# Shia Islam and Sunni Islam: a Diptych comparison Schema version 1.0. The Diptych displays; it does not score, rank, or adjudicate. ## 1. In its own words ### Shia Islam Shia Islam began as the party of Ali and became a family of traditions ordered by the Imamate: the line of divinely guided Imams through whom the Prophet's authority continued. Its Twelver, Ismaili, and Zaidi branches divided over the succession within that line. - [Shia Islam](/tree/shia-islam) ### Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the tradition of roughly nine in ten of the world's Muslims. It carries no single head and no central magisterium; its unity stands in the shared scripture, the Prophet's example, the four schools of law, and the theological schools that defended them. - [Sunni Islam](/tree/sunni-islam) ## 2. Scale and spread ### Shia Islam Shia Islam counts roughly 150 to 200 million adherents, about ten to thirteen percent of all Muslims. Shia form majorities in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan, with large communities in Lebanon, Yemen, Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. - [Shia Islam](/tree/shia-islam) ### Sunni Islam Sunni Islam counts roughly 1.6 billion adherents, about 87 to 90 percent of all Muslims, and is the majority form of Islam in most Muslim-majority countries, from Indonesia and South Asia to North Africa and Turkey. - [Sunni Islam](/tree/sunni-islam) ## 3. Historical timeline ### Shia Islam - [The muslim timeline](/history/islam) - [Birth of Muhammad](/history/events/birth-of-muhammad) - [First revelation](/history/events/first-revelation) - [Hijra to Medina](/history/events/hijra-to-medina) - [Battle of Badr](/history/events/battle-of-badr) - [Conquest of Mecca](/history/events/conquest-of-mecca) - [Death of Muhammad](/history/events/death-of-muhammad) ### Sunni Islam - [The muslim timeline](/history/islam) - [Birth of Muhammad](/history/events/birth-of-muhammad) - [First revelation](/history/events/first-revelation) - [Hijra to Medina](/history/events/hijra-to-medina) - [Battle of Badr](/history/events/battle-of-badr) - [Conquest of Mecca](/history/events/conquest-of-mecca) - [Death of Muhammad](/history/events/death-of-muhammad) ## 4. Sources of authority ### Shia Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ### Sunni Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 5. Ultimate reality ### Shia Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ### Sunni Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 6. The human person ### Shia Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ### Sunni Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 7. Problem and solution ### Shia Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ### Sunni Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 8. Ethics and hard cases ### Shia Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ### Sunni Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 9. Practice and devotion ### Shia Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ### Sunni Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 10. Community and governance ### Shia Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ### Sunni Islam - [Sunni Islam](/church/sunni-islam) ## 11. Art and material culture ### Shia Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ### Sunni Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 12. Science and technology posture ### Shia Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ### Sunni Islam Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 13. Internal diversity ### Shia Islam - [Sufism](/tree/sufi-orders) - [Twelver Shia Islam](/tree/twelver-shia-islam) - [Ismaili Shia Islam](/tree/ismaili-shia-islam) - [Zaidi Shia Islam](/tree/zaidi-shia-islam) ### Sunni Islam - [Ash'ari Theology](/tree/ashari) - [Hanafi School](/tree/hanafi) - [Hanbali School](/tree/hanbali) - [Maliki School](/tree/maliki) - [Shafi'i School](/tree/shafii) - [Sufism](/tree/sufi-orders) - [Maturidi Theology](/tree/maturidi) - [Mu'tazila Theology](/tree/mutazila) ## 14. Contributions ### Shia Islam Coverage: not documented. Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records. ### Sunni Islam Coverage: not documented. Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records. ## 15. Internal critique ### Shia Islam Coverage: not documented. Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records. ### Sunni Islam Coverage: not documented. Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records. ## 16. External critique and reply ### Shia Islam Coverage: not documented. Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records. ### Sunni Islam Coverage: not documented. Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records. ## 17. Contested history ### Shia Islam - [Sunni-Shia Split](/tree/schisms/sunni-shia-split) ### Sunni Islam - [Sunni-Shia Split](/tree/schisms/sunni-shia-split) ## 18. What each says about the other ### Shia Islam Coverage: not documented. This slot renders only when both directions stand populated and reviewed. ### Sunni Islam Coverage: not documented. This slot renders only when both directions stand populated and reviewed. ## 19. What this comparison cannot settle ### Shia Islam This comparison sets two self-descriptions side by side; it does not decide between them. A tradition is a living range of positions, and each panel renders the range this site has documented, which is not the whole of the tradition. Where a cell is marked not yet documented, the gap belongs to this site's documentation, not to the tradition. Questions of truth between the panels turn on premises the reader brings: what counts as evidence, what authority is recognized, and what a human life is for. The instrument does not score, rank, or adjudicate. ### Sunni Islam This comparison sets two self-descriptions side by side; it does not decide between them. A tradition is a living range of positions, and each panel renders the range this site has documented, which is not the whole of the tradition. Where a cell is marked not yet documented, the gap belongs to this site's documentation, not to the tradition. Questions of truth between the panels turn on premises the reader brings: what counts as evidence, what authority is recognized, and what a human life is for. The instrument does not score, rank, or adjudicate. ## 20. Sources ### Shia Islam - [Shia Islam](/tree/shia-islam) ### Sunni Islam - [Sunni Islam](/tree/sunni-islam) ## Sources - Shia Islam: The Nahj al-Balagha, attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib. - Shia Islam: S. H. M. Jafri, The Origins and Early Development of Shia Islam (1979). - Sunni Islam: The Qur'an; the Hadith collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim. - Sunni Islam: Jonathan A. C. Brown, Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World (2018).