"Arab civilization - that sounds like a good idea"

[Blue3]

There are real differences between Sunni and Shia today. If we are going to compare it to the Christian divisions: the Sunni are theologically and organizationally more like the Orthodox or Protestant, while the Shia are more like the Catholic. Despite the Sunni coming before the Shia in chronology, while it was the other way around in Christianity. Sunni also believe in the sunnah, which are traditions about Mohammed which are not in the Quran, which the Sunni observe but Shia reject. Shia are also much more into fate and destiny, and more emphasis on prophecies and Mohammed's bloodline. I'm doing a really poor job of this, it's been a while since I spoke to my Egyptian friend about this, but the point I'm trying to make us that there are still a bunch if medium and small sized differences but no single huge monumental difference. They split a while ago, so they have different cultures and evolved differently.