Shia Political Islam and Its Sunni Counterpart Essay

Shia Political Islam and Its Sunni Counterpart - Essay Example On the one hand, throughout the history writers of Shia and Sunni revealed different approaches to reading Quran and understanding what exactly a good society is. Even though both sects agree on three fundamental Islamic principles (monotheism, Day of Judgement, and parenthood), they use these prerequisites differently in explaining ordinary events that appeared after Mohammed’s life (Ameli and Malaei 32). As Ja’fari explains the term ‘Shi’a’, the essence of it refers to â€Å"followers, party, group, associates, partisans, or in rather looser sense, ‘supporters’† (6). In this situation, the word ‘mawla’ the Shia understand as leader and patron. Hence, the Shia believe that Imam Ali is a successor of Muhammed they should worship as an authority (Ameli and Malaei 23). On the contrary, the definition of ‘Sunna’ refers to nobility and high moral qualities (Ja’fari 9). For them, ‘mawla’ is a friend, or the nearest kin (Ja’fari 23). Thus, they think Muslims had selected the leader after Muhammed, Abu-Bakr, among themselves, which underlines his equal status with other Muslims. This preposition leads to higher level of tolerance and acknowledgement. For example, Sunni commentators of religious texts tend to include the wives of Prophet while referring to his relatives. In fact, this different attention to the details signalizes of different degree of patriarchy within families.In this situation, such generally unequal understanding of the balance of power should lead to contradiction between two branches.