For other people around the globe, Muslims are the private religious group like Christians, that have their own religion and beliefs, period. But, as Christians are divided into Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodoxes, Muslims have their differences as well. So what are the most relevant differences between Shia and Sunni Muslims?
As other people think of them all as members of the Islamic community, there is certain animosity between them that lasts for hundreds of years. It had all begun when the decision about who Muhammad’s inheritor should be had to be made. As one side agreed on Abu Bakr’s new leadership, while Shiite Muslims were strongly against it. They’d all remained faithful to Islam, but over the years, their paths were too much separated that the differences between those two groups became more and more expressed.
Those differences may be small in someone’s eyes, but looking at the whole picture, those differences made them the whole different nations. For example, during the month of Ramadan, Shiite Muslims have the 20 minutes longer fast than the Sunnis. As funny as it seems, Shiite Muslims really make their efforts to make even the slightest change in order to become unique and different from the Sunnis Muslim. That’s why their fast starts 10 minutes earlier and ends 10 minutes later. On the other hand, while Shiite Muslims still believe in temporary marriage, Sunnis Muslims that this practice was abolished when the framework of Islam was being solidified.
Yes, small differences that made them the different nations. Do you want to know more? Insider Monkey made a very interesting list of 7 major differences between Shia and Sunni Muslims that you may be interested in. The truth is, there are not that important facts to know in your life, but there are, in my opinion, a very good source of entertainment since I didn’t know until now how bad those two want to split.
