They began as a cry for freedom in the Middle East, but the Arab rebellions have become increasingly characterized by an ancient sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. SPIEGEL examines how the power struggle between the two groups is sparking new fears along old frontlines.
In the countries that follow the Muslim faith, the lines between past and present often blur, making it seem as though the past is not over, and certainly not forgiven. Indeed, the past can come terribly alive here, and it can turn terribly deadly, again and again, every day.
When representatives from around the world convened in the Iranian capital of Tehran last Thursday for the start of a Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, an annual meeting of 120 nations that view themselves as not aligned for or against any major powers, the focus was suddenly on 1,300-year-old battles, murders and power struggles. The host was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a Shiite. Next to him on the dais was Egypt’s new President Mohammed Morsi, a Sunni.
Morsi began his opening address with a mention of the Prophet Muhammad, but then continued, “May Allah’s blessing be upon our masters Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali.”
Iranian media immediately took the statement as a provocation. Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman were Muhammad’s successors after the Prophet’s death in 632. Sunni Muslims venerate them as the first caliphs — but Shiite Muslims consider them usurpers and traitors to the faith, hated figures whose very names should not be spoken. Muhammad’s true successor, Shiites say, was Ali, their first imam, who later fought against the other three before being murdered.
Morsi went on to discuss the present situation in Syria, where Bashar Assad is overseeing the massacre of rebels who are mostly Sunni. Assad and his clique belong to the country’s Alawite minority, which is more closely aligned with the Shiites. “The bloodshed will not stop without intervention from outside,” the Egyptian president declared, saying that Assad’s regime had lost all legitimacy. Morsi, a Sunni, made these statements while sitting next to the Shiite Ahmadinejad, who has been providing the Syrian regime with weapons and now fighters too.
Morsi must know that any country that intervenes in Syria risks ending up at war with Iran as well. The frontlines of the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites run through many countries in the Middle East, and those who fan the flames in one part of the region may find themselves under fire in another part entirely.
An Ancient Conflict
From Tunisia to Bahrain, the Arab Spring began as a rebellion against despots and their rapacious clans. It began with a cry for freedom, justice and prosperity. But increasingly these rebellions are being sucked into the maelstrom that is the ancient conflict between these two different camps of Islam, the Sunnis and the Shiites.
It was power that was at stake after Muhammad’s death, and it’s still at stake today. Like tectonic plates that explode into motion after long periods of apparent calm, there is always friction under the surface between these two groups. In the past, that tension has often burst forth as carnage, for example in the Iraqi civil war, which began in 2004 and still hasn’t really ended. In late July of this year, 27 separate explosions killed 107 people within the space of a few hours. Most of the victims were Shiites, and it’s assumed the bombers were Sunnis.
But rarely have so many countries and regimes experienced active tensions at once. There has been far more of this since the rebellions of the Arab Spring began in North Africa, in Yemen, Syria and Bahrain, toppling moribund despots or forcing them into crisis and even open warfare. There are also rumblings in Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. In Iraq everyone is afraid of each other, while Iran fears an attack from Israel.
The rebellions all began in a similar way — people wanted to topple their dictators and bring an end to despotic rule. But these political battles have also fanned new fears along old fronts.
Arab Spring Momentum
When Sunnis in Syria fight their country’s Alawite regime, they receive help from Sunnis in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. At the same time, Iran supplies Damascus with money, weapons and, more recently, troops.
When Shiites in Bahrain fight their country’s Sunni king, they’re applauded by Iran and by Syria’s regime. At the same time, Saudi Arabia supports Bahrain’s despot.
For years, representatives of Bahrain’s Shiite majority, who are treated as second-class citizens, have been demanding more rights from their king. The conflict had been brewing for a long time, but it was the momentum of the other Arab revolutions that brought thousands of Bahrainis out to the streets.
When the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a consortium consisting primarily of the oil-rich states around the Persian Gulf, met in March 2011, it declared that Libya’s Colonel Moammar Gadhafi should resign, because he had lost all legitimacy by deploying tanks against his own people. Shortly after, GCC member Saudi Arabia sent tanks into Bahrain to crush the peaceful protests there.
The silence from al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya, the two major satellite news channels operated by the Sunni states of Qatar and Saudi Arabia respectively, is also telling. Some days these broadcasters provide hourly reports on murders in Syria, yet they give little coverage to the violence in Bahrain.
