On Sunnis and Shias - Yasmin Amin
This is an excerpt from a balanced and informative essay by my friend, lurker and invisible contributor Yasmin Amin.
Sunnis and Shias agree on the core fundamentals of Islam, the five Pillars. The question of unity between Sunni and Shia schools of thought has been debated for centuries. Why is it that the schism between the Shia and Sunni Muslims has never been successfully bridged and how did it come about?
The root of this schism dates back to the days right after the Prophet’s death. The Prophet had not nominated anyone after himself to lead the Muslims. ... the very first was Abu-Bakr. It is at this point, where the Shia and Sunni divide implicitly, though not yet explicitly.
The third caliph, Uthman, came from one of the aristocratic clans of Mecca, the Umayyads. Many Muslims resented the choice, preferring the more humble Ali, the Prophet's cousin and husband of his daughter Fatima. Opposition to Uthman grew, aggravated by his nepotism and his favouritism toward the leading Meccan clans, as well as his determination to having only one authorized version of the Koran. Uthman's murder in 656 by Muslim dissidents, the first assassination of a Muslim Caliph by Muslims, was a turning point in Islamic history.
The new caliph, Ali, was soon challenged by, among others, the Prophet's widow Aisha. In 656 Aisha herself led a battle against Ali, because she accused him of being too lax in bringing Uthman’s killers to justice. At the Battle of the Camel, Ali defeated her. This battle is the beginning of the covert rivalry, which divided the Muslims into two opposing camps, the first battle to take place against Koranic teachings, as well as the first battle to be between Muslims.
An opportunity for Muslim unity arose in 750, when almost the entire Ummayad aristocracy was wiped out, following a battle in Egypt, during a revolt led by Abu Al Abbass al-Saffah and aided by considerable Shia support. The Shia spiritual leader Jafar Al Siddiq, great-grandson of Hussayn, was to be installed as Caliph. But when Abbas died in 754, this arrangement had not yet been finalized and Abbas' son Al Mansur murdered Jafar, seized the Caliphate for himself and founded the Abbassid dynasty, which prevailed until the fall of Baghdad to the Mongols in 1258.
***
This division in Islam into Sunnis (those who stood with Mu’awiya and followed the Sunna), and Shias (the followers of Ali) would never heal. But what are the differences between them?
Sunnis and Shias agree on the core fundamentals of Islam, the five pillars, and recognize each others as Muslims. In 1959 Sheikh Mahmood Shaltoot, Head of the School of Theology at Al Azhar university in Cairo, the most eminent seat of learning of Sunni Islam and the oldest university in the world, issued a fatwa (ruling) recognizing the legitimacy of the Jafari School of Law, to which most Shias belong. As a point of interest, the Jafari School is named after its founder Imam Jafar al Siddiq, a direct descendent, through two different lines, of the Sunni Caliph Abu Bakr. Another funny thing is that Al Azhar University, though now Sunni, was actually founded by the Shia Fatimid dynasty in Egypt in 969.
So the original founder of the Shia School is a Sunni descendant, while the supreme Sunni authority was originally established by Shias. So what makes them so different today that they cannot reconcile? There is no vital difference between the Shias and Sunnis concerning articles of faith. There is however a disagreement between the two in the shehadah (Islamic confession of faith), the practice of rituals as well as in two other areas.
The Sunni shehada says: "There is no God but Allah, and Mohamed is His messenger" , while the Shia shehada says :"There is no god but Allah, Mohamed is His messenger and Ali is the friend of Allah, the successor of the messenger of Allah and his first Caliph." The two areas of disagreement are :
1. The Caliphate (succession of leadership)
2. The Islamic rule when there is no clear Koranic statement, nor a Hadith.
The second issue has its root in the first one. The Shia bound themselves to refer to only the Prophet’s family (ahl al bayt) for deriving the Sunna of Prophet. The disagreement about the Caliphate should not be a source of division between the two. Muslims agree that the Caliphate of Abu Bakr came through election by a number of people, but came as a surprise for some of the companions. On the other hand, election implies choice and freedom, and that every Muslim has the right to elect the nominee. Whoever refuses to elect him does not oppose Allah nor the Prophet, because neither appointed the nominated person. Election, by its nature, does not compel any Muslim to elect a specific candidate or it would be coercion.
However, the two groups still continue to try and prove one another wrong and maintain that their way is the only right way, despite the Koran saying : [31:23] "And whoever disbelieves, let not his disbelief grieve you; to Us is their return, then will We inform them of what they did surely Allah is the Knower of what is in the breasts." And still despite the Koran’s teachings they continue to kill each other not fearing hell or eternal damnation just for the sake of power on earth: [4:93] "And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his punishment is hell; he shall abide in it, and Allah will send His wrath on him and curse him and prepare for him a painful chastisement." Sadly it looks like the killing will continue and it will always be Cain and Able all over again. On Sunnis and Shias - Yasmin Amin
Sunnis and Shias agree on the core fundamentals of Islam, the five Pillars. The question of unity between Sunni and Shia schools of thought has been debated for centuries. Why is it that the schism between the Shia and Sunni Muslims has never been successfully bridged and how did it come about?
