Iran is SHIITE Muslim. The SHIITE hate the SUNNI. That goes back too way back when. I wanna say 600AD. Most of the Middle East is SUNNI. Saudi Arabia is SUNNI. The majority of Iraq was and is SHIITE. However, Sadam Hussein was SUNNI. Al Quieda was SUNNI. Isis was SUNNI. Hamas is SUNNI. Osama Bin Laden was SUNNI. The only time the SHIITE and SUNNI unite is because when they all HATE the same 'Devil' they work together.
This is what is not and has not been explained to the average voter before we get into any situation in the Middle East. They hate each other LESS than they hate US. The Tribes that handed General Custer his ass didn't like each other. After they got done with Custer they went their separate ways.
Now, Iran is shooting missiles at every Arab country in site. They are trying to drain out missiles. Their stuff costs 150K each. Our stuff costs 1.5 Million.
The Sunni-Shia Divide: Understanding the 1,400-Year-Old Schism That Shapes the Middle East
Before the American people can be expected to support military engagements or diplomatic commitments in the Middle East, they deserve to understand the fundamental religious and historical dynamics that drive the region's conflicts. Yet this basic education is almost never provided by our political leaders or mainstream media. Voters are told that we must confront Iran, or support certain factions in Iraq, or navigate the complexities of the Syrian civil war, without ever being given the essential context that makes these conflicts intelligible.
A recent social media post cuts through this fog with characteristic bluntness: "This is what is not and has not been explained to the average voter before we get into any situation in the Middle East." The post proceeds to outline the Sunni-Shia divide, its origins in the seventh century, and its modern geopolitical manifestations. It is a primer that every American should have before forming opinions about Middle East policy. Here, then, is that explanation.
The Origin: A Succession Crisis in 632 AD
The split between Sunni and Shia Muslims dates to the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 AD . The question was simple: who should lead the Muslim community after the Prophet's passing? But the answer would divide Islam permanently.
The majority of Muslims believed that the leader should be chosen by consensus among the community's elders. They selected Abu Bakr, a close companion of the Prophet and father of his favorite wife, Aisha, as the first caliph. This group would come to be known as Sunnis, from "Ahl al-Sunnah," meaning "people of the prophetic tradition".
A minority believed that leadership should remain within the Prophet's family, specifically through his cousin and son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib, who was married to the Prophet's daughter Fatima . They argued that the Prophet had designated Ali as his successor. This group became known as Shia, short for "Shiat Ali," meaning "partisans of Ali".
The political dispute soon became a bloody one. Ali eventually became the fourth caliph, but his rule was contested. He was assassinated in 661 AD. His son, Hussein, led a rebellion against the Umayyad caliphate and was killed along with his small band of followers at the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq in 680 AD . This martyrdom became the central tragedy of Shia Islam, commemorated annually in the ritual of Ashura, during which some Shia flagellate themselves in mourning for Hussein's death.
Theological and Practical Differences
Over the centuries, theological and legal differences developed between the two branches. Sunnis, who comprise approximately 85-90% of the world's Muslims, emphasize the authority of the Quran and the Sunnah (the traditions of the Prophet) as interpreted through scholarly consensus . They developed four main schools of legal thought: Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali .
Shia Islam, with about 10-15% of Muslims worldwide, developed its own legal traditions and a distinct concept of religious authority. Twelver Shiism, the largest Shia branch, believes in a line of twelve imams descended from Ali, the last of whom is believed to be in occultation and will return as a messianic figure . This has historically given Shia Islam a more hierarchical religious structure, with clerics wielding greater authority than in most Sunni traditions.
Despite these differences, both branches share the fundamental tenets of Islam: belief in one God, the prophethood of Muhammad, the Quran as divine revelation, and the Five Pillars of Islamic practice . Sunni and Shia pilgrims have coexisted for centuries and continue to rub shoulders during the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca .
The Modern Geopolitical Map
The social media post correctly identifies the modern distribution of these sects, a distribution with profound geopolitical implications.
Iran is the world's largest Shia-majority country, with approximately 90-95% of its population adhering to Shia Islam . Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has positioned itself as the leader of the Shia world, exporting its revolutionary ideology and supporting Shia movements across the region.
Most of the Middle East is Sunni-majority. Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and site of its holiest cities, Mecca and Medina, is approximately 85-90% Sunni . The dominant Saudi religious establishment adheres to a particularly austere and conservative interpretation of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism or Salafism, which has historically been hostile to Shia Islam and has influenced Sunni jihadist movements worldwide.
