LUCKNOW, India (RNS) At Eid al-Adha prayers last week, several hundred Shiite and Sunni Muslims offered joint prayers as a show of peace between two Muslim sects often better known for their bitter conflicts.

The prayer took place in a Shiite shrine but was led by a Sunni imam as part of an initiative by a volunteer group called Shoulder to Shoulder.

“In Uttar Pradesh, sectarian tensions surfaced occasionally between the two sects,” said Arif Durrani, a member of Shoulder to Shoulder. “We came up with this idea of joint Shia-Sunni congregational prayer.”

Around 85 percent of world’s Muslims are Sunni and about 15 percent are Shiite. The groups rarely pray together.

Read more: http://religionnews.com/2016/09/17/in-this-part-of-india-sunnis-and-shiites-show-the-world-a-different-way-to-pray/