Religious Jurisprudence of Sunnites and Shiites - Essay Example

Religious Jurisprudence of Sunnites and Shiites. Introduction Islam as followed allover the world has two main sects. While, majority of Muslims follow the Sunnite tenets, around fifteen percent of the Muslims follow the principals of shiaism. We may find noticeable population of Muslim Shiites in the Asian countries like, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Kuwait etc.. However, the major population of Shiites can be found in countries like Iraq, Iran, Bahrain etc.. Although both the sects follow the principals of Islam, their differences have resulted in religious intolerance in certain cases. This has caused sometimes fights among the vast population of Muslims in the Islamic countries. As per the records available, Prophet Muhammad died in the year 632 A.D. His death left a gap for the political leadership of the Muslim community, with regard to succession of the prophet. The debate over the selection of the successor left mainly two choices with the Muslim masses. While one choice was to find a pious person who would follow the percepts of Islam and principals laid out by the prophet, other view point was to find the successor from the bloodline of the prophet itself. The first Caliph named as Abu Bakr, who was a close associate of the prophet was announced after this debate. However, some of the Muslims did not support this decision, although majority was in its favor. Prophet Muhammad had a daughter named Fatima whose husband, Ali ibn Abi Talib was very active during the lifetime of the prophet. However, he did not have the required seniority to replace the prophet after his death. In any case, a certain sect of the Muslims opined that this son-in-law of the prophet should succeed him. Even among the followers of Ali, some voices supported the name of Abu Bakr as successor. Thereafter, two Caliphs, Umar and Uthman, who were seen as legitimate successive Caliphs by the majority of the Muslims, succeeded Abu Bakr. However, the separatist voices supporting Ali had not died down completely and some of the Ali’s supporters killed the third Caliph, Uthman in the year 652 A.D.. This resulted in the announcement of Ali as the new Caliph......(1) As the rivalry had already taken roots within the Muslim civilization, Ali was also killed in the year 661 A.D. He had two sons Hassan and Hussein who also died some years later in the battle against Sunnis. This became the cause of the division of the Islamic religion in two sects. The percentage supporting Ali as the Caliph was called Shias and the other majority supporting the earlier Caliphs were called Sunnis, which literally means the followers of the prophet’s customs (sunna). The Sunni community within the Islamic faith still believes that any leader or the Imam of the Muslim community should be selected through consensus among the masses and not by the hereditary linkage. The Sunni Muslims practiced the institution of Caliphate till recently, all over the world. However, it was abolished in the year 1924, in Turkey by its first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk...............(2) (1) Armanios, Febe...Islam: Sunnis and Shiites—report dated Feb 23, 2004 http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/permalink/meta-crs-6025:1 page 1, ( acessed on March 19th. 2009 (2) Armanios, Febe...Islam: Sunnis and Shiites—report dated Feb 23, 2004 While Shia Muslims have still grudge against their Sunni counterparts, for the inhuman killing of two young sons of Ali, Hassan and Hussain, they have almost seven basic principals guiding their faith, out of which five are shared by the Sunnis as well. These five customs are: 1. Namaz, which is the ritual of offering prayers by the Muslims. 2. Shahada, which relates to the confession of the faith 3. Zakaat, is the ritual of giving charity and alms. 4. Sawm, which relates to the fasting and prayers, during the hours of the day for the whole month of Ramazan. 5. Haji, which is the pilgrimage of all Muslims to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The other two pillars of Shiate faith are the Jihad and the pre-requisite of doing good works without any evil thoughts and deeds. In fact, the Shias believe in the purpose of Jihad to relieve the human self from the evil thoughts and deeds. So, some of the Shiite thoughts highlight the purification of the human soul and body through a jihad of its own kind. However, the jihad in wider terms has been referred to the battle for protection of Islamic values, institutions and empires against the non-believers or intruders...........