There really is no difference outside outside of 3 things: One small difference in prayer, the Ahul'bayt as successors, and Ashura. That is it people! They are muslims, they pray 5 times a day, they use the SAME Qur'an, believe in the same God. They are not zealots, extremists, traitors, or anything of the like. I refuse to be one or the other. Why? Because it doesn't matter since they are BOTH ISLAM! Yes I am studying in the way of Shi'a Islam because that is what I choose but I am not going to run around going "I'm Shi'a, Sunnis suck". Oh hells no I'm not doing that! I will read Naghul Balagha and Muslim. Understanding both sects is NECESSARY to truly understanding Islam.
Ellen at Steadily Emerging with Grace also did a great question and answer post here
Hussanain Rajabali - Q&A on Achieving Shia Sunni Unity
Now you have tools, please use them.
Lets play nice. The rest of the world is already against the muslims, the muslims do not need to be against each other.
Peace Out Girl Scout.
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As Salaamu Alaikum,
ReplyDeleteHave you read any books about the difference between Shi'as and Sunnis? The differences are gigantic, to say the least.
We believe in the same Quran, but they then have a huge load of books full of extra rulings and ahadtih that we don't believe in.
The worst thing about Shi'as is that they believe the end justifies the means. In Iraq they have committed all types of horrendous crimes against the people (killing Sunni professors and doctors, death squads roaming the streets, bombing mosques, etc).
BTW, I'm Kurdish and the Shi'as believe that Kurds are visible Jinn. No marriage or trade is allowed between 'Muslims' and us. SubhanAllah.
LK some of your recent post have been talking about negative things in generalities. Is there something going on with you?
ReplyDeletebut anyway this topic is deeper than just a few differences. Like Ikram above mentioned there have been injustices done to each group that goes beyond the differences and now have become issues in their own right.
I have been Muslim for 3 years going on 4 now and I never went around calling people outside of Islam and neither have my friends so the only time I found out there were issues was when I went online.
To be honest with you it bothers me when we use labels as it takes away from our unity. When I am asked what am I I say I am a Muslim. when they want me to go further I keep repeating I am a Muslim. Aside from the label of a Muslim I don't want another.
I leave that judgment to Allah swt. Other than that I really can't say anything as this topic is in general.
What you are speaking of is cultural NOT Shi'a teachings. I have read many books, I have talked to many Shi'as and those are the main differences. Just as the Sunnis have hadiths from the Imams, so do the shi'a from the Ahul'bayt. And I feel that BOTH collection of hadiths are important and can teach us a lot. But the hadiths that matter most are those from the prophet. Are these particular people who caused harm wrong and should be punished? Definite YES. But don't blame all Shi'as for what one group does you know?
ReplyDeleteI am sorry that a particular group feels your people are bad because that obviously is not true. I understand this can create a sore spot and I hope that someday this group that is harming you realizes they are being fools. I asked about this a while ago ( I think I saw you ask about this topic before on another blog) and I know the Shi'as here don't believe that at all.
I hope only the best for you and that it gets better someday.
Tuttie: I agree, I don;t like the labels and I just want to be muslim in the end and I appologize for the negative recently. Didn't even realize that till you mentioned it. I went through a lot of Catholic bashing, I don't particularly want to go through the same thing again. And everything has just gotten substantially harder for various reasons to the point where I may just give up....sorry straw that broke the camels back when I read yet another negative thing about my choices.
this wasn't bashing at all. I was sharing my views on people bashing others for their differences or the labels they choose.
ReplyDeleteI was just wondering if there was something deeper going on since people don't just write stuff out of thin air. It usually has something to do with what is going on with them even if it is a at subconscious level. That is where I was going with my post.
About people bashing you for your choices, hun that will always happen. If you choose to dress scantily people will label you a slut, if you try to be modest they will label you a prude. If you think you could go the "middle ground" and be modest with a little bit of skin showing here and there you will still be bashed for not being fashionable enough or for wearing last seasons' items.
It comes with the territory hun. I hope you are feeling better and you keep searching for your inner peace. It will come inshaAllah. It is only a matter of time and your perseverance.
by the way I have been meaning to make a post about my experience once I became Muslim. Life did get easier for me and the Muslim sisters I met were wonderful and never made negative comments about my tight clothes. Alhamdulillah as I really had no money to replace them. They taught me by example and were super nice. Over all I love my community they have been very supportive of me and I love them very much.
ReplyDeleteAw Tuttie I didn't mean you were bashing anyone! No no, you gave a rather insightful comment.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your concern, yeah more is going on. I would love to hear how things changed for you. Isha'Allah I'm just having a rough patch and things will get better soon.
Ikram - generalising about Shias' "beliefs" in this way is just like when non-Muslims generalise about all Muslims based on the actions of a crazy few, and say things like "they believe all non-Muslims should be killed".
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to add that Shia's and Sunnis are NOT sects....rather different schools of thought. The groups that are called sects are the ones who have deviated from Islam. There is an excellent video on You tube that explains it very well...let me know if you want the link. Insha'Allah I'll send it to you.
ReplyDeleteWhat I've learned of this topic is that there are different methodologies for sifting through hadith, so that's one of the bigger differences. (There's also the sunnah and consensus part, but that stems from the hadith methodology.) There should still be mutual respect though, for any difference that doesn't put one outside the fold of Islam (and we shouldn't be judging that anyways.) At the end of the day, we say the same shahadah and affirm the same faith.
ReplyDelete:)
Zanjabil: Sorry for my incorrect word usage. I meant schools, but sometimes I forget and write things as they are in Christianity. Schools is a much better term. I would love that link please!
ReplyDeleteNoortheNinjabi: I agree :)