What Is the Difference Between Sunni and Shia?

People who follow world news often hear the words “Sunni” and “Shia”, usually in reports of conflict. It can leave the impression of two different religions locked in permanent hostility. The reality is both simpler and more human. This article gives a short, fair outline; it does not try to settle the questions on which the two traditions differ.

The faith they share

Sunni and Shia Muslims both believe that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad ﷺ is His final messenger. Both read the same Qur’an, pray towards the same Kaaba in Mecca, fast in Ramadan, give charity, and perform the pilgrimage to Mecca. Both believe in angels, the prophets, the Day of Judgement and the life to come. Both love and honour the Prophet’s family, including Ali, Fatimah, al-Hasan and al-Husayn.

The Prophet ﷺ described a simple outward sign of who belongs to the Muslim community:

Narrated Anas bin Malik: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Whoever prays like us and faces our Qibla and eats our slaughtered animals is a Muslim and is under Allah's and His Apostle's protection. So do not betray Allah by betraying those who are in His protection

How the division began

When the Prophet ﷺ died in 632, the community had to decide who would lead it. The majority accepted Abu Bakr, one of his closest companions, as the first caliph, followed by Umar, Uthman and then Ali, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law. Those who came to be called Sunni, from Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah (the people of the Sunnah and the community), regard this succession as legitimate.

Another group held that the Prophet ﷺ had designated Ali as his successor, and that leadership should remain within his family. They became known as Shi’at Ali, “the party of Ali”, or simply Shia. The killing of Ali’s son al-Husayn and members of his family at Karbala in 680 became a defining moment of grief and remembrance, especially for Shia Muslims, though Sunni Muslims also mourn it as a tragedy.

What began as a question of leadership developed, over centuries, into two traditions of scholarship and practice.

Where they differ

The main differences, put briefly:

• Religious authority. Most Shia Muslims (the Twelver branch, the largest) believe in a line of twelve Imams from the Prophet’s family, whom they regard as divinely guided and infallible leaders. Sunni Muslims honour these figures as righteous members of the Prophet’s family, but do not hold this belief, and look to the Qur’an, the Sunnah and the consensus of scholars.
• Hadith collections. Sunni scholarship relies on collections such as those of al-Bukhari and Muslim; Shia scholarship has its own collections, transmitted largely through the Prophet’s family.
• Views of the early companions. The two traditions assess some of the Prophet’s companions and early events differently.
• Practice. There are some differences in details of prayer, the call to prayer, and certain religious occasions.

Each tradition contains several schools of law and thought of its own; among Shia Muslims, for example, the Zaydi and Isma’ili branches differ from the Twelvers. The great majority of Muslims worldwide are Sunni; Shia Muslims form majorities in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain, with large communities elsewhere, including Lebanon, Pakistan and the Gulf.

Unity, not hostility

Much of the conflict between Sunni and Shia communities in recent history has been driven by politics, rivalry between states and the actions of extremist groups. Most Sunni and Shia Muslims live as neighbours, colleagues and, in many places, relatives. The Qur’an’s command is clear:

وَٱعْتَصِمُوا۟ بِحَبْلِ ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًۭا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا۟ ۚ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَآءًۭ فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِۦٓ إِخْوَٰنًۭا وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلنَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ ﴿١٠٣﴾

And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided.

And where believers fall out, they are told to make peace:

إِنَّمَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌۭ فَأَصْلِحُوا۟ بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ ﴿١٠﴾

The believers are but brothers, so make settlement between your brothers. And fear Allah that you may receive mercy.

In the Amman Message of 2004 to 2005, several hundred leading scholars from both Sunni and Shia traditions agreed that the followers of the recognised schools of both traditions are Muslims, and that declaring them unbelievers is not permitted.

The common misunderstanding

The common misunderstanding is that Sunni and Shia Islam are two separate religions, or that their differences are what Islam is mostly about. In fact the shared core is far larger than the disagreements, and most Muslims practise their faith without thinking about the division most days. Serious theological differences do exist, and scholars of each tradition hold their positions sincerely. For how Islam handles differences of opinion more generally, read where Muslims differ, and why, and for the shared core, what every Muslim believes.