(3) __________________________________________________________________________ (3 )Shia Islam, Iran, Us library of Congress http://countrystudies.us/iran/55.htm (accessed on 19th. March 2009 ) This essay will discuss individually the jurisprudence of both, the Shia and Sunni sects, in detail followed by the comparison of the two beliefs. However, it is necessary to note that the two sources that guide the basic principals of both these sects are The Holy Quran and the purified sunnah of the prophet which means the traditions set by the prophet himself that govern the life style of every Muslim. Thesis statement for the essay Although religion is the matter of an individual faith, we do find different sects in various religions of the world. Christian religion has the Protestants and the Catholics that follow the path shown by Lord Christ, in their own ways. Similarly, there are sects within the Buddhist religion and Hinduism. Islam civilization has well established sects of Sunni and Shias. While both follow the principal tenets and preaching of prophet Muhammad who founded the religion, their certainly is a difference in the political ideology of the two sects. The roots of this difference can clearly be seen in the period relating to death of the prophet and the selection of his successor (Caliph), as described above. Shiates have been observing the day of Moharram , since the death of the two budding sons of Ali, Hassan and Hussain, to mourn their killings by the sunnis. This ideology that is based on the hatred and violence cannot normally justify the formation of a sect that follows the noble principals of the great prophet. Therefore, we find that the difference between the jurisprudence of both the sects is not much except the feeling of revenge incarnated within the two sects that has lead to several causalities for both. Shiite Jurisprudence Ayatullah, which means “the sign of God” is a term associated with the Shiite leaders, all over the world and they are considered as the spiritual teachers of the community. Since Iran and Iraq has been the seat of the majority of shias in the world, we find many such noticeable Ayatullahs in these countries. The best example of this is the present day Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran who has brought spiritual revolution in the country against western traditions, many decades back. The tradition of appointing a learned and knowledgeable leader called Imam for the Shias started with the selection of the Ali considered to be the true leader of Muslims, by the Shias. This Muslim sect used the term of Imam to signify the spiritual abilities of the leader along with his hereditary links with Prophet Muhammad, like blood relations etc.. Based on such belief, each leader of the shiite community chose his successor, to pass on the political and spiritual leadership of the community to the next Imam, who in many cases was declared as the next Caliph as well. However, as Shiites lost many political battles to the Sunni Muslim leaders, Imams tried to develop the values of spirituality that would become the purpose of Shiite practices and beliefs. Many Shiite teachers of the world are still pursuing this line of Shiite tradition..........(4) Shiite core beliefs There are basic principals of Islam, which are followed by both the sects. These include the teachings of Quran, The hadith, which are the sayings of the prophets and his companions, the sunnah that are the customs of the prophet Muhammad. Apart from these, the ijma that is the consensus and ijtihad, which means the individual reasoning and qiyas that is the analogy of the teachings; form the basic sources for the Islamic belief and faith, which bind both the sects. However, certain core beliefs, like the Shiite hadith differs from Sunni hediths. As there are no codified rules or laws within the Sharia, (Islamic law), same are open to interpretations. The Shiite interpretation is considered to be open to human reasoning, as the hadiths of Shias include the preaching of various imams who are more spiritually and divinely inspired (4 Shiate jurisprudence, its specialiities and sources http://www.imamalinet.net/en/es/esd/esdb/esdb.htm ( Accessed on 19th. March, 2009) Shiites observe the death anniversary of Hussain, the younger son of Ali, who was killed in battle with sunni forces, during the year 680 A. D. The ritual of observing this martyrdom of Hussain by the shiites is known as ‘Ashura’, which is observed on the 10th. day of the Muslim calendar month of Muhharam. Ashura is a ritual that has been observed by Shiites all over the world since the death of Hussain. This, at times turns violent also as most of the Shiite view this as their day of repentance and self flagging to remember the unbearable pangs of torture Hussain had at the time of his inhuman killing by the Sunnis. Shiites have been finding solace in Ashura, as they, being in the minority within the Islamic civilization, suffered quite often at the hands of Sunni majority. This ritual also reinforced their faith in the spiritual beliefs of Imams, Shiite religious practices and traditions, as derived from the martyrdom of Hassan and Hussain, along with the moral lesson learned from it by the Shiites over the ages................