[1]Distribution of Sunni and Shia Islam in the Middle East and North Africa. Photo by Peaceworld111 on Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0
In his last State of the Union address [2] US President Barack Obama stated that conflicts in the Middle East “date back millennia.” One Arab researcher takes time to explain to him that one aspect of the conflict — today's so-called Sunni-Shia rift is anything but ancient.
“The Middle East is going through a transformation that will play out for a generation, rooted in conflicts that date back millennia,” Obama said.
In a series of tweets, entitled About the so-called “ancient” Sunni-Shia rift [3], Palestinian writer, career entrepreneur, and Arab Spring activist Iyad El-Baghdadi delves into history picking examples of times when the sect of scholars and politicians did not matter:
In the late 19th century, Shiite scholar Al Afghani was a prominent member of the anti-colonialist, pan-Islamic revival movement.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [4]
Al Afghani's disciple was none other than prominent Sunni scholar Mohammad Abduh, who would later become Egypt's Grand Mufti.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [5]
One of the Sunni Abduh's lasting works was his commentary on Nahj al Balagha, one of most important Shia references.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [6]
In 1931, Iraqi Shia cleric Kashif al Ghita led Sunni clerics in prayers in Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, at an anti-imperialist conference.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [7]
In the 1940s, Pakistan, a majority Sunni state, was founded by Jinnah, a Shiite Muslim.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [8]
In the early 1950s people answering the Iraq census didn't know whether to pick “Sunni” or “Shia” coz many were mixed.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [9]
In 1958, Egypt's Grand Mufti declared that Shiism will be taught in Al Azhar as the fifth school alongside Sunni schools of jurisprudence.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [10]
In the 1960s Sunni Saudi Arabia supported the Zaydi Shias in Yemen in a civil war against Egypt-supported Republicans.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [11]
In the 1980s, the majority of the Iraqi army fighting Iran in the Iraq-Iran war was made up of Arab Shias.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [12]
In the 1990s & 2000s, Shiite Iran supported Sunni Palestinian militant group Hamas.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [13]
El-Baghdadi further explains the “divide and conquer” rift is political in nature and a “willful and cynical sectarianization of a regional power struggle.” He tweets:
The current dynamic isn't a conflict of sectarianism but a willful and cynical sectarianization of a regional power struggle.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [14]
According to El-Baghdadi, tyrants are the only beneficiaries of this split and that sectarianism has been “weaponised for power”:
Tyrants are rarely ideologically committed to Sunnism or Shiism; but are happy to exploit either when it's expedient.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [15]
Sectarianization became the pragmatic thing to do. Hatemongering ideologues became useful and hence became stars on TV and media.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [16]
Fact is, I acknowledge the old theological rift and the communal differences but I emphasize their modern political weaponization.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [17]
Has the region been sectarianized? Yes. Are the differences real? Yes. Is the current war posturing an ancient theological dispute? No.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [18]
Many theological and communal differences are innocuous, mundane, and not particularly deadly, until they are weaponized for power.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016 [19]