence, in Abu Bakr’s short period of caliphate of only 2 years, he sent out his armies to crush these rebellions, apostate movements and false prophets and once again unify Arabia under the caliphate. Within 2 years, with the help of the Prophet’s great general Khalid, known as the ‘Sword of God’, the apostate movements were crushed and Islam was re-established in Arabia. Just before Abu Bakr died, he consulted among the senior Prophet’s disciples and designated Umar to succeed him, thus Umar became the Prophet’s second successor in 634 CE.



Now that the internal threats and apostasies were dealt with in Abu Bakr’s short reign of 2 years, Umar, the second caliph, was able to focus his attention on defeating the Byzantine Roman and Sassanid Persian empires. This he did so, again with the great help of the Prophet’s general Khalid ‘Sword of God’. Within a few years Islam conquered Jerusalem, Damascus, Persia, Egypt, etc. Umar was especially known for being a just and righteous ruler. Despite the fact that the Islamic empire had expanded very far and successfully, and the wealth of the Roman and Persians was now at the disposal of the Muslims, Umar continued to live the spartan lifestyle and rule strictly in accordance with the Prophet’s teachings that focus on social justice and a simple pure lifestyle. But having conquered Persia, the Persians have always hated Umar. They could not handle the humiliation of their great empire and civilization having been conquered by the ‘lowly’ Arabs. A disgruntled Persian then assassinated Umar in 644 CE. In his last days, Umar appointed a council of the remaining most senior disciples of the Prophet, including Ali but also Uthman and four others. They decided to elect Uthman as the Prophet’s third successor. Now Uthman was a rich person and he belonged to the noble clan of Umayyads. During his caliphate, he began to appoint members of his own clan to govern the provinces of the empire. For example, he appointed his relative Mu’awiya to be the governor of Syria in Damascus. Hence, many people accused Uthman of nepotism, especially since the governors he appointed were not particularly known for their piety and justice, and were living lives of luxurious indulgence. Some, like his governor in Kufa, Walid, were very sinful people. Walid once led the prayers in the mosque while intoxicated causing a massive scandal and uproar. Muslims from these provinces having various grievances then converged in the capital Medina and besieged Uthman’s house. They demanded his resignation, but Uthman refused to resign from the caliphate, which by now was regarded as a lifetime appointment. He feared that by doing so a dangerous precedent would be set. When he refused to resign the caliphate, the mob broke into his home and ended up murdering him in 656 CE. Thus began the first internal dissension or civil war in Islam known as the First Fitna.


After the assassination of Uthman, the Muslim community was in a state of disarray because the assassins were not apostates or non-Muslims, but Muslims themselves. This was the first time Muslims had drawn the sword against other Muslims. It was a shock for the nascent community to have their leader assassinated by other Muslims. Most of the people of Medina, including many of the mob that had assassinated Uthman, came to Ali and forced him to accept their pledge of allegiance to become the caliph and fourth successor of the Prophet. However, this time a large number of Muslims refused to accept Ali’s election so it wasn’t unanimous. The Prophet’s wife, Aisha, and some other his senior disciples, demanded that before a successor could be elected, the murderers of Uthman must be brought to justice. Likewise, Mu’awiya, who was in Damascus having been appointed as governor there by Uthman, was calling for revenge. He had gotten hold of the bloodied garment of Uthman and began taking out processions in Damascus displaying the garment and stoking up emotions. Mu’awiya, as mentioned earlier, was from the same clan as Uthman, the Umayyads. The Umayyad clan were initially the most bitter opponents of the Prophet during his early ministry. The Prophet belonged to the Hashemite clan, as did Ali who was now elected as caliph by a great faction of Muslims in Medina. The Hashemites and Umayyads always had a strong rivalry even before Islam. Therefore, Mu’awiya refused to accept the caliphate of Ali and pledge allegiance to him. Ali began replacing Uthman’s governors and even sent a replacement for Mu’awiya, but by this time Syria was completely under control of Mu’awiya, so Ali couldn’t establish his authority there. Ali also found it difficult to establish control over Medina because not everyone was uniting behind him. Aisha was leading the campaign to punish the murderers of Uthman, and many of those rebels had blended in with the followers of Ali. Ali then made the strategic decision to shift to Kufa in Iraq and establish that garrison town as the new capital of the caliphate. Ali’s forces went to battle with Aisha’s forces near the town of Basra in the Battle of the Camel, so named because Aisha herself came seated on a camel. Aisha’s forces suffered a decisive defeat. But Ali wanted to reconcile with them, and so had Aisha returned with dignity to Medina. Aisha repented from her actions and never again became involved in public affairs. However, Mu’awiya, who was in a much stronger position, still needed to be subdued. So the next war between Ali and Mu’awiya began known as Siffin.

