Sunni-Shia Division : Important things to know

A centuries old conflict between muslims that had made so much violence and had taken so much lifes,will it end through dialogues?

Divide between Sunni and Shia is far most one of the most controversial differences amoung Muslims all over the world

.     

By Abdullah Manzoor       ( Pc: IranWireYoutube)

May 22,2021     Published at 2:55 PST

For decades, the Sunni-Shia divide has been a major problem for muslims across the whole world as countries are are divided because of their beliefs towards Sunni Islam and Shia Islam, massacre of Shias in Sunni majority countries and massacre of Sunnis in Shia majority countries are the result of this deadly division, but what is this division? Does this have anything in it or just miss conception?

Things started right after the Death of Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him) When Respected Abubakar was chosen in Saqifa banu Sa'idah, a widely known building. It was a roofed building used by the banu Sa'idah clan of Banu Khazraj tribe.Saqifah is significant as the site where, after Muhammad,s(Peace be upon him) death, some of his companions gathered and pledged allegiance to Abu Bakar, electing him as the first Caliph.

Aview of the a area where the gathering at Saqifah occurred.

During Muhammad's(PBUH) lifetime, the Muslims in Medina were divided into two groups; the Muhajrun, who had converted to Islam in Mecca and migrated to Medina with Muhammad, and the Ansar, who were originally from Medina and had invited Muhammad to govern their city.

In the immediate aftermath of the death of Muhammad in 632, a gathering  of the Ansar took place in the saqifa of the Banu Sa'idah clan. The conventional wisdom historians, as well as the general belief at the time, was that the purpose of the meeting was for the Ansar to decide on a new leader of the Muslim community among themselves, with the intentional exclusion of the Muhajirun. However, it may be that the Ansar, with a similar thinking that precipitated the later Ridda wars considered that their allegiance to Muhammad had elapsed with his death and expected that his community would now disintegrate. For this reason, they may have simply been seeking to re-establish control over Medina under the belief that the majority of the Muhajirun would return to Mecca anyway.

Nevertheless, Abu Bakar(May Allah bless them) and Umer( May Allah bless them) both prominent companions of Muhammad, upon learning of the meeting became concerned of a potential coup and hastened to the gathering. Upon arriving, the two learned that the candidate for the position was Saad ibn Ubadah, chief of the Banu Sa'ida. Abu Bakr addressed the assembled men with a warning that an attempt to elect a leader outside of Muhammad's own tribe, the Quraysh, would likely result in dissension as only they can command the necessary respect among the community. He then took Umar and another companion, Abu Ubaidah ibn Al-Jarrah, by the hand and offered them to the Ansar as potential choices. Habib ibn mundhir, a veteran from the Battle of Badr, countered with his own suggestion that the Quraysh and the Ansar choose a leader each from among themselves, who would then rule jointly. The group grew heated upon hearing this proposal and began to argue amongst themselve.

Umar  took Abu Bakr's hand and swore his own allegiance. He later stated that he felt it was necessary to demand an immediate pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr on top of a formal agreement, so as to avoid conflict if the Ansar later reneged and chose another leader. The meeting broke up when a violent scuffle erupted between Umar and Sa'd ibn Ubadah, perhaps indicating that the choice of Abu Bakr may not have been unanimous, with emotions running high as a result of the disagreement.

