You may be trying to know the difference between Sunni and Shia Islam. Go through this publication from NYT. It is very informative.

How Do Sunni and Shia Islam Differ?
Sunnis and Shiites praying together on Sunday in Beirut, Lebanon, in protest of the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
HASSAN AMMAR / ASSOCIATED PRESS
By JOHN HARNEY
JANUARY 3, 2016
Saudi Arabia ’s execution of the Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr could escalate tensions in the Muslim world even further. In the Shiite theocracy Iran, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia, which is ruled by a Sunni monarchy, would face “divine vengeance” for the killing of the outspoken cleric, which was part of a mass execution of 47 men. Sheikh Nimr had advocated for greater political rights for Shiites in Saudi Arabia and surrounding countries. Saudi Arabia had accused him of inciting violence against the state.
Here is a primer on the basic differences between Sunni and Shia Islam.
What caused the split?
A schism emerged after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632, and disputes arose over who should shepherd the new and rapidly growing faith.
Some believed that a new leader should be chosen by consensus; others thought that only the prophet’s descendants should become caliph. The title passed to a trusted aide, Abu Bakr, though some thought it should have gone to Ali, the prophet’s cousin and son-in-law. Ali eventually did become caliph after Abu Bakr’s two successors were assassinated.
After Ali also was assassinated, with a poison-laced sword at the mosque in Kufa, in what is now
Iraq, his sons Hasan and then Hussein claimed the title. But Hussein and many of his relatives were massacred in Karbala, Iraq, in 680. His martyrdom became a central tenet to those who believed that Ali should have succeeded the prophet. (It is mourned every year during the month of Muharram.) The followers became known as Shiites, a contraction of the phrase Shiat Ali, or followers of Ali.
The Sunnis, however, regard the first three caliphs before Ali as rightly guided and themselves as the true adherents to the Sunnah, or the prophet’s tradition. Sunni rulers embarked on sweeping conquests that extended the caliphate into North Africa and Europe. The last caliphate ended with the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.
How do their beliefs differ?
The Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam encompass a wide spectrum of doctrine, opinion and schools of thought. The branches are in agreement on many aspects of Islam, but there are considerable disagreements within each. Both branches include worshipers who run the gamut from secular to fundamentalist. Shiites consider Ali and the leaders who came after him as imams. Most believe in a line of 12 imams, the last of whom, a boy, is believed to have vanished in the ninth century in Iraq after his father was murdered. Shiites known as Twelvers anticipate his return as the Mahdi, or Messiah. Because of the different paths the two sects took, Sunnis emphasize God’s power in the material world, sometimes including the public and political realm, while Shiites value in martyrdom and sacrifice.
Which sect is larger, and where is each concentrated?
More than 85 percent of the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims are Sunni. They live across the Arab world, as well as in countries like Turkey, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia. Iran, Iraq and Bahrain are largely Shiite. The Saudi royal family, which practices an austere and conservative strand of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism, controls Islam’s holiest shrines, Mecca and Medina. Karbala, Kufa and Najaf in Iraq are revered shrines for the Shiites.
Saudi Arabia and Iran, the dominant Sunni and Shiite powers in the Middle East, often take opposing sides in regional conflicts. In Yemen, Shiite rebels from the north, the Houthis, overthrew a Sunni-dominated government, leading to an invasion by a Saudi-led coalition. In Syria, which has a Sunni majority, the Alawite Shiite sect of President Bashar al-Assad , which has long dominated the government, clings to power amid a bloody civil war. And in Iraq, bitter resentments between the Shiite-led government and Sunni communities have contributed to victories by the Islamic State.

mobile.nytimes.com/2016/01/04/world/middleeast/q-and-a-how-do-sunni-and-shia-islam-differ.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&referer=

Learnt never knew

Mskrisx:
Learnt never knew

There are other groups two but those two are more popular.

Tallesty1:
There are other groups two but those two are more popular.

Never knew the Muslims were in partitions as the Christian faith. Thanks would Google to read up the rest.

This is educative! Many thanks for sharing this. Am a Christian but enjoyed reading it. Maybe cos I studied History.

all that matters is that they profes one religion and claim to serve one God.

You see assassinations, mistrust and violence are ingrained in Islam as a "religion".

SirBrightoc:
[s]You may be trying to know the difference between Sunni and Shia Islam. Go through this publication from NYT. It is very informative.

