The division between Sunnis and Shiites and how it affects politics in the Middle East

The spiritual and political differences among Sunnis and ™ € Shiite led to a schism and sectarian violence over the past twenty years. Extremists on both sides have attacked each other aggressively, although analysts Politicians say most attacks were perpetrated by Sunni radicals who are inspired by the doctrine of al-Qaeda. Sectarianism in the Middle East has added a new level of complexity of regional conflicts, the definition of interests and alliances shaping the ideological, political influence and tilting the balance of power between Muslim communities, stakeholders and governments.

Sunnis and Shiites € ™ are both religious congregations most important of Islam, with about 93 percent of Sunni Muslims, while 7 percent the world s ™ € € ™ s. Shiite Muslims Geographically, Shiites € ™ are the majority in Iran and Azerbaijan are the 90 percent of the population. In Bahrain and Iraq, representing more 60 per cent of the population, while in Lebanon are the second largest religious group comprising 24 percent of the population. The Sunnis are the majority in other Arab countries, but also can be found in non-Muslim countries such as China.

The schism between Sunnis and Shiites is the largest and oldest history of Islam. The two sects share the divine Scripture, the Koran, and most fundamental beliefs and articles of Islamic faith. But they have differences fundamental social policies that are mostly from their different historical experiences and ethnic composition. Their differences are rooted in the question the succession of Prophet Muhammad Muslim community leader emerging after his death. Over the centuries, these differences have acquired a spiritual significance.

When the Prophet Muhammad (570ADâ € "632AD) died in 632AD has granted the Muslim community of the religion of Islam, but with orders to organize a state Islam in the Arabian Peninsula.

Most Muslims believe that leadership should correspond to that carried out by the elite community as the best person to lead the community. Therefore, have supported Abu Bakr as caliph and socio-political leader, a close companion of Prophet Muhammad. They became known as Sunni, the word â € ~ Sunna, which means â € ~ according to the actions and traditions ™ € prophet.'s claim Sunnis that the Prophet Muhammad Abu Bakr was chosen to lead the prayers of the congregation because it was a sunset on his deathbed, the Prophet, which implies that he was next leader of Islam.

However, a smaller group, Muslims believe that leadership should stay in the prophet ™ € s of the family and the support of the Prophet € ™ s stepson Muhammad Ali, to be the caliph. They became known as Shiites € ™ a, which is a contraction of "Shiat Ali ', meaning â € ~ The supporters of Alia € ™. The Shiite € ™ claim that the Prophet Muhammad designated Ali as the sole interpreter their political and spiritual heritage and the master of all believers after his last pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj).

Sunnis regard Ali as much, The fourth and last successor of Muhammad, after Abu Bakr (632AD-634AD), Umar (634AD-644AD) and Uthman (644AD-656AD), while Shiites ™ € sensation that Ali should be the first successor. Finally, Abu Bakr (632AD-634AD) has been appointed First Caliph and was, essentially, that the political division of the origin of the Sunni and Shiites ditch € ™.

Ali was chosen as the fourth caliph after Uthman was assassinated in prayer. However, Uthman's cousin and governor Damascus, Umayyad Mu'awiya refused to recognize. In 657, Mu'awiya challenged Ali for the caliphate in the legendary Battle of Siffin. Ali was forced to call with Mu'awiya and agreed to resolve the dispute. However, Alia € ™ s extremist supporters, known as the Kharijites, believing that "the state belongs Allah, "he said, including € ™ s commitment as a betrayal and death in 661 in the mosque of Kufa, Iraq.

Violence and division of the Muslims continued with Alia € ™ s son, Hussein, the Shiite leader € ™ s. Rejecting the rule of Mu'awiya and have a total of 72 followers, Ali fought against the Arab army of great Caliph. The battle of Karbala in 680 is considered the main events in the history of the Shiites € ™, where € ™ a Shi'ite Islamist martyrdom takes its argument. During this battle, Hussein, was beheaded, while his head was made in tribute to the caliph Sunnis in Damascus. All his followers were massacred. For Shiite € ™ at, that day has a spiritual significance, because an innocent person tortured by a powerful and unfair. Hussein Shiite € ™ one became the inspiring force of his faith and martyrdom is at the heart of its identity. The battle of Karbala is commemorated every year the day of Ashura.

