Understanding Islam: The Sunni-Shi'a Split

If you examine history, you will come to the conclusion that there was about as much violence practiced in the name of Christianity as there has been in the name of Islam. Although in large part, today, Islam takes center stage when it comes to violence in the name of religion.

We westerners don’t have a very solid grasp of why this is. Case in point: a recently released book entitled The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades recites all manner of innuendo about Muhammad being a whoremonger and a pathological murderer. (I admit I have not read the book, rather I have only read a such statements regarding its contents from a web site that is marketing the book.) The book makes the blanket claim that Islam is pure and simple a religion of violence.

A friend of mine who is a Shi’a Muslim explained to me why there may be some reason for westerners to become confused on this concept, especially because the insurgents trying to destroy Iraq are of the Sunni persuasion while the reactionary government of Iran ascribes to Shi’a.

In the early days of Islam, the pace of conversion to Islam began to increase in and around the city of Mecca, in present-day Saudi Arabia. Islam was an affront to the religious views of many of the area tribes, who practiced a form of polytheism that could likely be termed idolatry, treated women with blatant disrespect, practiced blood feud wherein they enacted and endured a horrendous cycle of revenge against and from other tribes, and killed their baby daughters when such were deemed inconvenient. Islam inveighed against all of these things.

<>One of the larger tribes of Mecca was the Quraysh. The Quraysh began a systematic persecution of newly converted Muslims, which evolved into frequent murder of Islamic adherents. In a case of self-defense, Muhammad organized an army and went against the tribe of Quraysh, bringing the problem under control, and allowing all individuals to worship God as they chose. Muhammad revealed the name of the one true God to be Allah.

<>Following the death of Muhammad, Abu Bakr, Umar, and then Uthman came to power as caliphs (secular rulers). During their reigns, the three caliphs adulterated Muhammad’s teachings, spreading the belief that it was appropriate to spread Islam with the sword. This they did rather effectively, as in many cases those people being conquered found it in their best interest to choose Islam rather than being killed.

<>Ali, who was Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, eventually came to power as the forth caliph, although many felt that because of blood relationship, which the three caliphs did not have with Muhammad, that Ali should have been the direct successor to Muhammad. After a short time, Mu’awiya, who was of the persuasion of the first three caliphs, gave battle to Ali, and ultimately the Umayyad dynasty, the precursor to Sunni Islam, split from Shi’at Ali or the party of Ali, which became Shi’a Islam.

<>While the Ummayad Sunnis felt it was their destiny to convert the world to Islam by force, Ali and his subsequent followers (called imams) eschewed violence in the name of religion, as this was not according to the teachings of Muhammad. That version of Shi’a Islam has an unbroken line of succession to this day and is based mainly in the holy Iraqi cities of Karbala, Kufa, and Najaf.

<>The Ayatollah Sistani, the leader of the Iraqi Shi’a, has been an influential figure since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, frequently reminding the majority Shi’a that only in self-defense is violence justified. (In another article I will explain where most of the perpeatrators of apparent Shi’a revenge killings of Sunni are coming from, and it isn’t Iraq.)

Another concept that I don’t yet completely understand is the difference between usually peaceful Shi’a Islam and the aberration that is Iranian Shi’a. This I will research and try to explain at a later date. Needless to say, Ayatollah Sistani was very dismayed by the vitriolic rhetoric of the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran when he was still alive, and he still vehemently disagrees with the calls for violence currently coming from the new Iranian leader, Ahmadi-nejad, such as the incitement to wipe the country of Israel off the map.

<>In summary, if we look at the Sunni insurgency and the current radical Iranian regime as representative of Islam (as is easy to do considering the bias of American and western media in this regard) we would probably conclude—albeit erroneously--that all Muslims are out to kill Christians and Americans.

This is not true, even when we confine our examination of Islam to the Muslim Arabs and Persians of the Middle East. Islam originated as a religion of peace; it was designed not only to get people to think outwardly of their fellow men rather than always of themselves, but also it counteracted many of the vile practices of the day. Muhammad abhorred war (probably much like the figures Mormon, Helaman, and Captain Moroni described in The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ). But like nearly anyone would, Muhammad believed in war when it was used for the defense of himself, his family, his religion, and his liberty. The Iraqi Shi’a believe the same is true today.