Day 11 - Differences that Divide

I have come to the conclusion that organized religion as a whole has made a huge mistake. The mistake was not in encouraging people to reach God, or in giving them a path to walk. The mistake was in making their own path the exclusive road to God. Instead of unifying humanity in an effort to love God, organized religion (in an effort to control the path to God and thus control the travellers on that path) has pitted humanity against each other in an eternal battle of who is "right" and who is going to hell. And EVERYONE thinks they are RIGHT.

It is not just religions who battle it out between one another - the Christians verses the Hindus verses the Jews - within religions, sects or denominations also seek the exclusive rights to being the only ones who have God's ear.

That being said, Islam is no different with the sects, and I hope I can explain the denominations here in an understandable way.

The vast majority (84 to 90 percent) of all Muslims are Sunni. This is about the same as the percent of religious people in the US who are Christians, to put it in perspective! :-)
Sunni means "tradition" and they emphasize following the traditions and teaching of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the early Muslims who formed the Muslim "church" similar to the early Christian church, who formed the basic principles and practices of Christianity.

Shi'ite muslims make up about 10-16%. They believe that Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law was his successor and that the Muslim community at large should be headed by designated descendents of Muhammad.

Sufis are to Islam what Kaballah is to Judaism or what Charimatic Christianity is to mainstream Christians. They are a little "out there." Generally, most Muslims still view Sufis to be Muslim, but some uber traditional ones don't. Sufis have alot of admiration in my book, however, because they emphasize, more than any other branch, the importance of a personal relationship with God, a personal EXPERIENCE of God, and personal as well as spiritual growth. A number of Sufi orders (much like monastic orders) exist. Historically, Sufism has played an enormous role in Islam - both in literature and in producing scholars and poets. Sufis were more responsible for the spread of the Islamic religion outside of the Arabic world than any other group, and converted people in primarily sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh) and central Asia.

Its interesting to note that although the sects call themselves by different names (and there are a few lesser-known and lesser-associated with Islam sects), they all are unified by the spirit of Islam - to know God, to love God, to submit to God.
Sunnis and Shi'ites alike pray five times a day. The both hold to the Essential Beliefs and the Pillars of Worship... the division is the path to God...and one wonders, if you're headed to the same destination, does it matter so much how you get there?