What kind of islam is there

In , Iran, a Shiite country whose language and culture are Farsi Persian , was invaded by Iraq, an Arab country with a Sunni leadership but a Shiite majority in the population. Despite Iranian appeals, most Iraqi Shiites remained loyal to Iraq, performing military service when required during the Iran-Iraq war. Both Sunni and Shiite Islam are organized in ways that reflect their beliefs. In view of the emphasis of mainstream Shiism on the role of the Imamate, it is not surprising that the Shiites have a more elaborate religious hierarchy than Sunni Muslims.

With the exception of post-revolutionary Iran, the Shiite clergy has been more independent of the government than religious officials have been in Sunni Muslim countries. Shiite religious officials have had less need to rely on secular governments for money to finance their activities, since they control substantial religious endowments. In the Shiite communities, the most important appointments to senior religious positions are made by Shiite religious officials, not by the state.

In Sunni countries, in contrast, it is typical for governments to exercise control over the appointment of senior religious officials. These governments have also assumed the right to allocate large religious endowments through government ministries created for that purpose. This makes high-ranking Sunni clergy more dependent on the government than their Shiite counterparts.

Sunnis are also more open than Shiites to the idea that the leading of prayers and preaching can be done by lay persons without formal clerical training. In view of the power of the Shiite clergy, it is not surprising that they play an important political role. Led by the Ayatollah Khomeini, the clergy organized the revolution that overthrew the Shah of Iran in and turned the country into an Islamic Republic.

Shiite clergy have also been prominent in opposition movements in Iraq and Lebanon. Islamic Political Movements Both Shiite and Sunni Muslim political movements have as a primary objective the establishment of Islamic law as the sole basis of government.

They reject secularism as an imported western idea, and are opposed to several kinds of social change that use the west as a model, such as changes in the status of women. Political movements with a religious message have a popular appeal in many Muslim countries. This is partly because of the religious outlook of the people.

But it is also because the leaders of these movements are addressing the political issues of the day. One of the reasons for the fall of the Shah of Iran was that his secularizing policies alienated the religious establishment. In contrast, the monarchs of oil-rich Sunni Muslim countries have made a greater effort to keep their policies in line with religious sensitivities.

Another very important reason for the fall of the Shah was the widespread discontent with his development policies favoring rich and westernized groups.

The Shah spent a great deal of the country's oil wealth on military and civilian projects thought by many to be poorly conceived. Iran was a more populous country than other oil-rich Middle Eastern states, so its oil wealth spread less widely among the people. The effect of the Shah's westernizing development policies was to produce a new bourgeois class that was a target of hatred and resentment for poor people.

In addition, like nationalist and leftist Iranian parties, the clergy vehemently attacked the Shah's ties to the West. In spite of their religious orientation, many of the issues addressed by the Islamic movements are the same political or social issues that concern secular politicians.

The movements attack government corruption and the gulf between rich and poor. In Iraq and Lebanon, where Shiite communities are poorer than the Sunni and Christian communities, resentment at perceived discrimination has also allowed Shiite movements to mobilize grassroots support. Problems of corruption and poverty are also invoked by Sunni movements in countries such as Egypt and Algeria, though these movements have so far not been able to obtain support from high-level religious leaders of a stature comparable to the Ayatollah Khomeini before the Iranian revolution.

The opposition to the West is derived from historic resentment in many parts of the Muslim world at western colonialism earlier this century. In addition to problems arising from that period, a number of more recent American and western policies are often cited by Muslim movements: western attempts to incorporate Muslim countries in alliances against the Soviet Union during the Cold War; political interventions such as the CIA-backed coup d'etat of that restored the Shah after a nationalist government led by Mohammed Mossadegh had taken power in Iran; western military and political support for Israel against the Arab world; and western military and political support for unrepresentative governments.

Some of the most dramatic anti-western acts have been carried out by Shiite political groups in Lebanon, where the central government collapsed following the outbreak of civil war in The fighting led to foreign intervention by Syrian, Israeli, and American forces. Radical Shiite movements such as the Hizballah "Party of God" flourished in the period following the dramatic western military intervention in Lebanon in , when Israeli troops expelled the PLO from Beirut, and American peace-keeping forces were sent to Lebanon to be withdrawn in Militant Shiites taking advantage of the lack of a central authority in the country attacked western and Israeli targets, and took hostages, some of whom were killed.

Sunni opposition movements in Egypt and Algeria have also recently been increasingly violent in their anti-government, anti-western tactics. These tactics have caused a major debate in the Islamic world. There is no justification in Islamic scriptures and jurisprudence for indiscriminate killings or assassinations of local or foreign citizens by either Sunni or Shiite Muslims.

Many intellectuals, however, cite the shortcomings of governments as a reason for these acts. Violent anti-civilian acts are not Islamic in origin. In fact, radical violence seems to be a worldwide phenomenon.

Radical groups, whether religious or not, often flourish in non-democratic environments where injustice, repression, and inappropriate foreign influence are widely believed to be dominant characteristics of the existing order.

Notes 1. The majority of the Iraqi population consists of Arab Shiites, but Sunni Arabs form a large minority group in the country. According to the well-known jurist, Al-Shaf'i, Ijma is the third source of Islamic jurisprudence. References Bayat, M. Mysticism and Dissent. Donaldson, M. Ismaeel, S. Khateeb, M. Broad Aspects of Shi'ite Religion. Riyadh: National Offset Printing Press, The Ithna Asharis are the largest group and believe that Muhammad's religious leadership, spiritual authority and divine guidance were passed on to 12 of his descendants, beginning with Ali, Hassan and Hussein.

The 12th Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, is said to have disappeared from a cave below a mosque in Ithna Asharis believe the so-called "awaited imam" did not die and will return at the end of time to restore justice on earth. In countries which have been governed by Sunnis, Shia tend to make up the poorest sections of society. They often see themselves as victims of discrimination and oppression. Sunni extremists frequently denounce Shia as heretics who should be killed.

The Iranian revolution of launched a radical Shia Islamist agenda that was perceived as a challenge to conservative Sunni regimes, particularly in the Gulf. Tehran's policy of supporting Shia militias and parties beyond its borders was matched by Sunni-ruled Gulf states, which strengthened their links to Sunni governments and movements elsewhere. Today, many conflicts in the region have strong sectarian overtones.

In Syria, Iranian troops, Hezbollah fighters and Iranian-backed Shia militiamen have been helping the Shia-led government battle the Sunni-dominated opposition. Sunni jihadist groups, including Islamic State IS , have meanwhile been targeting Shia and their places of worship in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

In January , the execution by Saudi Arabia of a prominent Shia cleric who supported mass anti-government protests triggered a diplomatic crisis with Iran and angry demonstrations across the Middle East. Quick guide: Islam. Sunnis and Shia in the Middle East. Although different, the major denominations all share some common beliefs of monotheism, holy books, etc.

Sunni followers believe that Muhammad had not appointed a specific successor and many years after his death and significant debate, followers chose Abu Bakr Siddique. One of the positions within the religion is that of Imam, who under Sunni belief is the formal prayer leader. Since they are a minority sect, calculating their numbers is difficult. The majority, however, seem to reside in Iran, Iraq , Bahrain , and Azerbaijan. Another lesser known branch of Islam is Ibadi.

Seventy-five percent of the population of Oman is Ibadi. This denomination is newer than the previous.