The Difference Between Sunni & Shia (For Teenagers) Q&A

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Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatu. What hamdulillah Al Hamdulillah. We praise Allah subhana wa Taala the one and the unique, we worship Him alone and it is his aid that we seek. He is the Lord of the oppressed and he answers the door of the week. Brothers and sisters today inshallah Allah we have one question that I have been asked by many, many people, but I'm answering it today. And I will actually choose a particular question or that came with this specific question. Brother Sajid from Australia emails. And Michelle is about her colleagues in high school. He's a teenager, and he's learning about Islam and he says that he has come across the fact that there are two different

mustards in his locality. One of them is a Sunni Masjid one is a she says you the Shiite masjid. And he says that this has now caused him confusion, because he felt that Islam was for unity that all of the Muslims are one. But he is aware of the fact that even in his own hometown, somewhere in Australia, that there are different misogyny, and he's now asking that well, how do we understand this? And also, he asks me to explain what is the difference between these two groups and what should we do about it? Now, obviously, this is a very, very difficult question. And to my dear brothers, Sajid, I will say that the answer is actually quite complicated, but I will try to address

this question in a manner that is satisfactory to you insha Allah to Allah, to those others in the audience who might be more mature or more knowledgeable, please understand that there is a time and a place and a particular language for when to be used, and our brothers Sajid is a teenager, similarly, perhaps a new Muslim, or perhaps somebody who is unaware of these things, that there is a language and a methodology to teach these very, very sensitive topics, and inshallah Tada, this is a very basic level response, that should be sufficient for those that are new to this reality or those that are young or those that are not involved in the intra Muslim issues or affairs, they need to be

told an answer that is sufficient for them and other avenues exist for more detailed discussions. Sadly, the fact of the matter is that this question is already a tense question, because most of us are well aware that there is quite a lot of animosity and tensions between these two segments of the Muslim ummah. And there are people who like to find the fuel of hatred, look where that has gotten us across the globe. From my site, I am completely against exacerbating tensions, and I'm all for factual academic teaching. So today inshallah I will try to demonstrate that by walking into this land mind of a question, and by explaining in a manner that Insha Allah, whoever listens to this

answer, will not be able to criticize any factor that is said to be fair and to be unbiased and then to let the facts speak for themselves to answer our young brothers Sergeant's question. He is saying that isn't the Muslim ummah one And shouldn't we be unified? And the response is that indeed Allah subhana wa Tada does say in the Quran, were in the hands of the OMA to come omit and WA Haider. Well, hon confab we're doing this is your Oma? It is one OMA and I'm your Lord, so worship Me. And Allah says in the Quran, in normal Manana, aqua, all of the believers, they are brothers, they are brothers together, all of the believers are brothers. This is the ideal, this is the aspiration.

This does not negate the reality. And the reality is that that ideal is sometimes not met, and that there shall be differences and tensions and different understandings of realities and of truths and even a faith. Allah says in the Quran, Canon Nasser own Merton Wahida mankind used to be one united OMA and then they deferred and because they deferred for bathala Hoonah Bina Bucha she didn't win with eating Allah then had to send prophets to teach and to give glad tidings to warn to relay the message of Allah Subhana Allah to Allah. Allah says in the Quran, whoa sha Allah Who ledger Allah come on matawa Haida if Allah had willed, He could have made all of mankind in one nation. If Allah

had willed a different reality that would have been the case but that is not the case. Allah says in the Quran, whether SHA Rob

bucur ledger Allah NASA Amata Anwar Haider wala has added a number of tele Fein. If Allah had willed, all of mankind would be one, but they shall remain disunited. While I as I don't know what le Fein it alarm or Rahim or a book except those whom Allah has shown mercy on that they shall be united. So Allah is saying that mankind as a rule differs amongst themselves. And you know, my dear brothers Snagit, and all of you out there, we see this reality in every single aspect of life, you say that you are in high school, the teenager, don't you sometimes play with your friends that you like, and then maybe even your brothers and siblings, and then you disagree, sometimes those

