Ok, I issued an appeal for posting help last post, and I have started to
get some response.

This post is by Stoney. He has done some research that I had been thinking
doing and just never got around to it. Thanks Stoney. Reads somewhat
similar to a synopsis of Old Testament history. Murph

What's the Deal between Sunnis and Shias?

Why the hell can't these people just get along? Why are
they trying to kill each other off in Iraq? What the fuck
does this have to do in any way with us? And finally, what's
the difference between Sunnis and Shias anyway?

Let's try to get some answers!

Shias and Sunnis split back in 632 CE when
Muhammad (praise be upon him, PBUH) went flying off
the "Dome of The Rock" to be with Allah. It seems
that there were two chains of thought as to who
would be his successor.

The Sunnis. (Their name means "One who follows the
traditions of The Prophet"), decided that the new leader
of Islam should be elected from those who were most able
to fill the job. When the voting was done, Muhammed's (pbuh)
close friend and advisor Abu Bakr became the first "Caliph" of
the Islamic Nation.

The Shias felt that the leadership should come directly
for Muhammed's (pbuh) own family, and chose his cousin/son
in law, Ali to be the next "Imam". The word "Shia" is
shortened from "Shia-t-Ali" or "The Party of Ali"

After Abu Bakr became Caliph in 632 CE, he held the post
until 634 when he died. Next came Umar who served from 634
until 644, then Uthman who served from 644 until 656 when
he was murdered at prayer, which really pissed off the Sunnis
who considered this (and rightly so) a seriously chicken-shit
way to kill a man!

Ali finally got his shot at the title and was elected
in 656, but was opposed by Aisha ,Wife of Muhammed (pbuh),
and the daughter of Abu Bakr, who thought he was being a
slack-ass when it came to bringing the murderers of Uthman
to justice, and raised an army to fight him. However, Ali's
forces soundly thrashed Aisha's army at The Battle of Camel
in 656, and that took care of that! However Ali allowed Aisha
to seek his forgiveness which he gave her, and allowed her
to return to her home in Madinah. There to live out her last
years in peaceful seclusion.

After that was all done with, along came Mu'awiya Umayyad,
who was Uthman's cousin, and the governor of Damascus.
He also had the ass about poor old Uthman getting snuffed
on his rug, and refused to accept Ali as Caliph until Uthman's
killers had been hooked and hanged! Ali and Mu'awiya met on
the field of battle at the Battle of Suffin, where the
soldiers of Mu'awia attached verses for the Quran onto
their spears! The devout men of Ali's army refused to fight
against them!

Ali had no choice but to try and establish a compromise
with Mu'awiya, but this shocked and outraged some of his
die-hard supporters! So much so, that one of his own men
whacked him in 661!

Mu'awiya declared himself Caliph. Ali's oldest son
Hassan was offered a pension if he didn't pursue the
Caliphate, which he accepted.  Hassan was dead before
the year was out, thought by many to have been poisoned.
Ali's younger son Hussein agreed not to purue the Caliphate
until after Mu'awia's death, but in 680 when Mu'awiya kicked
the bucket, his son Yazid usurped the Caiphate! Hussein
led an army against Yazid, but he and his men were slaughtered
in mass at the Battle of Karbala. Yazid went on to establish
the Ummayad Dynasty, splitting the Sunnis and the Shia even
 further until the 750's.

In 750 The Umayyad family had been wiped out (except
for a few that managed to escape to Spain) after The Battle
of Zab in Egypt, in a revolt which was led by
Abu Al Abbas al-Saffah. This revolt was assisted a great
deal by Shia support. So much, in fact that the Shia spiritual
leader Jafar As-Saddiq, (great-granson of Hussein), was
promised the Caliphate after Abbas' death in 754. However,
this arrangement had never been finalized, and Abbas' son All
Mansur murdered Jafar and seized the Caliphate for himself,
founding the Abbasid Dynasty which based itself in Baghdad
until Baghdad was sacked by The Mongols in 1258.
The line of Muhammad (pbuh) died out in 873 when the last
Shia Imam Muhammad Al-Mhadi, and only son, disappeared
without a trace just a few days after inheriting the title
at age four. For centuries The Shia proclaimed that the child
was not dead, just "hidden" and would return when the time
was right. When it became clear this was not going to happen,
the spiritual power of The Shia was delegated to the "ulema"
or "Council of Twelve" who were given the task of electing
the supreme Imam. This has pretty much been the system ever since.

What's the difference now?

It works best if we think of the Shias as the Catholics and
the Sunnis as the Protestants.  Like the Catholics, the Shias'
supreme Imam is considered infallible and imbued with Pope-like
power. The religious hierarchy of the Shia is also quite similar
to The Catholic Church.

Sunnis on the other hand have no formal clergy, just scholars,
and jurists which offer their people non-binding opinions,
much like the many independent American Protestant churches.
Like the Catholic and Protestant faiths, there has been a lot
of bad blood between them, and nobody on either side
(who has the power to do so), has decided to let it go!
Both believe in the tenants of Islam and The Five Pillars
of Islam. Both believe in Allah as the supreme, one and
only god, yet they have displayed all the fear, loathing,
and intolerance as the Catholics, and The Protestants against
each other.

Both Shia, and Sunni are losing hundreds of members
a day to the more laidback Sufi Muslems, who believe in
brotherhood and charity, and show their love for Allah
with songs and dancing, not dressing up in explosive clothing,
and killing innocent people!

It really doesn't matter whether the reason is high
ideals, or lowly political ambition, killing yourself
to kill your enemy is stupid! Besides! Allah said to
knock it off down here! He's running out of virgins!