Sunni and Shia Muslims gathered together for combined prayers in Lucknow, India.
Source: Huffington Post
By Carol Kuruvilla;
“We believe in the oneness of God, we have the same Prophet, we share the same holy book.”
Shia and Sunni Muslims in Lucknow, India, came together as one family to hold joint prayers for Eid al Adha this year.
The Sept. 25 service was a grassroots effort by “Shoulder to Shoulder,” a group of volunteers seeking to highlight the common spiritual roots between these two sects of Islam.
Syed Asad Haider Zaidi, a 32-year-old Shia Muslim living in New Delhi, is one of Shoulder to Shoulder’s organizers. He was born in Kuwait and still feels a strong connection to that country. So when the Islamic State claimed in July that it was behind an attack on a Shia mosque that killed 27 people, Zaidi felt like it was his own home that had been damaged.
The split between Sunni and Shia Muslims can be traced back to a dispute between the prophet Muhammad’s followers over who should assume spiritual leadership after his death. Other differences in rituals and theology developed over time, but for the most part, these two branches of Islam have coexisted peacefully throughout the centuries.
The leaders of the Islamic State, however, consider Shias to be heretics and have been accused of systematically targeting these Muslims.
Zaidi was inspired by the reaction of Kuwait’s Muslim community to the mosque attacks. Shia and Sunni Muslims in the country joined together to hold joint prayers at the Shia mosque to show their unity in the face of tragedy.
“It suddenly hit me that this is the way to counter the evil ISIS,” Zaidi told The Huffington Post in an email. “ISIS are not only anti-humanity but anti-Islamic as well. What better way to thwart their designs than having unity between Shias and Sunnis, by having love and brotherhood?”
Zaidi organized the first Shoulder to Shoulder joint prayer in New Delhi in July, with the help of his co-founder, Mazin Khan, a 35-year-old Sunni Muslim. This month’s initiative happened in Lucknow, with the support of that city’s natives. Clashes between Shias and Sunnis are frequent in Lucknow, Zaidi said.
Categories: Asia, India, Universal Brotherhood
I have worked for several years in Baghdad (2003 – 2011) and have therefore ‘inter-acted’ with both Shias and Sunnis for years. I am still of the opinion that there is little ‘religious’ friction between the two sides. All the friction is purely one of political power. In Iraq internally democratically speaking power shifted from a sunni minority to a shia majority. Inter-state rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia is also just a question of power. Has any one ever observed the Saudis trying to ‘convert’ a Shia to their view of religion? I have not.
by the way: Of course the Shias of Baghdad knew that I was not a Shia. They have always treated me, as a ‘new Muslim’ with great respect.
by the way: Of course the Shias of Baghdad knew that I was not a Shia. They have always treated me, as a ‘new Muslim’ with great respect. (After 50+ years I do not really feel as a ‘new’ Muslim, but you know what I mean …)