ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Shi'ite Encyclopedia (chapter 9) Introduction There is no difference of opinion amongst Muslim schools that the religion of Allah is Islam; that the only way to know Islam is through the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet; and that the Book of Allah is what is known as the Quran, without any "addition" or "deletion".

The difference is in the interpretation of some of the verses of the Quran; and in believing or not beliving some of the sunnah as genuine; or in its interpretation. This difference of approach has led towards the difference in some basic principles and some laws of religion. As the basic principles of Islam are well known, I do not think it is necessary to enumerate all the beliefs.

It will be sufficient if some of the important differences are described here to give the readers a fairly comprehensive idea of the main characteristics which distinguish the Shiats from the Sunnis. All the Muslims argee that Allah is one, Muhammad (PBUH&HF) is His last prophet, and that one day Allah will resurrect all the human beings, and all will be questioned about their beliefs and actions.

All of them agree that anyone who does not believe in any of the above three basic principles is not a Muslim. Also, they agree that anybody denying the famous tenets of Islam, like salat (prayers), sawm (fasting), hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), zakat (religious tax), etc., or believing that the famous sins, like drinkig wine, adultery, stealing, gambling, lie, murder, etc., are not sins, is not a Muslim, though he might have been believing in Allah and His (PBUH&HF).

That is because to deny such things is like to deny the prophethood of Muhammad and his shariah (Divine Laws). When we go further, we come across those subjects which are not agreed amongst Muslims, and the differences between different schools of Islam begin there. Many people think that the difference between Shia and Sunni is the issue of leadership after the death of prophet. This is true, but as a matter of fact, different leaders instruct different ways of approach to each issue.

This may result to more differences as the the time goes. I try to briefly explain these basic differences here. Person Of God Some Sunni scholars hold beliefs which would imply that Allah has body, but not like the bodies that we know, of course.