disagreements become very, very bitter stuff for Allah. Sometimes they might even go more than just words, even though they shouldn't misunderstandings occur. Some people have different ways of looking at the same thing. They have different priorities in life. Some people, they understand realities differently. And this is the way that Allah created mankind. Not everybody has the same angle, the same lens, the same perception, the same analysis, the same list of priorities, and the closer you are to somebody. And the more you have in common with them, the more different difficult the differences are. And that is why if a stranger differs with you, it's not a big deal. But when

your brother differs with you, it really hurts. And so when we have two groups of the OMA, who are our brothers, when they differ, sometimes that difference is really difficult for us because we're so close, and yet still. So this is a reality of existence that people differ. And we have to also point out that some differences of opinion are actually healthy and encouraged. To a certain degree, it's good that your flavor ice cream that you like, is different than my flavor and your brother's flavor. We don't want everybody to have the exact same flavor, some diversity is good. And even in, for example, the school's laws, the Islamic fiqh, we have different positions. Usually, typically,

those positions are healthy difference of opinion, it is good, the Sahaba themselves differed over specific areas of Islamic law. And it is said that, you know, a number of them said, this difference of opinion is a mercy from Allah subhanho wa taala. And sometimes the differences of opinion, are not desirable, and we don't like them. But we need to just tolerate and live and let live even if we don't like, and this is the reality of the differences that you're asking about between these two large groups of the ummah. So it is a reality that there are two large strands. And it is not something that we like that this exists, but it is there. And we simply have to tolerate and accept

that there are people that view the world and view Islamic theology differently than us and understand that their worldview is different than our worldview. Now, you asked me to summarize that what is the what are the main differences and again, this is something that

much can be said and actually this is one of my areas of expertise, which is Islamic theology and the development of Islamic theology. But to summarize to a level that is inshallah useful for you to know, I'll summarize in 10 Key Points 10 Key differences, that insha Allah to other art, factually correct academically sound and ask Allah to guide me in this we have to be fair and accurate. And we have to quote, the reality of what people believe without distortion without manipulation. And you don't understand that they have different worldviews. So the first difference is that the Sunni belief which is our belief, you're asking us, you're asking me and I am from the Sunni belief the

Sunnis are called Sunnis because they believe in the Quran. And in the Sunnah, Sunni means they believe in the Sunnah everybody believes in the Quran. So what makes the Sunni people different is that they believe in the Quran and the Sunnah. What is the Sunnah? The Sunnah is the life and teachings of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, as recorded in the famous books of Hadith. So, for us, the primary source of revelation of inspiration of ethics of laws of theology of morality, where do we turn back to we turned back to the Quran and the Sunnah, the other groups that she a group, they it is short for she eye to eye, the other the other one or the partisans or the people

who follow audio the Allah one, that for them, the primary source is the Quran, and then a living descendant of ideal of the Allah who and whom they call an imam. So there is an authority there is a person whom they consider to be the final arbiter, the one who speaks essentially all

On behalf of the religion, and this person is the one who can decide who can legislate and interpret the Quran. This is the person who can have the final say, in what is to be correct and not correct. And this is a person whom they call the Imam. So this leads us to the second point, and that is that the Quran and Sunnah are of course, revelations and books. And so for Sunni Muslims, we believe that scholars are human beings who are trained to study those books, and then interpret the books, there is no one scholar who is appointed by Allah to speak on behalf of the texts, there is no one person who is absolutely 100% Correct. Rather, the collective group of scholarship, and especially the

unanimous consensus of the scholars is what is binding and correct. There is no single individual authorized by ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada, or authorized by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to interpret the faith. This is the belief of Sunnis, which is us, the Shia, as we said, believing in something called the Imam. And so they believe that there must always be one person, that the world must have always one person who is divinely appointed, and who has the ultimate and final right to interpret the faith. Hence, for the Sunnis, no human being alive is infallible. 100% Correct. Whereas for the Shia, the there is somebody who is infallible, and that is the Imam. This leads us

