Suni vs Shia

Day 15 June 5 – Suni vs Shia

Well I guess I’ll go in chronological order..

I got up at 8am this morning to go and see the big event for the day, moving eggs and fry. It was very much like what I had already done at Desert Springs Tilapia. Lower the water the brood stock are in, catch them in net, separate males and females, and then catch the fry and eggs.
Then we moved the eggs into what looked like a large lemonade jar. The jar is tilted and a water line was put into the jar. This causes the eggs to continually be circulated by the water. The inflowing water continually overflows, but the unhatched eggs do not overflow. The point of putting the eggs in this jar is to separate the hatched eggs and the unhatched eggs. This works because the little fish swim out of the jar while the eggs stay inside.
Then while sitting around watching CNN I asked what the difference between Suni and Shia was. Mohamed told me that Suni are a type of Muslims, a branch, that are more strict than normal Muslims. He said that Shia are also a branch of Muslims but he thought (passionately) that they were wrong. He said Shia do not think The Prophet Mohammad was supposed to be the one god talked to, they think Ali (pronounced ally) should be in that position. Shia do not think Mohammad is the prophet which Is a major point of conflict between them and normal Muslims. Shia think god accidentally sent the message to Mohammed because he was sleeping in Ali’s bed (I think). In Iraq Saddam kept the Shia majority in check with an iron grip, with him gone they are trying to take power. The Shia would then implement their extremely strict version of Islamic law.
I am always amazed when I realize how similar all of the major world religions are. This is the way I see it, and keep in mind I’m no religious expert, feel free to correct me. Jews believe in the Old Testament, Christians Believe in the Old Testament and the New Testament, Muslims believe in the Old Testament, New Testament, and the Koran. The Koran just tells them that Mohammad was the last prophet. The only other differences I can see is the majority of Muslims make their religion a much larger part of their lives and a few other things. For example the women cover their hair and necks, and dress conservatively. Some people see this as oppression of women, which from an outsiders perspective is understandable. Think of it this way, Jewish men wear their little head cover (sorry I forgot the name is it Yamaka?), Muslim women just wear something else to show their devotion. You wouldn’t say Jewish men are oppressed because they wear theirs, why would you saw Muslim women are? (I have never seen anyone forced to wear one, or punished for not wearing one.) Suni and Shia would be much more likely to force women to wear veils than normal Muslims.