Quo Vadis Arabia: A New Frontier on Religious Schisms & Feud for the Gulf’s ‘Caliphate’

The Muslim split into two main branches, the Sunnis and Shia, originates in a dispute soon after the death of the Prophet Muhammad over who should lead the Muslim community. “The Shiats claimed the right of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and his descendants to lead the Islamic community. While the great majority of Muslims are Sunnis, the two sects have co-existed for centuries and share many fundamental beliefs and practices. In urban Iraq, even intermarriage between Sunnis and Shia was, until recently, quite common. The differences lie in the fields of doctrine, ritual, law, theology and religious organization. Their leaders often in competition, many recent conflicts have emphasized the sectarian divide, tearing communities apart. The current challenge to global security stems from a 2005 idea of Ayman al-Zawahiri, at that time deputy head of al Qaeda. The al Qaeda franchise should declare an Islamic state. In a letter to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Zawahiri explained how it would work. The Islamic state, he wrote, would fill security vacuums around Iraq left by departing American forces. Once the Islamic state successfully fended off the attacks from neighboring countries that would undoubtedly follow, it could proclaim the reestablishment of the caliphate, the one-man institution that had ruled a vast empire in early Islamic history. For the scheme to succeed, Zawahiri warned Zarqawi, al Qaeda had to make sure that the Sunni masses supported the project. Whatever the balance in the chemistry of the genesis of the protest - ideology (the quest for democracy) vs. religion fanaticism, conservatism has become the rule of thumb in leftist response to these protest movements. Ensemble, these protest movements of the 21st century represent the bulwark of the challenges to global security.

The Islamic State expanded its extermination of Christians to another country with the release of a video Sunday purportedly showing a mass execution of Ethiopians in Libya. "We express our condolences to the families of the victims and our support to the Ethiopian government and people as they grieve for their fellow citizens," National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said in a statement. "That these terrorists killed these men solely because of their faith lays bare the terrorists' vicious, senseless brutality. The White House

Research Interests: Terrorism, Religious Pluralism, Religious Studies, and Public Administration and Policy

see full paper here or https://www.academia.edu/12042575/Quo_Vadis_Arabia_A_New_Frontier_on_Religious_Schisms_and_Feud_for_the_Gulf_s_