Is Sunniism or Shiaism a religion? One of the reasons for opposition to Iran in the Islamic world today is that Iran belongs to the Shia sect. They are Muslims, but they are from the Hanafi school, meaning they are not Sunni. While Shias are supporters of Caliph Ali, Sunnis do not value the caliphate of Hazrat Ali. In fact, they consider his poems to be a deviation from the Islamic religion.
What is Shia?
Shia Islamism is the implementation of Shia Islam in politics. Most study and reporting on Islamism has been focused on Sunni Islamist movements.[note 1] Shia Islamism, a previously very small ideology, gained popularity after the Iranian Revolution (1978–1979) led by Ruhollah Khomeini, whose Shia Islamist policies became known as Khomeinism.[2][3] Khomeini’s form of Islamism was unique not only for being a powerful political movement which successfully came to power, but for having completely swept away the old regime, created a new one with a new constitution, new institutions and a new concept of governance (the velayat-e-faqih). A historical event, it changed militant Islam from a topic of limited impact and interest, to one that few inside or outside the Muslim world were unaware.[4] However, there are also Shia Islamist movements outside of Khomeinism, such as the Islamic Dawa Party of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and the Sadrist Movement of Muqtada al-Sadr.[
Though a minority of the world Muslim community, Twelver Shias form the majority of the population in the countries of Iran, Iraq, and Azerbaijan,[5] and substantial sums in Afghanistan, Bahrain, India, Lebanon, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.[
Islamism in general has been defined as a religious revivalist movement for a return to the original texts and the inspiration of the original believers of Islam, but one which requires Islam to be a “political system”.Wikipedia
Shiites believe in the prophet Muhammad, but they exalt Ali much more. This is also the reason for the secret war between them and the Sunnis.
Today, Turkish leader Erdogan, forgetting that he himself once supported Sunni organizations, said something very important. Turkish President Erdogan has made a bold statement regarding the divisions within the Muslim world:
“People shouldn’t be divided by labels like Sunni or Shia. We do not have a religion such as Sunnism or Shiism. We have only one religion, and that is Islam.”
What he said is absolutely true, but he should start with himself. Because for years he supported the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He especially stayed away from the Shiites, and now that the dangerous door has come knocking, that is, when he is caught in the middle of the war and the possibility of the war with Iran spreading to Turkey has emerged, he suddenly understands that sects are not religions. Sects are not ideologies either…
It’s never too late to mend the damage.
Ahmad Zanjani / Iran