Women are seen inside the Iranian parliament during the June 7 attack in central Tehran. Reuters Photographer

Iran is a Shia Muslim majority state often in tension with Sunni states and extremist groups like the Islamic State or al-Qaeda. These attacks are the latest chapter in the story of the centuries-long strained relationship between Sunnis and Shias.

As a scholar of Islam and a public educator, I often field questions about Sunnis, Shias and the sects of Islam. What exactly is the Shia-Sunni divide? And what is its history?
 

History of divide

Both Sunnis and Shias – drawing their faith and practice from the Qur’an and the life of the Prophet Muhammad – agree on most of the fundamentals of Islam. The differences are related more to historical events, ideological heritage and issues of leadership.

The first and central difference emerged after the death of Prophet Muhammad in A.D. 632. The issue was who would be the caliph – the “deputy of God” – in the absence of the prophet. While the majority sided with Abu Bakr, one of the prophet’s closest companions, a minority opted for his son-in-law and cousin – Ali. This group held that Ali was appointed by the prophet to be the political and spiritual leader of the fledgling Muslim community.
Subsequently, those Muslims who put their faith in Abu Bakr came to be called Sunni (“those who follow the Sunna,” the sayings, deeds and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad) and those who trusted in Ali came to be known as Shia (a contraction of “Shiat Ali,” meaning “partisans of Ali”).

Abu Bakr became the first caliph and Ali became the fourth caliph. However, Ali’s leadership was challenged by Aisha, the prophet’s wife and daughter of Abu Bakr. Aisha and Ali went to battle against each other near Basra, Iraq in the Battle of the Camel in A.D. 656. Aisha was defeated, but the roots of division were deepened. Subsequently, Mu’awiya, the Muslim governor of Damascus, also went to battle against Ali, further exacerbating the divisions in the community.

In the years that followed, Mu’awiya assumed the caliphate and founded the Ummayad Dynasty (A.D 670-750). Ali’s youngest son, Hussein – born of Fatima, the prophet’s daughter – led a group of partisans in Kufa, Iraq against Mu’awiya’s son Yazid. For the Shias, this battle, known as the Battle of Karbala, holds enormous historical and religious significance.
 

Hussein was killed and his forces defeated. For the Shia community, Hussein became a martyr. The day of the battle is commemorated every year on the Day of Ashura. Held on the tenth day of Muharram in the Islamic lunar calendar, scores of pilgrims visit Hussein’s shrine in Karbala and many Shia communities participate in symbolic acts of flagellation and suffering.

Leadership disagreements

Over time, Islam continued to expand and develop into evermore complex and overlapping societies that spanned from Europe to sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa to Asia. This development demanded more codified forms of religious and political leadership.

Sunnis and Shias adopted different approaches to these issues.

Sunni Muslims trusted the secular leadership of the caliphs during the Ummayad (based in Damascus from A.D. 660-750) and Abbasid (based in Iraq from 750-1258 and in Cairo from 1261-1517) periods. Their theological foundations came from the four religious schools of Islamic jurisprudence that emerged over the seventh and eighth centuries.

To this day, these schools help Sunni Muslims decide on issues such as worship, criminal law, gender and family, banking and finance, and even bioethical and environmental concerns. Today, Sunnis comprise about 80-90 percent of the global Muslim population.

On the other hand, Shias relied on Imams as their spiritual leaders, whom they believed to be divinely appointed leaders from among the prophet’s family. Shia Muslims continue to maintain that the prophet’s family are the sole genuine leaders. In the absence of the leadership of direct descendants, Shias appoint representatives to rule in their place (often called ayatollahs). Shias are a minority of the global Muslim population, although they have strong communities in Iraq, Pakistan, Albania, Yemen, Lebanon and Iran. There are also different sects within Shia Islam.
 

Differences masked during Hajj

Other disputes that continue to exacerbate the divide include issues of theology, practice and geopolitics.

For example, when it comes to theology Sunnis and Shias draw from different “Hadith” traditions. Hadith are the reports of the words and deeds of the prophet and considered an authoritative source of revelation, second only to the Quran. They provide a biographical sketch of the prophet, context to Quranic verses, and are used by Muslims in the application of Islamic law to daily life. Shias favor those that come from the prophet’s family and closest associates, while Sunnis cast a broader net for Hadith that includes a wide array of the prophet’s companions.

Shias and Sunnis differ over prayer as well. All Sunni Muslims believe they are required to pray five times a day, but Shias can condense those into three.
 

