Concept in Definition ABC

The religion Muslim has different doctrinal branches and among them Sunnism and Shiism stand out. The first is the majority, since it has 90% of the faithful. The second has approximately 10% followers worldwide. This stream of Islam is found mainly in Iran and Lebanon.

The origin of the division in Islam

On the death of the Prophet Muhammad in the Vll century AD. C there was no criterion defined as to who owed his successor. The heads of the various clans met in the city of Medina to name a successor and agreed that it should be Ali, the friend and confidant of the prophet.

Furthermore, Ali had married Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad. Thus, the followers of Ali were the ones who founded Shi'ism. Previously, the leaders of the Muslim clans understood that the legitimate successor had to be another, Abu Bakar.

From the point of view of the Shiites, the election of Abu Bakar was a betrayal of Muhammad's wishes. Ali ended up accepting the authority of Abu Bakar and in the following years the Sunnis imposed their criteria, which according to them was based on the

tradition of the Qur'an.

When Ali passed away his family it was removed from power and in this way a new minority clan was created, that of the Shiites. The confrontation between one and the other became more acute until finally there was a religious schism in Islam.

While the Shiite followers understood that the essence of the religion should be preserved by choosing a Leader especially gifted religious, Sunnis argued that the Muslim religion should expand and form a empire.

For the Shiites, the Muslim head, the imam, is in a degree close to the prophet Muhammad

For centuries the two branches of Islam have been at odds and in recent decades followers of Shi'ism have been persecuted by different branches of Sunnism.

From a historical point of view, Shiite communities have settled in North Africa, the coast from Syria and the Persian Gulf.

At present, Saudi Arabia is the main center of Sunnism and Iran of Shi'ism.

On the other hand, the so-called Islamic State of Iraq is being very combative against Shiite interests (during Saddam Hussein's regime his followers were persecuted). Likewise, those who make up this branch of Islam have also been victims of attacks by the Afghan Taliban.

In Pakistan, the Shiites are also a minority and are under threat.

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