What are the major differences between Sunni and Shia Islam?
The primary difference in practice comes in that Sunni Muslims mainly rely on the Sunnah, a record of the teachings and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad to guide their actions while the Shiites more heavily on their ayatollahs, whom they see as a sign of God on earth.
What is the difference between Kurds and Shiites?
The Shiites and Sunnis are ethnically Arabs (that is, they speak Arabic and share a common culture). Kurds are not Arabs; they have their own culture and language. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims. In Iraq, Shiites are about 60 percent of the population, a majority living in the south.
What are the beliefs of the Shiites?
Shiites believe that only Allah, the God of the Islam faith, can select religious leaders, and that therefore, all successors must be direct descendants of Muhammad’s family. They maintain that Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, was the rightful heir to the leadership of the Islam religion after Muhammad’s death.
Where did the Kurds come from?
Where do they come from? The Kurds are one of the indigenous peoples of the Mesopotamian plains and the highlands in what are now south-eastern Turkey, north-eastern Syria, northern Iraq, north-western Iran and south-western Armenia.
Do Shia believe in sunnah?
All Muslims are guided by the Sunnah, but Sunnis stress its primacy. Shia are also guided by the wisdom of Muhammad’s descendants through his son-in-law and cousin, Ali. Sunni life is guided by four schools of legal thought, each of which strives to develop practical applications of the Sunnah.
What’s the difference between Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq?
The Shiites and Sunnis are ethnically Arabs (that is, they speak Arabic and share a common culture). Kurds are not Arabs; they have their own culture and language. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims. The division between Shiites and Sunnis dates to the death of Muhammad, the founder of Islam, in 632 A.D.
Where are the majority of Shiite Muslims located?
Shia constitute about 10 to 15 percent of all Muslims, and globally their population is estimated at less than 200 million. Whereas Sunnis dominate the Muslim world, from West Africa to Indonesia, the Shiites are centrally located, with a vast majority in Iran, predominance in Iraq and sizable populations in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
Where do the Kurds and Shiites live in Iraq?
Kurds make up 15 to 20 percent of Iraq’s population, between four and five million people. Kurds descend from Indo-European tribes. Iraqi Shiítes live primarily in central and southern Iraq, from Baghdad south between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to the city of Basra and the Persian Gulf.
What kind of culture do people in Iraq have?
In today’s Republic of Iraq, where Islam is the state religion and claims the beliefs of 95 percent of the population, the majority of Iraqis identify with Arab culture. The second-largest cultural group is the Kurds, who are in the highlands and mountain valleys of the north in a politically autonomous settlement.