Human Interest

This article explains the difference between the Sunni and Shiite Muslims. The separation of the two has been crucial and adds to many of the conflicts throughout the Muslim world. The author explains that the Shiites are the minority in this group and make up about 15% of the population. After the death of Muhammad, the Shiites believed his son in law was the rightful successor while the Sunnis believed there should’ve been an elected successor. He also explains that this split the two groups and it was supposedly a violent one even though the two groups have been known to coexist.

The Shiite Sunni conflict in the middle east has been going on for 1,400 years with the death of the Prophet Muhammad. There reason for splitting is who should succeed Muhammad. Shiite's believe that succession and leadership should stay in the family of the prophet. Sunni's believed that leadership should fall to the person who was deemed by the elite of the community to be best able to lead the community. This division of who they believed should succeed Muhammad caused the split between Sunni and Shiites. This split of Islamic religion has led to many horrific wars in many different countries located in the Middle East. The Shiites are the minority of the two groups and are concentrated in Iran, southern Iraq and southern Lebanon. The Shiite and Sunni conflict has spread all over the Arab nations making it a regional conflict rather than just an inter-religious conflict.

The split between Sunni and Shia Muslims was naturally religious. Specifically, a dispute over succession between the Muslim community after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. While "most" followers wanted the community of Muslims to determine who should succeed him, another smaller group believed Ali, a member of Muhammad's family should take leadership. The latter was the views of Shia Muslims and the former would be known as Sunni. These divisions are exacerbated by the political influence and goals of different nations.