[TML] China Regulates Buddhist Reincarnation

[Jeff Zeitlin]

On Sat, 25 Aug 2007 10:02:48 +1200, Rupert Boleyn <rboleyn at ihug.co.nz>
wrote:

>shadow at shadowgard.com wrote:

>> Well, forget Islam, one of the tenets of the faith is that Mohammed 
>> was the *last* (ie final) Prophet. Which is one of the reasons that 
>> being Baha'i carries the death penalty in some Islamic countries.

>As I recall, one of the issues between Sunni and Shi'ite is whether this 
>is true or not.

No, the core of the dispute was the succession to Muhammad as Caliph.
Sunni Moslems accept that the succession runs through Abu Bakr, who was
selected by shura (consultation/council); Shi'ite Moslems accept that
the true source of guidance runs in Muhammad's family, through his
cousin Ali, and that the first three Caliphates were not sources of
guidance in the faith, but merely historical events.

It is not in dispute among the various sects of Islam that Muhammad was
the final prophet, the 'seal' of prophesy.