Jacoby wrote:
I think Barchan hates me but maybe she can help explain some of the differences between Shia and Sunni Islam
I don't hate you. I don't hate anyone on this site.
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from what I understand the Shia basically have a centralized hierarchical church structure with a religious authority being derived from those that can trace their ancestry back to those that can trace their lineage to the prophet Mohammad and ugh I don't know what to call them other than the crew he rolled with.
Well, not quite. The authority of an ayatollah is based on his education and wisdom, not descent. Ayatollah Khamenei claims to be descended from Muhammad, but that's not a requirement. Every ayatollah is expected to be thoroughly and formally educated at a seminary, and have several published books under his belt.
Very few men alive hold the title of Grand Ayatollah. The most famous of course is Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran. His authority in Shi'a Islam is not absolute however; Ali al-Sistani is also very well-respected and influential for both Iraqi and Iranian Twelvers.
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Whereas Sunni are completely decentralized believe that anybody with knowledge of the Quran can be an imam and basically whoever has the most followers is the most influential. Maybe that's a crude outline outline but I think that's correct so correct me if I am wrong.
Pretty much. Each country has their own council of scholars, there are four different schools of Sunni law, so it's much harder to pinpoint a definitive "leader" in Sunni Islam. Does this make them more open to corruption and internal conflict? Maybe.