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Several readers have asked if I would educate them on the reasons why Sunnis and Shiites hate each other as they do… as if I were an authority on Islam.
Conservatives and Republicans don’t hate liberals and Democrats, but liberals and Democrats hate conservatives and Republicans. I understand all that and the reasons for it, but Sunnis and Shiites? That’s another matter entirely.
I have always assumed that Sunnis and Shiites fought and killed each other for approximately the same reason that Irish Protestants and Catholics fought and killed each other… the same reason that there are ten or more different varieties of Baptists—enough, at times, to have three or four Baptist churches at a single highway intersection.
However, since I have always wondered myself about Sunnis and Shiites, and especially since we have troops in harm’s way and Islamic fundamentalists have threatened to kill all of us, I thought I’d take a look to see if I could find some answers that might make sense.
Sunnis constitute the large majority (90 percent) of the 1.4 billion Muslims in the world. They reside primarily in Asia, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, North and East Africa, and more recently, in Western Europe and North America.
The word “Sunni” is derived from the Arabic word “Sunnah,” which means, roughly, “customary practices,” and refers to the oral history and traditions of what the Prophet Muhammad said or did during his lifetime. Sunnis regard themselves, as opposed to Shiites, as the “keepers of the true faith.”
Shiites, a distinct minority in the Muslim world, comprise some 89% of Iran’s population and 60% of the Iraqi population. They are also a majority in Yemen, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain, and there are sizeable Shiite communities along the east coast of Saudi Arabia and in Lebanon. The Lebanese guerilla organization, Hezbollah, is Shiite.
Shiites are descended from Muhammad’s daughter, Fatima, and his son-in-law, Ali. In the years that followed Ali’s assassination in 661 A.D., leadership of Islam was claimed by the Ummayad dynasty, a Sunni sect. Nevertheless, Ali’s followers continued to claim his son, Hussein, the Third Imam, as the rightful heir. After years of bitter dispute, Hussein and his Shia followers migrated north from the Arabian Peninsula into Iraq.
In 680 A.D. Hussein found himself surrounded by Ummayad forces at Karbala, in present day Iraq. With only a handful of supporters to defend him, Hussein and 72 of his men were captured and beheaded, and their women taken captive. The battle was a defining moment in the split between Sunnis and Shiites.
Ashoura, the holiest day of the Muslim calendar, marks the martyrdom of Hussein at Karbala. To this day, Shiites celebrate Ashoura by flagellating themselves with chains and slashing their bodies with swords in grief over Hussein’s death. And they’ve never forgotten who it was that beheaded him.
Sunnis and Shiites lived in relative harmony for nearly a millennium and few challenged the Sunni assumption of superiority. However, with the coming of modern communications and transportation, the drawing of national boundaries, and the establishment of major cities, Sunnis and Shiites were suddenly thrown together in close proximity and memories of old unsettled scores resurfaced.
Many of today’s most militant Islamic terror cells, including the Taliban and al-Qaeda, are members of a fundamentalist Sunni sect called Wahhabi. Since the earliest days, Wahhabis have been particularly hostile toward the Shiites. During the early 19th century, Wahhabis attacked and destroyed Shiite shrines at Mecca, Medina, and Karbala, accusing the Shiites of worshipping idols.
In 2004, a Kuwaiti sheikh, Hamed al-Ali, condemned Shia as “the world’s biggest display of heathens and idolatry,” while the former leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, once said that “the Shiites are a more pernicious enemy than the Americans, and the best strategy for… Sunnis is to ‘strike their religious, military, and other cadres.’ ” The Saudis still maintain official discrimination against Shiites and vilify them in children’s textbooks.
Then, just as I thought I was beginning to gain a little understanding of Islam I stumbled onto a discussion of “The Twelve Imams” and I noted that, between 600 and 900 A.D., ten of Shia’s first twelve Imam’s died of food poisoning. Then I heard of a Wisconsin Muslim who gouged out both of his wife’s eyes because she refused to obey him. Under Sharia law, that is his right. And then we hear of insurgents in Iraq carrying children in the back seat of explosives-packed automobiles so that they can pass through American and Iraqi checkpoints before blowing them up… children and all
So what’s the point of studying any further? How could 21st century Christians and Jews ever make any sense of that?
The original article can be found at http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/
Guest columns do not necessarily reflect the views of Accuracy in Media or its staff.
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22 Comments for Sunnis and Shiites – Why Do They Fight?
A man harming and/or abusing his wife in any way is not under sharia law. otherwise good info about sunni and shia history.
Why don’t they realize that according to the 3 major religions man is created in the image of his Creator and there is no greater insult to the Creator than to try to destroy another human being, whatever his religion.
all info is corrcet except the last line….
where you’re trying to show christians n jews a to be more supreme and advanced..!!
ANYWYS I’M A HINDU BY RELIGION!!!
stil these lines are objectionable-
“So what’s the point of studying any further? How could 21st century Christians and Jews ever make any sense of that?”
I am a shia muslim so let me disagree respectuflly with your Sharia claims about Islam.
