
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


I.
Why is there such a strong Sunni/Shia divide?
I know the Comparative Religion 101 answer. The early Muslims were debating who was the rightful caliph. Some of them said Abu Bakr, others said Ali, and the dispute has been going on ever since. On the other hand, that was fourteen hundred years ago, both candidates are long dead, and there's no more caliphate. You'd think maybe they'd let the matter rest.
Sure, the two groups have slightly different hadith and schools of jurisprudence, but how many Muslims even know which school of jurisprudence they're supposed to be following? It seems like a pretty minor thing to have centuries of animus over.
And so we return again to Robbers' Cave:
By Jeremiah4.8
129129 ratings
I.
Why is there such a strong Sunni/Shia divide?
I know the Comparative Religion 101 answer. The early Muslims were debating who was the rightful caliph. Some of them said Abu Bakr, others said Ali, and the dispute has been going on ever since. On the other hand, that was fourteen hundred years ago, both candidates are long dead, and there's no more caliphate. You'd think maybe they'd let the matter rest.
Sure, the two groups have slightly different hadith and schools of jurisprudence, but how many Muslims even know which school of jurisprudence they're supposed to be following? It seems like a pretty minor thing to have centuries of animus over.
And so we return again to Robbers' Cave:

32,317 Listeners

2,111 Listeners

2,672 Listeners

26,351 Listeners

4,280 Listeners

2,458 Listeners

2,279 Listeners

906 Listeners

293 Listeners

4,200 Listeners

1,621 Listeners

309 Listeners

3,833 Listeners

534 Listeners

637 Listeners