Sunni Shia's and sufi's- what's the difference

[Sarahsmith]

Ethically, practically and historically. How are these groups different? As i find this matter to be very confusing x

[my_real_name]

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful…

I’m sure Hadj would do a much better job of answering this, but in case he doesn’t stop by, here’s the little i know about Moslem sects.

Suni’s and Shiites differ first on which descent from Muhammed has authority – since he had no male children. One line of descent follows through his daughter Fatima and her husband. The other doesn’t.

Second, Sunni’s have a tradition apart from the Koran which helps in interpretation, and Shiites are “sola scriptura”. Kind of like Catholics and Protestants in Christianity.

Now then, Sufi’s are a mystic tradition in Islam which sees belief in God as central to all religious traditions. Some have no problem calling members of other religions “sufis” in a spiritual sense. The dervish Rumi was most probably Sufi.

And that’s about all i know. And i started with the invocation i did because it appears at the top of many Medieval Islamic works of philosophy.

Pace et bene,
un chevalier mal fet