I found a great, simple description that synthesizes what Amir and I said last night in our lecture:
"Schisms appeared in Islam shortly after Muhammad's death. His followers elected a successor (Arabic Khalifa or Caliph), but violent factional disputes soon arose between them. The fourth Caliph, the Prophet's son-in-law Ali, was forced to abdicate and later murdered. This gave rise to the principal division within Islam--the majority of Sunnis, who accepts the orthodox Caliphs, and the minority of Shias, who believe that Ali was the true successor to Muhammad. Iran today is the principal Muslim country in which Shia Islam is the religion of the state."
(from Peter Mansfield, "the Ottoman Empire and Its Successors")
Hope this helps.
-KK
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2 comments:
Hey, that's cool. And is this participating in the blog? How do I post a blog?! Where is the blog? Is this the blog?
This blog posting is not for comment. But this is the blog for the class.
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