It struck me as one of the most interesting things I've ever read about in last month';s Time Magazine...
The starke difference between Shiites and Sunnis.
Let's go across some different obvious distinctions:
Sunni
Shi’ite
Names
Abu Bakr, Omar, Dulaiami, Samarrai, Bakri, and Thuman
Abdel-Hussein, Abdel Zahra, Sa’aedi, Moussawi, and Rubaie.
1) One arm folded over the other below the rib-cage.
2) Touch head onto ground
3) 5 prayers (strictly 5 separate prayers)
4) Mosques call upon Allah and the Prophet Muhammed
5) Flagellation not accepted.
6) Only pays “zakat” (small portion of money)
Prayer
1) Both arms down at sides.
2) Touch head on small “turba” tablet (made from Najaf).
3) 5 prayers (allowing 2 double-prayers).
4) Mosques call upon Allah, the Prophet Muhammed, and additionally Ali (Muhammed’s son-in-law).
5) Flagelation accepted on Ashura (remembers murder of Ali’s son Hussein).
6) Must pay “khums” (1/5th income) and “zakat” (small portion of money)
Mosques
1) Have domes and “minarets”
2) No portraits in mosque (seen as idolatry).
3) Clerics wear only white headgear.
1) “Husseiniyas”: combines functions of community center and mosque (doesn’t always have dome)
2) Decorated with green and black flags, along with portraits of Ali and Hussein.
3) Clerics often wear black, white, and green headgear.
Homes
1) Calligraphy (Quotes from Qu’ran) hung on walls.
2) Decorates with white flags shortly after “hajj” (pilgrimage to Mecca)
1) Portraits of Ali hung on wall.
2) Colorful flags on roof after “hajj”.
Cars
Decorates car interior with “Alek” (religious strip of green cloth) and pictures of Imam Ali.
Accents and Dialects
“Patois” of Anbar Province.
Uses pronounced southern accent.
