Sunni	Shia (or Shi'ah)
adherents called	Sunnis	Shiites, Shi'i
full name	Ahl al Sunna wa’l jama’a	Shi’a `Ali
percentage of total Muslims	Ca. 85 - 90%	Ca. 10 – 15 %
primary locations	most Muslim majority countries	Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon
subsects	none, but four major schools of Muslim law are recognized	Ithna 'Ashariyah (Twelvers; the largest), Isma'iliyah, Zaydiyah, Alevis, Alawites, Druze, etc
did Muhammad designate a successor?	no	yes
qualifications for ruler	tribe of the Prophet (Quraysh); later, any qualified ruler	family of the Prophet
leadership	Caliph: primarily political office	Imam: primarily religious office / infallibility of imam
Outlook	Pragmatism	idealism
Position of the Qur’an	Preexistent: Uncreated word of God	Created Qur’an
Human agency	Leaning toward determinism / Ash`arite	Leaning toward free will / Mu’tazilite
holy cities	Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem	Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Najaf, Karbala, other cities associated with imams
major holidays	Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Fitr	Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Fitr, Ashura
Pillars	5-6 pillars of Islam	Additional pillars: Jihad / Commanding what is good, prohibiting what is evil / Khums (one-fifth of wealth-income to religious authorities)
Additional practices		Ziyarat (visitation/pilgrimage) to places associated with Imams
temporary marriage (mut'ah)	practiced in the Prophet's time, but now rejected	still practiced