Sunni / Shi’a
The Shi’a / Sunni split in Islam has become an increasingly important issue for the United States since our involvement in Iraq. This is a very longstanding split in the Islamic religion that has caused a great deal of strife for quite some time.
Initially this split was based on a disagreement between who should gain power after Mohammed’s death. The Shi’a believed that power should go to Ali, the son in law of Mohamed. The Sunni instead believed that power should be transferred based on an election.
This disagreement sent the Islamic community into a civil war. After several assassinations, including Ali’s, the Umayyad dynasty arose and was able to put a reasonable stop to the civil war. The Umayyad dynasty was a Sunni dynasty.