(5) There are broadly two types of shiites present currently within the Muslim civilization: ____________________________________________________ (5) Blanchard M. Christopher Islam: Sunnis and Shiites, CRS report for congress updated 11 Dec 2006 http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rs21745.pdf page 4-5 ( accessed on 20th March 2009 ) Twelver Shiism The name has come from the fact that the followers of this faith accept twelve Imams as appointed right from the declaration of Ali, as the first Imam and all the Imams are entitled to the Caliphate by the birth itself. Twelver Shiism is most common form of this faith seen in the present world and its followers are mainly residing in the countries like Iran, Iraq, Bahrain and Lebanon etc..The twelve Imams starting from Ali are believed to be the harbingers of spiritual theology and authorized interpreters of Islamic law. Twelvers have a strong belief that the twelfth Imam will return to lead the community any time in the future, as has disappeared mysteriously, in the late ninth century. There has been calm on the political front of twelvers, after the disappearance of the last Imam as they waited for the new leader. However, with the recent Iran revolution and wars in the Middle East, the political scenario has again become active for this sect. Ismaili Shias While twelvers accept all the twelve Imams as the true successors, starting with the Ali as the first rightful Imam, Ismailis accept only the first seven Imams as the rightful descendants of Ali. The name of the seventh Imam was Ismail. Hence, this sect is called ‘sevener’ or Ismaili. Accordingly, the beak-off was in the eighth century after the death of Ismail. Currently Ismailis are found in greater numbers in countries like India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and some parts of Africa; as they have played significant roles in establishment of military and political rule in these countries There is another small sect of Shias that is called “Zyadis” who accept the appointment of only five Imams with the fifth Imam being disputable for this sect. They are found mostly in Yemen. Other sects like Alawites and Druzes are also from main line shiite Islam. They have more secretive practices and have different interpretation on the pillars of Islam The notable among Alawites is the ruling Asad family of Syria........(6) Sunni Jurisprudence In the Muslim world of today, Sunnis are in the majority. They accept the first four Caliphs as being the right appointments and decedents of Prophet Muhammad Sunnis believe that no human being can take the place of prophet and hence they do not accept the Shiite theory of divinely inspired leaders as Imams. Sunni religious leaders have been mostly under the Govt. control. Although they share common religious beliefs with Shias, Sunnis have different ways to perform the obligatory rituals. (6) Blanchard M. Christopher Islam: Sunnis and Shiites, CRS report for congress updated 11 Dec 2006 http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rs21745.pdf page 5-6 ( accessed on 20th March 2009 ) There are different versions of Sunni jurisprudence as they offer varied interpretation for legal laws that govern Muslims. Broadly, four schools of such jurisprudence offer different interpretation to the Hadiths (Prophet’s teachings). The Sunni sect of Islam has the tradition of setting up Madarasas for the teaching of Islamic law and Shariat. The four legal schools of this jurisprudence are: 1. Hanafi. This is the oldest school of Sunni law and Abu Hanifa in Iraq founded it. He died in the year 767 A. D. It is being followed in most of the countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and parts of Central Asia. 2. Maliki. Malik ibn Anas founded it in the Arabian Peninsula, as he died in the year 795 A. D. This school of thought is prevalent in North America and Bahrain etc.. 3. Shafi i After Malik ibn Anas, this school of thought was founded by Idris al-Shafi”i and the followers of this jurisprudence can be found in countries like Egypt, Sudan, Malaysia, Ethiopia, Somalia etc. He died in the year 819 A. D.. 4. Hanbali Founded by Ahmad Hanbal, who died in the year 855 A.D.; this school of Sunnite Islamic thought is currently prevalent in countries like UAE, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia etc....................