ما الفرق بين السنة والشيعة؟

The basic difference between Sunnis and Shia concerns the imamate after the Prophet ﷺ: whether it is known by explicit text or by choice and consultation, and who is given precedence. Differences in jurisprudence, history and creed branch from it.

Who leads the community after the Prophet, and how is the basis of legitimacy in the community understood?

The difference between Sunnis and Shia at root concerns the imamate: who leads the community after the Prophet, and by what path legitimacy is established for him. The entry on the Shia and the entry on the Rightly Guided Caliphate present this question in detail. This entry presents the three perspectives as their holders state them: the Sunni view, the view of the Twelver Shia, and then the view of historians. It relates to the best-known event for the Shia, at Ghadir Khumm, and to the best-known event for the Sunnis, at Saqifa. The perspectives are presented to introduce them, not to weigh them against one another. The detailed jurisprudential and theological questions are set out in their own entries.

sunni

The imamate is established by choice and allegiance, and the Rightly Guided Caliphs are Abu Bakr, then Umar, then Uthman, then Ali.

Sunnis hold that the caliphate after the Prophet was established by choice and allegiance (bay'a) to Abu Bakr, then Umar, then Uthman, then Ali. They call the four the Rightly Guided Caliphs, as al-Tahawi states in his creed.

academic

Historians study the disagreement as a political and intellectual conflict, and they differ in their assessment of the evidence for choice and for designation.

Historians study the dispute over the imamate as a struggle over leadership after the Prophet. They note that the reports about choice and designation were written down or collected later, and they differ in weighing the reading of choice against the reading of designation.

shia-twelver

The imamate is a designation by the Prophet of Ali, then of the imams from his descendants, and it is one of the principles of religion for them.

Twelver Shia hold that the Prophet designated Ali as imam after him, and after him imams from the People of the House. They hold that the imamate is a principle of religion, not a branch, as modern Shia authors present their school in their introductions.

The detailed jurisprudential and theological content, and the views of other schools on the imamate, will be added once their sources are available.