During the Hajj – the pilgrimage to Mecca, held annually and obligatory for all Muslims once in a lifetime – it may seem that these differences are masked, as both Sunnis and Shias gather in the holy city for rituals that reenact the holiest narratives of their faith. And yet, with Saudi authorities overseeing the Hajj, there have been tensions with Shia governments such as Iran over claims of discrimination.

And when it comes to leadership, the Shia have a more hierarchical structure of political and religious authority invested in formally trained clergy whose religious authority is transnational. There is no such structure in Sunni Islam.
The greatest splits today, however, come down to politics. Although the majority of Sunni and Shia are able to live peacefully together, the current global political landscape has brought polarization and sectarianism to new levels. Shia-Sunni conflicts are raging in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Pakistan and the divide is growing deeper across the Muslim world.

This historical schism continues to permeate the daily lives of Muslims around the world.

Ken Chitwood, Ph.D. Student, Religion in the Americas, Global Islam, University of Florida

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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As a woman of Pakistani/Indian, Muslim heritage I have remained blissfully untouched by the sectarianism that is claiming the lives of so many in our communities. The shock and horror at the daily threats, violence and murder seem all the more frightening as, like many of the same heritage, my extended family is made up of Sunnis, Shias, Ahmadis, people of other faiths, and non-believers. Communities that once lived together and inter-married are now being made separate by the poisonous spread of Islamist ideologies. Sectarianism is not unique to Islam but the violence perpetrated in its name knows no bounds. Its targets are all people, everywhere. Its objective it would seem is nothing more than to keep us in a place of perpetual fear.  

2016 is going to be another bloody year as the terrorists continue to wage their war against us all. The list of atrocities seems endless. After each event follows that oft repeated question – ‘how did we get here?’ Public outcry, government statements, articles in the media, phone-ins and documentaries follow and we all listen to experts and others like us trying to work out how we got here and what do we do about it. But then we return to our daily lives until the next incident takes place.

I was jolted from this well-worn pattern of incident and public response when I saw a post on social media. The Clarion Project published details taken from the ISIS propaganda magazine Dabiq of a hit list of 22 Western Muslim leaders as ‘Imams of Kufr’ who should be killed. The diverse list of politicians, Salafis and Sufis includes those known to have links to Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. This, despite the fact that the Islamic State’s ideology is directly descended from that of the Muslim Brotherhood. The list names Muslim leaders from Britain, Canada, USA and Australia.

This latest hit list is the most recent in a number that have been circulated across the world.  In September 2015, a hit list containing the names and photographs of secular bloggers, writers and activists around the world, including nine bloggers based in the UK, was circulated in Bangladesh. Xulhan Manon, founder of Bangladesh’s first and only LGBT magazine was brutally murdered by suspected Islamist extremists. Manon’s murder took place only weeks after Nazimuddin Samad was brutally murdered by Islamists after posting on Facebook. Sadly, these lists are not new but there was something even more chilling about the list posted by Clarion Project. As I read the names I was reminded of the famous quotation by Pastor Niemoller a prominent Protestant pastor who opposed the Nazi regime.   

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— 
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— 
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

The Islamists, often with tacit government support, have been coming for the socialists, trade unionists, activists, writers and others in many Muslim majority countries across the world. The thirst for blood and lust for violence not yet sated by the murders, rapes and brutality meted out against Yazidis, Shias, Ahmadis, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jews, believers, non-believers, secularists, bloggers, writers, activists, women, men, children – basically anyone who does not fit their distorted world view.

ISIS, it would seem now have new targets in their sights and some are those considered within the Islamist fold. Some who have remained silent at the murders and atrocities being committed by ISIS, others who have shared or tacitly endorsed the Muslim victim narrative and peddled the radical, hateful ideology of ISIS and other Islamists groups, are now targets too. The exposure of this complicity brings me no comfort. I feel utter despair at where we are now. Is this list a signal of the Islamists turning on each other or is it another example of Islamic sectarianism?

7th January 2016. Paris. Photo: Paul Alfred Henri

ISIS released their latest hit list only weeks after the brutal murder of Asad Shah and on the same day as Channel 4 broadcast a documentary in which Trevor Philips, former head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission unveiling a new poll telling us ‘what Muslims really think’. From press reports leading up to broadcast of the documentary it would seem that Muslims in Britain are uniquely unwilling to integrate into British society. Although the poll does not address the issue of Muslim sectarian divisions it would appear from the murder of Asad Shah and the ISIS list that perhaps we should now assume that Muslims are actually unable to live with each other too.  