Firstly, Sharia ABSOLUTELY doesnt allow you to gouge out your wife’s eyes because she disobeyed you. Thats totally unfair from your side to put it that way. What you have claimed is absolutely and catagoricaly wrong. After all Christians in America used the verses of Bible to justify slavery, and we have among us same kind of thugs who would justify their crimes using Islam. These thugs and murderors such as Zarqawi mentioned above are those who use religion as LICENSE TO KILL or LICENSE TO COMMIT CRIME and then justify their crimes as big as murder of even infant babies, such as Zarqawi did by indiscriminately bombing the Shia civilians in Iraq – let alone those fighting them back – by distorting the Quran and Hadith and twisting the meaning to Quran and Hadith to suit their agenda.
They are baby killers exactly the same as Zionists who massacared Shia babies in Qana – TWICE – in UN compounds. The funny part is these zarqawis kill babies themselves but shout loud and scream bloody murder if someone else does it. HYPOCRITES TO THEIR VERY TOES.
Secondly, like you mentioned above, Sunnis and Shias have lived in peace for centuries, and you are right that what has changed that dynamic is the introduction of an extremely rigid form of Islam from Saudi Arabia called Wahabism aka Salafism, backed by petrodollars. These Wahabis/Salafis consider themselves to be correct and consider everyone else in Islam to be either reverted back to Salafism or to be killed. They are not only against Shia, but also against Sufi, Barelwi and other sunnis as well. They have books where they teach harted against Shia, Sunni, Christians and Jews. Now i am agains the wars and massacares that are happening but i am not going to blame and/or punish an ordinary Christian and/or Jews for the actions of their governaments. This is what Islam teaches me. Justice. But to these people even civilians are fair game.
You are also right, AlQaida/Taliban and not traditional Sunnis they are wahabi/Salafis. A lot of Sunnis also dont consider the Wahabis to be muslims and of course for us Shias -for those who kill us indiscriminately – atleast i dont have any soft spot.
To me there is no difference between Sharon of Israel or Zaraqawi of Jordan. Both are murderors and thugs.
Sunni and Shia are extremely similar in their foundations of faith. Beleiving Allah (Swt) to be the only true God, and Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) to be his messanger but not only messanger the LAST infallable messanger. That is extremely important. Quran being totally error free and book of Allah (Swt). Praying five time, fasting, paying alms to poor, Performing pilgrimage etc.
The major difference is the Sunni jurisprudance is based on Hadith (Actions/Saying of Prophet) observed and documented by the companions of Prophet and Shia is based on Hadith observed and documented by the family of Prophet (peace be upon them all). After the battle of Karbala Sunni and Shia split and then the Ummayads – the victors in Karbala – took over the governament and they hated the Shia to their core. After all they just finished off the greatest threat to their power in Karabal, they had to clean after their crime as well. After Ummayads, Abbasids took over and they were not as hostile to Shia but they also hated the Shia since Shia did not consider their rule to be legitimate, and hence in 1400+ history of Isalm there has been one after other dynasties that hated the Shia to their core, due to Shia not considering their rule to be legit. Even the ottomons were anti shia.
Hope that helps a bit more..!
mr.fawad sayed
what about shia crimes in iraq ?what about killing sunnies in baghdad and mosel etc?what about “ebn el alqami” who helped monoglos to attack Islamic world?
what about shia agents of us in iraq?
what about wikileaks and sistany?who get 200 million to sell iraq?
my english is not good but its good enough to answer you
Mr Hollrah’s writing is a poorly conceived and false most of the way.
- Shia do not “descend” from Fatima, they merely believe that only prophetic bloodline may rule a caliphate
- No where in Islam is it allowed for a husband to gouge out the eyes of his wife
- What “insurgents” have you heard of driving with children in cars set to explode
Over all your perspective is quite blunt, it is demeaning to Muslims and to Islam.
Consider this for Christians and Jews to make sense of- The West have invaded and colonised the Arab world in modern times, sanctioning it economically and violently causing the murder and displacement of literally millions.
Shiites and Sunnis hate each other for the same reason you wrote this article. Politics. Your writing is an example of the steady stream of media that degrades and incites hatred for Muslims allowing foreign policy in the middle east to continue for the conquest of Oil and civilisation at the cost of innocent lives, land and culture.
[...] http://www.aim.org/guest-column/sunnis-and-shiites-why-do-they-fight/ This entry was posted in POLITICS. Bookmark the permalink. ← Fightin side of me LikeBe the first to like this post. [...]
When is that people will understand that there is no God? That all these crazy divine thing was created by a man just like you and me in order to control others.
How come at this point in time humans are still killing each other for what they believe in? How come what is in some one’s mind has to be the truth and others have to follow? I do not get it.
Be and let be. Do good and respect life. Smile. Recycle; be an organ donor. Run, play, sing, adopt a dog. Life is too short. Love harder.
yes, just try to forgive and love each other, forgive and love its the only solutions to your differences. forgive and love, forgive and love. be at peace to your own self and your neighbors. These crazy divine thing maybe true or not but just forgive and love each other and you will see the magic there. malum.
