In Pakistan — second only to Indonesia in the number of Muslims who live there — competing versions of Islam are at play, said John Voll, professor at the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.<\/p>\n
Most Westerners regard tensions within Islam as a struggle between its two largest branches: Sunnis, who constitute a significant majority of Muslims in Pakistan and worldwide, and Shiites, a distinct minority in most Muslim nations except for Iran and Iraq.<\/p>\n
But Voll said the developing fissure is “much more between political-elite, stability-oriented Sunni Muslims and the radical extremists” who are also Sunnis.<\/p>\n
A visiting professor at the Georgetown center, Shireen Hunter, said Sunnis are targeting minority Shiites, but the indiscriminate nature of suicide bombings means members of both branches get killed.<\/p>\n