In Islam, what's the significant differences between Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds?
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After the death of Mohammed, the Muslims divided over who should take the leadership. No specific rules or path for the succession of power had been laid down; and it is possible that Mohammed never envisioned a time when he would not personally be in charge.\n\nThe dominant Sunnis believed that the IMAM (leadership)should be given to one who was elected by the faithful. (This may be the cause of some of the anti-democratic resentment on the part of the Shiites.)\n\nThe Shiites on the other hand, believed that there should be a positive and automatic-- meaning hereditary-- means of succession; and that it should go to Ali, the husband of Mohammed's daughter Fatima. \n\nThe Kurds are an ethnic group, some of whom are found in found in Iraq and others in Iran. Saddam Hussein apparently wanted to eliminate them because, as a separate ethnic group, they could maintain their identity and he wanted no identity but that of Iraqis and Muslims.
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There is really no main difference between a sunni and a shiite. A sunni just believes differently about the caliphs (religious leaders after Muhamed's pbuh death) saying that Ali (RA) was the first while a shiite believes Abu Bakr (RA) was the first. There are other differences too, but they are minor and thus there is not a main difference. personally, i'm a sunni and for me all that matters is that a shiite is still a muslim ............. we do follow the same book after all \n\nas for the fights and wars among each other ......... poki answered correctly - damn politics\n\nEDIT: i'll just add that Abu Bakr (RA) was related to our prophet (pbuh) by blood, whille Ali (RA) was not ............ shiite believe caliphs whould descend from blood line, sunni don't think it matters really
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(1) The most basic belief that differs is Jesus is the Son of God.\nMuslims believe that Jesus (Peace be Upon Him) is a messenger of God.\n(2) There is no concept of trinity in Islam. There is only one God.\n\nThe basic thing is "Both religion come from the same source, brought by two different prophets elected by the same God, to deliver the same message in different time periods. Both promise peace and enlightenment."\n\nAnd just so u know, Islam is not Anti-Women, Women have same rights as Men . And there is NO CRAP in Islam.\n\nhttp://www.irf.net/irf/videogallery/middle/videogallery.htm
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Their are two main group of islam 'Sena' and 'Shiit'\nthe sena are in all the world but the Shiit are only in Iran and a few amounts in some other countries.\nIn shiit group their are a different level (as university) the top level is ayatollah,\nthe imam is only the leader of the pray in the mosque, it's the same for shiit and sena.\ntheir are other group but not so big as ebadeyah, zaydeyah,....
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OK I'll bite!! if you can see it is very much visually,and self explanatory.one is spelled SUNNI and the other is SHIITE HeHeHe!!!!!! SORRY I COULD NOT PASS IT UP JUST KIDDING.
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Islam does not have nearly as many sects and divisions as does Christianity, but there are a few and it is worth knowing something about them. The two biggest are the Sunnis and the Shi'ites, with the Sunnis being the largest of all and representing the vast majority of Muslims. Shi'ites are a minority everywhere except Iran. \n\nAfter them, the two most influential sects are the Sufis and the Wahhabis. The Sufis represent a mystical tradition in Islam, whereas the Wahhabis are a strict traditionalist tradition which is dominant on the Arabian peninsula, but has little support elsewhere. \n\nUnlike churches, mosques are not denominational. Despite the differences among Muslims, traditional Friday prayer services are largely similar and Muslims of any background are welcome to attend services at any mosque. \n\nWho are the Sunnis?\nSunnis are Muslims who are considered the more "orthodox" believers. Sunnis follow all of the most traditional beliefs and actions. \n\nWho are the Shi'ites?\nThe term Shi'a is a shortened form of Shi'at Ali, which means "the party of Ali" - and at the time of Ali's death in 661, that is probably all it was: a party or tendency of people who supported Ali's claims to the caliphate. Over time, they became the largest non-Sunni sect in Islam. \n\nWho are the Sufis?\nSufism is important to the development of Islam because it is in this tradition that the more spiritual and mystical aspects were preserved. This stands in contrast to the mainstream of Islam which, through its first centuries, was more concerned with the expansion and organization of the general community. \n\nWho are the Kahrijites?\nIn Arabic, their label means "to go out" - they were, in effect, the first Mulism dissidents and rebels, being present almost from the dawn of Islam. Like later dissidents, they chose to separate themselves from the main body of believers, feeling that the majority of Muslims had lost the "true path." \n\nWho are the Wahhabis?\nMuhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab could be considered the first modern Islamic fundamentalist. He made the central point of his reform movement the idea that absolutely every idea added to Islam after the third century of the Mulsim era was false and should be eliminated. \n\nWho are the Ismailis?\nAn early Shi'a sect which split from the main group because of a dispute over who should be considered the next Imam. \n\nWho are the Zaidis?\nFormed by Zaid, a grandson of Husain, the Zaidis have believed that the true Imam must publicly assert his claim to the title and seek to overthrow the corrupt regime run by unacceptable rulers. \n\nWho are the Fatimids?\nThe Fatimids are a successor movement to the Isma'ilis and are descendants of Fatima and Ali through the line of Isma'il. In the tenth century, those descendants asserted themselves as caliphs in North Africa, and ruled Egypt from 969 to 1171. \n\nWho are the Nizari?\nThis sect is actually very well known around the world, but under a different name: the Assassins. \n\nWho are the Alawis?\nAlso known as Nusayris, the Alawis are a branch of Isma'ilism which has gone so far along its own path that many Muslims no longer even regard it as a form of Islam. The term Alawis actually just means "followers of Ali," which is used in some countries to refer to all Shi'a in general. Some think that they worship Ali as God, but that isn't entirely accurate. \n\nWho are the Druze?\nThe Druze comprise another sect which is not widely regarded as being "truly" Muslim. This group diverged from mainstream Islam in the eleventh century when some Isma'ilis started to believe that God became manifest in the personality of a prophet or imam. \n\nWho are the Baha'i?\nBaha'i is another movement which is descended from Islam, but which most Muslims today no longer regard as authentically Islamic. \n\nMost of these are Arab Muslims.. The Kurds
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they dont....because sunnis dont take the shia hadiths....but  its really strange.....that when shia and sunni compromise,, the shia try to persuade  sunnies from their books (EG: muslim and Bukhari).....yet they are still stubborn. and dont want to beleive shias...ans how the sunnis try to interpret according to how they want it....they dont intrepret the whole thing.
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Sunni and Shiite muslims disagree over who was the caliph. The shiite believe that the grandsons of Mohammed should have been the caliph (leader of the Islamic ummah.) The Sunnah believe in a different line, led off by a friend of Mohammed Abu Bakr.\n\nThere are other subtle differences - such as the rites and celebrations. Shia tend to focus on the martyrdom of the grandsons at Karbala, and as such have a devotion for saints that is not entirely unlike the Catholics. Shia each are expected to devote themselves to an Imam (also almost the way a Catholic is under a bishop.)\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia
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The major split in Islam is that between the majority Sunnis and the minority Shiites.  The split goes back to events in the 7th century:\n\nAfter Mohammed’s death,  leadership of the Islamic community passed to Abu Bakr, one of Mohammed’s closest companions.  Some in the community felt that this succession was not legitimate, and that the title of caliph really belonged to Ali.  Ali’s claim was supported by the fact that he was Mohammed’s cousin, his adopted son, his first convert (at the age of nine), and husband of his daughter Fatima.  Both sides believe that Mohammed specifically designated their man:  Supporters of Abu became the Sunnis, those of Ali the Shiites.\n\nThe  Caliphate passed from Abu Bakr to Umar, and from Umar to Ulthman.  Ulthman at last passed the torch to Ali.  When Ali was murdered in 661, the Caliphate passed to Muawiya, who would found the famous Umayyid Caliphate.  Ali was buried in Najaf in what is now Iraq, and the site remains a major Shiite holy site. \n\nSunni refers to the sunnas, or oral traditions and interpretations of the Koran -- a body of work similar to the Jewish Talmud.  Sunnis believe that the position of Caliph should be a position to which one is elected by the religious leaders of the Islamic community, and not dependent on direct lineage from Mohammed.\n\nShiite comes from the word shia, which means “the party (of Ali).  They are mostly found in Iran and Iraq, and among the Palestinians.  They consider certain direct descendants of Ali -- the Imams -- infallible and the true inheritors of Mohammed.  Ali was the first Imam, his son Hassan the second, his second son Hussein the third.   Ali’s sons were killed in the conflict with Caliph Muawiya.  However, their succession ended with the 12th Imam, who went into hiding in 940.  Most Shiites believe that the 12th Imam will reemerge someday as the Mahdi or Messiah, and reassert his leadership of the Islamic world.  In the meantime, ayatollahs are elected to serve as caretakers of the faith.
