Sectarian wars refers to armed conflicts between groups of people of the same religion with some beliefs and practices which separates them. Sectarian wars are quite common on a small scale but one war is taking over the Middle East and poses a danger to American peace and its government-stabilization efforts in Iraq. The sectarian war between the Sunnis and Shi’tes, both Islamic sects, dates back to A.D. 632. It has been continuing on and off till now and is now spreading like a venom throughout the Muslim countries. What cause are these people fighting for?
Lets take a peep look at the insights of this conflict.
Islam’s schism bagan in A.D. 632, immediately after the Prophet Mohammad died without naming a successor as leader of the new Muslim flock. Some of his followers believed the caliph should be passed down Mohammed’s bloodline, starting with his cousin and son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib. But the majority backed the Prophet’s friend Abu Bakr, who duly became Caliph. When Ali was murdered in A.D 661 and his succession of becoming the fourth Caliph was disrupted, the group formally split. Majority backed the claim of Mu’awiyah, Governor of Syria, and his son and were known as Sunnis. Ali’s supporters were eventually be known as Shi’ites . They agitated for Ali’s Son Hussein to be the caliph and he too was murdered when the two sides met on a battlefield near modern Karbala on Oct.10,680. The death of Hussein led shi’ites into believing that they were oppressed by the Sunnis. Since the Caliph was often the political head of the Islamic empire as well as its religious leader, imperial patronage helped make Sunni Islam the dominant sect. Thus the Shi’ites experienced political, social and economical inequality often reinforced by bloodshed till the fall of Saddam. Iraq’s first post-saddam election in January 2005 led to the Sunnis boycotting the poll and this allowed the Shi’tes to be swept into power. Some shi’ites avenged old grudges against Sunnis and Sunnis in their part hold bombing campaigns confirming their disapproval of their reduced status.
Although the concurrent battles between them seems nothing to the people there, the world tends to focus on the bigger picture. Shi’ites are now politically dominant in Iraq and Iran is the leading Shi’ite power. So most of the Arab countries blame Iran for the Sectarian war and Iran’s nuclear ambitions, its sponsorship of shi’ite hizballah militia in Lebonon and its meddling with Iraq proves to the Arab nations that their old Persian (Shi’ites) rivals are determined to reshape the Middle East to suit their interest.
While Iraqis are caught up in their own battles, their children are carrying the hatred forward to the next generation. More and more differences between Sunnis and Shi’ites is poisoning the minds of the young. This is frightening and might be a possible cause for upcoming civil wars between Sunnis and Shi’ites in Iraq where almost every household has a AK-47.
The Sunnis and Shi’ites must reconcile before things really get out of hand. Any kind of peace programmes by the US will be unsuccessful in the long run as the minds of the people in Iraq is poisoned for seeking revenge. The interference of US militants has currently stopped the fights as the Shi’its know their troops are not prepared to handle American troops. But how long will this ‘peace’ last? Afterall, American troops will have to leave one day and that day will mark the start of another Civil war. Tensions and conflicts will continue to batter Iraq up if these people do not foresee the future.
Reference: TIME, March 12 2007 article on the Sunnis and Shi’ites.
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