Listen : This Is Islam

Sects

In the name of God , The Most Merciful, The most Gracious.
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaitan.
May peace be upon all those that are reading this. I pray that you go forward with an open mind and forgiving heart.
First of all. I am a Sunni Muslim. So, naturally I have more knowledge about Sunni Islam. Secondly, I don't know anyone Shia. So, naturally the only source I have about Shia Islam is the same as yours- the Internet. Plus all that I hear from other Muslims.

And I'm not a scholar. Not even close. So if there is anyone out there that thinks I need to be corrected, I'm all ears.

I am trying to be unbiased. If by any means, I seem bias, please point it out. Because the point of this book is to introduce Islam to the world- not to cause disunity via misunderstanding within Islam.

Since the Internet and other means are as wide as wide can get, you could very easily be thorough about this topic in a few weeks. The reason I even chose to write about this is that I'd rather you hear about it from here than elsewhere.
Know this.
Whoever testifies that there is no god but One God, and that Muhammad is the last and final Messenger of God- they are Muslim.
Everybody follows the Same Book- Quran , and the same prophet - Muhammad.

I so don't want to do this. I don't mind if you skip all the definitions, and go straight to the last note- I'll be providing very little info in this chapter

I'm just going to give an overview of the two major divisions in Islam.

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Wikipedia👇
Shia (/ˈʃiːə/; Arabic: شيعة‎‎ Shīʿah), an abbreviation of Shia-ne-Ali, Shīʻatu ʻAlī (شيعة علي, "followers of Ali"), is a branch of Islam which holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad's proper successor as Caliph was his son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib. Shia Islam primarily contrasts with Sunni Islam, whose adherents believe that Muhammad's trusted aide Abu Bakr was his proper successor.[1]

Ismāʿīlism (Arabic: الإسماعيلية‎‎ al-Ismāʿīliyya; Persian: اسماعیلیان‎‎; Sindhi: اسماعيلي‎; Kurdish: Ismaili‎; Esmāʿiliyān) is a branch of Shia Islam.[1] The Ismāʿīlī (IPA: [ɪsma'ili] or IPA: [ɪs'maɪli][2]) get their name from their acceptance of Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (Imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelvers, who accept Musa al-Kadhim, younger brother of Isma'il, as the true Imām.[3]

Twelver (Arabic: اثنا عشرية‎‎, Athnā'ashariyyah or Ithnā'ashariyyah; Persian: شیعه دوازده‌ امامی‎‎, pronounced [ʃiːʔe-je dævɑzdæh emɑmiː]) Shia Islam or Imamiyyah (Arabic: إمامية‎‎) is the largest branch of Shia Islam. The term Twelver refers to its adherents' belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as the Twelve Imams, and their belief that the last Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, lives in occultation and will reappear as the promised Mahdi.
Twelvers believe that the Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. According to the theology of Twelvers, the Twelve Imams are exemplary human individuals who not only rule over the community in justice, but also are able to keep and interpret sharia and the esoteric meaning of the Quran. The words and deeds (Sunnah) of Muhammad and the Imams are a guide and model for the community to follow; as a result, Muhammad and the Imams must be free from error and sin, known as Ismah or infallibility, and must be chosen by divine decree, or nass, through Muhammad.[1][2][3]

Zaydis were the oldest branch of the Shia and the largest group amongst the Shia before the Safavid Dynasty in the sixteenth century and currently the second largest group, Zaidi's do not believe in the infallibility of Imāms, but promotes their leadership and divine inspiration.[3]
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I'm done with researching! Phew.
When it comes to being divided, people do it so readily that there is no way on earth I can keep track of all that....

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Sunni Islam (/ˈsuːni/ or /ˈsʊni/) is a denomination of Islam which holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad's first Caliph was his father-in-law Abu Bakr. Sunni Islam primarily contrasts with Shi'a Islam, which holds that Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, not Abu Bakr, was his first caliph.
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There are, of course, numerous differences of opinion within the Sunnis, just as with the Shias, and that's exactly why I'm stopping there.
The differences are mostly due to different methods of interpretations and different understandings. Sometimes the differences are too minute to even be considered.

Four of Muhammad's companions ( Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali ) led the Muslims after his death.
Those who accept all four of them are being called Sunnis.
Those who accept (only) Ali, the fourth one, are being called Shias. Most Shias totally reject the first three while some only consider them to be in error.
The rift is not religious.
It is political.
So far as I heard, conflicts between people who call themselves Shias and those who call themselves Sunnis, only started very recently.
Again, the rift is political.

I restress, I chose to write this book to introduce Islam. We have a lot of persons clearing misconceptions about Islam , yet comparatively little introducing to people, "This, is Islam".
Most people know the arguments against Islam, and most Muslims know counter-arguments for those arguments. But, do they know Islam?
This, isn't only for those outside Islam, it is also for those within Islam. Those that, like I mentioned a few chapters ago, don't even know what God has to say. Yet they have it on their shelves, dusty. (The Quran).

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Muslims are Muslims, the Quran is Quran, the messenger is Muhammad, God is God.
When people are different and their views are different and their understandings are different, differences occur.
Bottom line. It doesn't make a difference.

NOTE : My major source was the Internet and my understandings. I have heard too many rumours, and I'm sure they (Shias) have heard about us too. I don't blame them. We are Muslims coz our parents are. I am Sunni coz my parents are, and they are coz their parents are. We are born to it. But as we grow in life, we should learn to decide- not letting cultural taboos prevent us- as to whether I truly understand and believe in what I follow. I did, and do.
And so, I haven't included hearsay.

Thank you guys for support! Vote, share, suggest and criticise! Hit me up in the comments sections below! I'm looking forward to opinions.
Seriously, NO OFFENCE INTENDED.

Edit 01-07-16.
I came across this Ayah today, and I had to share it ;
Surah Al-An'aam ( The cattle), Ayah 159, says ;
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَرَّقُوا دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُوا شِيَعًا لَّسْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ إِنَّمَا أَمْرُهُمْ إِلَى اللَّهِ ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْعَلُونَ
(06:159)
English:
Indeed, those who have divided their religion and become sects - you, [O Muhammad], are not [associated] with them in anything. Their affair is only [left] to Allah; then He will inform them about what they used to do.

English:
As for those who divided their religion and became sects—you have nothing to do with them. Their case rests with God; then He will inform them of what they used to do.