Sunnie And Shia And Their Origins In Iraq

Sunni and Shia are the two largest branches of Islam. Both branches are based on the teachings of the Quran and the message of the Islamic prophet  Muhammad.
Sunni is the largest one. The word Sunnicomes from the Arabic term Sunnah (that means habit or usual practice), which refers to the sayings and actions of the prophet Muhammad as recorded in Hadiths. Estimates of the world Sunni populationby the majority of statistical counts put the portion of Sunni adherent between 85 and 90 percent. Sunnis believe that companions of the Prophet Muhammad were the best of the Muslims, and that one ofthe companions should be appointed as a Caliph, since the companions follow the same path as the prophet. Sunnis also believe that the companions were true believers since it was the companions whowere given the task of compiling the Quran. Furthermore, narrations that were narrated by the companions are considered by Sunnis to be a primary source of the Muslim faith.
Shia is the second largestdenomination of Islam, and its adherents are called Shi´ites or Shias. The Shi´ites represent about 10 percent of the total Islamic population in the world. The word Shia means in English party offaction, referred to the faction that supported Prophet Muhammad´s son-in-law Iman Ali. In contrast to the Sunnies, Shi´ites believe that only God has the right to choose a representative to safeguardIslam, the Quran and the sharia, considering Ali divinely appointed, as the rightful successor to Prophet Muhammad, and the first caliph. The Shia extended this belief of being divinely appointed toProphet Muhhamad´s family in general.
As we see, the main difference between these two branches is the disagreement over rules for the succession of Muhammad. After the Prophet´s death there was adebate on who should be the next Caliph. The sunnies wanted that the successor would be someone who follows the same path as the prophet and that should be elected by people. From the other side, the...