The two main sects of Islam

The Muslim world is divided into two main sects the: Shite and Sunni. Though both follow the same belief, they differ by two points, one is the succession to the Prophet Muhammad, and the other is religious authority in Islam after him. Most of the Muslims belong to the Sunni. The biggest difference between the two is the Caliph of each one.

The Shi'ites split with the Sunni over the issue of the successor to Muhammad. The split occurred after the assassination of the fourth caliph in 661. Shi'ites believe that the successor to Muhammad should have been Ali, his son in law. They believe that they alone are right in their understanding of Islam. They call themselves al-Muminun, or the "true believers."They do not believe in the six correct books but instead have five of their own. Shiites are huge in Iran, where they have deposed the Shah and installed the Ayatollah Khomeini. They have also enforced Islamic law as the rule of the government.

The Islamic religion has many sects and branches. But the largest one is the Sunni. The Sunnis Muslims believe that after Muhammad's death when the confusion ensued from not having a person to head the community, led to the election of Abu Bakr, the Prophet's father-in-law, who became the first Caliph. The Sunni and Shiites did slit but even within the Sunni there is problems. There are some liberal and more secular movements in Sunni Islam that say that Shari'a is interpreted on a basis. They reject any religious edict by religious Muslim authority figures. The Sunni is the dominant form of Islam, captivating over 90% of Muslims worldwide then and today. The Sunni and Shi’a both believe in the oneness of God, the revelations of Mohammad, and resurrection of the day or judgment. But other then that, they totally believe in opposite ways of life. Shi’a believe the leadership of Islam must come from descendants of Mohammad, and grant their spiritual leaders,more power than Sunni sects.

The difference between those both sects is that within Islam initially stemmed not from spiritual differences, but political ones. The word Sunni comes from a Arabic word meaning "one who follows the traditions of the Prophet." The Sunni Muslims focus a lot on the Prophet Muhammad and the Shiites focus less on the Prophet. The word "Shia" in Arabic means a group or supportive party of people. I think that if both sects hadn't split then we may have not been here today. The Sunni Islam is also referred as Sunnism. They represent the branch of Islam that accepted the caliphate of Abu Bakr due to him being chosen by Shurah. Shurah is the first distinguishing factor of Sunni Islam. (Bookrags)

Muhammad died in 632, then Abu Bakr, who was a close companion of the Prophet, became his successor, or caliph. Muslims agree that the most able of the Prophet's followers should be his caliphs. Their followers would come to be known as the orthodox branch of Islam or later on the Sunnis. Sunnis accept the first four Caliphs, which included Ali, who were the rightful followers of Muhammad. But the Shiites believe imams are descendants of the Prophet. This is another way each sect differs from each other. (Source)
Online book: Bookrags: http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Sunni_Islam
Online book/ source:http://middleeast.about.com/od/religionsectarianism/a/me070907sunnis.htm