13. The Shia Revival by Vali Nasr

The Shia Revival
Originally uploaded by buzby.

Nasr's main argument is that intertwined with the general anti-Americanism and anti-Israelism of the Arabs and Iranians is a deep seated rivalry between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims.

For background, after the death of the Moslem prophet Mohammad two sects of Islam began to take shape: the Sunnis and the Shi'as. The main difference between the two is that the Sunnis believe that after Mohammad Islam should be governed by caretaker Caliphs who do nothing more than insure that Koran is implemented throughout Islamic life; while the Shi'as believe that after Mohamad's death his sons and relatives took over the administration and execution of Islam and that they continued to interpret Islam as it applied to the world. Most Shi'as believe that after Mohamad there were twelve Imams (prophets or relatives of Mohamad) who presided over their religon and they believe that the twelfth Imam disappeared before he died and will reappear in the future when Mohamad is about to return to earth. Sunnis believe in the Caliphate structure and believe that there were a number of important Caliphs after Mohamads death. The concept of Caliphs has been somewhat subordinated in today's world.

The bitterness between the two sects began immediatly after Mohamad's death but became more fierce in about 700 CE when the Shi'a Imam Hussein was on his way to what is now Saudi Arabia to claim the Caliphate but was ambushed by an army of Sunnis who killed him in Karbala in what is now Iraq.

Since then there has been a bitter divide between Sunnis and Shi'as.

Nasr believes that there is a great divide between Sunnis and Shi'as that explains much of the dynamic of current Middle East affairs. He argues that after the revolution in Iran when Khomeini was trying to export his Islamic republic to Saudi Arabia, the Arabs countered Khomeini's Shi'a ideology by promoting fundamental Sunni ideology instead. So, Saudi Arabia financed the nuclear bomb in Sunni Pakistan, supported the Taliban in formerly Sunni Afghanestan, supported (or simply did not criticize) Sunni led Iraq and tried to isolate Shi'a led Syria. The Saudi Arabian strategy led to somewhat out of control fundamentalist regimes throughout the Middle East and the current 'civil war' in Iraq.

In the mean time, Nasr argues, Iran, which is the largest Shi'a nation in the world, understood that it had lost the battle with the Saudis and focused its energies internally. Nasr claims that today Iran is ascendant, it is culturally the most vibrant country of the Middle East, it is politically the most democratic and it is intellectually the most advanced. Furthermore, Iran is now surrounded by Shi'a dominated Iraq which is being assailed by a Sunni onslaught and Shi'a dominated Afghanestan which is finding its way in the world. Nasr argues that the real battle in the middle east will be between the Sunnis and the Shi'as as they fight for influence over Iraq and Afghanestan and, to a lesser extent, Syria and Lebanon. He almost suggests that the anti-western rhetoric and actions of the Islamic fundamentalists is a by product of the greater Sunni-Shi'a war.

I personally don't believe in this great divide theory for a variety of reasons. First, the author provides little in support of his argument. He conceeds at the beginning of the book that it is a book of "big ideas" written for a mass audience so he will not be providing much support for his ideas which is okay, except that if he really wants me to buy into his arguments then I need the support. Second, there are a number of cases where his theory breaks down in real life. For example, based on his theory, Sunni Hamas should not be working with Shi'a Hezbollah - but they work very closely with each other.

This is an interesting and educational book and provides a different perspective of what is going on and even though I don't agree with all of the author's arguments, I recommend that you read it.