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the shiite muslimsbelieve that the leader of the faith have been ordained by allah and decendent from the prophet mohhamed-it is like our monarchy.\n\nthe sunni orthodox muslims believe that the leader is irrelevent to his birth-and this is where the two groups anger originates from.\n\nit all stems from the medieval times, and within the crusades the sunni and fatimid muslims would rather side with the westerners than unite, due to this dissagreement and border disputes.
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It´s the Kurds. There are Kurds in Turkey, Armenia, Iran, Iraq and Syria. \nI don´t know much about the situation in the other countries - but in Turkey, they don´t have many national rights (e.g. they have to speak Turkish at schools) - that´s why they make bombings (especially in tourist resorts) from time to time. \nAt least in Iraq, there are Kurdish representatives in the new government.
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Its the same race...there are Kurds in Turkey also...but their nationality is different so they speak the same language and have the same traditions ... They have been trying to separate from both and make their own country for many many years now but it never happened
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:}\nTheir politics government and Laws are all driven by their religion.\nTheir religions differ in their belief of how a leader should be chosen.\nSunni’s believe that the leader must be of the tribe of Mohammad where as Shiite’s believe he must be of the family of Mohammad. This single difference has created great power struggles... Remember the Iranian -Iraq war\nIslam is a religion of world domination for Islam, Each feel that it is their version of Islam that should dominate.
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Not much.\n\nIt's a country that is quite religious.  It was in a war against Iraq in which the US propped up the Iraqi side so now has some legitimate gripes against the US.\n\nThe people are no doubt like people all over the world.  Some good some bad but generally want the same opportunities as anyone else and just want to live in peace and harmony.
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He probably considers himself a descendant of Ali since he is the head of a theocratic Islamic state.  As such, what he says goes.  I believe it's a major difference between Shi'i and Sunni Islam, with the Sunni being less apt to allow their political leaders to determine their mode of expressing their faith.  Islam is a religion of orthopraxy and not orthodoxy.  In such religions, one places more weight on what they do everyday than they do in other religions.  Leaders are expected to perscribe what rules of behavior are to be followed by the people of their countries.
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The Origins of the Sunni/Shia split in Islam\nby Hussein Abdulwaheed Amin, Editor of IslamForToday.com\n\nIntroduction\nThe Shia shahadah (declaration of faith) states:\n\n"There is no god but Alláh, Muhammad is the Messenger of Alláh, Alí is the Friend of Alláh. The Successor of the Messenger of Alláh And his first Caliph."\n\nIf you are already familiar with standard Sunni beliefs, you will immediately notice the addition to the shahadah regarding Imam Ali (ra), cousin of the Prophet (pbuh), husband of his daughter Fatima, father of Hassan and Hussein and the second person ever to embrace Islam. The term Shia or Shi'ite derives from a shortening of Shiat Ali or partisans of Ali.
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Go to \nhttp://www.sistani.org\nhttp://www.al-islam.org\nhttp://www.al-shia.org\nhttp://www.shialink.org\nhttp://www.qoitrat.org\n\nfor more information.