What are Sunni beliefs?

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. Most Muslims are Sunnis.

What are the two key beliefs of Islam?

Monotheism (Tawhid ): The main message of Islam is monotheism. Belief in monotheism is the cornerstone of the Islamic faith. Muslims believe that all the Prophets sent by God to humanity shared the same central message, and that was the message of monotheism.

Sunni Muslims. Sunni Muslims strongly believe that the redemption of human beings is dependent on faith in Allah, His prophets, acceptance of Muhammad as the final prophet, and belief in righteous deeds as explained in the Koran. The mercy of Allah will determine the redemption of all human beings.

What is the main reason for the split between the Sunnis and the Shiites?

Though the two main sects within Islam, Sunni and Shia, agree on most of the fundamental beliefs and practices of Islam, a bitter split between the two goes back some 14 centuries. The divide originated with a dispute over who should succeed the Prophet Muhammad as leader of the Islamic faith he introduced.

What does Shiite mean in English?

A Shiite is a person who belongs to one of the two main branches of Islam. A Shiite is a Muslim who follows specific religious traditions. A Shiite believes that Mohammed’s son-in-law, Ali, was his legitimate successor as political and religious leader.

What are the differences between Sunnis and Shiites?

What are the differences between Sunnis and Shiites? Their beliefs over who should have succeeded the Prophet Muhammad is the key theological difference between the two. Sunnis also have a less elaborate religious hierarchy than Shiites have, and the two sects’ interpretation of Islam’s schools of law is different.

What are the beliefs of Sunni and Shia Muslims?

Sunni and Shia Muslims share the most fundamental Islamic beliefs and articles of faith and are the two main sub-groups in Islam.

When did the divide between Sunni and Shiite Muslims start?

The divide is traced to 632 A.D., when the Islamic Prophet Muhammad died and a debate emerged about who should be his successor.

Which is the most powerful Sunni or Shiite country?

Saudi Arabia is the most powerful purveyor of Sunni Islam, far and away the larger sect. Iran is the heart of Shia Islam. Here’s a short primer on the schism between the sects: What was the origin of the Sunni-Shiite split?