Introduction
Islam is a religion of Muslims promulgated in Arabia by the prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) in the seventh century C.E. A person can convert Islam by saying Shahada – There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger. These words contain the core meaning of Islam. Islam was born through properthood of Muhammad (S.A.W.) and the Holy Quran is the book of Islam. The Quran contains 114 chapters and it was built up with the revealing of Muhammad (S.A.W.). Islam can be divided into three periods: the time before Islam – “The Time of Ingratitude” or “al-jahiliah” when people didn’t know God and created idols to worship; the period of Muhammad’s life and the time after the death of Muhammad (S.A.W.) when the sects and laws developed without the governance of the messenger (be peace upon him).
This essay will analyze the third period, the period after the death of the messenger when the governance was in the hands of caliphs however the most important fact of this period is that the Prophet didn’t assign anyone after him as he was ordered to do so by Allah. The Prophet didn’t have any sons, they died, and if he had even one it would have been easier to choose the first caliph. He had nine more wives after the death of his first wife Khadija who had given birth to two sons. However they didn’t have become pregnant. Most of his marriages after Khadija were political and diplomatic alliances (Hazleton. P.14).
Allah knows best the reason of this decision since this decision made remarkable changes in Islamic world and created mainly two sects: Sunni and Shia. As a result the aim of the essay is to understand the origins and believes of Shia and Sunni compare and contrast the arguments and learn the reasons they split, explain the concept of seven or twelve Imams.
Most of Muslims are in Sunni sect while only 10% of Muslims follow Shia. Shia mostly widely spread in Iraq, Iran, Labanon, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and Syria (pewresearch.org/religion). However Shia is divided into several groups itself. The two main branches of Shia Muslims are divided according to whether they accept seven or twelve Imams: Seveners and Twelvers (Blanchard. P.5).
Seveners are a group which followed Ismail as the seventh Imam, another name Seveners is Ismailis (Blanchard. P.5). Both groups believe in Mahdi, the Imam of the last time. They refuse the death of Ismaili and suggest that he was hidden to come back at the end time as the Mahdi. Moreover Sunnis also believe in the Hidden Imam as Muslims believe that Allah will not leave them without guidance. Shias call their mujtahids and leaders Ayatollah – shadow of Allah.