I believe the fight between Sunni’s and Shia’s is based on historical account. I hate people fighting over their ancestral history. History is important to correct one selves but not to ravage the very people.
Their were religions existing even before 2000 years and wars were fought mercilessly all the way. It was only in the last century that population began to multiply – The credit does not goes to religion but to human scientific advancement.
Never could anyone atleast 200 years before must have imagined that they can fly round the globe, shake hands with all types of people, migrate to countries in search of livelihood, watch the world sitting at home and also talk or chat with people from all corners of the world.
I MUST SAY HUMAN CONSCIENCE IS IMPORTANT , FAITH CAN BE A MATTER OF DISCOURSE BUT NEVER A THUMB RULE. I HOPE WE AS CITIZENS OF THE WORLD IN THIS GENERATION ATLEAST WILL OVER POWER AGAINST ALL ODDS AND BE WORTHY OF VISION AS SOUGHT BY ALMIGHTY AND BE THE FRONT RUNNERS FOR PEACE AND BROTHERHOOD.
@ failasof:-
- Anyone whether its Shia/Sunni Or Wahabi killing an innocent human being is going to burn in hell for ever.
_ Who is ebn el alqami? Is this another Wahabi Santa Clause like Ibn e Saba? Why are you living in past? Lets speak about today. What about Sunni Kuwait, Wahabi Saudi Arabia, Sunni Jordan, Sunni Egypt, Sunni Turkey PHYSICALLY and LOGISTICALLY helping US to attack Iraq. The US soldiers didnot appear from thin air, they came from all the surrounding SUNNI countires. They lived there and then drove into Iraq from Sunni/Wahabi countries.
-Sistani sold Iraq for 20 million dollars? You know how much in 2007 Ayotullah Sistani got from Sadaqa and Khums? 2-Billion dollars. You think he needs 20 million dollars?
-You english might not be good brother but you can provide sources for your claims right? Or else these are just your own opinions.
fair and balanced? I think you need to check your scale. You lost me at: Conservatives and Republicans don’t hate Democrats and Liberals. Really?
all the muslim countries governments are corrupt and it is the western governments that are controling them we muslims need the return of an islamic state (kilafa)
Thanks for all the information. I’m not sure why you had to add all the stuff at the end or at the beginning… I mean haven’t we seen Christians also commit atrocities, the Oslo mass murderer, or Timothy McVeigh… I don’t really approve barbarism in any form. That’s why I’d like to see a peaceful exit from Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia.
ssssssssssss
[...] It would be an absolute travesty of Muslim history to call this a Sunni-Shi’a battle. Some writers still do that, either out of lack of in depth understanding, or in a flawed effort to simplify [...]
[...] It would be an absolute travesty of Muslim history to call this a Sunni-Shi’a battle. Somewriters still do that, either out of lack of in depth understanding, or in a flawed effort to simplify [...]
hey i agree what ever you said but the incident of karbala and the way you describe it ..its not just fair………how they treated the house members of prophet S A W is not justified….i mean there were no humanity in umayads and the way they blocked path of hussain A.S and his followers…and the way there women were treated ……..
Let old hates die. Getting revenge is pointless. Because the people you hurt anew then go out for revenge and hurt people you love and friends and family of those do the same. It never ends until one side is dead. And considering how you muslims breed (no offense meant) its not going to stop in this Millennium.
Just stop fighting and focus on something more important like THIS PLANET!!!! Your religion becomes pointless if you have world in which to preach on!
Your religion becomes pointless if you don’t have world in which to preach on!
Grammer error 
I am not a human; I am an alien (to you all) I came here to study humanity. It is my, what you guys call here “thesis” when you do your PhD. I will be here for the duration of my study that is 2 of my years, which is equivalent to about 80 of earth years. You don’t believe me? You think I am nuts? Good, because if you do take me seriously I will be in trouble. Said so, please understand I am looking at you guys “Human Beings” as one species. I mean for example you’d consider “Periplaneta Americana” a species, to me you guys are all just “ Home Sapiens”.
As I am studying you all I can understand certain things more and more, however certain aspect totally gets me. In our species, if we have any kind of social issues, we do a RCA (Root Cause Analysis) and then deal with the root. More and more I see, it seem to me that the mail issue over here is you so called “Religion” that is the core of what you guys call ‘evil”. Yes I know you guys have a tendency to be very scared of anything or anyone that is not “LIKE” you. But I can clearly see you guys are getting better at that. However, when are you all going to understand that there are a bunch of thugs who want to rule over the rest of you – they are the ones who are keeping this “Religion” business alive? I mean what the heck, you guys are not dumb – you yourselves are saying things like have 4 different churches in the same street corner…I mean by now you all should realize that this is just business…rest is fabrication in your mind… is all this killing each other really worth the fairy tales???
Hey, Thanks for writing up this info, I came across it while trying to help a friend of mine with homework. I never would have seen this if it wasn’t for her high school homework, but it’s really opened my eyes to the problem. Thanks for sharing.