This event has an important significance about  the Sunni Shia conflict. Whereas Shias, who belive that Ali ibn Abi Talib, the nephew of Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) and first Imam of Shia Muslims has been given the Khilafah by Prophet(PBUH) and believe that he was successor of the messenger, and his unknowingly absence in the Saqifa meeting has been widely discussed and opened the gates of division in Muslims. When that meeting happened Ali Ibn Abi Talib wasn’t there and he was performing rituals bathing of Messenger,s body alongside his other family members, the timming of these events cause these basic divions among Muslims,Ali ibn Abi Talib(May Allah bless him) didn’t gave his allegiance to the first caliph Abu Bakar along with other companions including Zubair Ibn Awam(May Allah Bless him). From this event Shias blame  Abu Bakar and Umar(May Allah Bless them both) does this on their will and didn’t tell Ali Ibn abi Talib while he was busy performing ritual bathing of Prophet(PBUH). They believe that the messenger of Allah has made Ali his successor and only he has the authority to become the first Caliph as he was also Muhammad,s (SAW) nephew and was a prominent member of Ahle bayt, the family of Prophet( SAW), this claim has also been discussed and Sunni muslims are not agreed upon this claim as their believe is that the election of Muslim Caliph will be done by electoral system because  Rasool Allah (SAW)  in his life has condemned the system of nepotism, which was done by the Roman and Persian Empires at that time, shias have a different view about it. Shisa oftenly quote a Hadith of Prophet Muhammad(SAW) about his address near a village named Hum (Sunan Nisai Al-Kubra 8478,Al Sunna by Imam Ibn abi Asim 1158) In which Rasool Allah(SAW) himself said “ For whomever I am his Mawla(Mola) then ‘Ali is his Mawla(Mola).” the word Mola or Mawla or Maula, is causing confusion for some of our Muslim brothers and sisters, in relation to this word they sometimes negate sahih Hadith of Holy Prophet(PBUH). I want to clear this confusion after discussing or learning from renowned Scholars of this time. First, be clear, we can use Mola to give someone respect, like we use to say Molana to our Scholars. Secondly Allah the almighty use this word Mola with him and Jabreil(AS) and also for Momins, please read this Quranic Ayat below(66:4), the surah name is Tahreem. Prophet(PBUH) use word Mola for himself and Mola Ali. Here Mola means the most beloed one. Prophet(PBUH) and Mola Ali(AS) are the most beloved one personalities in Islam. Shias believe that Messenger of Allah made Ali(AS) as his successor and from this Hadith it is clear that Moula Ali(AS) was honoured to be the first Caliph after the death of Prophet(SAW). Therefore, Abu bakar(RA) wasn’t eligible and this was not a justful decision and this particular event become a bone of contention between Sunnis and shias. It is also part of the history that after 6 months of caliphate of Abu Bakar(RA), Abu Bakar(RA) himself went to the house of Moula Ali (AS) and they discuss the reasons behind the accidential nomination of Abu Bakar(RA) and also Ali,s(AS) decision to not give his allegiance to Abu Bakar(RA), while discussing Abu Bakar(RA) couldn’t hold his tears. While Moula Ali(AS) also clearify that we(those who didnt give their allegiance) didn’t have any jelousy towards the Caliphate, there was a grief in our hearts that we(Ahle-bayt) wasnt there at the time of nomination, after the dialogues Moula Ali(AS) decided to give his allegiance to Abu Bakar(RA) openely in presence of hundreds of companions.

My take on this is that Sunnis have to accept that the nomination of Abu Bakar(RA) was accidental and cannot be used as a plea to nominate a person in future, and I am quoting Umer,s(RA) fatwa, he clearly said when there were rumours that some people has decided to choose a companion for the Caliphate, Sayyida Umer(RA) clearly said that if someone think that nomination of someone without the concentration of Muslims will work then he is wrong and it will cause killing, and he clearly said that the nomination of Abu Bakar(RA) is not a plea for the muslims to choose someone.Sayyidna Ali(AS) give his allegiance to all the three Caliphs, Abu Bakar, Umer, Uthman( May Allah Bless them all) if we ask Shias that Moula Ali(As) was standing right behind the caliphs and gave his allegiance and support them and also took the duty of chief justice then why are you all cursing their Caliphate and their decisions, they will reply that Moula Ali(AS) does this for the biggest interest of Ummah, then why didn’t shias act upon the decisions of Moula Ali(AS) and stop cursing the caliphs in the biggest interest of Muslim Ummah? Didn’t they have their representation in Muslim Ummah? 

Nomination of Abu Bakar(RA) was an accident and even Sayyida Umer(RA) said this(nomination) cannot be used as a plea. We all believe that this isn’t a plea and the decision cannot be used to nominate future leaders. Why didn’t Shias stand with the decisions of Moula Ali(As) as they were in the best interest of Muslim Ummah.

( note:  this is only one of that many issues which I will cover in upcoming blogs.

Divide between Sunni and Shia is far most one of the most controversial differences amoung Muslims all over the world