LOS ANGELES -- Discussing the difference between Sunni and Shia is a contentious issue in the Muslim community. Few American Muslim leaders dare to tackle this dicey topic, especially during these trying times. With the Middle East ablaze and tensions between the two religious entities being palpable in war-torn Iraq, which recently witnessed a semblance of a civil war between the two factions, religious leaders usually tend to shun anything that smacks of trumping up religious differences and ruffling up feathers that are already ruffled enough.
Rabbi Stephen Julius Stein of Wilshire Boulevard Temple Campus thought that discussing the Sunni-Shia topic in a healthy environment would benefit his congregation. Stein invited Dr. Hamoud Salhi, assistant professor at Cal State University Dominguez Hills, to do just that on Feb. 12. Salhi stood in front of a modest, predominantly Jewish audience, and gave an informal talk about the Sunni-Shia divide in the Muslim world. Dr. Salhi started by digging into the historical roots of this divide and by outlining the context that pitted Sunni against Shia. "When Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) died, Muslims were split into two groups," Salhi said. "Those who supported Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s handpicked successor, and those who thought the Caliphate should go instead to Muhammad’s nephew, Ali," he added. Salhi explained that this divide became more pronounced with the passing of Abu Bakr. But it wasn’t until Omar Ibn Khattab, the second Caliph, was assassinated that supporters of Ali, grew into a formidable party when Ali became the fourth Caliph. Ali’s Caliphate was short-lived as he himself was assassinated. The stage was set for a deep rift between what became known as Shia, those who favored Ali over the other Caliphs, and Sunnis, those who believed that the succession of the Caliphs was divinely inspired. Salhi then spoke about current tensions between the sects in Iraq, and also between Arab Gulf countries and Iran. He emphasized the fact that the nature of these tensions was mainly geopolitical, rather than religious. He offered the Iran-Iraq war as an example. "The war started over a border dispute," Salhi said. "It wasn’t a religious conflict. Although Saddam was a Sunni, his Baath party was strictly secular," he added. However, during a lively and engaging question and answer session, Salhi spoke about the persecution of Shia minority in Saudi Arabia and attributed that persecution to the fact that religious strictures in the kingdom regarded Shia as heretics. He added that these tensions were non-existent during Saddam’s rule in Iraq, or in Lebanon where Hezbollah, a Shia group funded by Iran, is admired and considered patriotic. Rabbi Stein asked Salhi if there were any tensions between Shia and Sunni within the American Muslim community. The Algerian-born assistant professor replied that the two groups were in near-complete harmony. "I go to a mosque where Sunni and Shia pray together," Salhi said. "Nobody can really tell the difference between the two."
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