Shia constitute about 10% of all muslims, and globally their population is estimated at between. In the kite runner amir and baba are sunni muslims and hassan and ali are shia muslims. Although in bahrain more than half of population are shia muslim estimated at over 75 percent, the sunni royal family, al khalifa, governs the country. Afghan shia are primarily the twelvers, while a minority are ismailis. There are also large shia communities in afghanistan, india, kuwait. What percentage of sunni muslims in afghanistan answers. Hazaras are generally shia muslims and pashtuns are generally sunni muslims. Iraq 52 38 71 33 lebanon 67 53 80 27 iran 23 20 47 27 afghanistan 44 30 44 14 azerbaijan 2 2 3 1. The divide between sunnis and shia is the largest and oldest in the history of islam.
The quran is their source for knowledge, as are the hadith the oral teachings and traditions which have been handed down and written. What percentage of muslims in america are sunni muslims. Of the two categories stated above, ethnicity plays a far bigger role than religious sect in my opinion in afghan society. This week sunni and shia muslims ushered in the islamic new year and the beginning of the holy month of muharram. Countries like saudi arabia, egypt, yemen, pakistan, indonesia, turkey, algeria, morocco, and tunisia are predominantly sunni. Afghanistan is made up of 84 percent sunnis and 15 percent shias. The major branches of islam are those adhered to by the sunni and shia muslims. Why is the population of the sunni much more than the. To a significant degree, the striking variations in the practice and interpretation of islamin a much less austere form than that practiced in the middle eastin various parts of indonesia reflect its complex history. Most pashtuns are sunni muslims, while most hazaras are shia muslims. According to the cia world factbook, shia muslims constituted an estimated 27 % of lebanon s population in 2012. Most sunnis in iran are kurds, achomis, turkmens, and baluchs, living in the northwest, northeast, south, and southeast. My father and my maternal uncle proudly served in pakistani armed forces.
To see more differences in shia and sunni hadith collections, visit this wikipedia category and its subcategories. The hazaras have for centuries faced persecution from afghanistans majority sunni population politically, socially and economically. Breaking down conflicts between sunnis and shiites youtube. Vali nasr the sunnishia divide and the future of islam. The majority of muslims are sunnis estimates suggest the. Difference in sunni and shia muslims essay 257 words. There are several wars going on in iraq, and its important to keep them sorted out. Today, the sunni shia divide and the future of islam. The shia have come out from the margins to join the government and take their place in public life.
Who are afghanistans shias and why have they been targeted in the. Almost 80% of pakistans muslim population is sunni, with 20 % being shia, but this shia minority forms the second largest shia population of any country, larger than the shia majority in iraq. In 1979, they wanted to participate in determining their own destiny by performing many protests against the al khalifa. Tensions between sunnis and shias, exploited by regional rivals saudi arabia and iran, could reshape the future middle east. Roughly 15% of the afghan population practice shia islam. The christian science monitor is an international news organization that delivers thoughtful, global coverage via its website, weekly magazine, online daily edition, and email newsletters. I am a shia pakistani, and i deliberately put shia first. The iraq war and the unprecedented shia majority rise to power, he contends, have so changed political realities as to require a fresh assessment of shia identity and the fault lines with sunni islam. Members of the two sects have coexisted for centuries and share many fundamental beliefs and practices. Shia islam made its way to southern afghanistan during the safavid rule in the 16th century. Likewise, sunnis reject shia islams the four books. Sunnis and shia a political history by laurence louer. Afghanistan that is persianspeaking and of the shia or ismaili sects of islam. The constitution adopted in that country in 2003 has broken with tradition to allow a shia to become president and to recognize shia law.
Globally, the percentage of muslims that are sunni is very high. Until recently shia sunni relations have been cordial. What is the population of sunni in afghanistan answers. Most people have no idea what the actual differences are between the two main sects of islam, the sunnis and the shiites. These disagreements about the nature of an ideal muslim leader eventually created two distinct and dominant sects of islam. Sunni muslims make up an 85 percent majority of muslims all over the world. Shia islam in lebanon has a history of more than a millennium. There has not been a proper census for more than 40 years, but it is estimated that around 20 % of the population are shia.
Demob unhappy afghans worry about the return of shia fighters from syria. The main battle is between sunni arabs about 20 percent of the population, and the rest of the population 60 percent shia arabs, 20 percent sunni kurds and several other religious and ethnic minorities. Maclean, a link between sindh and shias or protoshias can be traced to hakim ibn jabalah alabdi, a companion of the islamic prophet muhammad, who traveled across sind to makran in the year 649ad and presented a report on the area to the. Afghanistan is a diverse country in terms of ethnicity and religion. While the drones and the us fighter jets target sunni rejectionist leaders and civilians in syria, iraq, afghanistan, and yemen, the shia leaders and shia militias have complete freedom of. So the maps below show the estimated distribution of the sunni and shia populations within a percentage range of the total population. In afghanistan, approximately 99 percent of the population is muslim, and of those 8085% are sunni muslims. Sayyid muhammad rizvi introduction the name shia or shi ite entered the western medias common vocabulary during the islamic revolution of iran, and it is being frequently heard now in context of the war in iraq when reporters or commentators say that sixty to sixtyfive percent of the iraqis are shi ite or shia muslims. In afghanistan, approximately 99 percent of the population is muslim, and of those 8085 % are sunni muslims.
