Differences of the Sunni and the Shi'i
...uthority over decisions of law. Therefore, even the highest religious and political authorities are bound to the fixed law. However, in Shi’ism, the imam (the ideal of the perfect leader; the divinely guided leader who is placed with great amounts of trust and honor) is responsible for making all decisions for his followers. Unlike Sunni law, the imam is not subject to follow the “scientific” consensus, as he is perceived to be infallible, and thus divinely guided. Thus, Shi’is look to the imam as the dominant source of guidance/ jurisdiction, while the Sunnis follow the ijma, formed by various early Muslim jurist [personal] opinions. It can be argued that Shi’ism is more characteristic of the Prophet’s Sunna as it gave centrality to the Prophet’s family. Moreover, the idea behind ...