Current Events > Sunni/Shia: why does the difference matter?

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I read some of the wiki article and the split apparently stems from whether Muhammad named a successor or not? What is the significance of that? Apparently the majority are Sunni and don't think Muhammad named a successor?

I am guessing Shia Muslims are more conservative?

Seems complex...but my first thought is
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This is far better answered by continuing to read elsewhere.
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I don't see how it matters at all as all religions are false.
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An eternity in hell for getting it wrong raises the stakes a bit.

Look at how many denominations of Christianity there are, most of which are claiming to be the "right" one.
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Lord_Shadow posted...

I don't see how it matters at all as all religions are false.

buddhism is fine

Shia Labeouf.
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Tldr neither believe Muhammad named a successor it's just an issue with who gets to be the successor.

The Shia believe you had to be descended from Muhammad and the Sunni do not.

The Sunni have traditionally been on the winning side of that argument.

Although it's kind of fucked since Islam itself doesn't really permit the idea of a schism so really you have Muslims and non Muslims and only people belonging to your specific group are Muslims and everyone else (be they Sunnis, Wahhabis, NOI, etc) are non Muslims.

Western / westernized Muslims tend to be less uptight about this than the Orthodox middle East theocracies. Sunnis and Shia get along here just fine.
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Catholic/Protestant: Why does the difference matter?

Also
Lord_Shadow posted...

I don't see how it matters at all as all religions are false.

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Christians believe that we got a Messiah, Jews believes he was not Messiah, why does the difference matter?
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Philosophically? It's what successor's teachings should be held as doctrine.

Practically? It's a dispute between two factions with slightly different interpretations of an ancient doctrine, which has the potential to shift the power structure between said factions.

That being said, it's really no different than Christianity, so it shouldn't see too foreign. In fact, it almost perfectly mirrors the schism between Orthodox and Catholic Christians, who disputed Paul's successor(s) (with the former seeing it as an even split between the five Patriarchs, and the latter thinking that the Pope in Rome should rule over the others) and as far as I can understand, Shia and Sunni have a lot more in common than Catholicism and Protestantism.

Lord_Shadow posted...

I don't see how it matters at all as all religions are false.

It doesn't matter if they are true or false, as long as people believe in them they are important to study and understand. Whether you believe in them or not does not effect whether a faction half way across the world will or will not slaughter a few thousand people in the name of their interpretation.

Zikten posted...

buddhism is fine

Buddhism is just as theistic, and actually has some pretty nasty beliefs in it, as well, so I'm not sure why you'd pretend it's completely different. Not that it's 'wrong' or anything like that, but it's not exactly blameless.

Dash_Harber posted...

and as far as I can understand, Shia and Sunni have a lot more in common than Catholicism and Protestantism.

That's kind of his point, they have so much more in common why bother. Religion tends to do that. A better example would be the Christianity miaphysitism/diyophysitism.
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ChainedRedone posted...

Dash_Harber posted...

and as far as I can understand, Shia and Sunni have a lot more in common than Catholicism and Protestantism.

That's kind of his point, they have so much more in common why bother. Religion tends to do that. A better example would be the Christianity miaphysitism/diyophysitism.

Because it's generally not the everyday guy that is taking advantage of these differences. The people starting the wars aren't generally the everyday people, but they are using these sorts of minor differences to so discord and expand their powerbase.