Iraq presents a more complex picture. The country is majority Shia, approximately 60-65% of the population, with Sunnis comprising 15-20% and Kurds most of the remainder . Yet under Saddam Hussein, a Sunni from the Tikrit region, Iraq was ruled by a Sunni elite that systematically suppressed the Shia majority . The 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam reversed this power dynamic, empowering Shia parties with close ties to Iran—a development that has fueled Sunni resentment and ongoing instability .
The Sunni Jihadist Phenomenon
The post correctly notes that virtually every major jihadist terrorist organization is Sunni. This is not coincidental. Al-Qaeda, founded by Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Sunni, grew out of the Sunni Arab mujahideen network that fought the Soviets in Afghanistan . ISIS emerged from Al-Qaeda in Iraq, drawing on Sunni Arab resentment of Shia-dominated government in Baghdad . Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, is an offshoot of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood and its charter explicitly invokes jihad against Israel as a religious duty . The Taliban, which now rules Afghanistan, is a Sunni movement .
These groups, particularly those influenced by the Wahhabi/Salafi tradition, often denigrate Shia Muslims as apostates or heretics . This theological hostility fuels sectarian violence in countries like Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, and Yemen.
The Enemy of My Enemy
The post's most insightful observation concerns the relationship between these two rival branches: "The only time the SHIITE and SUNNI unite is because when they all HATE the same 'Devil' they work together." This is a profound truth about Middle Eastern politics.
The post draws a brilliant analogy to the Plains Indian tribes that defeated Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho were not allies in any permanent sense; they often fought each other. But they united against a common enemy, and after that enemy was defeated, they went their separate ways. This is precisely how Sunni and Shia Islamist groups operate.
Consider Yemen, where the Shia Houthi movement and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula are sworn ideological enemies. Yet as the Hoover Institution notes, despite their official hostility, no evidence of conflict between them has appeared in about three years . Both are focused on fighting the common enemy: the United States and its allies.
Consider also recent developments in Iran, where Sunni clerics have joined their Shia counterparts in publicly backing the Islamic Republic against Western pressure . When faced with external threats, sectarian divisions can be temporarily set aside.
The Practical Takeaway for American Voters
The post concludes with a pointed observation about the current conflict between Iran and its Arab neighbors. Iran has been launching missiles at various targets, and the cost differential is staggering: Iranian missiles cost approximately $150,000 each, while American defensive systems cost $1.5 million or more [citation:original post].
This is not merely an economic observation; it is a strategic one. Iran can afford to fire missiles at a ratio of ten to one and still come out ahead financially. They can "drain out missiles" in a way that the United States cannot easily counter without bankrupting itself or escalating to levels of force that would invite wider war.
The broader lesson for American voters is that we cannot understand Middle Eastern conflicts—or make wise decisions about American involvement in them—without understanding the religious and historical forces at work. The Sunni-Shia divide is not a relic of the seventh century; it is a living reality that shapes alliances, enmities, and strategies today.
As the post puts it: "They hate each other LESS than they hate US." This is not comforting, but it is clarifying. It means that whatever temporary alliances we may form with one faction against another, those alliances are transactional and temporary. It means that the various Islamist groups, Sunni and Shia, share a deeper hostility to the West that can reassert itself at any time.
Conclusion
The 1,400-year-old schism between Sunni and Shia Islam is not merely an academic curiosity. It is the fault line along which the Middle East continues to fracture. Iran, the leading Shia power, faces off against Sunni-majority states led by Saudi Arabia. Iraq struggles to balance its Shia majority with its Sunni and Kurdish minorities. Terrorist groups from Al-Qaeda to ISIS to Hamas draw on Sunni extremism and target Shia "apostates" alongside Western "infidels."
Americans deserve to understand this before they are asked to support interventions, alliances, or wars in the region. The social media post that prompted this article provides, in a few hundred words, more useful context than most voters ever receive from official sources. It is a reminder that in foreign policy, as in so much else, an informed citizenry is the first line of defense against costly and unnecessary entanglements.
Understanding the Sunni-Shia divide will not make Middle Eastern politics simple—nothing can do that. But it can make them intelligible. And that is the essential first step toward wise decision-making in a region where the United States has vital interests but also profound limitations.
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