Sunni, Shia, and Druze: Differences in Beliefs and Leadership

So the question here that I have is, um, what is the difference between Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, and the Druze?

I'll let you take that The fundamental difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslim- And give them the percentages too, so they know ...

There's... Yeah, so I think about 90%, 85% of the world is Sunni Muslim, so the large majority, and most Shiite Muslims exist within Iran and in Iraq.

Those are the two biggest Shiite populations, with the Shiite holy site existing within Iraq called Karbala.

But the biggest fundamental difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims is the difference of belief within the leadership and succession of the prophet.

That's the basest way, or the most basic way I can frame it.

There's other differences, differences in belief of literature and scripture and prophetic traditions, but the easiest way to understand it, Sunni Muslims believe the heir apparent of the prophet or the person who succeeded the prophet was in the correct order in which the prophet wanted it,

and the Shiite Muslims believe that it should have been his cousin who succeeded him right after, his name being Ali, okay? The Sunni Muslims believe it was somebody named Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, and then it was Umar ibn al-Khattab,

then it was Uthman ibn Affan, then it was Ali ibn Abu Talib, whereas the Shias believe it was Ali first.

And there's different Shiites. There's Twelvers.

The Houthis are Zaydi Shiites, so they're a little bit different.

They're actually more closely adjacent to Sunni Muslims.

And then Druze are very weird. A lot of Muslims don't actually consider Druze Muslims.

They're very fringe. Their ideology is actually secretive.

They're not supposed to tell you exactly what they believe.

It's very weird. They, like, believe in different religions and- They would be considered the kafirs, right?

It's very weird. They, like, believe in different religions and- They would be considered the kafirs, right?

Wouldn't they, they... Because Shias are not considered kafirs.

They're not con- They're considered Mos... Um, you could pray with Shias.

Depends, it depends on what Sunni you ask. It depends on what Sunni you ask.

Would it be fair to say- Some Sunnis, like more closely adjacent to Salafiya, like very strict Sunni fundamentalists, like Orthodox ones, they would takfir Shias.

But most Muslims wouldn't try to takfir Shias. I, I don't like to do that either.

Oh, explain to them what ta- takfir is, by the way.

They don't know what the hell that means Oh. Takfir is considering a Muslim an apostate, so excommunicating him from the religion by saying he's a kafir with heart evidence.

Very serious. Very serious accusation. It's a serious matter, yeah, and it's not something you should partake in.

It really, there's, there's no gain to doing it.

Yeah. But- Calling people kafirs and takfiring them, like, yeah, bro, it's like just a very shitty thing to do, and it's like, y- you know, no one's supposed to judge except for God Well, it's not the business of the layman. It's the business of the scholars.

It's not the business of the layman to be doing that anyways.

Yeah. But, you know, when it comes to, you know, Druze, I'm really not even familiar with what they believe, because they don't publicize it on purpose.

That's a part of their belief. Yeah. I, I think most... I would argue probably 90% of the Mus- Yeah ... m- the Muslim world would consider them as, like, like not Muslims at all.

Yes. Yes. No, most, most are not Muslims- I don't even think they pray or anything ... consider Druze to be...

No, they have a completely different religion. Yeah.

Like, here, it says right here, they believe in reincarnation.

Yeah, they're kuffar. That's it. No. If you believe in reincarnation, you're, you're a kafir.

Like, that's very easy. Like, a lot of Muslims consider them a kuffar, so- ... you know, right away. But they're a large group. They're a big population.

Nigga read one sentence. Nigga read one sentence and said, "No, they're kuffar. Fuck that."

Yeah. They, they exist in the multitude within southern Syria, in the region called Suwayda, which actually the Syrian government had a run-in with them in the beginning of their rule, I think in the first summer that they were ruling,

which is why Israel bombed them out of nowhere as a warning strike to play nice with the Druze.

But they exist in Lebanon. There's a lot in Israel.

There's actually a lot in the IDF. And, you know, they're scattered throughout the world, you know.

There's some in Venezuela. There's some in Jordan, Germany.

It's very weird. But they are, like, this very weird esoteric group, and it's hard to actually understand exactly what they believe.

So that's the best way to describe the, the Druze, but it, it's tough to say it.

But yeah, a l- a lot of Druze are not considered Muslims, you know.

I don't have a problem with them, but a lot of Muslims would not consider them to be a part of the religion, and, and they're not within the fold of Islam, like, to be fair. Aren't Druze Jews?

No, they're not Jews, but they're closely affiliated with Jews, and a lot of their practices are similar to Jews, where they're very closed off. They don't invite anybody to the religion.

There's no conversion. They don't marry outside of their faith. So that's the similarity that you'll find.

A lot of them serve in the IDF, so- Oh, yeah, yeah. There's Druze in Israel ... and they're a protected class.

Israel considers them a protected class in southern Syria.

So that's why Jolani has to play very nice with them, even though a lot of Sunni Muslims, in Syria especially, fucking hate them. Yeah.

There's a lot of tension between the two.

A lot of tension