Shia & Shiites

Shia & Shi'ites

Shie & Shi'ites

(Arabic, "partisans"), the only surviving major sectarian movement in Islam.

The Shiites are the only surviving major sectarian movement in Islam. They emerged out of a dispute over political succession to Muhammad(s.a.w), the Shiites claiming that rule over the community is a divine right of the Prophet's descendants through his daughter Fatima(a.s) and her husband Ali(a.s). The Shiites believe in a series of 12 infallible leaders beginning with Imam Ali(a.s) and are thus also known as the "Twelvers." The 12th and last imam disappeared in 880, and Shiites await his return, at which time the world will be filled with justice. Until that time even the best ruler is only half legitimate. The Shiites, in contrast to the orthodox Sunnites, emphasize esoteric knowledge rather than the consensus of the community.

Origins:

The Shiites emerged out of a dispute over the succession to Muhammad. After the assassination of the fourth caliph, Ali, in 661, the Shiites (partisans of Ali) were those Muslims claiming that it had been Ali's right to succeed Muhammad directly and that the previous caliphs had therefore been usurpers. They maintained that only the descendants of Ali and his wife, Fatima, Muhammad's daughter, were entitled to rule the Muslim community. This doctrine, known as legitimism, was rejected by the majority of the Muslim community, who came to be known as Sunnites.

Distinctive Beliefs and Practices:

The Shiites developed a doctrine of the infallibility, sinlessness, and divine right to authority of the descendants of Ali, whom they called imams. The main body of Shiites recognize 12 imams and are called the "Twelvers"; the Ismailis recognize 7 and are called the "Seveners." The last imam disappeared in 880, and Shiites to this day await his return, when they believe that justice will be established on earth.

The imam, as the Shiites conceive him, is a repository of wisdom, absolute in his political and religious authority. Under the theoretical aegis of the 12th imam, Shiite religious leaders exercise immense influence. They are more likely to take an innovative approach to religious issues and to defy political authority than Sunnites.

During the early centuries of Islam, the Shiites, politically defeated and persecuted, became an underground movement and adopted the principles of taqiya (which in this case means "dissimulation of faith") and of an esoteric interpretation of the Koran. Thus, Shiites believe that beneath the explicit and literal meaning of the Koran are other levels of meaning, which are known only to the imam, who can reveal them to chosen followers. These principles, useful to the movement when it was politically powerless, are still accepted by Shiites. They also affirm the validity of a form of temporary marriage called muta. Shiites pay the tax called zakat (originally levied by Muhammad to help the poor and later levied by Muslim states) to their religious leaders rather than to state authorities, as they did before achieving political power (for instance, in Iran in the 15th century). As a result, many Shiite leaders in Iran and Iraq have immense wealth and property.

Development and Extent:

During the 10th and 11th centuries, Shia Islam had a large following throughout the Middle East, but the spread of the popular mystical movement known as Sufism seems to have greatly diminished its strength. Today Shiites are in the majority in Iran, and large numbers are found in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, India, Pakistan, and parts of Central Asia. Their total number exceeds 165 million. In recent years several Shiite leaders, including the Iranian political leader the Ayatollah Khomeini, advocated rapprochement and solidarity with Sunnite Islam.

Contributed By:

Fazlur Rahman[1]

[1]"Shiites," Microsoft® Encarta® 98 Encyclopedia. © 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Event:

TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1990

Sep. 24, 1990 Under The Gun

THE GULF, Page 44

Shiites: Poorer Cousins

On Sept. 30, 1988, shortly after Friday noon prayers, four young Shiites men were beheaded by royal decree in the Saudi town of Dammam. They had been convicted of blowing up fuel storage tanks at the Sadaf petrochemical facility in Jubail. The capture of the Shiites ended a six-month investigation that imposed virtual martial law around the coastal towns of Tarut and Qatif—the strategic, oil-rich area of Saudi Arabia's Eastern province, where most of the

country's 300,000 Shiites live.

The aftershocks from the Jubail blast and firestorm are still being felt. Fearful of sabotage, Saudi Aramco, the country's national oil company, has since refused to hire any new Shiites workers, who until recently made up 40% of its work force. The company has traditionally been the only major employer in the Eastern province willing to employ Shiites and thus has served as an important

path of upward mobility. "Shiites leaders are trying to convince the powers that be that [Jubail] was the act of a few individuals," says a U.S. official. "Unfortunately, the whole community is paying the price."

The Shiites of Arabia's east coast have for decades met with cultural and religious intolerance from the dominant Wahhabi (Sunni fundamentalist) authorities. Among young Shiites men, the unemployment rate is 30%, and would be far higher but for Aramco.

The tiger of Shiites discontent first roared dangerously in 1979, when Shiites in Qatif defied local authorities during the holy period of Ashura. The ritual led to demonstrations that according to the Saudis ended only after the National Guard intervened, leaving 10 Shiites dead. According to U.S. sources, the denouement was even bloodier. "The National Guard is the core of the Wahhabi spirit," says a government analyst. "They take a certain pride in going down to

the Eastern province and beating up Shia." Militants in Qatif responded by shooting 12 or 13 guardsmen; the guard sealed the area and killed more than 120 Shiites. Thousands more were arrested, some held for a year. In early 1980 violence flared again; 40 died, and later more than a dozen suspected ringleaders were beheaded.

The unrest led the Saudi government to begin a major public-works program in the Shiites region, which has always produced the lion's share of modern Saudi Arabia's oil wealth and received little in return. The situation further improved in 1985 when the brutal administration in the province of the bin Jaluwi family was replaced by Mohammed bin Fahd, a former businessman and a son of the King. Still, Ashura continues to be a time when grievances surface:

demonstrations were put down violently again in late 1985. Just last year scores of Shiites mourning the death of Immam Khomeini were arrested and interrogated, some remaining in jail for nine months. "It is better now," concedes a Shiites. "But just a little." Says a Saudi official: "We think we can gradually bring the Shiites into the system, and it will be O.K."

Clandestine Iraqi radio broadcasts have recently begun calling on the Shiites to rise up--so far, to no avail. "The Iraqis have very good

intelligence," says one U.S. official. "They've already focused on the

discrimination at Saudi Aramco." Says another official: "The Shia have a grievance, and if they are ignored, it will probably grow."

By Jay Peterzell.

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