The origin of the Sunni and Shi’ite split
was laced with violence. The Shi’ites and Sunni’s were steadfast about their
beliefs. Ali, a man who was married to Fatimid, Muhammad’s daughter, was
supposed to be Muhammad’s successor according to the Shi’ites. The Sunni’s had
someone else in mind concerning who was suitable to fill the role of leader of
the Muslim empire. Even though both groups believed Muhammad was their prophet,
his bloodline did not guarantee sound leadership according to the Sunnis. The
Sunni leadership was fraught with corruption and greed which angered the
Shi’ites even more. The original split between the two prominent Muslim Orders
occurred shortly after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, in the year 632.
The Shi’ites held steadfast that Ali was
considered the imam, a term introduced by the Shi’ites to indicate leadership
and signifies the blood bond in connection to the Prophet Muhammad. Ali’s
descendants took over the leadership of the Shi’ite community. Each imam chose
their successor. The general population did not have a say which differed from
the Sunni’s. The imam passed down a form of spiritual wisdom to the next
leader. Imams served as spiritual and political leaders.
War was a common occurrence between the
two caliphs. When Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law, was the caliph he was killed
fighting in the year 661. The campaign occurred near the town of Kufa, which is
present-day Iraq. The violence and war caused a seemingly permanent split.
Hussein, Ali’s son, went to war against
the Sunni’s because he refused to accept the rule of the caliph at the time.
Hussein bravely fought against the Sunnis’ large army. He and 72 members of his
family and comrades were up against a large Arab army of the caliph. They were
completely annihilated. Hussein’s head was chopped off and held in triumph of
the Sunni win in Damascus. Hussein’s death carries special meaning for the
Shi’ites .
Hussein was considered a martyr by
the Shi’ite people and the memory of him was held in high regard. An event was
held annually in Karbala called the “Ashoura” to pay homage to the fallen hero
who tried to fight for their rights and protect them. The ceremony was held
also to teach valuable lessons. It was held on the tenth day of the Islamic
month of the Muharram (Shuster, 2007).
Even
though the Shi’ites and Sunni’s were worlds apart when it came to decisions
regarding leadership of the Muslim empire, they shared a lot of common
traditions, beliefs, and doctrines. All Muslims believed Mohammad was the
messenger and prophet assigned by Allah. All believe they must adhere to the
revelations provided to them by the Prophet Mohammad. Allah’s messages were
recorded in the Koran. The concepts of devoutness, striving for goodness, and
social justice were fundamental to the Islamic people. All Muslims were
expected to live in agreement with the five pillars of Islam: recital of the
creed; five obligatory prayers each day; giving alms to the poor; fasting from
sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan; and making a pilgrimage to Mecca
once during a lifetime if one is physically and financially able. Both groups
practiced the same theological beliefs.
The
Koran provided conflicting information about killing. Love and respect and
living in a peaceful manner was described fully but on the other hand the Koran
portrayed that Islamic theology required the Islamic people to eliminate anyone
who did not support their beliefs, the opposite of living a peaceful life.
The
Shi’ites continued to lose political battles against the Sunni Muslim leaders.
They continued to maintain their beliefs in the face of massive adversity. The
Shi’ites decided to give up their fight to take over various territories.
Outwardly, they gave the appearance they were a beaten people. Secretly, they
worked with various groups such as the nomadic Muslim people to join them.
Spies were placed in various places to find out some of the weak areas of the
Sunni’s.
The
Sunni’s felt their opponents were fighting a losing battle. They felt their
enemies had something up their sleeves. They were right regarding their
mistrust.
One of the
Shi’ite leaders summoned a demon and agreed to give up his soul in five years
and in exchange the demon inflicted the plague on the unsuspecting people. The
demon was a fallen angel who was more than happy to help the human in exchange
for his soul. Since their numbers were so few, they had to come up with sneaky
ways to attack the Sunni’s.
“I am
willing to give up my soul to you Armill if you help us, the Shi’ites defeat
our mortal enemies,” said Ahmad.
“What do
you have in mind, my friend,” said Armill. He smiled wickedly at Ahmad.
“I would
like to take some of the Sunni monsters out when they least expect it. I want
to use things like sand storms, poisons and diseases.”
One day
some of the Shi’ite Muslims put arsenic in some of the wine bottles in a
synagogue in Syria, one of the Sunni holy meeting places. Many of the attendees
at a prayer service fell dead shortly after drinking the wine from the poisoned
bottles. The bottles that were tampered with were disposed of by one of the
Shi’ite spies. The Shi’ites were not blamed for the deaths. They thought the
one with the evil eye placed a curse of them.
A Sunni
preacher met with the Shi’ite preacher and they discussed the sharing of one of
the holy meeting places in Baghdad. Many of the people in attendance at a Sunni
prayer ceremony came down with a plague. The people had ugly boils all over
their faces and bodies. They died an ugly death after vomiting blood profusely.
The same
fallen angel that was providing assistance to Ahmad was helping the Sunni’s in
their effort of getting rid of the Shi’ite regime. Fallen angels, known also as
demons, would play humans against one another. The demons would grant small
portions of what was requested to make the one who gave up their soul believe
they were getting their way. In the end, they would end up losing more than
they gained from their exchange with a demon.
Throughout history, the Muslims fought
valiantly amongst one another and against the Christians to uphold their
theological beliefs and maintain their land holdings. They have proven to be a
force to be reckoned with, a formidable steadfast Islamic nation. Throughout
history the Muslim empire has conquered many of the Europeans, Greeks and
Romans who resided in prominent and prosperous areas such as Constantinople. Unnecessary
sacrifices over a dispute about leadership have led to many deaths. The Islamic
nation, laced with varying opinions about theological theories and leadership,
believe they need to be upheld at any cost.
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