WHAT IS THE BASIS OF

SHIAH-SUNNI DISCORD?
By: Dr. Israr Ahmad

The following paragraphs about Shiah-Sunni differences are written from a Sunni perspective;
Shiah Muslims may not agree with all of it.

The history of the Shiah-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 Shiah of Uthman and the Shiah 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 Shiah of Uthman later became known as the Sunni and
the Shiah of Ali became just Shiah.
The Shiah 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 Mutah or temporary marriage is considered lawful by the Fiqh Jafari,
whereas it is prohibited in all the Sunni schools. The second is the Shiah 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 Shiah, 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 Shiah 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 Shiahs 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 Shiahs for hundreds
of years, and have written a very large number of books to refute the Shiah beliefs. Some scholars
have even declared the Shiahs to be kafirs. However, there has been no consensus on this, i.e.,
there has been no collective verdict of apostasy (Kufr) against the Shiahs (as was given in the
case of the Qadiyani community), and therefore the Shiahs 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, Shiism 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 Shiism 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 populations loyalty in the conflict
against the powerful Sunni Ottoman Empire, and for this purpose they had imported Shiah Ulama
from Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon and provided them with wealth and power. This distinction between
the Alavid and the Safavid versions of Shiism was emphasized by Dr. Ali Shariati. According to
some analysts, the Iranian revolution has revived the Alavid Shiism, and the Safavid Shiism is on
the decline. According to them, the stress is now gradually shifting towards the dynamic teachings
of Islam and the Muslim Ummahs unity, rather than hairsplitting on historical, doctrinal, or juristic
matters. If this happens, it would be very beneficial for the Muslim Ummah.

Courtesy: www.tanzeem.org

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