Sunni-Shi'ite Hatred

Sunni Muslims and Shi'ite Muslims have been hating on each other about 14 centuries.  It all stems back to Muhammad's death and a division evolved over who should take over after he was in the grave. (remember Muhammad obviously never conquered the grave as Jesus did...cuz he is still in the ground)

The Sunni-Shi’ite split is rooted in the question of who should succeed Muhammad in leading Muslims after his death in 632. Shi’ites say the prophet’s cousin and son-in-law Ali was his rightful successor but was cheated when authority went to those the Sunnis call the four “Rightfully Guided Caliphs” — Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman and, finally, Ali.

 

Sunnis are the majority across the Islamic world. In the Middle East, Shi’ites have strong majorities in Iran, Iraq and Bahrain, with significant communities in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other parts of the Gulf.

 

Both consider the Quran the word of God. But there are distinctions in theology and religious practice between the two sects.

 

Some are minor: Shi’ites pray with their hands by their sides, Sunnis with their hands crossed at their chest or stomach.

 

Others are significant. Shi’ites, for example, believe Ali and a string of his descendants, the Imams, had not only rightful political authority after Muhammad but also held a special religious wisdom. Most Shi’ites believe there were 12 Imams — many of them “martyred” by Sunnis — and the 12th vanished, to one day return and restore justice. Sunnis accuse the Shi’ites of elevating Ali to the level of Muhammad himself — incorrectly, since Shi’ites agree that Muhammad was the last of the prophets, a central tenet of Islam.

 

Of course its Westerners who usually get the label of being "Islamaphobes"...when in reality Muslims are right up there at the top in the "bigot" department, now back to the article...

 

It’s not hard to find stereotypes, caricatures and outright bigotry when talk in the Middle East turns to the tensions between Islam’s two main sects.

 

Shi’ites are described as devious, power-hungry corruptors of Islam. Sunnis are called extremist, intolerant oppressors.

 

Hatreds between the two are now more virulent than ever in the Arab world because of Syria’s civil war. On Sunday, officials said four Shi’ites in a village west of Cairo were beaten to death by Sunnis in a sectarian clash unusual for Egypt.

 

Hard-line clerics and politicians on both sides in the region have added fuel, depicting the fight as essentially a war of survival for their sect.

 

But among the public, views are complex. Some sincerely see the other side as wrong — whether on matters of faith or politics. Others see the divisions as purely political, created for cynical aims. Even some who view the other sect negatively fear sectarian flames are burning dangerously out of control. There are those who wish for a return to the days, only a decade or two ago, when the differences did not seem so important and the sects got along better, even intermarried.

 

Here;  http://www.timesofisrael.com/sunni-shiite-hatred-permeates-middle-east/

 

Satan has woven a whole pack of lies and about a billion people have fallen for the lies of Islam.  But obviously when you get the demons of Sunni fighting the demons of Shi'ite...you get a horrendous mess, which is currently unraveling in Syria and seems to be spreading to the entire region.  In fact just today we read of four Shi'ites who were beaten to death by Sunnis in EGYPT!

 

As Christians we need to be praying against these demonic forces and we also are clearly told to pray for our enemies.

As we have said, we KNOW it's hard not to think of this as "good news" that Sunni thugs and Shi'ite thugs are murdering each other...but we need to remember that these folks need the same Gospel story as we do.