Why is there conflict between the Sunnis and the Shiites?

Why is there conflict 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.

Do Sunnis and Shiites fight?

In recent years, Sunni–Shia relations have been increasingly marked by conflict, particularly the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict. Sectarian violence persists to this day from Pakistan to Yemen and is a major element of friction throughout the Middle East and South Asia.

What is the main difference between Sunni and Shia?

Sunnis focus on following the Prophet’s example whereas Shi’a focus on the lineage of Muhammad’s family through a series of Imams. Since the 1970s, and especially since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, there has been growing tension between Sunni and Shi’a communities in parts of the Middle East.

How many Shia have been killed by Sunni?

As many as 4,000 people are estimated to have been killed by Shia-Sunni sectarian attacks in Pakistan between 1987–2007. And since 2008, thousands of Shia have been killed by Sunni extremists according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

What’s the difference between Sunnis and Shiites?

The divide between the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam is both ancient and still highly consequential today. In Syria, a Sunni-majority country dominated by members of a Shiite sect, fighting that began as anti-government has taken on sectarian overtones.

How can the conflict between Sunnis and Shias be settled?

The conservative estimates put 80% of the global Muslim population as Sunnis, and the least conservative estimates put 15% of this population as Shias. The conflict can be settled when the top scholars, Sunnis and Shias, come together and accept that there are parts of history that we don’t really know about.

Do Shia and Sunni Muslims get along?

So of course Shia and Sunni don’t get along, each are dissenters in the other’s eyes. That’s part of the reason there are so many sectarian wars going on now. Like most things, Islam is several hundred years behind Europe, and Europe also had sectarian wars 4 to 500 years ago.

What is the origin of Shia–Sunni relations?

The origin of Shia–Sunni relations can be traced back to a dispute over the succession to the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a caliph of the Islamic community.