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Questions…for Hamoud Salhi on the Sunni/Shiite conflict One of the major arguments against withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq is that the country will fall into civil war if U.S. forces leave, with Sunnis on one side and Shiites on the other. Assistant Professor of Political Science Hamoud Salhi , a Sunni Muslim who grew up in Algeria before coming to the United States, has visited the Middle East recently and presented lectures on the topic. Here, he answers whether he thinks the conflict could lead to civil war and why the division is more of a political issue rather than a dispute over beliefs. When did the religious differences between Sunnis and Shiites begin? They separated over the issue of succession when the prophet Muhammad died in 632. He didn’t leave a clear-cut successor, and that’s where the differences of opinion began. Some of the followers of the Prophet felt that the successor should be chosen from Muhammad’s family (who would later be known as Shiite). They felt Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet, should be the successor. Others maintained that the successor should be from members of the Quraish tribe or be selected on the basis of merit (who would later be known as Sunni). The divide escalated from there. Is the role of a successor to Muhammad the only fundamental religious difference between the two sects? Definitely not. It’s a long story with many turns, but another major difference today is that Shiites believe in a hierarchy somewhat like the Catholic Church of those closest to God; Sunnis don’t have this hierarchy. In terms of Shiites’ heirarchy, at the top there’s a supreme ruler, called the Wilayat al-Faqih, or Grand Ayatollah who decides what is best for the community and dictates doctrine and issues rulings in the form of fatwas (edict). Below him is the Ayatollah, and the hierarchy descends to four more levels from there. Why don’t Sunnis believe in this hierarchy? Because they don’t believe that religious elite should rule. In Sunni there is no central structured power; the religious elites include the learned scholars, senior religious judges, and preachers or Imams. In terms of structure, congregations are more or less in charge of selecting their own preachers, prayer leaders, and so on. Why do you think the current division between the sects is more of a political issue than a religious one? The person who really started it was Saddam Hussein in the wake of Iranian Revolution of 1979, when Shiites took control of Iran. As a Sunni himself, Saddam began to build a fear campaign, suggesting that Shiites across the entire Middle East were plotting to align against the Sunnis. He spoke specifically of a Shiite Crescent that would unite Shia in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon . This same idea was recently reiterated by King Abdullah of Jordan and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in an attempt to rally regional support for the Sunnis in Iraq and against Iran. Does that mentality hold up to what is happening in Iraq? People certainly believe in these divisions, but what we’re seeing on the ground doesn’t really support it. The situation in Basra is a good example, because the perception that all Shiites are united is certainly not true there. Basra has three political parties, all Shiite, vying for power. How has the U.S. invasion impacted the relationship between the two sects? Before the war, intermarriages were common among the various Muslim communities. Iraqi people lived with each other and next to each other. But the war changed all that. The struggle for power that followed the collapse of the old regime along with the establishment of a political system that promoted ethnic and religious differences forced the Iraqis to see themselves as ethnic or religious groups distinct from each other and even in competition with each other, if not as enemies. Elsewhere in the Arab world, the U.S. invasion of Iraq has had a similar impact, albeit on a smaller scale. For example, Algeria’s newspapers used to not report on Shiite holidays, but in January, they did but in a rather biased and scornful manner. The difference today, though, is that Shiites don’t take such discrimination sitting down. That all began with the Iranian Revolution. Why was the Iranian Revolution such a turning point for Shiites? It gave hope to the Shiites of Iran that there was a light at the end of the tunnel. The revolution marked the beginning of an Islamic revival that would shape not only Iran’s political environment, but many other Muslim countries worldwide. Before the revolution, Shiites were told or encouraged to hide their religious identity for fear of prosecution. The revolution changed that. It enabled them to openly celebrate their faith. Do you think this divide could turn into civil war? I think it already has. But this is more the result of political calculations than a product of inherent Sunni and Shia differences. Do you see this division within the U.S. Muslim community too? I’m just now starting to research that topic, but on a personal level, I don’t think so. When I go to pray, I’m praying next to both Sunnis and Shiites. I think there’s more of a collective mentality as American Muslims. There’s a belief in the American system and look at their struggle to fight against discrimination like groups who have faced and continue to struggle for their acceptance in American society like African Americans or Hispanics. |
