While the majority of the world's Muslims attempt to live in peace with their neighbors, the number of radicals who preach violence and terror is mushrooming around the world. Many of the biblical prophecies concerning the End Times will be brought about by the beliefs and actions of radical Islam. And we are beginning to feel the pressure of those impending events in the rapid spread of Islamic radicalism in our own time.

As we live in the age of signs, it is important to understand the religion of Islam, its people, and its distinctions from Christianity and the God of the Bible. We must be "as wise as serpents and harmless as doves" in the way we think about and respond to the Muslim people in our midst and around the world. We can learn a good deal about the history of Islam and its actions today as we look at two major sects of Islam: the Sunnis and Shi'ites.

When Muhammad died in 632 AD, the Islamic community became bitterly divided over who would be his successor. Many clung to the successor Muhammad appointed while others followed after his son in law who they believed shared his spiritual endowment. Thus, the Sunnis and Shi'ites were formed and continue to breed tension within the Islamic world.