What's the difference between Sunni and Shia Islam?

Greeting Jody,

The differences between the Ahl al-Sunnah (Sunnis) and the Raafidis (shi'ites) are very great and are fundamental. For example, the Raafidis say that the Qur’aan was altered, and they condemn most of the Sahaabah, i.e. Prophets companions (may Allaah be pleased with them) and think that they went astray; they exaggerate about their imaams and worship them, and give them precedence over the Prophets and angels; they go on pilgrimages to mashhads (shrines) and graves, where they do all kinds of actions of shirk, associating others in worship with Allaah. They also believe in hypocrisy (as a tenet of faith) and call it taqiyah (dissimulation), and they believe in al-badaa’(the notion that Allaah “changes His mind”), al-raj’ah (the Return, i.e., the raising of the dead to life again for some time in the same form as they were before) and absolute infallibility of their imaams, and in prostrating on a handful of clay…

http://islamqa.info/en/ref/4569




Between these two groups are others which vary in their degree of closeness to good and evil. The Ismailis are an extreme Raafidi (shi'ite) group who make an outward display of loyalty to Ameer al-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him) whilst concealing disbelief in Allaah, His angels, His Books and His Messengers. Hence some of the scholars said concerning the Faatimis, who were same as the Ismailis, that they make an outward display of being Raafidis, but they conceal in their hearts pure kufr (disbelief). They are also called Baatinis because they claim that the texts and laws have hidden (baatin) meanings other than those which are known to the Muslims. For example, they say that the five prayers refer to the knowledge of their secrets, the fast of Ramadaan is the concealment of their secrets, and Hajj is travelling to meet their shaykhs. But the baatini school of thought – which includes the Ismailis – is based on secrecy.
http://islamqa.info/en/ref/7974


Hope that helps insha Allah