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Sunnis and Shiites
Basic Similarities and Differences
By: Daniel Bench
One religion that is often not understood is Islam. As one of the major world religions,
Islam greatly influences world events. To understand current issues, such as the situation in
Afghanistan, studying the basics of Islam can greatly help. Islam is one religion divided by two
different schools of faith. The Shiite and Sunnis mutual background, similarities, and differences
are essential to understand in order to fully grasp the impact Islam has on current events.
To start with, a review of the situation between Sunni and Shiite’s population and location
is beneficial to understanding Islam’s impact. Shiites make up about 10-15 percent of all the
Muslims in the world. Only a few countries like Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan contain Shiite
majorities. The rest of the Muslim states are composed of Sunni majorities. However, the Shiites
form a large minority in countries like Afghanistan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia,
Syria, and Yemen.
Sunnis and Shiites not only inhabit the same nations and areas, but they also share basic
Islamic beliefs and practices. Most importantly, both sects view Muhammad as the highest
prophet of Allah (God). They believe that the Quran, Islam’s holy book, reveals the truth of Allah
as described by Muhammad and his early followers. Not only do the Shiites and Sunnis look to
the same sources for their teachings, they also participate in the same core practices known as the
Five Pillars of Islam. All Muslims, whether Shiite or Sunni, practice reciting the statement of
Muslim faith, saying their daily prayers, giving to the poor and needy, fasting at holy times of the
year, and traveling to Mecca once in their lifetime. In addition, all Muslims pursue personal
goodness and social justice.
While the Sunnis and Shiites share the main teachings of Islam, their differences appear in
the political events at the beginning of the Muslim religion. In 632, the prophet Muhammad died
leaving his followers with no clear leader to guide their religion. The majority of Muslims
believed the leader should be someone with the most qualifications and an ability to lead justly;
these people became known as the Sunnis, or “followers of the Prophet’s sunni (customs).” Sunnis
believed the community and its leaders should choose the leader based on his abilities. Other
Muslims believed that the leader should be a descendent of Muhammad; these people became
known as the Shiites.
After Muhammad’s death, Muslims chose Muhammad’s close Friend Abu Bakr to be the
first Caliph (successor of Muhammad/leader). However, a small group of people wanted Ali ibn
Information Adapted from Islam: Sunnis and Shiites by Febe Armonios
Abi Talib, Muhammad’s cousin, to become Caliph, because he was a relation of the Prophet
Muhammad. Thus, the followers of Ali became known as ‘shi’at Ali’or ‘Ali follower’ or ‘Shiites’.
After the third Caliph chosen by the religious leaders had been assassinated by Ali’s followers, Ali
eventually became the fourth Caliph. Five years later, Ali himself was assassinated by Sunnis.
Within 10 years, Ali’s sons were also killed by Sunnis leaving no heir to take leadership.
Since this time, while the Sunnis and Shiites shared the same beliefs, they continued to
develop different views of leadership. The Sunnis respected the imams (religious leaders);
however, the Shiites believed imams were much more important than Sunnis believed them to be.
Shiites view imams as being as important as teachers from the Muslim holy book, the Quran.
Therefore, the Shiites believe that the government should be controlled by a supreme religious
leader known as the Ayatollah, meaning “sign of God.” Conversely, the Sunnis believe that the
government should control the religious teachers and leaders. These different views would cause
many disagreements and wars between the two sects.
Conflicts were often started between the fundamentalists of each sect. The Shiite Ismailis
wanted to defeat the Sunnis and create governments under the control of the imams. The Ismailis
violent beliefs can still be found in parts of Afghanistan and Iran. Likewise, the Sunni sect
developed a fundamental group call Wahhabi, a sect that exists in present-day Saudi Arabia. This
fundamental Sunni group viewed every non-Muslim and Shiite as an enemy of God. While both
the Ismailis and Wahhabi believe in literally enforcing the laws of Islam, at the same time, they
view the other side as not following the law, and therefore their enemies must be disciplined.
While the Shiites and Sunnis share the same basic beliefs, their differences have shaped
many events and situations throughout the world. Sunnis compose the majority of Islam, but at the
same time, Sunnis and Shiites often inhabit the same state. Often times, one ethnicity will be
Sunni and another will be Shiite. For example, in Afghanistan the Pashtuns happen to be Sunni
while the Hazara are Shiite. This type of situation fed by fundamentalism creates problems for
national governments.
The political division from the start of Islam still clearly exists today and
continues to cause power struggles in many states throughout the world.
Information Adapted from Islam: Sunnis and Shiites by Febe Armonios