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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RetiredNow who wrote (219418)	2/16/2005 7:54:47 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574356

Shi'a vs. Sunni "The origins of the Sunni/Shi'a split go all the way back to the beginning of Islam. After the Prophet Muhammad died in 632 C.E., there was a disagreement about who should take his place as leader of the Muslim people. The Shi'a determined that the caliphate line should pass to Muhammad's descendants via his cousin Ali. Although the line of Ali dissolved in 873, the Shi'a continue to elect a formal clergy bestowed with divine authority, especially within the Usuli sect of Shi'ism, which is predominant in Iran and Iraq. The Sunni hierarchy, on the other hand, is decentralized like the various Protestant denominational churches in the Christian faith.2 The Sunnis consider the Shi'a to have lapsed theologically and to apply undue emphasis on the martyrdoms of the early Muslim fathers. The Shi'a feel that they are more devout than the Sunnis." globalengagement.org This is an oversimplification of the differences between the two but it pretty much tells the story. But you need to look no further than the countries that are ruled by Sunnis vs the ones ruled by Shia. Look at SA...........even with Wahhabism, it is more secular than Iran. Can you imagine a Iranian leader driving around in a Mercedes and gambling in the casinos of Monaco? The Saudi princes do that all the time and are anything but secular. When you compare Shia states with Sunnis in the ME, its more likely that the Shia states will be closer to a theocracy than the Sunni states. The Shia have always been considered more religious. And btw you don't think self flagellation is a form of religious extremism? How can you not see that such behavior very much reflects the conservative and religious mindset of the Shia. Such religious fervor has no place in a secular setting. ted