The Sunni Shia split

Friday, July 27 2007

Last weekend my partner and I were reading the papers over breakfast (one of my Saturday activities) when she asked me if I knew the difference between Sunnis and Shi’ites.

I paused. I felt like I’d read about the two major denominations of Islam, but as usual I was unable to recall the information when asked and bumbled some answer about a familial dispute, like some kind of middle eastern episode of Jerry Springer.

Further research on my behalf established that my answer was wrong, but that I was on the right track. And hey, I had something to write about on this blog after two weeks of silence.

I’ll try my best to simplify what I’ve learnt.

It’s important to note from the outset that most Sunnis and Shi’ites regard each other as Muslims and both worship the Prophet Mohammed.

The schism developed following the Prophet’s death in 632. Essentially, those that would become known as Shi’ites believed that the Prophet’s son-in-law and cousin, Ali, had been selected by Mohammed to succeed him as the leader of Muslims (known as the caliph) and that the leadership of Muslims should be passed down the Prophet’s bloodline. Shia is a contraction of the Arabic words ‘Shiat Ali’ which means ‘Partisans of Ali.’ I guess you could liken the Shia to monarchists.

Sunni’s disputed Ali’s right to the caliph and backed Abu Bakr, who they believed was the man most qualified to succeed the last Prophet. It is said that as Mohammed lay on his deathbed he asked Abu Bakr to lead the prayers - a signal to Sunni’s that Bakr was the anointed one. With the weight of numbers in their favour, the Sunni’s had their way and Abu Bakr became the first caliph. The Sunni’s have continued to be the dominant faction of Islam ever since.

It is estimated that 90% of Muslims today are Sunni’s.

The Shi’ites, however, faced centuries of persecution and submission following their initial defeat and, as a result, themes of death and martyrdom have become focal points of their identity as Muslims.


The divide between Shi’ites and Sunnis can be crudely likened to the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism. Shi’ites, like Catholics, have a more rigid leadership structure and follow a supreme leader who is regarded as divine and a perfect interpreter of the Koran. Sunni’s have a more diverse and ad hoc hierarchy and regard their leaders as human and fallible.

Over the centuries the differences have also become theological in nature, with both camps differing on the interpretation of the Hadith (the Hadith is the words and deeds of the Prophet). Shi’ites give preference to the interpretation of Ali and Fatima (Mohammed’s wife) and now defer to a living scholar for their religious guidance and instruction. The Sunni’s consider the twelve thousand narrations of the Hadith as equal but tend to follow the interpretation of 7th and 8th century scholars.

The divide is most obvious today in Iraq, but the bloodshed seen between Sunni and Shia in Iraq is regarded by many scholars as a distortion of their divergent theologies. In many countries Sunni and Shia live side by side with little problem.