Originally, the difference between Sunnis and Shiites € ™ is purely a question of leadership of the Muslim community. However, the importance of the magnet is a fundamental spiritual differences that separate the two religious orders of Islam. Sunnis believe that Shiites € ™ divine qualities attributed to the Imam and widely regard this as a great sin, because man Shia € ™ primarily associated with the deity. However, this directly contradicts the teachings of Islam and the central idea of the oneness of God.

Sometimes the importance of the Sunni-Shiite conflict € ™ in the Middle East is an equal place in the balance power with the Arab-Israeli conflict. Sunnis and Shiites, increased € ™ is a worrying gap in the world Arabic, more than ever. He fought in the newspapers, speeches, rumors, media, the gap is largely about politics. The decoration is more or less the same: a broken Iraq in an uprising in Iran, an Arab sense of despair and the continuing distrust of American intentions. However, the gap is penetrating the social structure, the region also.

Sunnis and Shiites € ™ a bug, but it has always existed in the world Islamic world than ever at this level of aggression before. The violence is highly concentrated in Iraq and Pakistan and to a lesser extent in Lebanon, but their power is so aggressive which creates a serious problem for the Arab world. People experience the rise of sectarian identity, protest against him, blaming the United States to preserve or inflamed and are powerless to stop the bloodshed. In this type of stimulation is triggered by both sects, it is likely that hatred is extended to the entire Islamic world. Media communication makes the situation even worse in comparison with gory stories of Islamists killing innocent Shi'ites and Sunnis has € ™ € ™ s Sunni Shiite militias rape of women in retaliation. This whole situation has the potential to ignite social unrest and instability in the countries Shiite-populated € ™.

Faced with the rise of the long oppression of Iraq's Shiite € ™ and a walk on Iran has increased in the Levant and the Persian Gulf, a growing sense of unease settled among the leaders of the Sunni Arab autocracies. In the past five years, King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt has highlighted fears of a new Shia '€ ™ half moon "cut across the Middle Means. President Mubarak, but wondered if a ™ € Shiites in the Arab world are more loyal to Iran than their own country. However, the rise of Shiites € ™ a is not likely to destabilize the balance of powers in the Muslim world because the Shi'ite brand ™ € almost 10 percent of the population Sunni Muslim world's $ 1.6 million. And besides, the Shiite ™ € a turn to their spiritual leaders for guidance and not Iran. In reality, the Sunni regimes that fear the attractiveness of radical populist forces that arise in the Shiite world € ™.

In 2006, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's secretary general said the war against Israel Defense Forces (IDF) â € ~ battle of the umma € ™ â € ~ sense of the Muslim community around the world € ™. But the battle failed to mobilize Sunni Islamist groups in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, the enthusiasm Muslim Brotherhood both practical and symbolic solidarity in the crisis. The weak reaction of some Sunni Islamist Hezbollah € ™ s motion was based on political, ideological and religious based on local, national and regional levels in which they operate. The Muslim Brotherhood groups in Jordan, Egypt and Palestine on the support base for Hezbollah's ideological and strategic criteria set by their struggle against Israel. In Lebanon, their counterparts in priority and supports denominational unity the efforts of the Sunni Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Hezbollah to disarm progressively.

The U.S. is pouring money into many battles and the reconstruction of Iraq, which has had an impact on its economy. The riots had a major impact on the economies of the Middle East. Lebanon is an example to determine where Shiite Hezbollah to topple the Sunni-led government stalled COUNTRYERA € ™ s economy. At the same time, Iraq is the second largest source of oil in the world, world oil prices are influenced by all sorts of problems in the region and therefore dependent on the various economies of the countries foreign oil.

About the Author

I work as a financial and investment advisor but my passion is writing, music and photography. Writing mostly about finance, business and music, being an amateur photographer and a professional dj, I am inspired from life.

Being a strong advocate of simplicity in life, I love my family, my partner and all the people that have stood by me with or without knowing. And I hope that someday, human nature will cease to be greedy and demanding realizing that the more we have the more we want and the more we satisfy our needs the more needs we create. And this is so needless after all.

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