The Shia-Sunni schism in Islam and its ongoing aftermath is well documented. However, in 2014, the Muslim Institute (I am a Fellow) took the bold step of putting sectarianism under the scalpel and giving insight into the ummah – the transnational Muslim community. As Ziauddin Sardar states in the introduction to this edition of Critical Muslim – It is simply not good enough to be a Muslim. You have to be labelled Sunni or Shia, and from there on progressively put in smaller boxes….And to those who deviate one iota …are, by definition, kaffirs – infidels who deserve to die.

This chilling statement from Ziauddin Sardar sums up the basis of divides amongst Muslims and the battle for an authentic Muslim identity. There is no longer any space for those of us who are secular and progressive and, as Kenan Malik says wear our faith lightly and not as a sacrosanct public identity. The primacy of a faith identity above all else is now commonly accepted but for Muslims this in itself is no longer enough. This was made absolutely clear in the recent incident of sectarian violence in Glasgow – a city that is no stranger to religious divisions. The brutal murder of Asad Shah, a Glasgow shopkeeper shed a spotlight on sectarian violence amongst Muslims in the West. 

It now seems that hardly a day goes by without some discussion about sectarianism and Islam. I warmly welcome the space opening up about the position of Ahmadis in Islam and a much belated recognition of the violence and abuse this community has suffered over many years. Pakistan has led the way in the treatment of Ahmadis. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, often described as a nationalist and socialist, was Prime Minister of Pakistan when the constitution was amended and Ahmadis declared non-Muslims.

This was followed in 1984 under the regime of General Zia ul Haq when Ordinance XX was introduced and it became a criminal offence for Ahmadis to call themselves Muslims. These developments took place long before the days of ISIS, Al Qaeda, the Taliban and their extremist offspring. The daily impact of this persecution and restriction on Ahmadis' freedom to practise their faith is movingly described by Shamila Ghyas. The violence and murder is becoming worse but we should be cautious about ignoring the prejudice and discrimination which has gone unchallenged for many years. We must also acknowledge that persecution of Ahmadis is not limited to Pakistan but includes Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and many other countries where Ahmadis are designated as non-Muslims. Saudi Arabia where Ahmadis are forbidden from performing Haj, one of the five pillars of Islam – has faced calls from human rights organisations to cease its persecution of Ahmadis.

Following the debates in the media it is heartening to hear many Muslims state their abhorrence at the attacks on Ahmadis. However there are those who continue to label Muslims not like them as ‘other’ and outside of Islam. This labelling as ‘other’ or non-Muslim is made all the more dangerous for those who do not conform to the accepted norms by increasing levels of community policing which has extended from women and girls through codes of honour and shame to everyone in the community. An issue that demands much more attention.  No doubt the ISIS list, like the murder of Asad Shah, will help continue discussions about divisions between different Muslim groups but there needs to be a much more open conversation about those outside of Islam who are also at grave risk.

In my work with the Centre for Secular Space, I have spent several years working closely with members of the Council of Ex-Muslims (CEMB) tackling Islamism and other religious fundamentalisms and extremism. During that time I have met many activists, bloggers and atheists – believers of other faiths, agnostics and atheists who regularly receive threats of violence against them and their families. They include people like Imad Iddine Habib, an ex- Salafi Muslim who fled to the UK from Morocco as well as secular Muslims considered to now be ex-Muslims by the Islamists.

There is very little understanding amongst the authorities about the threats and experiences of these groups of people and a total lack of focus on their experiences by the wider or Muslim communities. Is this because they are outside of a faith identity? Or is it because there is a lack of understanding about the complex nature of the context of the threats? In the cases of the Bangladeshi activists and atheists I have worked with, the police and others appear focused on the communal element of the threats without recognising the extremist/Islamist ideologies present in them and in some cases refusing to investigate the threats as hate crimes as a result of religion and belief. This response is to a significant degree the result of ongoing police engagement with community leaders who act as gatekeepers and community ‘experts’ advising the police.

"I am Bamako. We are Humanity". Sign at memorial at Bataclan Theatre. Photo: Karima Bennoune

Finding a way to tackle sectarian violence and the ongoing threats to all of us from Islamist terrorism will continue. But one thing is clear – Muslim or non-Muslim- we are all in their sights and are at risk. But it is incumbent on us all to speak up and challenge whomever, wherever and whenever we can and remember the lesson in the quote from Pastor Niemoller before it’s too late.

This article was first published on Open Democracy.
 

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