Syria’s state-run media, on the other hand, deplore the harsh treatment of the largely Shiite opposition in Bahrain — even as Syria’s own regime has turned to carpet bombing entire neighborhoods in which primarily Sunnis live.
Power and Faith
The war that the regime in Damascus is waging against Syria’s mostly Sunni rebels is increasingly taking on denominational characteristics, and not just within the country. The struggle is also drawing in external participants belonging to both camps. Soldiers from Lebanon’s militant Islamist group Hezbollah, which is Shiite, have come to help the regime, as have elite forces from Iran, while Libyan volunteers have joined the rebels, who also receive significant amounts of money from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
In Iraq, attacks by Sunni radicals are on the rise once again as the Shiite government forces Sunnis out of positions of power. Sunni terrorists groups in Pakistan murder Shiites, and even a Shiite mosque in Belgium was the target of an arson attack this March that killed the mosque’s imam. The presumed attacker, a radical Sunni, declared after his arrest that he had acted out of revenge for Iran’s military aid to Syria.
Shiites make up only 10 to 13 percent of the world’s 1.4 billion Muslims, but their representation in the states around the Persian Gulf is significantly higher. Shiites account for 90 percent of the population in Iran, 70 percent in Bahrain, over 60 percent in Iraq, 35 percent in Kuwait and around 10 percent in Saudi Arabia.
In the Islamic world, where power and faith have always commingled, political conflicts often become religious ones, turning into a question of power that cuts along one of the region’s most important frontlines.
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Civil Unrest, Egypt, Extremism, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Religions, Saudi Arabia
It is my view that the so-called ‘sectarian conflict’ between Shiahs and Sunnis has in fact nothing to do with religious issues. Right from the beginning (during the Khilafat of Hadhrat Ali) it was not a religious issue but an issue of political leadership. This is still the case now. Saudi Arabia would like to be the leader of all Muslim nations. Iran disagrees (in the past for instance Col. Ghaddafi also disagreed). That is where the fight is and the West cleverly uses this mutual distrust in their policy of ‘divide and rule’. And the Muslim nations fall for the trick (again).
I read the article with interest it contains in depth research and logical arguments. However the author failed to mention one very important aspect. Like Shia waiting 12th Imam Sunnis also waiting Imam Mahdi. The solution to unity problem of Muslim Ummah in fact is conditioned with the advent of Imam Mahdi. As per prophecies of prophet Muhammad (pbuh)in 1889 one man claimed to be the promised Imam Mahdi and he was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS)of Qadian who founded the Ahamdiyya Muslim Community. Whole Islamic world was stunned and immediately denied his claim and threw him and his follower out of the ambit of Islam. Statusquo prevails till today. However surprisingly community is gradually prospering and now established in more than 198 countries of the world with tens of millions of followers. All Muslim know their problem will be solved when Ummah will have Imam Mahdi. At thattime there will be no Shia or Sunni or any other group but will just be a Muslim or could be Ahmadi Muslim. As per claims of Ahamdiyya Imam Mahdi it might take 300 years when the majority of the world population will recognize him as true Imam Mahdi and Messiah. 123 year have passed. Gradually message is going on and people are accepting him. So might be world has to wait for many years for this prophesied solution. One explanation is must Imam Mahdi will have no concern with the political power. State will be a different matter to religious matter. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is ensuring this aspect.
Muslims need to grow up. These conflicts and intolerance has harmed Islam to its core. They have made it a laughing stock for the world.
When will they realize????
A very good opportunity brother Zubair for presenting Ahamdiyya views and solution or cure to this very “chronic” ailment of Muslims. well said. Or very well said.
my previous comment:
I have spent several years working in Baghdad. I can say that I have made good friends among the top leadership of the new (mainly Shiah) Government. They all knew that I was not a Shiah. They still showed me a lot of respect. – I do not feel that there is a Shiah – Sunni battle going on in the religious sense. It is all a question of power and leadership. The Saudis claim leadership of the Islamic world, even many Sunnis do not want to follow them and definately Iran does not. The reason for disagreement however is never in the religious dogma.
infact a nice article and sure its time for Muslims to sit together and work for peace, thats only possible only under one flag (Khilafat). And I think from such big magazine like “spiegel” such sentences like “Unlike Jesus, for example, Muhammad was not only a prophet, but also a military commander.” Without any historic evident blaming Islam and its Prophet (may peace be upon him) is very cheap.