By John R Bradley
The bitter, bloody feud between the two
branches of Islam, the Sunnis and the Shi’ites, has gone on for centuries
and now this vicious sectarian strife is exploding again in Bahrain,
threatening to cause an even greater conflict in the Middle East between
Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The implications of the worsening
hostility for the world are nightmarish, for the entire region could soon
be gripped by turmoil, bloodshed and economic meltdown. What was naively
seen a few weeks ago as a fight between freedom and autocracy could
descend into an epic clash between two Muslim ideologies, the savagery
made all the worse by their long history of enmity.
The roots of the hostility between Sunni
and Shia lie not in profound theological differences, but in the political
intrigues that took place in the Muslim world in the 7th Century. When the
Prophet Mohamed died in AD 632, the question of the succession to his
leadership was dominated by family rivalries and disputes.
Essentially, there were four candidates
to succeed as ‘caliph’, or leader, and one group in particular, which went
on to form the Shi’ites, strongly favoured the claims of Ali, the grandson
of Mohamed. Even the name, Shi’ite, derives from ‘party of Ali’. But three
times in succession, Ali was passed over as each of the other candidates
was chosen before him.
The opposition to Ali deepened the sense
of anger among his supporters. Eventually, in this climate of tribal
factionalism, Ali became the fourth caliph, though the indignation of his
followers was provoked when he was then brutally assassinated.
The tribal feuding in the post-Mohamed
era reached its climax at the Battle of Karbala in AD 680. This is really
the key moment in the creation of the Shi’ite movement, the point at which
the fissure was permanently established.
At the battle, Ali’s grandson, Hussein,
was killed and, in the aftermath of his death, he came to be regarded by
the Shi’ites as a martyr. The split between the Shi’ites and the opposing
faction which took on the name Sunni, or ‘tradition’, has existed ever
since that battle, causing endless sectarian trouble across the Middle
East and the Arab world.The division
soon acquired the trappings of theology. In turn, this has worsened the
bigotry and hatred.
For example, fundamentalist Sunnis
regard the Shi’ites as heretical because they say the worship of Ali and
Hussein contradicts the Muslim belief that Mohamed was the last Prophet.
However, most Shi’ites would dispute this, arguing that they revere Ali
and Hussein, but do not worship them like they do Mohamed.
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