What Muslims believe
Sunni and Shia
The great division in Islam began with the question of who should lead after Muhammad. It shapes law, hadith and devotion to this day.
Origins
When Muhammad died in 632 the community chose Abu Bakr as caliph. A party (shi'a) held that the Prophet had designated his cousin and son-in-law Ali, citing the gathering at Ghadir Khumm. Ali became the fourth caliph in 656 amid civil war and was assassinated in 661. His son Husayn was killed at Karbala in 680.
Today
Most Muslims are Sunni; the Pew Research Center (2009) estimated Shia Muslims at 10-13 percent. Sunni law has four main schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali). Most Shia are Twelvers (majorities in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain), who await the return of the twelfth Imam; Ismailis and Zaydis are smaller branches. Ibadis form a distinct tradition, mainly in Oman.
Sources
- Earliest source Pew Research Center, Mapping the Global Muslim Population (October 2009).
- Wilferd Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad (Cambridge University Press, 1997).