Never-ending Shiite vs. Sunni war
Firstly, before I get into the purpose of my blog entry today, I am fairly certain that there are several people who still do not know the difference between a Shiite and a Sunni Muslim. Why do I say this? Because the topic recently came up with an acquaintance of mine, who said though he was aware of the two groups of Muslims, he had never quite bothered to find out what their difference was.
A Sunni Muslim believes that the first four successors of Mohammed (called "caliphs"), who was the founder of Islam, took his place as the leader of Muslims. Sunnis recognize the heirs of all four of these caliphs as legitimate leaders of the Islam religion. Shiites however believe that only the heirs of the fourth caliph, Ali, are the legitimate successors of Mohammed. 90% of Muslims today are Sunni, whereas the remaining 10%, mostly Iraq and Iran, are majority Shiite nations.
Sunni-Shi'a relations have been extremely sour for a very long time now. There has been an ongoing "war" between the two groups for generations. During the more recent couple of decades terrorist acts between the two groups and against other groups have increased dramatically. Suicide bombers are featured in the news almost on a daily basis. However, there is a new level of brutality now introduced into this already large and ever-growing problem: burning people alive.
Just yesterday, November 24, Shiite Militia men killed 25 Sunnis in Iraq, 6 of which were doused in kerosene, lit on fire, and burned alive. Here is the article on ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2677344
It's awful how brutal extremists can be. The closest thing I have to compare is the major division within Hindus, Vaishnavites and Shaivites. Vaishnavites believe that the one Supreme God is Vishnu, one of the three of the Holy Trinity in Hinduism. They recognize all of the incarnations of Vishnu as Supreme as well, but recognize anyone else only as devas or demi-Gods. Shaivites believe that the one Supreme God is Shiva, another one of the three Gods within the Holy Trinity.
Though there is this very prominent difference between the two Hindu groups, I don’t see them fighting on a daily basis and killing each other. It’s very unfortunate, and frankly, stupid, that these extremist Islam groups continue to kill each other in the most brutal ways possible.
A Sunni Muslim believes that the first four successors of Mohammed (called "caliphs"), who was the founder of Islam, took his place as the leader of Muslims. Sunnis recognize the heirs of all four of these caliphs as legitimate leaders of the Islam religion. Shiites however believe that only the heirs of the fourth caliph, Ali, are the legitimate successors of Mohammed. 90% of Muslims today are Sunni, whereas the remaining 10%, mostly Iraq and Iran, are majority Shiite nations.
Sunni-Shi'a relations have been extremely sour for a very long time now. There has been an ongoing "war" between the two groups for generations. During the more recent couple of decades terrorist acts between the two groups and against other groups have increased dramatically. Suicide bombers are featured in the news almost on a daily basis. However, there is a new level of brutality now introduced into this already large and ever-growing problem: burning people alive.
Just yesterday, November 24, Shiite Militia men killed 25 Sunnis in Iraq, 6 of which were doused in kerosene, lit on fire, and burned alive. Here is the article on ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2677344
It's awful how brutal extremists can be. The closest thing I have to compare is the major division within Hindus, Vaishnavites and Shaivites. Vaishnavites believe that the one Supreme God is Vishnu, one of the three of the Holy Trinity in Hinduism. They recognize all of the incarnations of Vishnu as Supreme as well, but recognize anyone else only as devas or demi-Gods. Shaivites believe that the one Supreme God is Shiva, another one of the three Gods within the Holy Trinity.
Though there is this very prominent difference between the two Hindu groups, I don’t see them fighting on a daily basis and killing each other. It’s very unfortunate, and frankly, stupid, that these extremist Islam groups continue to kill each other in the most brutal ways possible.
posted by Writer Through Life... at 12:36 PM
1 Comments:
nice post
Post a Comment
<< Home