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Essay On The Nature Of Sunni And Shia

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TO WHAT EXTENT DOES THE SECTARIANISM SHAPES THE GEOPOLITICS IN THE REGION?
Nature Of Sunni And Shia
Sunni and Shia sects both came from the same root, followers of Allah. The rift between the two biggest Muslim factions goes right back to who should succeed the Prophet Mohamed as leader of the emerging Islamic community. Normally, succession would pass to the eldest son of the leader, yet, Mohamed had no son but a daughter. Therefore, it came into an argument after his death in the 7th century. On one side, the majority of his followers, had argued that Abu Bakr, Mohamed’s closest associate, should be the successor. These majority supporters were later known as ‘SUNNIs’. Hence the opposite side supporters seeked that instead of having succession …show more content…

In general speaking, political influence and religious belief seemed to be unseparated in this region. Influencing to other politics, the religion has become one of the key factors in doing so. Therefore, the sectarianism in the Middle East could be seen as the concentration on the religious and political divergences between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran.
Iran and Saudi Arabia were known as strategically regional rivals. It was understood that Iran’s connections with Shia Arabs has been trying to preoccupy other Arab Gulf countries. With no doubt, geopolitics has been the sake as Shia bonded these geographical alliances trans-nationally. Supporters of this idea, so how, expected the Iranian hegemony through the tool of Pan-Shia Islam. Both Iranian-Shia and the Sunni Gulf monarchies tried to seek for chances to expand their regional influence. This reinforcing of sectarian impulse, however, has created the political vacuum in many weaker states in the Middle East. It was undeniable that sectarians in this region were culturally embedded and became the Arab identity. As a result, the wars and chaos in this region happened because of religious and political

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