(7) Apart from the above, there are other sects also in the Sunni Islam. While the Ibadi sect followers do not belong to either the Sunni or the Shiite established groups, they believe that Muslim leaders should be chosen according to their knowledge and without any regard to heritage or race. They also believe in existence of just and righteous Muslim society. The Arabian scholar Muhammad ibn Abd Al-Wahhab founded the school of thought called Wahhabism, during the eighteenth century. This has become the revivalist movement in the Islamic world, which is a sort of an offshoot from the Hanabali school of thought. Wahabis are the orthodox and strict followers of Islamic Hadith, as they believe in the Islamic fundamentals as depicted in Qura’n and exemplified in the life of Mohammad Comparison of Shiite and Sunni. Jurisprudence As we have two prominent paths in the religion of Christianity, there are two distinct sects within Islam, namely Sunnis and Shias. The difference in these two groups started immediately after the death of ___________________________________________________ (7) Khan Arshad Islam, Muslims and America (book) Pages 230 to 240 books.google.com/books?isbn=0875862438.. (aceesed on 21st March 2009 ) http://books.google.com/books?id=FbnnJxar3aMC&pg=PA236&lpg=PA236&dq=Sunni+jurisprudence&source=bl&ots=qfY8sUg6S9&sig=FGj0_6S3qhpu6__tX5EjEwOiyeg Prophet Mohammad, involving a tussle between the followers of Abu Bakr and prophet’s son-in-law, Ali. Finally, Abu Bakr was appointed as the successor of the Prophet and this left the followers of Ali disgruntled. Thus began the ideological difference between the two sects. Sunnis have since then adopted the ideology of appointing a person of knowledge as the next Caliph, being the successor to the Prophet and his decedents. While Sunnis believe this appointment should be without any regard to the blood, race or lineage of the ‘would be Caliph’, Shias have a strong conception of having the leader from the blood relation of the family of Prophet Muhammad. It was on this strong belief that Ali was designated to be the successor to the prophet, as he was the husband of his daughter Fatima. As described earlier this belief led to various battles between Sunnis and Shiites, resulting in the assassination of Ali and young his sons, Hassan and Hussain, during many battles with Sunni forces. Hence, the main difference between the Sunnite and Shiite rituals is the commemoration of their death, each year during the Muslim month of Moharam. Shiites mourn the death of the two kids by afflicting injuries to their bodies, during the tazia processions on this occasion. Sunnis never participate in this ritual or mourning. While the above is the main difference when we compare the beliefs of two sects, both share most of the other rituals and Islamic beliefs. These include Haji, Zakaat, Namaz etc.. There are other minor differences like the practice of “Taqiya” allowed by Shias and their legal permission to temporary marriages.............(8) While Shiites feel animosity towards the Sunnis, with regard to the community leadership and the companion of the Prophet, which include the first Caliph, Abu Bakr; they differ with the preaching and interpretations of Hadith by these early leaders. The other major difference is the fact that Sunnis Muslims form majority of the community, while the Shias are in minority only. Although, both the communities follow the basic tenets of Islam, they still fight violent battles with each other. The latest example is the conflict between the predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran/Iraq......................(9) (8) Lenchner, Charles...Sunni vs. Shia... published Oct. 5, 2008 Peace in the Middle East http://middleeast.change.org/blog/view/sunni_vs_shia (accessed on 21st. March, 2009 ) (9) Huda, What is the difference between Shia and Sunni Muslims http://islam.about.com/cs/divisions/f/shia_sunni.htm (accessed on 21st. March, 2009 ) Conclusion Based on the historical facts concerning Islam from the period of its foundation by Prophet Mohammed, we can judge that the divide between the Shiite and Sunnite sects of Islam is not a religious one. The difference is purely based on political ideologies and related to the leadership of the community.. While Sunnis want the successor of the prophet to be any one irrespective of any blood lineage with the prophet, Shiites strongly believe in having their leader only from the bloodline heritage of the great prophet. While this was the reason to install Ali, son-in-law and cousin of the prophet as the successor, Shiites still believe that the last Imam, who disappeared mysteriously, will reappear any time for the political guidance of the community. However, Sunnis do not acknowledge this Imam as their leader, in any case. Although very remote, the possibility of political leadership issue getting resolved can see both Shiites and Sunnites as single unified Muslim force, as both share almost all basic tenets of Islam. ________________________________________ Bibliography Sources Used Armanios, Febe...Islam: Sunnis and Shiites—report dated Feb 23, 2004 Blanchard M. Christopher Islam: Sunnis and Shiites, CRS report for congress updated 11 Dec 2006 Khan Arshad Islam, Muslims and America (book) Pages 230 to 240 books.google.com/books?isbn=0875862438.. (aceesed on 21st March 2009 ) http://books.google.com/books?id=FbnnJxar3aMC&pg=PA236&lpg=PA236&dq=Sunni+jurisprudence&source=bl&ots=qfY8sUg6S9&sig=FGj0_6S3qhpu6__tX5EjEwOiyeg Read More