What's the Difference: Shia vs. Sunni

http://www.neatorama.com/ has a concise, non-political explanation of the differences between Shia and Sunni Muslims, and how these differences arose. Check it out, you'll learn something valuable!

"What’s the Difference: Shia vs. Sunni

The Dilemma: Despite hearing news about the Middle East every day, you still don’t know Shia from shinola.

People You Can Impress: Iranians, Iraqis, Syrians, Jordanians, and TV talking heads.

The Quick Trick: The Shia believe that the early succession of power should have gone like the name of a very famous boxer: 1) Muhammad, 2) Ali.

The Explanation: Like Christianity, Islam is home to a spectrum of sects espousing different beliefs and practices. And just as Christianity can be divided into two large groups - Catholic and Protestant - from which other subsects have emerged, so too with Islam: Shia and Sunni.

Unlike Christianity, whose major split wouldn’t occur for nearly sixteen centuries, Islam split almost immediately after the death of its founder, the Prophet Muhammad (circa 570 - 632 CE). The rift stems from a disagreement among Muslims over who was the rightful successor to Muhammad.

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Follow the link to read the rest of the article.

With a dictator (call him what you will, dictator, czar, king, supreme leader, president, whatever) in charge and the Russian military/industrial complex rebounding rapidly, it then takes only the whim of one man to get Russia into this Ezekiel's confederation.

Does that mean it will happen now? No. But it does set the stage for the possible fulfillment of this prophesy in the near future.