 

[Twin_Moose]

Are you an Imam?

 

[ZulFiqar786]

Are you an Imam?

Not at all. But I am a Muslim student of knowledge. If any question related to the topic of this thread or Islam in general I will entertain them provided done so in a respectful way to sincerely learn and not to bash or with malicious intent. Otherwise will simply ignore such messages and carry on with my discourse.

 

[Murphy]

He is Nassir's friend. When Nassir got banned (again), this individual, who watched Nassir's threads occasionally, was asked to carry on Nassir's work. He was one of the 'guests' noted at the bottom of the thread. There are 8 watching now. 2322Z.

Like Nassir, he ignores posts that run contrary to his own. In fact, he was one of several who advised Nassir on how to proceed, as Arabic is Nassir's first language.

 

[Johnnny]

Good luck.

This place will chew you up and spit you out.

Many chickens come to roost here.

Holy shit. He didn't ban you this time.

 

[Murphy]

Sunni or later.

[youtube]5dNGU772_cI[/youtube]

 

[ZulFiqar786]

The Battle of Siffin in 657 CE was another watershed moment in early Islamic history. On one side was the Prophet’s legitimate fourth successor Ali, and on the other side Mu’awiya in Damascus. Mu’awiya faught against Ali in the name of avenging the murder of Uthman, while Ali sought to stabilize the community and restore the situation to what it was before. According to Ali’s thinking, first the situation should be stabilized and law and order restored which could not happen without the caliphate being accepted. Only then when the situation was calm would he deal with the matter of Uthman’s murder. In the Battle of Siffin, Ali’s forces were on the verge of a decisive victory, until Mu’awiya was advised by one of his advisers to seek arbitration. This plea was dramatized by Mu’awiya’s forces placing pages of the Qur’an on their spears “let the Qur’an judge between us”. Ali was reluctant to call a ceasefire and agree to arbitration, especially at this late stage. He knew that Mu’awiya’s side was trying to delay and and save its jeopardized position. Nevertheless, Ali was pressured into accepting this arbitration. However, he initially wanted his cousin Abd Allah son of Abbas (the Prophet’s uncle Abbas I mentioned earlier) to represent him at the arbitration, but Ali’s camp was fragile and there were many insincere people there who would not allow Ali to choose a relative as his representative. They pressured him to select Abu Musa al-Ashari as his representative instead. In the arbitration, Abu Musa al-Ashari was outwitted in to accepting that both Ali and Mu’awiya should be set aside and the community given the opportunity to select a new caliph. Feeling betrayed, yet another dissension occurred in Ali’s camp. A new faction emerged called the Kharijites, from the word ‘Khawarij’ meaning those who exit. The Kharijites were historically the first sect to depart from the Muslim mainstream with separatist tendencies and peculiar doctrines and practices that distinguished them from the early community of Muslims including the Prophet’s own disciples.

 

[Murphy]

You're channeling Nassir. Good, but here are a few suggestions.

When he writes his responses that you clean up (slightly) and post, don't use Word, then cut and paste. That's for amateurs.
Secondly, and most importantly, do not assume that anyone gives a fig for your writings. Transcribing the words of the devil does not change their evil meanings.

Just sayin'

P.S. This will only work for so long, Nassir. :lol:

 

[lone wolf]

What is CE relative to BC and AD?

 

[Murphy]

Christian or current era. AD.

 

[lone wolf]

K... Jus' making sure there's no exotic calendar to mess with my mind. GMT still screws me over from a perspective of EST

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

So what is the principal difference between the Sunni and the Shi-ites (forgive the spelling)? I see some history here but still not an answer to that question.

K... Jus' making sure there's no exotic calendar to mess with my mind. GMT still screws me over from a perspective of EST

AD kind of refers to Jesus so is changed to CE.

 

[Murphy]

Precisely.

And there is no answer. It is Nassir's posting, cleaned up to eliminate the Quran quotes. Ayah. Stories. Religious fables.

