Word: sunni
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...country's dominant power broker, has been pressing for political reforms that would ensure a more equitable distribution of influence between Christians and Muslims. Muslims constitute an estimated 55% of the population. By tradition, the President has always been a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim and the Speaker of the National Assembly a Shi'ite. Fearful that Franjieh would give in to Assad's wishes, the pro-Israeli Lebanese Forces, the joint Christian militias led by Samir Geagea, refused to support...
Some Muslim leaders see an invigorating sort of challenge in the highly secular and sometimes hostile American environment. "The freedom of expression in this country is allowing Muslims here to practice in the true sense," says Safi Qureshey, a devout Sunni and successful California businessman. Historian Haddad notes that many immigrants and "sojourners" -- students who come for several years -- are nominal Muslims who arrive knowing little about the faith. The freedoms of American society lead them to reflect on their beliefs, she says, and many return to their homelands as leaders. The U.S. has thus become not only a melting...
Iran is Persian, not Arab. It shares the Moslem religion with the Arabs, but it adheres to the minority Shiite sect that has been at odds with the predominant Sunni branch of Islam for 1300 years...
While they honor Ali, the Sunnis do not venerate their imams as divine intercessors. Sunni imams mainly conduct community prayers. Each Sunni (from sunna, "the tradition of the Prophet") believes he can have a direct relationship with God. While the Sunnis scorn emotional outbursts and engage in private, meditative piety, Shi'ites are more likely to indulge in displays of religious ardor. Indeed, the Sunnis, who consider themselves the orthodoxy, did not accept Shi'ism as a legitimate school of Islam until...
Among some Arab states on the Persian Gulf, the relationship between Sunni rulers and Shi'ite subjects remains volatile. After all, in the eyes of the Shi'ites, any regime not under the rule of the Prophet's true heirs is an abomination. Indeed, Bahrain, which is more than 70% Shi'ite, defused a 1981 coup attempt allegedly inspired by Tehran. Kuwait, which is 24% Shi'ite, has been victimized by a wave of bombings believed to be the work of pro-Iranian terrorists...