It’s like fighting over who gets the cafeteria pizza first
Limterallyme on
Context:-
Most people have at least heard of the Shia-Sunni split, but here is a bit more detail.
It is 632AD, and the Prophet is dead. Now it is to be decided who will be his Khilafa(successor) as the temporal and spiritual head of the Muslim people. There is much debate about this. Some say it should go to Ali, his son in law and first male to convert. That, and the Prophet declared him *maula* of all those who regard him(as in, the Prophet) *maula*. There is confusion regarding if this means liege or friend, but anyway, it is one Abu Bakr who is elected. Now, whether this was an honest election or a palace coup is hotly debated, but we aren’t here for that.
Ali could have challenged that, he had the following, but he didn’t. Instead, he served loyally. Then Abu Bakr dies and Umar is elected. And Ali….. once again, serves loyally? What? Then Uthman becomes Khilafa. And Ali doesn’t do anything about it, *again*? How about that.
Then, finally, Ali is elected. Yet, that leads to a civil war called the Fitna, wherein Muawiya, lord of Syria, rebels. There is, apparently, some confusion about whether Ali was actually elected or he just threatened everyone into obediance. Ali raises his forces and defeats Aisha, Muhammad’s wife, who supported the rebels, in the battle of the camel. Then he rebuffs Muawiya in battle too, but calls for arbitration and negotiation.
Now come the *khawarij.* Loyalists to Ali, they believe all those who oppose him are infidels. But Ali is negotiating with them! Well, would you look at that, now Ali is an infidel too! So, they assassinate him.
And that, is the basis of the Shia-Sunni split. The Sunni say the succession was fine as is. The Shia believe that Ali should have been first and it is his bloodline through which the succession is carried. Of course, the socio-political basis of this is much more expansive than the theological, like the massacre of Ali’s son at Karbala, the following wars, different beliefs regarding the veracity of Hadiths, different theology etc. and can hardly be fully explained in this oversimplified meme, but this is the basis of it all.
ScipioAtTheGate on
Its all fun and ghames until you declare yourself to be the Mahdi, then both the shias and the sunnis will go at you
mentallyillloner2 on
They fight with others, fight with themselves , fight with their women
AymanMarzuqi on
As a Muslim, I’m glad to finally see a funny meme about Islamic history. But to be honest though, every Sunni Muslim loves Ali and still considers him one of the coolest figures in Islamic history. It’s just that the Shia take that a step further and put Ali on a colossal pedestal. And fun fact, most Muslim countries in the Middle East still use the term Khawarij to refer to the various terrorist groups that are active in the Muslim world, like ISIS or Al-Qaeda or Al-Shabab or Abu Sayyaf.
merrick_m on
I mean isn’t this kinda like saying the various Catholic-Protestants conflicts are fighting over the sale of indulgences? That’s how it *started*, sure, but. . .
UltraTata on
They fight over the question of if Ali should have been the first or the third Caliph. They should settle on considering him the second Caliph.
7 Comments
It’s like fighting over who gets the cafeteria pizza first
Context:-
Most people have at least heard of the Shia-Sunni split, but here is a bit more detail.
It is 632AD, and the Prophet is dead. Now it is to be decided who will be his Khilafa(successor) as the temporal and spiritual head of the Muslim people. There is much debate about this. Some say it should go to Ali, his son in law and first male to convert. That, and the Prophet declared him *maula* of all those who regard him(as in, the Prophet) *maula*. There is confusion regarding if this means liege or friend, but anyway, it is one Abu Bakr who is elected. Now, whether this was an honest election or a palace coup is hotly debated, but we aren’t here for that.
Ali could have challenged that, he had the following, but he didn’t. Instead, he served loyally. Then Abu Bakr dies and Umar is elected. And Ali….. once again, serves loyally? What? Then Uthman becomes Khilafa. And Ali doesn’t do anything about it, *again*? How about that.
Then, finally, Ali is elected. Yet, that leads to a civil war called the Fitna, wherein Muawiya, lord of Syria, rebels. There is, apparently, some confusion about whether Ali was actually elected or he just threatened everyone into obediance. Ali raises his forces and defeats Aisha, Muhammad’s wife, who supported the rebels, in the battle of the camel. Then he rebuffs Muawiya in battle too, but calls for arbitration and negotiation.
Now come the *khawarij.* Loyalists to Ali, they believe all those who oppose him are infidels. But Ali is negotiating with them! Well, would you look at that, now Ali is an infidel too! So, they assassinate him.
And that, is the basis of the Shia-Sunni split. The Sunni say the succession was fine as is. The Shia believe that Ali should have been first and it is his bloodline through which the succession is carried. Of course, the socio-political basis of this is much more expansive than the theological, like the massacre of Ali’s son at Karbala, the following wars, different beliefs regarding the veracity of Hadiths, different theology etc. and can hardly be fully explained in this oversimplified meme, but this is the basis of it all.
Its all fun and ghames until you declare yourself to be the Mahdi, then both the shias and the sunnis will go at you
They fight with others, fight with themselves , fight with their women
As a Muslim, I’m glad to finally see a funny meme about Islamic history. But to be honest though, every Sunni Muslim loves Ali and still considers him one of the coolest figures in Islamic history. It’s just that the Shia take that a step further and put Ali on a colossal pedestal. And fun fact, most Muslim countries in the Middle East still use the term Khawarij to refer to the various terrorist groups that are active in the Muslim world, like ISIS or Al-Qaeda or Al-Shabab or Abu Sayyaf.
I mean isn’t this kinda like saying the various Catholic-Protestants conflicts are fighting over the sale of indulgences? That’s how it *started*, sure, but. . .
They fight over the question of if Ali should have been the first or the third Caliph. They should settle on considering him the second Caliph.