How Do Sunni and Shia Islam Differ?
Sunnis and Shiites praying together on Sunday in Beirut, Lebanon, in protest of the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
HASSAN AMMAR / ASSOCIATED PRESS
By JOHN HARNEY
JANUARY 3, 2016
Saudi Arabia ’s execution of the Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr could escalate tensions in the Muslim world even further. In the Shiite theocracy Iran, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia, which is ruled by a Sunni monarchy, would face “divine vengeance” for the killing of the outspoken cleric, which was part of a mass execution of 47 men. Sheikh Nimr had advocated for greater political rights for Shiites in Saudi Arabia and surrounding countries. Saudi Arabia had accused him of inciting violence against the state.
Here is a primer on the basic differences between Sunni and Shia Islam.
What caused the split?
A schism emerged after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632, and disputes arose over who should shepherd the new and rapidly growing faith.
Some believed that a new leader should be chosen by consensus; others thought that only the prophet’s descendants should become caliph. The title passed to a trusted aide, Abu Bakr, though some thought it should have gone to Ali, the prophet’s cousin and son-in-law. Ali eventually did become caliph after Abu Bakr’s two successors were assassinated.
After Ali also was assassinated, with a poison-laced sword at the mosque in Kufa, in what is now
Iraq, his sons Hasan and then Hussein claimed the title. But Hussein and many of his relatives were massacred in Karbala, Iraq, in 680. His martyrdom became a central tenet to those who believed that Ali should have succeeded the prophet. (It is mourned every year during the month of Muharram.) The followers became known as Shiites, a contraction of the phrase Shiat Ali, or followers of Ali.
The Sunnis, however, regard the first three caliphs before Ali as rightly guided and themselves as the true adherents to the Sunnah, or the prophet’s tradition. Sunni rulers embarked on sweeping conquests that extended the caliphate into North Africa and Europe. The last caliphate ended with the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.
How do their beliefs differ?
The Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam encompass a wide spectrum of doctrine, opinion and schools of thought. The branches are in agreement on many aspects of Islam, but there are considerable disagreements within each. Both branches include worshipers who run the gamut from secular to fundamentalist. Shiites consider Ali and the leaders who came after him as imams. Most believe in a line of 12 imams, the last of whom, a boy, is believed to have vanished in the ninth century in Iraq after his father was murdered. Shiites known as Twelvers anticipate his return as the Mahdi, or Messiah. Because of the different paths the two sects took, Sunnis emphasize God’s power in the material world, sometimes including the public and political realm, while Shiites value in martyrdom and sacrifice.
Which sect is larger, and where is each concentrated?
More than 85 percent of the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims are Sunni. They live across the Arab world, as well as in countries like Turkey, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia. Iran, Iraq and Bahrain are largely Shiite. The Saudi royal family, which practices an austere and conservative strand of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism, controls Islam’s holiest shrines, Mecca and Medina. Karbala, Kufa and Najaf in Iraq are revered shrines for the Shiites.
Saudi Arabia and Iran, the dominant Sunni and Shiite powers in the Middle East, often take opposing sides in regional conflicts. In Yemen, Shiite rebels from the north, the Houthis, overthrew a Sunni-dominated government, leading to an invasion by a Saudi-led coalition. In Syria, which has a Sunni majority, the Alawite Shiite sect of President Bashar al-Assad , which has long dominated the government, clings to power amid a bloody civil war. And in Iraq, bitter resentments between the Shiite-led government and Sunni communities have contributed to victories by the Islamic State.

mobile.nytimes.com/2016/01/04/world/middleeast/q-and-a-how-do-sunni-and-shia-islam-differ.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&referer=[/s]

It is simply politics that is at the centre of Iran and Saudi struggle. There is no sect know as wahabism in Islam, it is a derogatory term used to slant a more conservative form of salafist. But I digress, Saudi and Iran are simply in a struggle for supremacy, unfortunately Arabs and Persians have a long history of I better pass you behavior, this struggle unfortunately has been represented into a religious struggle because the media by its nature enjoys creating dichotomy to simplify issues but to so stupidly reduce the whole issue as to a sectarian problem only shows how willfully ignorant the NY times which call a group of armed men currently occupying a govt. building in Oregon activist. Even Saddam Hussien was supported by Shias during his reign it was only after the foolish moro.n bush occupied Iran did alqaeda the cult of evil entered. Saudi in the 70s supported shias in Yemen against sunnis, so these states care more for interest rather than sect at the end of the day.

'Militia' continues siege of Oregon government building
Critics accuse US authorities of double standards as police adopt wait-and-see approach to armed men in building.

vedaxcool:


It is simply politics that is at the centre of Iran and Saudi struggle. There is no sect know as wahabism in Islam, it is a derogatory term used to slant a more conservative form of salafist. But I digress, Saudi and Iran are simply in a struggle for supremacy, unfortunately Arabs and Persians have a long history of I better pass you behavior, this struggle unfortunately has been represented into a religious struggle because the media by its nature enjoys creating dichotomy to simplify issues but to so stupidly reduce the whole issue as to a sectarian problem only shows how willfully ignorant the NY times which call a group of armed men currently occupying a govt. building in Oregon activist. Even Saddam Hussien was supported by Shias during his reign it was only after the foolish moro.n bush occupied Iran did alqaeda the cult of evil entered. Saudi in the 70s supported shias in Yemen against sunnis, so these states care more for interest rather than sect at the end of the day.

'Militia' continues siege of Oregon government building
Critics accuse US authorities of double standards as police adopt wait-and-see approach to armed men in building.

Beloved,
Comparing your post with what NY Times wrote, the NY Times are not entirely wrong, but you hold your own view.
Simply educative on the two sects.

Mskrisx:
Learnt never knew

For me too, this is very informative.

SirBrightoc:


Beloved,
Comparing your post with what NY Times wrote, the NY Times are not entirely wrong, but you hold your own view.
Simply educative on the two sects.

Read again they elevate political calculation of 2 countries into sectarian differences which is simply not the truth, it is simply pedestrian cacophony of simplifications and exaggeration which attributes wrong causes to certain situation. If one re-read the senile story you would notice the huge gaps left out in order to once again simplify the issue, like those who killed Ali r.a where his own supporters who rebelled against him, but the silly story seeks to make the two groups appear diametrically opposed to each other. But you are free to elevate the article to be a panacea for your ignorance of the topic, but it is necessary know the write up does not give the who picture of the issues being discussed!

urbanmonk:
You see assassinations, mistrust and violence are ingrained in Islam as a "religion".

Unfortunately, this appears to be one of the defining characteristics of Islam.