Islam - A monotheistic religion?

I am taking an Intro to cultures of Asia class and we just finished Islam and Middle East. So if few of my first blogs are on Islam please don't get offended or jump to any conclusion. Here is the first question and probably will stir a lot of heat but here we go...

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Islam is a monotheistic religion meaning they believe in one and only one God, Allah. However, they are divided into many different sects. There are two main sects Sunnis and Shi'as. Both of these sects are devout follower of Islam. There are some minor differences like Shi'as are more conservative Muslims than Sunnis but one major difference is Sunni believe Abu Bakr while Shi'as say 'Ali Abu Taleb is successor to Prophet Muhammad. There are also other minor more conservative sects like Wahabism, founded by Mohammed Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. If a religion is monotheistic than why are there so many different sects? They all believe in Allah and Prophet then why does who succeeded Prophet matter? Why are caliphs given God like positions? Is Islam really a monotheistic religion?


Please share your prespective, be presice in what you are thinking and don't just leave a vague comment like its good/bad/agree/disagree...etc. etc.

Don't be offended...

Sorry people I don't mean to offend you in any way, shape or form. I am just too curious. I am sure I will raise questions lot of people won't like, so before I begin I ask for your forgiveness if I offend any of you.

Please leave a comment if you agree or disagree with anything. Thank you.