to the third point, and that is that for Sunnis, leadership of the community, is a political reality, not a religious one. And hence, whoever leads the community, they don't interpret the Quran or the Sunnah in any extra authority, if they're not trained, they don't interpret at all. The political leader is not something that is dictated by the Quran and Sunnah. The Prophet system didn't say so and so should be the leader. And the leader can be chosen by the people. And that leader can be good, that leader can be bad. Historically, the Sunnis believe some of our leaders were great, and some of them were not so great leadership of the community is not a divinely

appointed status that the revelation came down to assign. As for the Shia community, they believe that the default is that the leadership is a religious office, and that the one who is the political leader should also be the religious leader, and that person is appointed by God. That person is the one that Allah wanted to be the leader by name. So there is an element of concentration of power, if you like, in one person for the Shia community, that one person, of course, is the Imam, that Imam should be the political and the religious authority. And that person should be the one in charge of the affairs of the community, and in charge of the interpretation of the texts. And therefore he is

appointed by God himself or by the prophets, Allah, Allahu Allah, he was setting them. Of course, as for the Sunnis, we do not believe this is the case. And so leadership, generally speaking in the political field, is not something that generally speaking, it's a good and bad no big deal. It is the religious leadership that is different general, again, this is generally sometimes you'll have a scholar in the in the political class, such as in the first few generations, Abu Bakr Omar Earthman, earlier the Allahu Anhu. They were scholars, and they were also political leaders. But historically, the political leadership has been distinct from the religious leadership. And historically, the

political leadership has not interpreted the texts. They're simply in charge of the affairs of the OMA and religious clergy are not appointed by Allah. Anybody can train and become a clergy. Anybody can train and study the texts. And then once they're qualified, they give an opinion and no one individual is divinely appointed. So this is another fundamental difference between Sunnis and between she has point number four based upon this reality that she I believe, that from the very beginning of Islam, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam wanted his cousin and his son in law, Ali ibn Abi Tada Radi Allahu Allah and to be the leader, the Imam after him. They believe this to be

clear from the entirety of the Sierra. Every incident involving involving the leader of the Allah one for them, illustrates and demonstrates that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam explicitly appointed it to the Allah who happen to be not just a political leader, but as we said the religious leader the Imam after him

For the Sunnis, the prophet system did not appoint any such leader. And much of these incidents regarding auditor, the Allahu and the Sunnis also acknowledge and affirm, but they don't interpret them the way that the Shia interpret them. They don't view that the Prophet systems praising Allah, the Allah one indicates is going to be the Imam or the person in charge. They simply say that was praised for him just like the Prophet says and praised other companions as well. And in fact, Sunnis believe if anything, when the Prophet system was passing away, about to pass away when he was on his deathbed, the fact that he insisted on Abu Bakr so therefore the Allahu, and to lead the Salah, when

he has only a few days left to live, and I will look at us so there was the one who did the Salah, the Allah one for a number of days, indicates if anything, that he wanted to give political leadership political leadership, but he did not say so it is an indication, it is an assumption. As for the Shia, they say it was explicit, not just an assumption that the prophets ism explicitly mandated. And he explicitly said that earlier the Allah one should be not just the political leader, but the Imam and the religious authority after he passed away. So this is another fundamental difference between the Sunni and the Shia understandings. Point number five.

The issue of the family of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, the little beta with the island bait that for the Sunnis, it is indeed a blessing to be a part of the family of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to be biologically related to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam however, that blessing only comes when that individual himself or herself is also pious and righteous, merely being related by blood, while the person himself is not righteous or pious, is not going to help the Prophet systems. Uncle himself is a Bula, hub, and Ebola hub, we know what his fate is by the testimony of the Quran. Simply having a biological connection does not in and of

itself, make a person blessing. However, if a person is good, and has taqwa and does good deeds, and is also from the family of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi salam, this is indeed a double blessing. And for the Sunnis, the companions have multiple types of blessings. There are blessings for those who embraced Islam very early on. There are blessings for those who did both of the hedgerows to Abyssinia and to Medina, there are blessings for those who did one Hijra to Medina, there are blessings for those who participate in in the Battle of butter. And to be a member of the processes household is also a blessing. There is no supernatural powers that come. It's just a generic

