Sunni and Shi'a Beliefs

One religion, two traditions

Islam has two main traditions, **Sunni** and **Shi'a**. Muslims worldwide are mostly Sunni, though Shi'a Muslims form the majority in some countries. **They share the great majority of belief and practice.** Both hold that there is one God, that the Qur'an is the word of God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, and that there will be a Day of Judgement. **The division arose over a question**: who should lead the community after the Prophet Muhammad's death. One answer was that leadership should pass to a successor chosen by the community; the other was that it should pass through the Prophet's family, beginning with Ali. This module names that question and the two answers, and does not go further into it. ⚠️ **How this module is written.** Beliefs are always attributed - "Sunni Muslims hold that", "Shi'a Muslims hold that" - and **neither tradition is presented as a version of the other**. The exam asks you to explain both accurately, never to say which is right.

The six articles of faith

Sunni Muslims express the core of belief as six articles of faith. Several have a module of their own on this course, so here you need the list and what each one names.

Match each article to what it means

Six articles, five roots

These are not two versions of one list. They are differently framed, which is why comparing them item by item goes wrong.

What is distinctive to the Shi'a roots?

Which belief appears in the Shi'a five roots of religion and not as a separate item in the Sunni six articles?

• Imamah, the imamate: Shi'a Muslims hold that leadership after the Prophet Muhammad passed through his family to a line of imams who are authoritative guides
• Tawhid
• Belief in a Day of Judgement
• Belief in prophethood

What both traditions hold

Select the TWO beliefs held by both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims.

• That God is one, which both traditions place first in their statement of belief
• That there will be a Day of Judgement, called Akhirah in one list and Mi'ad in the other
• That leadership passed to a line of twelve imams
• Very little; the two traditions differ on most points of belief

Start with the shared ground

The commonest error in this topic is inferring that a belief missing from one list is a belief that tradition does not hold. **It usually is not.** **The lists are differently framed.** The Sunni six are **articles of faith**. The Shi'a five are the **roots of religion**, with practice covered separately under the branches. A list is a way of organising belief, not an inventory of everything believed. **Two examples that make the point:** - **Angels** are a separate Sunni article. Shi'a Muslims believe in angels too; the belief simply is not one of the five roots. - **Adalat, the justice of God**, is a separate Shi'a root. Sunni Muslims affirm that God is just; it is not listed as a separate article. **So when you write about differences, be precise about what kind of difference you mean.** A difference in how belief is organised is not the same as a difference in what is believed, and the strongest answers say which one they are describing.

Match each root to what it means

Beliefs and teachings

Sunni Muslims express the core of belief as the _____ articles of faith, while Shi'a Muslims express it as the _____ roots of religion. Both lists begin with _____, the oneness of God. The Shi'a roots include _____, the justice of God, and _____, the leadership of the imams, as items in their own right. The Sunni articles include belief in angels, in the holy books and in _____, God's decree.

The imamate

Which statement most accurately describes the Shi'a belief in Imamah?

• That leadership after the Prophet Muhammad passed through his family, beginning with Ali, to a line of imams regarded as divinely appointed and authoritative guides
• That the imams were prophets who received new revelation
• That each imam was elected by the whole community
• That Sunni Muslims hold the same belief under a different name

Similarities and differences, answered

**"Explain two similarities and two differences between Sunni and Shi'a beliefs. (8 marks)"** "**A first similarity is Tawhid.** Both traditions place the oneness of God first in their statement of belief: it is the first of the six articles of faith and the first of the five roots of religion. **A second is belief in a Day of Judgement.** Sunni Muslims name it Akhirah and Shi'a Muslims name it Mi'ad, but the belief that God will judge and that there is life after death is held by both. **A first difference is Imamah.** Shi'a Muslims hold that leadership after the Prophet Muhammad passed through his family, beginning with Ali, to a line of imams who are authoritative guides. This is a root of religion in the Shi'a list and has no equivalent in the Sunni articles. **A second difference is how the lists are organised.** Adalat, the justice of God, is a separate Shi'a root, while Sunni Muslims affirm that God is just without listing it separately; and angels and the holy books are separate Sunni articles, while Shi'a Muslims hold both beliefs without their being roots. **This is a difference in how belief is set out rather than in what is believed." **Two things that answer does.** Every claim is **attributed to a tradition** rather than stated as fact. And the second difference **says what KIND of difference it is** - which is the distinction that separates a top answer from one that lists items and leaves the reader to infer disagreement that is not there.

Spot the misrepresentation

A student's draft. Tap the TWO statements that misrepresent a tradition and would lose marks for accuracy.

• Both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims hold that God is one and that the Qur'an is the word of God.
• Shi'a Muslims do not believe in angels, because angels are not one of the five roots
• Shi'a Muslims hold that leadership passed to a line of imams.
• Sunni Islam is the proper form of the religion and Shi'a Islam is a later variation of it
• The two traditions share the great majority of belief and practice.

Write an attributed statement

Build a sentence that states a belief the way an examiner wants it stated.

Writing about a religion

You are answering an exam question on beliefs within a religion. Work through how to write it well.

• You are describing a belief you do not personally hold. How should you write it?
• You notice a belief is in one tradition's list but not the other's. What can you safely conclude?
• The question asks for differences. Should you mention similarities at all?

Your turn: compare the two

Explain the beliefs of Sunni and Shi'a Muslims, and how the two are related.

• List the six articles of faith and the five roots of religion, giving the meaning of each item briefly
• Explain two beliefs the two traditions share, naming what each tradition calls it
• Explain the belief in Imamah accurately, attributing it to the tradition that holds it
• Explain the difference between a difference in what is BELIEVED and a difference in how belief is ORGANISED, using one example of each