Sunni vs. Shia

Bismillah ir-rahman ir-rahim

Assalaam alaikum

This topic can tend to get a bit volatile in Islam, but it is mostly a source of confusion for non-Muslims whose main source of information about Islam is the evening news (or a humble little blog). Though the origins of the split of Sunni and Shia (sometimes "Shiite") Muslims is quite basic, it has grown into a more complicated thing from the implications of the split.

So, bear with me. Inshallah, I will try to make it a little more easy to understand.

So, none of this discord existed during the time of the Prophet (SAW). It was after his death that the trouble began. There was a difference in opinion on who would follow Mohammad (SAW) as the leader of the religion--he was more or less the leader of Arabia at the time of his death. Some people believed that the Prophet's (SAW) closest and most trusted friend, Abu Bakr, should succeed him, whereas others thought it should be his son-in-law 'Ali, the husband of the Prophet's (SAW) favourite daughter, Fatima.

There you have it. The origins of the trouble. A silly political tiff from 1400 years ago.

Of course, it's the implications that have really become the problem. What happened, of course, is that Abu Bakr became Caliph after Mohammad's (SAW) death, and those who wanted 'Ali to be Caliph were quite upset. As a result, all narrations in Hadith (the sayings about the ways of the Prophet) by Abu Bakr were discarded as unreliable by those who preferred 'Ali.

But who was who? Who become Sunni and who Shia? Well, "Sunni" in Arabic means "follower of sunnah," sunnah being Hadith (explained above). So those who liked Abu Bakr are called Sunni. The word "shia" refers to the phrase "shia-t-ali" or "party of 'Ali."

I have heard different ways of people trying to understand Sunni/Shia. I would like to clear a few things up.

Idea #1: "Shia Muslims are the ones who are more conservative and the Sunni are more open to progress."

First of all, I have a problem with the use of the word "conservative" here. As a students of linguistics, I am going to help you to understand the meaning of this word better if a very fun (to me) way:

conserve-ative.

What does "conserve" mean? It means to preserve things the way they are. Don't change. The suffix "-ative" turns the verb "conserve" to the adjective "conservative" making the word mean "in a way which conserves things." This, of course, makes the name of the Canadian political party "progressive conservatives" a hilarious oxymoron... I think it's hilarious, anyway.

Therefore, I am a conservative Muslim. I think Islam should be practiced the way it has been for the past 1430 years. Changing the religion, to me, is unacceptable, because as a Muslim I believe that the religion was given to humanity directly from Allah. Allah has perfected His religion... He's ALLAH, for heaven's sake, He knows what He's doing.

Most people would describe the "religion" prescribed by the Taliban as being "ultra-conservative." Nothing could be farther from the truth. Also, the phrase "extreme Islam" cracks me up. What is "extreme" Islam? To be a Muslim extremist you would have to be such a good person and so pious and so generous all the time is would just be crazy!!!!!!!! The Taliban would be better described as ultra-liberal radical wackjobs. They have brought the most ridiculous changes to Islam... how horrible.

And I am politically liberal.

Anyhow, my point is that conservatism/liberalism has nothing to do with Sunni/Shia. There are conservative and liberal Sunnis as well as conservative and liberal Shias.

Idea #2: The Sunni Muslims are more traditional about their way of practice and the Shia Muslims are all about revolution.

Okay. Listen. There was a revolution in Iran (a predominantly Shia country). It was a religious revolution, even. But that doesn't mean that the Shia are all about revolution. The exact same thing could have happened in any predominantly Sunni country with the same results. According to both Sunni and Shia, they are each respectively following the religion traditionally.

I won't get too much into how Sunni and Shia practices differ now. A basic thing that can be kept in mind: if Abu Bakr said it, the Shia probably won't like it.

However, underneath all the media hubbub about the conflicts between Sunni and Shia Muslims, I have a shocking bit of information to tell you: both practices are not as different as you would normally think. Yes, there are practical differences--many of them--but the fundamentals of Islam are practiced in both sides: be generous to the poor, take care of your neighbours, pray, fast, have pure intentions, etc. It's not as though the Sunni say, "You must have good intentions" and the Shia are like, "Umm... no!" At the base of it, they are the same... actually, at the base of it, many religions are very similar.

Annnnnnyhow, I know what you've been wanting to ask me this whole time: am I Sunni or am I Shia?

I am Muslim.

Allah has said in the Holy Qur'an: Those who divide themselves into sects do not belong with you. Their judgment rests with Allah, then He will inform them of everything they had done. (Surah 6:159).

WHAT????? Ohh, yes, even the Muslims have been led astray. Of course, at the time of revelation, this verse referred to the numerous sects of Judaism and Catholicism (I am not very knowledgeable about Christianity in this sense, but I believe at this time, while there was not the dispute between Catholics and Protestants, there were different groups of Catholics... but I may be wrong), as well as all the different idol-worshipping groups. Alas, there are now many Muslims who have been lead astray, in my opinion, in this aspect.

However, it is becoming more common for people to identify themselves simply as Muslim, and this is what I do. If you want to get technical, you could call me sunni (note I did not capitalize) because I follow Sunnah and I believe Abu Bakr is a reliable source of Sunnah. After all, it was narrated numerous times by many different people that Abu Bakr was a very close and trusted friend of the Prophet (SAW). While some minor changes were made after the Prophet's (SAW) death--for example, the Prophet (SAW) wouldn't have told people to say saull Allahu 'alayhi wa salaam after his name while he was alive--I don't believe such a trusted friend of the Prophet (SAW) would lead the people astray. After all, the Prophet (SAW) was not a stupid man.

But, what the heck, you can call me Shia-t-Ali too! I like 'Ali! I've got nothing against him! He was, after all, the husband of the Prophet's (SAW) most beloved daughter, so the Prophet (SAW) must have trusted him too. The Prophet (SAW) once gave a sermon about how much he loved Fatima and if she was unhappy then he was too... so, I think 'Ali is pretty safe too.

I implore my Muslim brothers and sisters to not accept the popular labels of "sunni" and"shia" and insist that everyone just call you Muslim. As for my non-Muslim friends, please encourage others to not be obsessed with the labels of "sunni" and "shia." We want to spread the message of unity and surrender to Allah. We are not going to accomplish this by setting up barriers between ourselves and others.

Until next time, inshallah. Assalaam alaikum.