blessing that can also be given like so many other blessings. As for the Shia, then the superiority of the family of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and the blessings of that family becomes a an integral point of theology. And they view the island bait in a light that is more than what the Sunnis view. The Sunnis, as we said, view the Al bait with a blessing if they themselves are pious. But that blessing does not mean that they have extra powers, or that they have supernatural powers, or that they are in any way fashion or form meant to be the arbiters of the faith or to be the political leaders of the faith. It is simply a blessed family. And we ask Allah to bless the family

of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. As for the Shia, then the blessings of the Al Bayt become second only to the Quran itself. And so because the Imams themselves come from the added bait, and so for them, the Quran, and then the Al Bayt and the Imams that come from them are really the two most important

sources, if you like of interpretation, and Islamic law. This leads us to the sixth point, that the Shia, I believe that this Imam must be from the progeny of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam from the Al Bayt. The Sunnis, of course, don't have any such equivalent, as we said, they don't really believe in a figure that is the final arbiter. Now, here we have to go a little bit technical. Our brother says that he knows there's a machinery mosque in his vicinity. It's clear, therefore, that he is not aware that there are even multiple strands of Sunnis and multiple strands of Shia. So Sunnis and Shia, just FYI, statistically, there's probably around 85 to 90% of the

Muslim world is Sunni, and probably around 10 to 12% of the world as Sherry And within Shiism, you have multiple strands and within Sunni Islam, you also have multiple strands, but of course, generally speaking within so

Islam does trans generally, they don't have different mosques and whatnot. Within Shia Islam. There are multiple strands, depending on which Imam they follow. So the majority of the Shia of the world today the Shia of let's say the in Iran and Iraq and in Lebanon, these are like the, you know, the common well known she are branches, they follow what is known as Twelver, Shiism, Twelver Shiism, so they believe in the existence of exactly 12 Imams. And this is the default when somebody says there are Shia, the default is they are Twelver Shia, you should know that there are other smaller segments as well. There's something called the five or the Zaydi Shia, and they are common in one

part of Yemen in southern Yemen. There's also seven or Ismaili Shia and they have small branches and pockets you have the the Bora and you have the the devotee is made Yaga Hadees you have multiple strands within and they are relatively quite small, the seven or Shia in terms of numbers. So the default is that you are talking about Twelver Shia Islam and we'll talk about the entire talk today is about 12 hirsutism we're not going into the differences between the other strands of shears and maybe another day we will do that. So we said that the she I believe in Imams from the halal bait Twelver Shia which is the default believe in exactly 12 Imams. They believe in exactly 12 Imams, and

these imams are all from the descendants of from the island bait. The descendants of Abdullah Juan, Fatima, Radi Allahu anha. And other groups of Shia have other strands and other linkages that we're not going to go into. Our next point is that we talked about Twelver Shia and one of the key beliefs of Twelver Shia is that every single Imam assigns and delegates from Allah subhanho wa taala, the name of the next Imam. So every Imam authorizes the next Imam it's a continuous chain and this is known as NUS NUS means that every Imam has to verify and assign pass the baton down to the next Imam. The first Imam according to the Shia was appointed by the prophet system and that is added to

the Allah one. After him came his two sons Hassan and then Hussein or the Allahu Anhu and then that's the second and third Imam and then from Hussein Radi Allahu Allah, it is father son, father, son, father son, all the way down to the 12th Imam. Okay, so you have father son throughout the entire chain, except for the second and third there are two brothers has an understanding of the Allahu Anhu the grandsons of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So this is Twelver. Shiism as we said, there are other strands and they basically break away from this Twelver at various places some breakaway at the fifth so they're called as a these the fifth fibers some break where the

seventh are called this Marius because the seventh was is made. So they have different strands amongst themselves, but the bulk or the predominant strand is 12, shear, shear ism. And for Twelver Shiites, these 12 imams are infallible, they cannot commit a mistake. And when they speak, they speak essentially on behalf of God. They cannot commit a mistake. That's what makes them an Imam, for the Sunnis.