The root of this schism dates back to the days right after the Prophet’s death. The Prophet had not nominated anyone after himself to lead the Muslims. ... the very first was Abu-Bakr. It is at this point, where the Shia and Sunni divide implicitly, though not yet explicitly.
The third caliph, Uthman, came from one of the aristocratic clans of Mecca, the Umayyads. Many Muslims resented the choice, preferring the more humble Ali, the Prophet's cousin and husband of his daughter Fatima. Opposition to Uthman grew, aggravated by his nepotism and his favouritism toward the leading Meccan clans, as well as his determination to having only one authorized version of the Koran. Uthman's murder in 656 by Muslim dissidents, the first assassination of a Muslim Caliph by Muslims, was a turning point in Islamic history.
The new caliph, Ali, was soon challenged by, among others, the Prophet's widow Aisha. In 656 Aisha herself led a battle against Ali, because she accused him of being too lax in bringing Uthman’s killers to justice. At the Battle of the Camel, Ali defeated her. This battle is the beginning of the covert rivalry, which divided the Muslims into two opposing camps, the first battle to take place against Koranic teachings, as well as the first battle to be between Muslims.
An opportunity for Muslim unity arose in 750, when almost the entire Ummayad aristocracy was wiped out, following a battle in Egypt, during a revolt led by Abu Al Abbass al-Saffah and aided by considerable Shia support. The Shia spiritual leader Jafar Al Siddiq, great-grandson of Hussayn, was to be installed as Caliph. But when Abbas died in 754, this arrangement had not yet been finalized and Abbas' son Al Mansur murdered Jafar, seized the Caliphate for himself and founded the Abbassid dynasty, which prevailed until the fall of Baghdad to the Mongols in 1258.
***
This division in Islam into Sunnis (those who stood with Mu’awiya and followed the Sunna), and Shias (the followers of Ali) would never heal. But what are the differences between them?
Sunnis and Shias agree on the core fundamentals of Islam, the five pillars, and recognize each others as Muslims. In 1959 Sheikh Mahmood Shaltoot, Head of the School of Theology at Al Azhar university in Cairo, the most eminent seat of learning of Sunni Islam and the oldest university in the world, issued a fatwa (ruling) recognizing the legitimacy of the Jafari School of Law, to which most Shias belong. As a point of interest, the Jafari School is named after its founder Imam Jafar al Siddiq, a direct descendent, through two different lines, of the Sunni Caliph Abu Bakr. Another funny thing is that Al Azhar University, though now Sunni, was actually founded by the Shia Fatimid dynasty in Egypt in 969.
So the original founder of the Shia School is a Sunni descendant, while the supreme Sunni authority was originally established by Shias. So what makes them so different today that they cannot reconcile? There is no vital difference between the Shias and Sunnis concerning articles of faith. There is however a disagreement between the two in the shehadah (Islamic confession of faith), the practice of rituals as well as in two other areas.
The Sunni shehada says: "There is no God but Allah, and Mohamed is His messenger" , while the Shia shehada says :"There is no god but Allah, Mohamed is His messenger and Ali is the friend of Allah, the successor of the messenger of Allah and his first Caliph." The two areas of disagreement are :
1. The Caliphate (succession of leadership)
2. The Islamic rule when there is no clear Koranic statement, nor a Hadith.
The second issue has its root in the first one. The Shia bound themselves to refer to only the Prophet’s family (ahl al bayt) for deriving the Sunna of Prophet. The disagreement about the Caliphate should not be a source of division between the two. Muslims agree that the Caliphate of Abu Bakr came through election by a number of people, but came as a surprise for some of the companions. On the other hand, election implies choice and freedom, and that every Muslim has the right to elect the nominee. Whoever refuses to elect him does not oppose Allah nor the Prophet, because neither appointed the nominated person. Election, by its nature, does not compel any Muslim to elect a specific candidate or it would be coercion.
However, the two groups still continue to try and prove one another wrong and maintain that their way is the only right way, despite the Koran saying : [31:23] "And whoever disbelieves, let not his disbelief grieve you; to Us is their return, then will We inform them of what they did surely Allah is the Knower of what is in the breasts." And still despite the Koran’s teachings they continue to kill each other not fearing hell or eternal damnation just for the sake of power on earth: [4:93] "And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his punishment is hell; he shall abide in it, and Allah will send His wrath on him and curse him and prepare for him a painful chastisement." Sadly it looks like the killing will continue and it will always be Cain and Able all over again. On Sunnis and Shias - Yasmin Amin
posted by temporal at 4/13/2008
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home