Sunni-Shia+Split

__The Split__
=== After Muhammad's death unexpectedly in 632, there were many wars over who would be the next caliph. This was caused After two oppossing sides formed the Sunni and Shia. The Shia supported Ali and his descendents as caliphs while the Sunni supported the election of a caliph by vote. They coud not agree who their Caliph should be. The Sunnis believed the Caliph should be a friend of Ali but the Shias believed that there was no friendship between the caliphs and Ali they thought he is family/blood-related. After that was said it caused a split between these two groups of Arabs. This can be compared to the scism in Christianity so one can understand this Arab conflict clearer. During the Post-Classical period Abu Bakr became Caliph(the emperor and religious leader).The conflict overall was that there was no clear line of succession which caused the 2 branches of Islam to form. === === However, no one should misunderstand the situation. This is fundamentally a struggle for political power and wealth. Because of cultural discontinuity, generation after generation, especially in the Arab world, have formed a vague understanding of hoe pre-islam tribal rivalry for fame and prestige has manifested itself into political struggles. This is not to ignore the differences between Shia and Sunni, which were happening during the Abbasid era, were also accompanied by competing views relative to family and personal affairs and the theory of government and justice. With few exceptions common among extremists, the schools within both Muslim sects agree on the pillars of Islam and the principles of worship. Misunderstandings had taken place and foreign concepts incorporated, but these misunderstanding have never reached a level of wholesale killings. Fanatical elements existed in the tenth and eleventh centuries and reappeared at the end of the nineteenth century. ===

====== === When Sunni and Shia or movements battle they are acting as political entities not pursuing old logical disputes. Mostly the one thing that both Shia and Sunni both completly agreed on was the 5 pillars of Islam and recognizing each other as Muslims. However, there are many differences between the two. The Sunni's thought that the Shia's took for granted the fundamentals or the ways of Islam. Also Shia's have a different way of praying and unlike the Sunni's they pray 3 times a day, instead of 5. ===