Sunni And Shia Islam: Two Major Denominations Of Islam

Sunni and Shia Islam are the two major denominations of Islam. Sunnis are a majority in most Muslim communities: in Southeast Asia, China, South Asia, Africa, and most of the Arab world. Shia make up the majority of the citizen population in Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain, as well as being a politically significant minority in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Azerbaijan is predominantly Shia; however, practicing adherents are much fewer. Indonesia has the largest number of Sunni Muslims, while Iran has the largest number of Shia Muslims in the world. The historic background of the Sunni Shia split lies in the division that occurred when the Islamic prophet Muhammad died, leading to a argument over sucession to Muhammad as a caliph of the Islamic