All of these imams are fallible human beings, and they are not appointed by Allah to be the final arbiters. It's not something that that Sunnis believed. Interestingly the Sunnis respect immensely, are you know, the law one and has an arsenal the aloha in him as being of the Al bait, and they also respect especially, you know, the first two or three Imams after Imam Jafar Assad has given a lot of respect in Sunni circles as a great scholar, as an Adam as perfectly as a teacher of so many other great scholars of Islam, but they don't view them as being infallible. They don't view them as being divinely appointed. And by the way, interestingly enough, from the Sunni perspective, these

individuals Oliver the Allahu Allah, Hassan and Hussain, are the Allahu Anhu. And the rest of the earth. The Imams did not claim to be Imams, they did not this is the Sunni perspective. Obviously, they did not claim that they were divinely appointed by God. They did not claim that they were infallible. This is something that Sunnis do not believe even they claimed, of course, the sheer I believe that they claim this and they are deserving of this, but you should know that the Sunnis respect immensely, especially the first few Imams as historical figures as as embodiments of piety as receptacles of knowledge. And their biographies are found in Sunni literature, and their name

occurs constantly in the Sunni books of history and Hadith with a lot of

veneration and respect, but there is no special powers given or there's no extra status given to them. That that the sheer gift so that is a historic difference between between the two. This leads us to our next point. And I'm sure by now you're thinking about the question. Well, if there's only 12 Imams

and the world must have an Imam, well, then where is the Imam? Where is the 12th Imam right now? And this is a very, very good question. So of course, for the Sunnis, there is no concept of a divinely appointed Imam, as you're aware. We call any person of knowledge Imam okay. I'm called the Imam and my Masjid sometimes and even though there's an official Imam title, but sometimes just as a call me Imam. So for us, an imam is not a divinely appointed office. I mean, anybody can be the Imam. And for the Shia as we said, the Imam is one figure appointed by Allah with certain characteristics and certain attributes that the rest of us do not have, most importantly, infallibility and then also a

knowledge of things that we do not have a knowledge of, and then also God given powers that we do not have. So this is the infallible Imam. Now the question arises where is the imam for Twelver Shia so by the way, you should know that both the fibers Aedes and also the the Smiley in his IDs, they have Imams that they recognize that are alive and they can interact with them. That's different strands of shears. As for Twelver, Shiism, they have a belief that the 12 Imam went into hiding this was almost 1000 years ago, almost 1000 years ago, roughly, I mean, just to be simplistic, that a long time ago, they believed the 12 the mom went into hiding called labor. And currently, he is on

earth, but nobody knows where he is, he is in hiding, he can appear whenever he wants to appear, he can help whoever he wants to help, but there is nobody that is in contact with the bomb right now. And this is called labor. This is called the great hiding, if you like, and he has chosen to do so this is the the shear he belief. And they believe that towards the end of time, the Imam shall return publicly This is called Aura Jha, he's going to come back publicly, he's going to proclaim himself as the final Imam as the 12, the Imam as the Hidden Madi, and that will signal the beginning of the end of the day of judgment, that's when it's all going to start coming to an end. And the end

of the day of judgment will come at that time and the mahadi, the 12th Imam will come back the return of the Imam will come and that will bring in an era of peace and an era of harmony, and the enemies of Islam will all be destroyed at the hands of the Imam. So this is what the the the Twelver Shia, I believe that the 12 Imam is currently in hiding, and that he shall return towards the end of times. As for the Sunnis, they do not believe in any hidden imam in the first place. And so they don't have any equivalent of this belief. However, Sunnis do believe that there shall be a figure towards the end of times. That is called the Maddie. And this Maddie, they assign no supernatural

powers, not infallibility simply a good man who will come and unite the OMA and help the world in a very difficult time, and bring about the precursor to the coming of Jesus Christ. So there are some parallels between Sunnis and Shia about the malady, but there is market differences as well. The main difference is that for the Sunnis, the MADI shall be born a normal birth, he's not going to be infallible. He's going to be a leader for his time and his people, and then he's going to pass away. And for the Twelver, Shia, the Mahadevi is alive right now. But he's in hiding. And he is the 12th Imam. And when he comes back, he, and he has powers that nobody else has, and he is infallible, and