But there are significant shiite communities in saudi arabia and syria, afghanistan. In his pioneering 2015 book, the shias of pakistan. The most important group within the shia is the twelvers, so called for the 12 imams, or leaders, they venerate. Until mir wais hotak liberated the afghans in 1709, the kandahar region of afghanistan was often a battleground between the shia safavids and the sunni mughals. Shia islam rejects sunni islams kutub alsittah, or the five allegedly original hadiths, and rejects hadiths attributed to muhammads wife, aisha, who shias feel defied ali. The sunni shia split has its roots in disagreements over authority after the death of the prophet mohammed in the seventh century. Demob unhappy afghans worry about the return of shia. However, in individual regions like iran, shi ites may outnumber them. For shias, the month also is a time to mourn the events that sparked the centuriesold schism between shia and sunni muslims. Observers estimate that 80 percent of the population is sunni. Irans population is about 82,000,000 people, and islam is the religion of 99.
The shia, sunni and akhirulzaman by sheikh imran hosein duration. But it does not mean that i do not love my homeland pakistan. Cbs news correspondent clarissa ward takes a look at the history and. Islam in india islam is the second largest religion in india, with 14. Pakistans citizens have had serious shiasunni discord. Parallels the division between islams shiite minority and the sunni majority is deepening across the. Most of its adherents live in the northern and western area of the beqaa valley, southern lebanon. The christmas day soviet invasion of afghanistan further catalyzed events that cultivated pakistan. Reliable data on religious demography is not available because an official nationwide census has not been conducted in decades.
Nearly 90% of iranian muslims are shi a and about 10% are sunni. There has not been a proper census for more than 40 years, but it is estimated that around 20 % of the population are shia the rest are sunni. Today, americas direct or indirect intervention in syria is clearly on the side of the shia. The shiites are a minority, making up between 10 percent and 15. India, pakistan, turkey, tunisia, afghanistan and azerbaijan are some notable ones with some sort of democracy and as such one sect or the other would perhaps not b. According to the shia, the sunni caliphs, including the. The followers of sunni islam, one of the two major branches of the tradition the other is shi a, make up approximately 80 percent of the muslim population in the world. The book starts with an outline of the peculiarities of the shia way in terms of creed and rituals, its emphasis on martyrdom and mourning, and. The reescalation of violence in iraq this year likely would have increased the concern there if the polling were conducted today.
The people of bahrain celebrated the victory of iranian revolution and formed gatherings to support it. The countries where there are more shia than sunni and where sunni muslims are persecuted for their beliefs are mainly iran and iraq, where the shiia. An assertive and beleaguered minority, rieck a german researcher who has served in both pakistan and afghanistan. Navigating the rise of sunnishia violent sectarianism. What is the percentage of sunnis, shias and ahmadiyyas in. Thus pakistan soon became the site of an elaborate sectarian proxy war between shia iran and its sunni strategic competitors. Sunni muslims are a large majority in several central asian countries and follow the traditional way of the prophet mohammed.
Let us consider countries with a reasonable and comparable size of both the sects. Sunni islam origins, sunni islam history, sunni islam beliefs. The shia in afghanistan, between 20 and 25 percent of the population, were brutalized by the taliban. The constitution adopted in that country in 2003 has broken with tradition to allow a shia. The division between islams shiite minority and the sunni majority is. Twelver shia is the largest branch of shia islam, 11 with 2012 estimates saying that 85% of shias were twelvers. The connection between the indus valley and shia islam was established by the initial muslim missions. Sectarian war is looming over afghanistan the diplomat. The historical divide of islam into sunni, or socalled orthodox islam, and shia, was caused more by political dispute over successors than doctrinal differences, although differences gradually assumed theological and metaphysical overtones. In afghanistan, most sunni muslims belong to and follow the hanafi school of teaching. Comparing and contrasting shia and sunni islam answers. The violent face of sunni militancy in iraq underscores the divergent paths that sunni and shia politics are taking.
Many sunnis and shias worry about religious conflict pew. Shia islam in afghanistan is practiced by a minority of the population. There has been no particular census conducted in india with regards to sects. What students need to know by john calvert may 2010 vol. Soon the arab gulf states joined in to help marginalize pakistans shia, who were seen as irans pawn in the region. Is the majority of afghanistan population sunni answers. It found that 52 percent of muslims polled in iraq, 44 percent in afghanistan and 67 percent in lebanon said sunni shia tensions are a very big or moderately big problem in their country. Because i rank my ideology over the place of birth. On july 22, 2016 twin suicide bombers attacked a rally of the shiite hazara community, taking the lives of more than 80.
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