WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -A disagreement over succession after Mohammed’s death in 632 split Muslims into Islam’s two main sects, Sunni and Shia.

Detailed explanation-2: -What were the main reasons for the split between the Sunni and the Shi’a? The future of Islam was placed in crisis after the death of Muhammad. Sunni’s claimed that following Muhammad’s example was sufficient to be caliph, while Shia’s believed that the successor to Muhammad should be part of his bloodline.

Detailed explanation-3: -The original split between Sunnis and Shiites occurred soon after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, in the year 632. “There was a dispute in the community of Muslims in present-day Saudi Arabia over the question of succession, ‘’ says Augustus Norton, author of Hezbollah: A Short History.

Detailed explanation-4: -Sunni Muslims believe that the Prophet did not explicitly declare a successor. Shia Muslims believe that the Prophet publicly designated his cousin and son-in-law, Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him), as the first in a line of hereditary Imams from the Prophet’s family to lead the community after him.

Detailed explanation-5: -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.