Unity and Diversity in Islam: The Sunni Shia Divide
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Unity and Diversity
The Sunni / Shi’a Divide
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Overview
• Unity in Islam
• The Sunni / Shi’a split
• Wider issues
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Tawhid
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“There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”
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“There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”
The shahada
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Say, ‘He is God the One, God the eternal. He fathered no one nor was he fathered. No one is comparable to him’
- The Qur’an, Sura 112
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Umma
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= the Muslim community (Watton / Karen
Armstrong)
= the ‘family’ of Islam (Maqsood)
= community, nation (Sarwar)
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“From that unity (tawhid) all other unities flow, including the unity of the whole human population as a single umma under God”
- from What Muslims BelieveJohn Bowker, 1995
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The Pre Islamic Era: “Jahilyya”• No political organisation (except Yemen)• Nomads • no law or legal structure
– fear of vendetta– warring tribes
• polytheism– Allah = a creator god– ‘The Daughters of Allah’– al-Dahr = Time– idol worship
“The old system, with its diffuse network of gods, involved multiple areas of divine sovereignity, with competing claims to sacrifice and cult worship” - D. Pinault, The Shiites, 1992
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Shi’a
Sunni
Kharijis
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Muhammad died in 632CE, leaving a thorny
problem
• What was the problem he left?• How were the four people on your
cards involved?• What do you know about them?
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H asan H u sayn
'A liFatim a
M U H A M M A D
=
cousin of
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H asan
M u h am m ad al- M ah d i (d . ? )
H asan al- A sk ari (d . 8 74)
'A li al H ad i
M u h am m ad al- T aq i al- J aw ad
'A li al- R ida
M u sa al- K azim
J a'far al Sad iq
M u h am m ad al- B ak ir
Z ayn al- 'A b id in
H u sayn (d .6 8 0 )
'A li (d .6 6 1)
The Twelve Imams
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Distinctive characteristics of Shi’a Islam
• Imam has God-related and God-derived authority. Characterised by ismah (sinlessness and infallibility)
• Taqiyah elevated to a guiding principle for the Shi'a: when a government is too powerful to be resisted, a Shiite may have silent resitance in his heart while outwardly supporting it.
• Theme of martyrdom (stemming from murder of ‘Ali and Husayn)
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Discussion questions:
How can diversity in Islam be reconciled with the concept of a single umma?
Is the division of religion into sects inevitable? If so, is the aim of religious unity ever a realistic one?
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