Explain the Way Islam Began to Fragment Along Three Separate

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The Answer is Student answers should include the ideological and hereditary origins of the three sects -- Sunni, Shi'ite, and Kharijite -- their basic beliefs, and how they shaped the Islamic community historically. Students should discuss Muhammad's relationship to Ali, the dispute that resulted after his death,and the way in which the martyrdom of Husayn transformed the "Party of Ali" from a political faction into a religious sect. As the specific political dispute receded further into the past, the issue at stake became broader: each sect supported a different conception of what makes spiritual and political authority legitimate, with Shi'ites and Karijites advocating the principle of hereditary succession, and Sunnis taking the view that ancestry is less important in a leader than a demonstrated capacity to seize and hold power effectively. As the caliphate expanded, however, tensions between Shi'ites and Sunnis remained an important political factor, playing a key role for instance in the fall of the Umayyad dynasty and the rise of the Abbasids.

Explain the Way Islam Began to Fragment Along Three Separate

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