What Is The Difference...

RE: What Is The Difference...

Hi,

When our prophet peace be upon him was alive he had four followers or helpers known as the four rightlyfully guided caliphs, after his death they took on a role as leaders of islam and their descendants also took on a role of responsibility. for example in ruling, study etc etc.

Sunni Muslims accept that all of those four and their descendants were of respect and these people ruled in the Arabic world until the end of the ottoman empire.

The Shi-ites believe that only the descendants of the fourth caliph, Ali are the legitimate successors of prophet mohamed.

the caliphate for the sunni world ended after world war one i think and this caused some troubles..after that those muslims based their methods of leadership on Westren styles..many aspects of which were influenced by islam in any case.

However, the change caused troubles, some of which were practical in managing the political issues there at the time, others in that certain people felt insulted or annoyed and defensive over the changes..some still do to this day...for example Osama Bin laden.

The Shi-ites continue to this day to have interet or acceptance of Iatollahs..although this may be ok in some respects it also goes in many of our opinions against the fundimental teachings of islam.

For example, one cannot be proud of one's birth, no human inherits and spiritual authority or favours because of who their parents are..it is down to how the individual lives thier life.

Also, Islam favours democracy and dislikes dictatorships and fundementalism so one wonders what some people think they are doing lately...but there you go..another debate altogether.

practical difference i think include that their prayers are slightly different, i have a feelign their call to prayer may be different and also some of the days that they remember or celebrate.

They go to a different mosque, but ultimately they are muslims, they believe in Allah and his prophets..just the story changed a little on the way somewhere amoungst us all.

hal

RE: What Is The Difference...

Thanks, Hal. I am glad that you cleared that one up for me. You see, when I was in Egypt, I was surprised that there was no fundamentalism or oppression being played out, even though it is a predominantly Muslim country. I later discovered that it is the Sunni branch of Islam that people follow. What you have said about the Sunnis makes a lot of sense as to how people behave in Egypt. The call to prayers is a lot more rhythmical and in keeping with the 'song' of the universe.

Thank you for that. I don't know if I could live a life in Egypt, but I'd certainly be willing to give it a try!

Love,
Patsy.
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RE: What Is The Difference...

Hi,

You see, when I was in Egypt, I was surprised that there was no fundamentalism or oppression being played out, even though it is a predominantly Muslim country.

Nope, they do not have fundamentalism there on a large scale, for example the goverment do not tend to interfere in the usual freedoms of the people living there.

Muslim does not equal fundamentalism and fundamentalism is actually not the normal for most individual people, some people have the misfortune to live in such societies, many do not.

Shi-ite muslim as far as I believe does not equal fundamentalism any more than Sunni islam, a lot of people have come to think the Shi-tes are the fundamentalists because of Iatollah khomeni in iran..but look at how shi-tes were treated in iraq and other places too.

Islam is not about oppresion, islam does not require for men and women to be oppressed, it is a religion of humans rights and is supposed to uphold the rights especially of weaker members of society.

As muslims we do not feel opprsessed, sadly though there are oppressors in the world.

When you wne to Egypt you may not have been aware of some of the things that are not so nice there...it is a good country and all countries have their downsides i suppose, but there have been and still are issues there, women's concerns for example. Women of the "lower classes," and probably more affected..for example there is still a practice in some communities of female circumcision. There are other things you would not like that are carrying on..though i believe they are against the law..not 100% sure about that.

That doesn't make it a bad country and the bad tings are not really down to Islam..that is an excuse,

hal

RE: What Is The Difference...

Hello Hal,

Well, the fact that Islam is not a religion populated by bug-eyed relgious fundamentalists was brought home to me during my stay. It is a religion of tolerance and humanity, nothing like what we have been used to seeing on telly and in the newspapers. The culture of gender separation was evident though, and I didn't see very many women, especially during the day. It appears that men go out and earn the money, although I did see one woman minding a market stall, and some young women were queuing up to use the swimming pool in Aswan. Christians and Muslims rub along pretty well in Egypt, and it is that willingness to get along with each other that is going to bring Egypt into the forefront of making the rest of the world see how things can be done in the middle east. There are poor people, but poverty is almost non-existent. From what I saw of it, Egypt is an emerging first-world country.

Yes, I had heard of female mutilation but thankfully I didn't see any of it. We women were treated with kindness and courtesy by everyone.

Love,
Patsy.
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