This is the explanation. When Mohammed died, there was a dispute over who should take over and lead his gang. His followers split into two groups.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

What is CE relative to BC and AD?

It's the PC version of A.D. BCE is "before Common Era" and CE is "Common Era." It's B.C. and A.D. de-religionized for the sensitive.

 

[ZulFiqar786]

So what is the principal difference between the Sunni and the Shi-ites (forgive the spelling)? I see some history here but still not an answer to that question.



AD kind of refers to Jesus so is changed to CE.

CE means Common Era

As for difference between Sunni and Shi’i I haven’t gotten to that point yet, except that I mentioned the defining feature of the Sunnis is that they say that the Prophet did not designate a successor, instead it was up to the community to elect a leader that is best qualified for the position, which is purely an administrative position and not a religious one, since the office of speaking on behalf of God is suitable to a prophet only and prophecy has terminated with Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) the last and final Prophet.



Now I will mention that the common feature of all Shi’ite sects is that they hold that the Prophet before he passed away specifically designated his cousin and son-in-law Ali to succeed him. The Shi’ite narrative is that Ali, who was an extremely pious and devoted follower of the Prophet, in fact the first male convert to accept the Prophet when the rest of his people rejected him, was divinely appointed to be the successor of the Prophet. This is especially the view of the ‘Imamiya’ Shi’a. This branch of Shi’ites believe that the Imam and the position of Imamate (leadership of the Muslim community) is a position that is divinely appointed like that of a Prophet. It is not up to the community to elect a leader through their own consultation because God Himself not only choses a Prophet but also divinely appoints the person to succeed the Prophet. Hence according to this largest branch of Shi’a, the Imam is not merely an administrative position but also a religious position, the Imam is an authority in interpreting the Qur’an and the Prophet’s teachings. The Imam’s authority in this respect is religiously binding. This is the fundamental difference between Sunnis and Shi’ites regarding the issue of succession to the Prophet and nature of the leadership of the Muslim community.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

At a rough guess, how many people have been killed over this little debate?

 

[Murphy]

My estimate would be 8 million. That's based on 5000 a year for 1500 years.

 

[ZulFiqar786]

Coming back to the Kharijites, they immediately split away from Ali’s camp after initially being on his side. They declared that Ali had committed apostasy by agreeing to arbitration. Their slogan was based on a verse of the Qur’an “the decision is for none but God”. According to the Kharijites, by failing to judge in accordance with the Qur’an and by agreeing to arbitration with Mu’awiya, Ali had become an infidel (God forbid). The Kharijites were outwardly extremely pious. They were excessively devoted to reading the Qur’an. They departed Ali’s camp and set up another camp in a place called Nahrawan. When Ali sent his cousin Abd Allah son of Abbas (whom I mentioned earlier) to debate with these Kharijites, when the former entered their camp he heard a loud buzzing similar to a hive of bees which was in fact the Kharijite congregation intensely mass reading the Qur’an. So outwardly they were very pious. They kept their heads shaven and their were marks on their foreheads from the excessive prostration and worship. Nevertheless, they were gone astray because of their little knowledge. Despite being in the thousands, there wasn’t a single disciple or companion of the Prophet among their ranks. The Kharijites soon became violent and murdered an innocent Muslim couple after interrogating them about their beliefs in minute detail. Ali was initially disposed to ignoring this faction, despite their abuse of him and rejection of his leadership as long as they remained nonviolent. But after they had murdered a Muslim couple that happened to be travelling (the woman was pregnant and her unborn child was also murdered), Ali was forced to take action to crush this new rebellion. Hence Ali’s camp decisively defeated the Kharijites in the Battle of Nahrawan in 659 CE. Only a handful of Kharijites escaped. Among them was a man named Abdal Rahman bin Muljim. Ibn Muljim made a plot with a few other Kharijites who survived Nahrawan. They formed the first ‘terrorist cell’ in Mecca where they had regrouped. In revenge for Nahrawan, they plotted to assassinate Ali, Mu’awiya, and Mu’awiya’s governor in Egypt, Amr (who was Mu’awiya’s representative at the arbitration). While Mu’awiya was only slightly injured in the attack on him in Damascus, Ibn Muljim snuck into Kufa, had a sword laced with poison, and struck at Ali’s head while the latter was in prostration during the pre-dawn prayer. Ali was thus martyred in 661 CE. Thus out of the first four successors of the Prophet, three of them were murdered, two of them by other Muslims.