Sunni – Shi’a Strife

The complexities between Sunni and Shi’a Islam date back to the assassination in 661 CE of the fourth Caliph Ali, son-in-law and cousin to Mohammed.[1] From its inception to the present day, Islamic expansion has not been a comfortable experience. Fraught with dissension among the various Arab tribes conversion to Islam continued through violent jihad, assassinations, and extreme takeovers. So it should come as no surprise that this latest terrorist ‘gang’ as so aptly named by the UAE’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdulla bin Zayed al Nahyan, is expanding its agenda through the most severe acts of brutality.[2]

This of course frightens the global community, as we have seen how ISIS [Da’ish] prefers to achieve its goals – through vicious murders, annihilation of all groups who thwart their ‘laws’, and other forms of torture. ISIS [Da’ish] was created in 2003 by a radicalized high school dropout named al-Zarqawi, whose goal was to create a new Sunni Muslim Caliphate across the Islamic world. Though subsequently killed in a US airstrike in Iraq, his successor Abu Ayyub al-Masri – also killed in a raid on his house in Iraq in 2010, was replaced by a man calling himself Abu Bakr al–Bahgdadi. This organization, almost brought to extinction but revived dramatically since the Syrian civil war through brainwashing, terror, and fanaticism has an agenda for which its followers, male and female, are prepared to die. But not until the very recent atrocities affecting the West has their organization been brought to general worldwide attention, although known in political and military circles. I was first made aware of this organization by my Egyptian friends, who watched ISIS [Da’ish] come into being with much trepidation.

We know from the news this is one of the most horrific terrorist organizations to date, outdoing Al Qaeda in its quest for supremacy so much so that the Iraqi branch of Al Qaeda rejects ISIS [Da’ish]. Its goal is to establish an Islamic State eventually incorporating all Middle Eastern – Muslim – countries in which all must submit to the principles of Sunni Islam as set down and interpreted by ISIS [Da’ish]. Some members of this organization even go so far as to suggest that all humanity must acquiesce to its rule. This is a vision for many thrusting back to the earliest Caliphates of the 7^th century CE, a romanticized vision of a globalized Islamic Caliphate. This romantic aura lures young, radicalized Muslim men and women to the cause, the establishment of this Islamic Caliphate.

See the next instalment for the first in a series on the early Arab world and the various phases which led to the first Caliphates with ensuing centuries of rivalry, blood feuds, and theological disparities splitting Muslims into Sunni and Shi’a.

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[1] All dates are given in Western [Gregorian] calendar. Dates in Islamic calendar [AH] begin in 622 CE – the date of Mohammed’s emigration from Mecca to Medina – known as the Hejira.

[2] This is not to say that most Muslims follow their faith through the tenets initially laid down by the prophet Mohammed in the 5 Pillars of Islam. To these sincere worshipers the violence is a travesty and scourge on their faith.