he has power to do things and cause damage and whatnot that Allah has given him these these these powers, but he has chosen to be hidden until the time comes towards the end of this world to return. And so when that happens, then the end of time shall be signaled in. So there's, as we said, some similarities and some differences between the Sunni and the Shia belief. This leads us to

point number nine in our 10 point list. And very briefly, this is a very small point, not a very big deal, you should be aware that there are some differences in how the rituals are practiced, and some legal differences between the two schools. So for example, you know, the peculiarities of the prayer, how exactly does one pray, just like we have differences in Sunni Islam between the four methods, so to ensure Islam, they have a slightly different way of how they pray. They have different rulings for combining the prayers than us. They have different timings for breaking the law.

So for us, we break the fast with the event of mercury. And for them they break the fast you know, after their pre mothership after a little bit after the sunset, so there's a bit of a delay between us and them when it comes to breaking the fast as well. They have a ritual, they have

specific rituals that they do on the 10th of Muharram. The day of Ashura to them the day of Ashura becomes a day of commemoration, it is a holy day for them. It is a holy festival for them, in which they commemorate the death or the assassination or the martyrdom of Hussein Radi Allahu taala, and who the grandson of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam who was martyred on that day, and that day, becomes really the center of the year for them, in terms of rehashing the the rituals, the teachings, the theology and also the events of the mortiser. As for us, the tenten, will haram, the the incident of Cobra the martyrdom of the process, and it is a historical tragedy, it is not a

theological one, meaning that we don't base any theology off of it. And I have an entire lecture online, by the way, you can listen to it about the incidence of Qatar betta, and how it has been interpreted by Sunni and by Shia, and it is a very lengthy lecture, and you can listen to it for an understanding of what of what the difference is, between our interpretation and their interpretation of the issue of Karbala, and of the martyrdom of Hussein or the Allahu Allahu anhu, both Sunni and Shia. They view the tragedy of the dead of Hussein with a great sadness. And they say whoever did this tragedy is somebody who is deserving of punishment. And they say that this is an evil crime

that took place. But then for the Sunnis, it is a historical crime, and the religion does not change. And for the sheer, they see a lot of theology, and they see in it,

motif of their faith tradition of, of fighting against oppression and of dying, you know, a martyr's death, and the death of Hussein symbolizes for them many things, and you could listen to other lectures and the lecture I have given as well, to get an idea of this. But my point being, this is one of the differences as well. And that is the commemorations that take place on the 10th of haram. It is a ritual for the Shia, and for the Sunnis, if anything we fast on that day, because our profit system told us to do so. But there's no festival that takes place that is equivalent. And the final point which I have saved for the last because it is

the most difficult one, and it is the most contentious one. And it is one the one that causes the most hurt feelings, and at times, unfortunately even leads to violence. And that is the one of the fundamental differences between the Sunni and the Shia groups, is how they view the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And that's because if you've been following along carefully, I hope I haven't confused you with all of these, this theology

to believe that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam assigned, I needed the Allah Han to be the leader. And then to realize that he wasn't chosen, that he was passed over that he was neglected and ignored. Obviously, if you believe this, then you will view those who jumped over him with a negative view. You will be angry with those whom you think disobeyed the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And because of this, the Shia are not very favorable in how they view those Sahaba, especially the senior Sahaba in the eyes of the Sunnis, Abubaker pseudocolor, the Allahu Akbar photography Allahu Earthman have been found with the Allah one. And also, for example, our mother,

