Assalamu Alaikum
Sectarianism is generally hated and discouraged in Islam but its a reality which everyone of us needs to understand.Prophecized by The Messenger (SalAllahu alaihi wasallam) ;
“The Jews were divided among themselves into seventy one or seventy two sects, and the Christians were divided among themselves into seventy one or seventy two sects. And My Ummah will be divided among itself into seventy three sects.” Abu Dawood, at-Tirmidhi, al-Hakim and Ahmad among several others, reported this Hadith. At-Tirmidhi said; “Hadeethun Hassanun Sahih”.
And Mentioned in Quran:
Verily, those who divide their religion and break up into sects (all kinds of religious sects), you (O Muhammad -- Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) have no concern in them in the least. Their affair is only with Allâh, Who then will tell them what they used to do.(al-An`am 6:159).I am posting this with intention of clarifying this issue for reverts or born muslims in order to provide a balanced approach towards this subject.
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The Basis of Shi’ah-Sunni Discord
By: Dr. Israr Ahmad
The following paragraphs about Shi’ah-Sunni differences are written from a Sunni perspective; Shi’ah Muslims may not agree with all of it.
The history of the Shi’ah-Sunni Conflict is almost as old as that of the Muslim Ummah. Only 25 years after the death of the Prophet (saw), internal discord and a series of civil wars started. This has been referred to in the history books as the “Al-Fitnatul Kubra” or the Great Discord. What was the cause of this internal conflict?
Every revolution is followed by counter-revolutionary movements, which seek to overthrow the new order and to revert back to the previous system. Many of these counter-revolutionary movements were dealt with by the first
Caliph, Abu Bakr (raa). However, there were still two groups who openly resented both Islam and the Prophet of Islam, and these were the
Jews of Arabia and the
Persians. The Jews were angry because they were expecting the final prophet to be one of the
Israelites, and they could never accept and reconcile themselves with the fact that he turned out to be someone from the
Gentiles. (The envy of the
Jews of Madinah is mentioned in
Surah Al-Baqarah. It is also mentioned there that they refuse to believe in the Prophet even after recognizing him as the promised one, only because of their jealousy and arrogance). The other group that never accepted the ascendancy of Islam were the
Persians, who developed a special hatred towards the second
Caliph, Umar (raa), under whose era
Iran was conquered. Indeed, it was a
Persian man who killed
Umar (raa).
During the later years of the
Caliphate of Uthman (raa) an underground conspiracy was hatched, led by
Abdullah Ibn Saba, a Jew who had outwardly converted to Islam, in order to produce political unrest. The conspiracy succeeded, mainly because a lack of proper communication facilities in those days made the spread of rumors against the
Khalifah rather easy. This resulted in a rebellion against
Uthman (raa) on various fabricated charges of nepotism, and he was martyred in the course of the rebellion. In this chaotic situation,
Ali (raa) became the next
Caliph. A disagreement arose among the Muslims about the killers of
Uthman (raa). Some demanded that the killers, who were hiding among the supporters of
Ali (raa), must be punished immediately.
Ali (raa) was of the opinion that we need some sort of order and peace to return before we can do this. These two groups were known as the “
Shi’ah of Uthman” and the “
Shi’ah of Ali” meaning the
pro-Uthman and the
pro-Ali parties. As you can see, this was a purely political disagreement, not a religious one. The “
Shi’ah of Uthman” later became known as the “
Sunni” and the “
Shi’ah of Ali” became just “
Shi’ah.”
The
Shi’ah community has four points of distinction as compared to the
Sunni Muslims. The first is the school of
jurisprudence they follow, which is
Fiqh Jafari, and it is just like
Fiqh Hanafi, or
Maliki etc., except that “
Muta’h” or temporary marriage is considered lawful by the
Fiqh Jafari, whereas it is prohibited in all the
Sunni schools. The second is the
Shi’ah belief in the “
infallible Immamate,” which means that only a genuine “
Imam” who will be a direct descendent of
Ali (raa) and
Fatima (raa), can authentically lead the Muslims. The
Sunnis believe, on the other hand, that the trait of “
infallibility” no longer exists after the termination of Prophethood. There are a number of divisions among the
Shi’ah, e.g., the “
Twelvers” believe that the
12th Imam disappeared and went into seclusion somewhere 870 A.D., and that he will reappear to lead the Muslims
(the promised “Mahdi”). The
Sunni Muslims, on the other hand, believe that the promised “
Mahdi” will be a normal human being, an
Arab Muslim who will lead the struggle for the domination of Islam sometime in the future. Thirdly, whereas the Shi’ah community believes that the first three Caliphs,
Abu Bakr (raa) and
Umar (raa) and
Uthman (raa), were usurpers, and that only
Ali (raa) was the rightful successor of the Prophet, the
Sunnis believe that all four of the “
Khulafa” were rightfully chosen by the Muslims and none of them was a usurper. Fourthly, the
Shi’ahs accept only those
Ahadith (traditions of the Prophet (saw)) which are transmitted by the household of the
Prophet (Ahl Al-Baiyt) by which they mean
Ali (raa),
Fatima (raa), and their two sons,
Hasan (raa) and
Husain (raa) and their descendants; they refuse to accept the traditions which are transmitted by most of the other Companions
(Sahaba) of the Prophet (saw).
It may be noted that
Sunni scholars have criticized the beliefs of the
Shi’ahs for hundreds of years, and have written a very large number of books to refute the
Shi’ah beliefs. Some scholars have even declared the
Shi’ahs to be kafirs. However, there has been no consensus on this, i.e., there has been no collective verdict of apostasy (Kufr) against the Shi’ahs (as was given in the case of the Qadiyani community), and therefore the Shi’ahs too are considered Muslims, despite their having beliefs which are against those of mainstream Sunni Islam.
Finally, note that during the early centuries of Islam,
Shi’ism was synonymous with an attitude of uprightness on the part of the descendants of
Ali (raa) and
Fatima (raa), and their courage to speak out against the rulers and to resist their unjust actions even in the face of oppression.
The present sectarian version of Shi’ism is a later development which took shape especially during the rule of the Safavid dynasty in Iran (1501-1732). The
Safavids wanted to foster a distinct religious identity in Iran so as to maintain the population’s loyalty in the conflict against the powerful
Sunni Ottoman Empire, and for this purpose they had imported
Shi’ah Ulama from Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon and provided them with wealth and power. This distinction between the
Alavid and the
Safavid versions of
Shi’ism was emphasized by
Dr. Ali Shari’ati. According to some analysts, the Iranian revolution has revived the
Alavid Shi’ism, and the
Safavid Shi’ism is on the decline. According to them, the stress is now gradually shifting towards the dynamic teachings of Islam and the
Muslim Ummah’s unity, rather than hairsplitting on historical, doctrinal, or juristic matters. If this happens, it would be very beneficial for the
Muslim Ummah.
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