Sunni and Shia?
Ever wondered what the difference between the two are? Don’t know what I am talking about? The Islamic world is divided into two major groups, the Sunni and the Shia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is Sunni, as are most American Muslims. Iran is mostly Shia, as is two thirds of Iraq. The other third of iraq is Sunni and non Muslim. (There are the non arab Muslims as well as well, who would probably balk at being thrown in with the arab Shia or Sunni, but this is about religion not race, not that they are independent.)
But so the difference is important in Iraq, since the two groups seem to spend a lot of time shooting at each other. In any case, the only reason I posted was just to say that Salam has been posting a little bit about the history of the Shia movement. It makes for an interesting read, and also helps explain what is going on in the upcoming Ashura festival. This is the big Shia holiday where they beat themselves bloody (hey, just like that movie that just came out!) on the tenth of every islamic year. Some interesting historical perspective and pictures too.
April 9th, 2004 at 05:34
You ever read up on the Ibadi? (http://www.uga.edu/islam/ibadis.html, if you haven’t.)