The Afghan government is established as a Sunni Islamic Republic. Therefore, there is a strong societal pressure to adhere to Sunni Islamic traditions. The moral code of the Islamic doctrine tends to govern the political, economic and legal aspects of an Afghan's life. Not all Afghans are strictly observant Muslims.
The Taliban is a Sunni Islamist nationalist and pro-Pashtun movement founded in the early 1990s that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 until October 2001.
Pakistan is a Sunni majority country, with 76% of Pakistanis identifying as Sunni and 10-15% estimated to be Shi'ites. Both variations of Islam have many different religious schools that Pakistanis adhere to. Sufism is quite popular among both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims.
Shias comprise a majority in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain, and a plurality in Lebanon, while Sunnis make up the majority of more than forty countries from Morocco to Indonesia.
Shi'ites believe that Islam should be led by descendants of Muhammad, while Sunnis believe that the leader of Islam should be appointed by election and consensus. Sunnis make up 84 to 90 percent of the world's Muslims. The word Sunni refers to the words and actions of Muhammad.
What is the difference between Shiite and Shia? Shia is another form of the word Shiite. Both refer to the branch of Islam that believes only blood relatives of the Prophet Muhammad are worthy to be religious leaders.
The society has shunned the idea of a Shia marrying a Sunni (and vice versa) not because of the religious difference, but because of “what will we tell the society?” The matter has become less of a religious debate, but more of a societal symbol, which then leads to two individuals being punished for choosing each ...
Mecca is the only pilgrimage site officially accepted by all Muslims, but Iran and Iraq are home to a number of sites considered holy to the Shia faithful: Hussein was buried at Karbala, for example, and the tomb of Ali is in nearby Najaf.
Islam is practiced by 90% of Egyptians. Most Egyptian Muslims are Sunni and follow the Maliki school of jurisprudence, though all legal schools are represented. Shi'a Muslims make up a small minority.
Although there are many Shīʿa subsects, Twelver Shīʿīsm is by far the largest and most influential, comprising about 85% of all Shīʿa Muslims. Others include the Ismāʿīlīs and Zaydis.
Approximately 11 percent of the population are citizens, of whom more than 85 percent are Sunni Muslims, according to media reports. The vast majority of the remainder are Shia Muslims, who are concentrated in the Emirates of Dubai and Sharjah.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar is a Muslim nation, with laws, customs and practices rooted in Islam. The country is neither as liberal as Dubai in the United Arab Emirates nor as conservative as parts of Saudi Arabia. Most of its citizens are Sunni Muslim.
Islam is generally practised liberally, although in the last 20 years strict adherence to Islamic practice has increased. The official code of Islam in Malaysia is Sunni, and the practice of any other form of Islam is heavily restricted.
An estimated 5–10% of citizens in Saudi Arabia are Shia Muslims, most of whom are adherents to Twelver Shia Islam. Twelvers are predominantly represented by the Baharna community living in the Eastern Province, with the largest concentrations in Qatif, and half the population in al-Hasa.
Sunni Muslims reside throughout the country. There is a huge diversity among the members of the Sunni Arab community in Syria and they cannot be perceived as a unified group.
Demographics. The data on the religious affiliation of Iraq's population are uncertain. 95–99% of the population are Muslims. The CIA World Factbook reports a 2015 estimate according to which 29–34% are Sunni Muslims and 61-64% Shia Muslims.
Most Libyans adhere to the Sunni branch of Islam, which provides both a spiritual guide for individuals and a keystone for government policy.
Religion of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam, and most of its natives are adherents of the majority Sunni branch. In modern times, the Wahhābī interpretation of Sunni Islam has been especially influential, and Muslim scholars espousing that sect's views have been a major social and political force.
According to the last census and the latest statistics, 96% of the population is Muslim in Jordan. The great majority of these are Sunni Muslims.
The Shī'ah use the same Qur'an as Sunni Muslims, however they do not believe that it was first compiled by Uthman ibn Affan. The Shī'ah believe that the Qur'an was gathered and compiled by Muhammad during his lifetime.
Shia Islam
Shia Ayatollahs Ali al-Sistani and Ali Khamenei believe there are no authoritative Islamic prohibitions on tattoos. The Quran does not mention tattoos or tattooing at all. Grand Ayatollah Sadiq Hussaini Shirazi ruled: "Tattoos are considered makruh (reprehensible but not forbidden).
Sunni and Shia Muslims both share the same fundamental views of Islam, for instance, both groups worship Allah as God, accept Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) as the Prophet, and follow the teachings of the Quran.
Muslim societies allow for up to four wives, but not without specific rules and regulations.
Traditional Sunni and Shia Islamic marital jurisprudence allows Muslim men to be married to multiple women (a practice known as polygyny).
Sunnis founded several schools of Islamic law (the Sharia), which became the foundation of Sunnism. Scholars belonging to these schools interpreted the Koran and Sunnah, which Sunnis believe are the only true sources of Islamic law.