Israel, the Laquanda, that they don't view these senior Sahaba with a positive view. In fact, it is true to point out that historically, and especially

key Shiite clergy in the past, were extremely harsh towards these individuals. And even many of them would claim that they are not actually Muslims, that they are hypocrites, not actual faithful Muslims. And of course, this claim is extremely painful and hurtful for those who view these companions as being the embodiment of virtue and the paragons of piety. And obviously, this is where you know you have different versions of history. So it is important, my dear brother, that you understand how you view early history and your narrative of early Islam is going to be based upon your sources and your sources are going to be based upon which

act you are following. So the books have history of the Shia, present a narrative that is markedly different than the books of history of the Sunnis. And this is not the time and the place to compare the specific details and to mention, you know which one is right and wrong, this is something that you will have to decide on your own when you grow up and whatnot. Obviously, you know what I believe because I am a Sunni. So my belief is very clear in this regard. But I'm simply at this point, being academic and explaining that each side is taught a narrative of history that fits in with their theology. And I'm not saying that that's both right or wrong. Obviously, they both can't be right.

Obviously, one of them is right one of them is wrong. Obviously, you can't have it both ways. So if you believe that Abu Bakr, Siddiq or the Allahu Andromeda will photogra the Allahu and the senior's companions knew that idea of the Allah one was supposed to be the Khalifa and they all united to kick him out. How would you feel about that you would feel a great injustice has occurred, you would feel angry towards this group of Sahaba you might even feel as some of the the clergy do of that of that group, that they're not Muslims having gone against such a key commandment and by the way, many later voices in Shia Islam are not saying that they're not Muslim there's simply toning down and

they're saying that you know, they made a mistake and so there's within themselves there's a bit of a you know, spectrum of opinion of how this group is interpreted but to be factual, they are not viewed with respect let's that's very clear to say they are not viewed favorably. And obviously,

a picture is painted of a type of battle between these individuals and added to the hola Juan stories are said that Sunday's have never heard would never believe, or bla bla bla bla bla and physically Jani hitting the daughter of the Prophet system or trying to burn her house down. These are stories that are told by one branch and believed by one branch, and not even known, much less accepted. No Sunni would ever believe that or going to a hotel Rhodiola. Juana was disrespectful to the daughter of the Pro, we don't have this. We don't believe this at all. It's not for from our perspective. But obviously, if you are taught to this narrative, how would you feel about anybody

who disrespected the daughter the process and you would not like that person? Well, that is how many of the sheep feel about the Senior Companions. And this is the perhaps most emotional point of contention. You know, because you know, believing in an Imam and whatnot, this, this is a big theological difference. No, no point No, no question about that. But it doesn't offend the sensibilities of the average Muslim. But when you say bad things about obika, and one of the Allah one or about I shall the Allahu anha. Understandably, the average Muslim is very hurt. And that's why even amongst the Shia, there's a lot of discussion about rethinking through toning down, there

are a number of modern Ayatollahs have issued for towards that, that the the Sahaba should not be disrespected. And I appreciate that effort. And I encourage that effort amongst the Shia. Now, these are some of the main differences. Before we conclude, let us also point out that you know, what, yes, there's some significant differences. But in the end of the day, both of these groups c'est la ilaha illallah, Muhammad Rasool Allah, both of these groups believe in Allah subhanho wa taala, as the one and only Rob, both of these groups believe in the Quran as the speech of Allah and revelation from Allah. Both of these groups believe in the finality of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi

wa sallam and that he was ultimately I mean, both of these groups pray facing the Qibla doing well do bobbing their heads to Allah subhana wa Tada, both of these groups faster Melbourne, both of these groups give charity, both of these groups go for Hajj. So the five Arcana of Islam are all met on both of these groups. So yes, there are some key fundamental differences. And it is also true to state that some of these differences are painful. But in the end of the day, what we agree upon are bigger fundamentals. And they are the primary fundamentals of our faith. So what is to be done them? Well, you'll have some people who wish to make this difference bigger than it is. And they're always

fomenting hatred and speaking against the other group and yelling and screaming about how nasty the other group is. And sometimes that type of rhetoric has led to violence in some land civil wars in some lens. And that's not right. We don't want violence. We don't want to hurt physically hurt other people because they believe in something even if we don't agree with what they believe. It's between them and Allah, they have to respond to Allah. We don't want to preach violence and we have to speak out against violence. It's not allowed to hurt a human being because of a belief that he or she has, that's between them and Allah subhana wa Tada if Allah allowed the Allah Kitab you know, the non

