The Execution of Sheikh Nimr And Sunni-Shia Feud
26 January 2016By Saeed Qureshi
The execution of prominent Shia clergy Sheikh Nimr Baqr al-Nimr along with
other 46 persons on 2 January 2016 by Saudi government has hyped the centuries
old rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. On 15 October 2014, Al-Nimr was
sentenced to death by the "The Specialized Saudi Criminal Court" for "seeking
foreign meddling' in Saudi Arabia, 'disobeying' its rulers and taking up arms
against the security forces".
Saudi Arabia has snapped diplomatic relations with Iran. Iran in retaliation
has placed a ban on imports from Saudi Arabia. The Gulf States have issued
statements condemning Iran for attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and
interfering in the internal affairs of Arab states.
The latest conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran is a spillover from the
past. The conflict between Arab and non- Arabs or Arabism versus Ajam dates
back to the pre-Islamic eras. The Sassanid empires known as Ajam (non Arabs)
had always subjugated the Arabs. However after the advent of Islam, The Arab
Muslims conquered the whole of Persia and Iraq in 633- 651 AD. The Battle of
Qādisiyyah fought in 636 AD was a decisive military conquest which paved way
for the subsequent Islamic victories completed in 651 CE when the last
Sassanid emperor Yazdghard was killed while fleeing.
In later times Persia or Iran also adopted Islam with majority professing Shia
brand of Islam.
In the post-Islamic era, the main cause of rivalry is not only ethnic and
regional but also religious. The Iranians profess the Shia branch of Islam
while most of the Arab countries particularly Saudi Arabia are strict Sunnis.
The cardinal dispute between Sunnis and Shias arose over the succession of
Prophet Muhammad (saw).
The prophet did not nominate a successor during his lifetime. The first three
successors or caliphs were not from Banu Hashim: the clan of Prophet Muhammad.
The Sunni sects believe that the four successors of Prophet Muhammad or
caliphs were legitimate as they were chosen by the community in accordance
with the custom of those times. Shiite Muslims believe that the true
leadership comes through the Prophet's bloodline and Allah and his prophet had
clearly designated prophet's cousin and son in law Ali-ibne-Abi-Talib as the
only legitimate successor. They profess that the first three caliphs usurped
the divinely ordained right of Hazrat Ali to be the Imam or the caliph after
the demise of the founder of Islam Prophet of Muhammad.
Although there are several scores of sects and denominations within the fold
of Islam, the level of animosity and bitterness that exists between the two
leading sects of Sunnis and Shias is horrendous. There is no way that their
doctrinal rift can be healed and reconciled.
With the exception of a few common beliefs and traditions, Shias and Sunnis
differ on a whole range of beliefs with regard to Sharia laws encompassing
both juridical (criminal and civil) and ecclesiastical. The Shia and Sunni
division in Islam is so drastic and hard that they do not pray together in one
place. Shias do not pay Islamic tax Zakat while in Islam it is considered to
be one of the five principle obligations. The Shias believe in a lineage of
twelve divine imams or spiritual leaders.
The murder of the third caliph Hazrat Usman was followed by a chaotic civil
war period in which Ali fought first with prophet's wife Hazrat Aisha and
second time with Amir Muawiyya the Ommyad governor in Syria. In an arbitration
held to decide as to who should be the caliph, Ali lost and Muawiyya won.
Thereafter the conflict between Sunnis and Shias accelerated. Hazrat Ali died
on 29 January AD 661 following an attack no his life two days earlier by a
Kharji, Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam in the grand mosque of Kufa.
The Sunni Shia cleavage further sharpened when Imam Hussain the younger son of
Hazrat Ali and his 72 companions were massacred in the desert of Karbala near
Baghdad by Yazid the then Ommyad caliph and son of Amir Muawiyya.
For the last 1500 years Islam has remained split into these two branches with
some common beliefs though mostly irreconcilably divergent. In history the
division of Islam between Sunnis and Shia has witnessed the mutual sack and
pillage, annihilations and massacres by both the groups whenever they got a
chance. One can find a precedent of the Sunni-Shia ideological conflict and
fratricide in the faith based animus between Catholics and Protestants in 15th
century and onwards.
In the past, the Sunni and Shia dynasties have been taking turns for wreaking
havoc upon each other. The Sunni dynasties had been suppressing the Shias in
the Sunni regimes. One such example is that of the Ommyad caliphate from
661-705 AD. Due to oppression and persecution of Ummayd caliphs, the Shia
spiritual leaders or Imams took refuge in Iran which later became the
spiritual center of Shia Muslims. Several Shia Imams are buried in Iran.
Conversely Sunnis have been terribly persecuted during the Shia dynasties in
Egypt, North Africa, Sicily, Spain, Arabian Peninsula, Syria and Iraq, Iran &
Azerbaijan.
The pillage and destruction of Baghdad, the cradle of Muslim civilization for
seven centuries resulted from the ideological animus between the Sunni caliph
Mustaasim and his Shia Prime Minister Mohammad bin Ali Kami. As a result of
that rivalry, out of two million population of Baghdad, 1.5 million were
massacred by the army of Hilaku Khan secretly invited by Ali Kami. The Mongols
hordes burned and razed to the ground all mausoleums, museums, institutions of
learning and research, big buildings, mosques and libraries.. Baghdad was
turned into a ghost city with river Tigris full of books and the human blood
for miles.
Presently in the Middle Eastern Islamic regimes there is always a simmering
tussle, between Sunni and Shia populations. For instance in Bahrain, the
Sunnis are in minority but ruling. Conversely in Syria the Sunnis are in
majority and Shias are in minority but are at the political helm. Same
division and cleavage prevails in Iraq where Shias have a thin majority over
the Sunnis.
In the sectarian vendettas, thousands of Sunnis and Shias have died in
Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere in the Middle East. In
Pakistan the Shia community observes the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the
grandson of the prophet of Islam, in a nerve-racking environment. They enter
their congregational places as if entering a nuclear arsenal. Each and every
person is subjected to body pat down by the security staff posted at the entry
and exit points.
While in the past they killed each other with swords, in the present times
they resort to mutual slaughter by suicide bombing, target killing and bomb
blasts. The Shias are branded as infidels by the majority Sunni sects and
therefore, their murder is justifiable for the latter as if they were killing
a non-Muslim.
The unity of Muslims as one nation would always remain a myth and unattainable
goal. The bridging of the doctrinal and theological chasms between these two
main sects within Islam would always remain a tall order unless the Muslim
clergy of both the sects reconcile on living in harmony despite their mutual
differences of faith and Sharia laws. Would that be possible within an Islamic
state cannot be fathomed.
However, if the Islamic polities turn secular wherein all faiths are allowed
to practice freely without harming each other, this most coveted goal can
become attainable. The example of such religious harmony can be witnessed in
western societies where Muslims with divergent faith including Sunnis and
Shias pray in the same mosques and never fight.
The writer is a senior journalist, former editor of Diplomatic Times and a
former diplomat. This and other articles by the
writer can also be read at his blog www.uprightopinion.com.
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EsinIslam.Com
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