The real issue in Syria is the fight between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims.
To understand the complications in the Middle East, we must understand the biggest conflict within the Muslim world: the big divide between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims.
The Sunni-Shi’a conflict started 1,400 years ago, after the death of Mohammed in 632 AD. The prophet died without appointing a successor, which led to an argument among his followers. The argument was about who would be the next leader, whether he should be directly related to Mohammed’s bloodline or not. The Sunni’s believe that the Prophets’ trusted friend and advisor, Abu Bakr was the first rightful leader of Muslims or “caliph”, while Shi’as believe that Mohammed’s cousin and son-in-law, Ali was chosen by Allah to continue the rule. Eventually, both held the title – Abu Bakr first until his death, and after him two other caliphs who were assassinated. Ali became the fourth ruler. After Ali, a massive split occurred over who should rule next and dominate Islam. While Sunni Muslims argued that it should be their interpretation of Islam which follows the Sunnah (ways of Mohammed), Shi’as argued that Ali was the rightful first caliph and only his descendants could claim to be the true leaders of Muslims.
Sunnah is the body of traditional, social, and legal custom and practice of the Islamic community, based on the verbally transmitted record of the teachings, deeds and sayings, silent permissions (or disapprovals) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (kind of Islamic oral law and Halacha, a path, a way, a manner of life). The Quran, the holy book of Islam, and the Sunnah make up the two primary sources of Islamic theology and law of the Islamic prophet that Muslims follow.
The tension is intensified by the Hadith, a narrative in which the prophet Muhammad said, “My Muslim community will be divided into seventy-three sects and all of them will be in the Hellfire except one.” Inevitably both Sunnis and Shias claim to be the one “pure” Islamic sect; hence a Sunni-Shi’a split creating two denominations up until today, wherein each has developed its own unique culture, doctrines, and schools of thought, with a range of moderate to extremist followers in both.
Sunnis are largely focused on the power of their God in the physical world, while Shi’as look more toward the rewards of the afterlife.
The vast majority of the Muslims in the world are Sunni, amounting to as much as 85% of the religion’s adherents. They are spread all over the globe – from Morocco to Indonesia – and make up the dominant religion in North Africa and the Middle East. Only Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain have a Shi’a majority, although there are also significant Shi’a populations in Yemen, Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria, and Qatar.
The divide between the Sunni and Shi’a branches of Islam is both ancient and still highly consequential today.
The Kingdom of Bahrain, which is backed by Saudi has long been ruled by the Sunni House of Khalifa, even though there is a Shi’a majority in the population. Many of the insurgent groups in Iraq today– including the Islamic State terror group – are Sunnis.
The current civil war in Yemen has become a sectarian proxy war, with Iran backing the Shi’a Houthi rebels who overthrew the country’s Sunni-dominated government, while a Saudi-led coalition has since intervened to reinstall the Sunni leadership.
Syria, which has a Sunni-majority population, is ruled by President Bashar al-Assad and his family members of the Shi’a Alawite-sect. The fighting that began as an anti-government rebellion has taken on sectarian overtones. That has spilled over to Iraq, which is Shi’a-majority and has a predominantly Shi’a government but is increasingly troubled by Sunni rebels. And the region’s major powers have long pushed sectarian interests, with Shi’a-majority Iran on one side and Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia on the other.
