Question about Sunni and Shiites

[Laura]

Hello everyone, I am fairly new to the forum. I am here seeking knowledge. I should begin by telling you all where my interest stems from and why I am here. A brief summary: My path of schooling has led to many discussions on Islam. I have found that many people I come in contact with have opinions, but do not really have a base knowledge. My search for education has led me here, to this discussion forum and I am seeking thoughts from those that are here.


I was raised Christian, but I do not hold the opinion that one faith is more credible than another. So, I will offer no biased opinions on which faith is better. I am simply interested in a different point of view. Since there are people on here from all over the world, I am excited to learn what I can from each of you. I am often in the minority in my classes when discussions arise.


I have a question about the Sunni and the Shiites (I hope I spelled that right). I have studied a little on it, and have found no definite answer in what the difference is between Sunni and Shiites. The best that I can gather on it is that there is a difference in the intrepretation of Islam. If that is correct, then what are the differences? Any information on this would be appreciated.


If anyone can break this down to me, in your own words, I would be grateful.


Thank you to all who respond.


-Laura

[wel_mel_2]

<b>Bismillah:</b> (In the name of Allah)

Hello everyone, I am fairly new to the forum. I am here seeking knowledge. I should begin by telling you all where my interest stems from and why I am here. A brief summary: My path of schooling has led to many discussions on Islam. I have found that many people I come in contact with have opinions, but do not really have a base knowledge. My search for education has led me here, to this discussion forum and I am seeking thoughts from those that are here.


I was raised Christian, but I do not hold the opinion that one faith is more credible than another. So, I will offer no biased opinions on which faith is better. I am simply interested in a different point of view. Since there are people on here from all over the world, I am excited to learn what I can from each of you. I am often in the minority in my classes when discussions arise.


I have a question about the Sunni and the Shiites (I hope I spelled that right). I have studied a little on it, and have found no definite answer in what the difference is between Sunni and Shiites. The best that I can gather on it is that there is a difference in the intrepretation of Islam. If that is correct, then what are the differences? Any information on this would be appreciated.


If anyone can break this down to me, in your own words, I would be grateful.


Thank you to all who respond.


-Laura

Welcome to the board Laura and hope your stay will be much beneficial and help you to get the correct image of Islam. Insha'Allah.


Re: Sunni and Shi'a: We have discussed this issue several times here but for now I could only find 2 links, Insha’Allah they might help answer your question.


Sunni/Shi'a. Q asked by CC


Sunni/Shi'a. Q asked by Gill


if you need further clarification please do let us know.


Salam


Wae.

[Laura]

<b>Bismillah:</b> (In the name of Allah)


Welcome to the board Laura and hope your stay will be much beneficial and help you to get the correct image of Islam. Insha'Allah.


Re: Sunni and Shi'a: We have discussed this issue several times here but for now I could only find 2 links, Insha’Allah they might help answer your question.


Sunni/Shi'a. Q asked by CC


Sunni/Shi'a. Q asked by Gill


if you need further clarification please do let us know.


Salam


Wae.

wel_mel_2 -


Thank you for the welcome. I am looking forward to learning as much as I can. I have a very high opinion of Islam, I just want to learn as much as I can. There is so much information out there it is hard for me to decipher which information is correct. I figure my best option is to get correct information strait from everyone here. I was afraid I spelled Shi'a incorrectly. There seems to be several variations on the term, and I couldn't decide which one was correct.


Thank you for your reply. I was afraid that this had been discussed on here previously. Please bear with me, I am still learning how to navigate this discussion site :)


Okay, I am going to give this a try to see if I understand correctly.


The Shi'a make up a small portion of Islam, While the Sunni make up the majority?


The Hadith....If memory serves correctly then this is written historical documentations of Islam? And the interpretations of the Hadith lead to differenct sects such as the Shi'a.........


or taken from one of the posts I just read from the link you gave me...."Hanafi, or Shafi or Maliki or Humbali.or a Deobandi".....are these other sects of Islam?


If I understood that correctly, then I admit that I had not heard of these other sects.


The Sunni and the Shi'a .....are they divided by location, or only by faith? I guess what I am asking is .....is there a location where the majority of the Shi'a live? Or is there a blend and there are different mosques in the same city for each of the sects?


I am very interested in the Third Pillar of Islam. Alms Giving. I think somewhere I heard or read that the Shi'a and the Sunni differ in the process of Zakat. Is this true? For some reason I have it in my head that one sect (I can't remember which one) felt that Zakat should be regulated by government and the other thought that as a religious duty it should not be regulated by government. Am I way off base?


