![]() ![]() While Shia and Sunnis differ on the nature of the Mahdi, many members of both groups believe that the Mahdi will appear at the end of the world to bring about a perfect and just Islamic society. The Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam. Distribution of Sunni, Shia and Ibadi branches Islamįurther information: Rafidah, Succession to Muhammad, and Twelvers Mahdi Scholar Vali Nasr argues that numbers/percentages of how many Sunni and Shia there are, are not exact because "in much of the Middle East it is not convenient" to have exact numbers, "for ruling regimes in particular". India has as many Shia ("potentially") as there are in Iraq. Around 10% of Afghanistan, less than 5% of the Muslims in Nigeria, and around 5% of population of Tajikistan are Shia. The Shia constitute around 20% of Kuwait, 45% of the Muslim population in Lebanon, 10% of Saudi Arabia, 12% of Syria (mostly of the Alawite sect), and 10% of Pakistan. About 10% of Turkey's population belong to the Alevi sect of Shi'i Islam. Sources put the numbers of Shia in Yemen at 25–30%. Shia communities are also found in Yemen where a large minority of the population are Shia (mostly of the Zaidi sect), according to the UNHCR. They are also a majority in Azerbaijan (around 65%), Iraq (around 55%) and Bahrain (around 60% of the citizens, excluding expatriates). ![]() In Iran - a Shia country since the 16th century - Shia make up the majority (around 90%). In Shi'i Islam itself, about 85% are Twelver, and in Twelver Shia the overwhelming majority are of the Usuli school. Shia Muslims make up approximately 10% of the Muslim population. Sunni Muslims are the vast majority of Muslims in most Muslim communities in Central Asia (including China), Europe (including Russia and the Balkans), South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, Arab World, Turkey and among Muslims in the United States. Tensions between communities have intensified during power struggles, such as the Bahraini uprising, the Iraqi Civil War, the Syrian Civil War, as well as the War in Iraq (2013–2017), during which the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and Syria launched a persecution of Shia. Sectarian violence persists to this day from Pakistan to Yemen and is a major element of friction throughout the Middle East and South Asia. In recent years, Sunni–Shia relations have been increasingly marked by conflict, particularly the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict. Although all Muslim groups consider the Quran to be divine, Sunni and Shia have different opinions on hadith. Today, there are differences in religious practice, traditions, and customs, often related to jurisprudence. ![]() Shia make up the majority of the citizen population in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan, as well as being a minority in Pakistan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Chad and Kuwait. Sunnis are a majority in almost all Muslim communities around the world. The present demographic breakdown between the two denominations is difficult to assess and varies by source, with most approximations stating that roughly 90% of the world's Muslims are Sunni and 10% are Shia with about 85% of Shias belonging to the Twelver tradition, and the rest divided between other small groups. This is known today as the Islamic schism. Sectarianism based on this historic dispute intensified greatly after the Battle of Karbala, in which Husayn ibn Ali and some of his close partisans, including members and children of the household of prophet (Ahl al bayt), were killed by the ruling Umayyad Caliph Yazid I, and the outcry for revenge divided the early Islamic community, albeit disproportionately, into two groups, the Sunni and the Shia. This dispute spread across various parts of the Muslim world, which eventually led to the Battle of Jamal and Battle of Siffin. After the death of Muhammad in 632, a group of Muslims, who would come to be known as the Sunnis, believed that Muhammad's successor as caliph of the Islamic community should be Abu Bakr, whereas a second group of Muslims, who would come to be known as the Shias, believed that his successor should have been Ali. ![]()
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