Muslim to hold in their beliefs, then how much more so about a fellow Muslim even if we disagree, so that's one extreme. On the flip side, you have

Another group of people that basically says, oh, there is no difference between the two of us and you will we are both one in the same. But see,

even though the sentiment might be good, that's just not true. We are not one in the same, there are some key fundamental differences. So what should we do? For this purpose of this q&a, I'll conclude on this. Note that my view has been one of pragmatic tolerance, pragmatic tolerance, we have no option but to live and let live. But we have to also be factually clear that the differences between us while pragmatically tolerable, and while still within the fold of Islam, without preaching any hatred, we really must say that the differences are significant. It's not trivial to believe, whether Allah has chosen a person or not to be the imam for the entire room, it's a big deal. It's

something you have to come to the conclusion and and then decide, it's not a trivial thing to say, I wish I could have studied because a good or a bad person or marble coupled with the law, it's a very big thing. So to have two different messages in your community, you have to understand why that is the case that it is healthier for each community to be amongst its own, but we should not preach a hatred or exacerbate the division. And by the way, just because there's another machine, I'm not saying never ever pray there, if that's the place you're driving by, it's closer to you know, the last time is going you have nowhere else to pray, you know, you go and you pray, there's a masjid in

the end of the day is facing the Qibla is worshipping Allah subhana wa taala. But at the same time, understand that there is a pragmatic wisdom that, you know, the the understanding that is being taught is different. And so it's healthy, that they are able to express, we're able to express that we preach and teach our theologies, but I strongly encourage both groups, I strongly encourage that they do not exacerbate the tension, live and let live. And also, we learn need to learn to come together. When the situation calls for it. I'm not saying that we pray when Jumar together, understandably, what we preach is going to be slightly different. But I am saying we should not

preach hatred, I am saying we should marginalize the radical clerics who are only interested in division and hatred and animosity, because we have clerics, both of us that are like that we should move them to the fringes. And we should promote clerics who are pragmatic and understand you know what these differences are not going to go away, we have to live and let live. And I go beyond this. And I say, not only is there no problem, we should come together with all strands of Islam to fight our bigger battles. There are times in places where we set our differences aside, and there are times in places where we acknowledge those differences. So there's an evil politician in your

community, there was a person running for the minister, the senator, the congresswoman, and she is an Islamophobe. Or he is somebody who wants to ban the building of misogyny. How can we not unite with all different Muslims? How can we not rally and petition How can we not come together and pull our resources and vote that evil person out? This is the essence of Islam. And if we have to cooperate with anybody, even a non Muslim who agrees with our values, we will cooperate with them, no problem, our difference of opinion should not lead us to be so blind to the hatred that we can never come together for the common good. If there is a charity feeding the hungry, and we're limited

in the community, why can't different massages of different groups come together. And we say this is a public soup kitchen for Muslims, on behalf of the Muslims, for all of the poor of the area. This is excellent cooperation. But understandably, if a critical mass is reached, and every group is able to have its own masjid, understandably understand this, nothing wrong with this, and there's an element of healthy, you know, separation, that inshallah there's something we understand that there is good in this as well. And in the end of the day,

our preaching and teaching should be pragmatic and full of wisdom and be factually correct. We're not going to eliminate these differences, but we shouldn't exacerbate them. And we should work together where we're able to work together and agree with practical agreed to disagree with a practical understanding that, you know, they have their interpretation, we have our interpretation. This is a very basic answer. Dear brother Sajid, I hope that it was useful to you. And if you're interested in more advanced study, then of course, there are so many books, so many lectures, to listen to, but I advise you to listen to those that are academic based, those that state the facts

in a truthful manner, and not based upon emotional sectarianism. And the final point, always make dua to Allah Subhana Allah to Allah to guide you, and that you'll be a role model and a beacon of truth and a virtue and of tolerance. May Allah subhana wa Tada, bless us all to to the truth. I hope Inshallah, to see you next week to Zachman Lohit Saramonic maraca to Allah yo Barakatuh

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