Islam 101 - Sunni and Shi'a
Most Americans' knowledge of Islam, the world's second largest religion, is limited, despite the fact that we have been deeply involved in the Muslim world for the last few decades. There are about 1.6 billion Muslims in the world - 23 percent of the world's population - concentrated in an area from North Africa across the Middle East to South Asia. For comparison, there are 2.1 billion Christians in the world.
Media coverage of events on the Muslim world often reference Sunni and Shi'a Muslims, yet few media outlets have taken the time to explain the difference between the two major sects of Islam, or more importantly, the significance of those differences.
A note on the numbers - these numbers are best estimates. Accurate numbers are hard to come by in many parts of the Muslim word, due to wars, poverty, lack of total governmental controls, and in the case of Lebanon, resistance to a modern census based on fears of the undisputable rise of the Muslim population.
The majority of Muslims are Sunni, being between 75 and 90 percent of the faith. The second largest sect, the Shi'a, makes up somewhere between 10 and 20 percent. Despite their much smaller numbers, the Shi’a are a political force to be reckoned with throughout the region, especially in those countries in which they form a majority or plurality of the population - Iran, Iraq, Bahrain and Lebanon. (See map)
The difference between the sects is as old as the religion itself and revolved around the issue of succession – who would follow Muhammad as the leader of the faithful? The Arabic word for “one who follows or succeeds,” - khalifah (Caliph) - was adopted as the title.
Sounds simple, right? Well, it was not. There were two schools of thought as to how the successor should be chosen. One school believed that the most capable religious leader should be elected by the learned men of the faith. These became the Sunnis. They initially selected Muhammad's father-in-law Abu Bakr as the first caliph, followed by 'Umar (Omar) and 'Uthman (Othman). These caliphs were elected by the learned men of the faith.
The other school believed that the successor should be part of Muhammad's blood line, However, Muhammad did not have any sons, so their was no direct male heir. The shi'at 'ali, or partisans of 'Ali, believed that Muhammad had appointed his son-in-law (and cousin) 'Ali ibn Abi Talib to the leader of the faith. They became know as the Shi'a and regarded 'Ali as the leader of the faithful and called him the first Imam.
In an effort to reunite the two factions of Islam, 'Ali was elected by the Sunnis as the fourth caliph, thus bringing the entire faith under one leader. This was short-lived - ‘Ali was soon murdered and his son Hasan became the second Imam. However, real political power at this time rested with the Sunni caliph in Damascus. Hasan abdicated in favor of these ‘Umayyad rulers.
Hasan’s brother Husayn assumed the Shi’a imamate, presaging what became the major divide in Islamic history. In 680, Husayn was killed in battle against superior ‘Umayyad forces in Karbala’, Iraq on the tenth day of the month of Muharram. This day is commemorated by all Shi’a as ‘Ashura (literally, “the tenth”) as a day of mourning and perfidy on the part of the Sunnis. There has been animosity between the two sects ever since.
How serious is the divide between the two sects? Let us look at events in Iraq after the removal of Saddam Husayn. During the height of the insurgency, al-Qa'idah dispatched thousands of its fighters to Iraq to start a civil war against the majority Shi'a government. For the most part, the Shi'a militias resisted any attempts to engage in a battle against the group that came to be known as al-Qa'idah in Iraq, led by the notorious Abu Musa'ib al-Zarqawi. That lasted until the al-Zarqawi group destroyed one of Shi'a Islam's holiest shrine, the mausoleum of the 10th and 11th Imams in the city of al-Samarra', Iraq. The bombing of the mosque in 2006 detroyed a shrine that had been constructed in 944.
Before and After
Shi'a Islam and politics
Iran. Iran is the first country that comes to mind when Shi’a Islam and politics are mentioned, with good reason. The population is almost all Shi’a, and after the Islamic revolution of 1978-79, the world’s only Shi’a Islamic republic. Iran’s fervor and commitment to export the revolution have caused concerns in the Muslim former Soviet republics. Russia and Turkey, neither of who want another militant Shi’a Islamic republic on their borders, share the concern.
Iraq. Iraq has a Shi’a majority that had been oppressed under Saddam Husayn. After Saddam's removal, the Shi;a used the power of their numbers to dominate the newly-formed government, a situation thjat continues to this day.
Lebanon. When Lebanon moved towards independence and adopted the National Pact of 1943, it established government positions based on the sizes of confessional populations. The Shi’a were the number three faction in the country, behind the Christians and the Sunnis. Thus they were given the position of speaker of the Parliament. Since that time, however, the sizes of the factions have changed and the Muslims are the clear majority.
Lebanon’s Shi’a have gained notoriety with the rise of the Shi’a armed militias, first Amal, then Hizballah, largely responsible for the Israeli withdrawal from positions it had maintained in southern Lebanon since the invasion in 1982. With Iranian funding and training, they are not only a formidable military force but the most powerful political organization in the country.
Syria. The population of Syria is overwhelmingly Sunni, but the country is ruled by members of the ‘Alawite sect. The definition of the ‘Alawis as Shi’a has raised considerable debate. The sect was able to obtain a fatwa (religious ruling) in 1973 from Musa Al-Sadr (Iranian-born leader of the Lebanese Shi’a who disappeared in Libya in 1978) that the ‘Alawis are a community of the Shi’a. This ruling was sought in response to Sunni claims that the ‘Alawite sect was not truly Muslim and therefore ‘Alawis did not meet the constitutional requirement that the president of Syria be a Muslim. To avoid future controversy, the Syrian parliament changed the Constitution on Hafiz Al-Asad’s death in 2000, eliminating the religion requirement. This was done to help assure a smooth transition for Asad’s son Bashar.
The current revolution is Syria is almost wholly Sunni, with support from fundamentalist Sunni organizations, to include al-Qa'idah.
Other countries in the region must deal with the political factor of Shi’a Islam. Saudi Arabia has a sizeable Shi’a minorities and Bahrain has a Shi'a majority who believe their aspirations are not being addressed by the countries’ kings. Both constituencies have adopted a militant posture – the fallout remains to be seen.
The differences between Sunni and Shi'a, while doctrinal, have spilled over into almost every aspect of life in the Muslim world. It started as a succession issue and continues this day.
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