Thank you for the warm welcome and the response.


-Laura

[wel_mel_2]

Bismillah:

wel_mel_2 -


Thank you for the welcome. I am looking forward to learning as much as I can. I have a very high opinion of Islam, I just want to learn as much as I can. There is so much information out there it is hard for me to decipher which information is correct. I figure my best option is to get correct information strait from everyone here. I was afraid I spelled Shi'a incorrectly. There seems to be several variations on the term, and I couldn't decide which one was correct.


Thank you for your reply. I was afraid that this had been discussed on here previously. Please bear with me, I am still learning how to navigate this discussion site :)


Okay, I am going to give this a try to see if I understand correctly.


The Shi'a make up a small portion of Islam, While the Sunni make up the majority?


The Hadith....If memory serves correctly then this is written historical documentations of Islam? And the interpretations of the Hadith lead to differenct sects such as the Shi'a.........


or taken from one of the posts I just read from the link you gave me...."Hanafi, or Shafi or Maliki or Humbali.or a Deobandi".....are these other sects of Islam?


If I understood that correctly, then I admit that I had not heard of these other sects.


The Sunni and the Shi'a .....are they divided by location, or only by faith? I guess what I am asking is .....is there a location where the majority of the Shi'a live? Or is there a blend and there are different mosques in the same city for each of the sects?


I am very interested in the Third Pillar of Islam. Alms Giving. I think somewhere I heard or read that the Shi'a and the Sunni differ in the process of Zakat. Is this true? For some reason I have it in my head that one sect (I can't remember which one) felt that Zakat should be regulated by government and the other thought that as a religious duty it should not be regulated by government. Am I way off base?


Thank you for the warm welcome and the response.


-Laura

am so sorry for not replying quickly. Ramadan always make us busy... could you please give me sometime to answer to your questions?


Insha'Allah will get back to you soon.


Salam


Wael

[Muslimah]

Bismillah


salam Laura


Good, you found your way to this room and started posting questions :)


Without trying to influence your aim, can i suggest that if u want to learn about Islam, start by learning what Islam says (from Quran and hadeeth= prophet Mohamed's prayer and peace be upon him) on any given issue. This way u will not be confused. I mean rather than learning for instance how x intereprets this math theory, and how that y uses it. Just learn the theory itself, then by dafault u will be able to realize deeper later on.


But my suggestion for your benefit learn what islam is first.

[Muslimah]

Bismillah


Laura, I suggest you get to know what Islam is using for ex:


http://islamsms.com/bb/index.php?showtopic=3372


http://islamsms.com/bb/index.php?showtopic=1559


And as for browsing the site, pls feel free to ask we will help u to use it better.


The search option can help u find what u need, not that we dont want u to post, pls do post :)


This emoicon, u can select from a side bar menu to sort of express yourself and add flavor to the post. :wavey:

[Muslimah]

Bismillah


Laura, as for the particular issue of Zakat:


http://islamsms.com/bb/index.php?showtopic=2180


Full manual explaining what, where, to who and how...enjoy

[Khairan]

The Shi'a make up a small portion of Islam, While the Sunni make up the majority?

Yes. Numbers vary, but perhaps 80% of the world's Muslims are sunni, and the other 20% shia.

The Hadith....If memory serves correctly then this is written historical documentations of Islam? And the interpretations of the Hadith lead to differenct sects such as the Shi'a.........

This is somewhat true. There are thousands upon thousands of ahadith, many of which have been determined to be fabrications and a small percentage of which are considered "authentic." Different groups of Muslims frequently differ on what traditions they consider authentic and which they believe apocryphal.

or taken from one of the posts I just read from the link you gave me...."Hanafi, or Shafi or Maliki or Humbali.or a Deobandi".....are these other sects of Islam?

They are more properly thought of as schools of law among the sunnis. They are named after famous scholars who developed systems for analyzing and interpreting the ahadith and applying them in the practice of governing daily affairs. Sunnis consider all schools legitimate variations or interpretations of Islam, and many don't even have a specific school to which they ascribe.

The Sunni and the Shi'a .....are they divided by location, or only by faith? I guess what I am asking is .....is there a location where the majority of the Shi'a live?

There are mixed shia and sunni communities in many parts of the world. Iran and Iraq are majoritily shia nations. There are signficant numbers (though not majorities to my knowledge) of shia in India and Lebanon as well. I'm not sure about other countries.
Happy readings. :)