The Muslims were divided into two sections known as the Sunnis and the Shi'as. The cause of this split is due to their different views about the Umayyads' rules. The separation became official after the death of Prophet Muhammad.
The Sunnis are considered the 'orthodox' group of the Islam religion. They practice similar traditions that Mohammad and his followers introduced and believe that future Muslim leaders should follow the Sunna, which was Muhammad's example. The Sunnis follow a tradition that supports an Islamic law of code, which shows an example of how they are historical and cultural people.
However, the Shia are slightly different from the Sunnis seeing as they follow the traditions of Mohammad’s son-in-law named Ali and believed that he should rule the Islamic culture. The Shia also strongly support the idea that Muslim leaders should be descendants of Muhammad. They don't believe in following the Sunna, unlike the Sunni's. The two Muslim groups blame each other for distorting the meaning of passages in the Qur'an.
The Shia are mainly located in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan while the Sunnis make up most of the population of over 40 countries stretching from Morocco to Indonesia.
The Sunnis and Shia still practice the same religion however there are certain aspects that still remain different due to their contrasting views and opinions about the Islamic culture. By Tobi Ogunmola
Works Cited: "Sunnis and Shia: Islam's Ancient Schism." BBC News. BBC, 20 June 2014. Web. 26 Feb. 2015. "The Sunni-Shia Divide." Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.
The map shows the percentage of Sunnis and Shi'as in each region after the schism.
Graph comparing percentage of Sunni to Shi'a Muslims around the world