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| Source: Pew Research Center |
A sizable bombing took place in Kabul on May 31, 2017. The bomb targeted the diplomatic area of the Afghan capital, killing at least 80 people and injuring 350. The source of the attack was likely the Haqqani network, an affiliate group directly integrated into the Taliban. The Taliban are an extremist, anti-Shia,Sunni group.
As an example, review this list of recent major attacks in Kabul targeting Shias and Hospitals:
May 31, 2017 -- 80 people dead with 350 injured as above.
8 March 2017 - About 50 people killed after attackers dressed as doctors stormed Sardar Daud Khan military hospital
21 Nov 2016 - At least 27 dead in a suicide bomb attack on Baqir ul Olum mosque during a Shia ceremony
23 July 2016 - At least 80 people killed in twin bomb blasts targeting a rally by the Shia Hazara minority in Deh Mazang square
According to the BBC, "from Lebanon and Syria to Iraq and Pakistan, many recent conflicts have emphasised the Shia-Sunni sectarian divide, tearing communities apart." In countries with large Shia communities, and in countries governed specifically by Sunnis, Shia Muslims (invariably) tend to make up the poorest sections of society. They are often the victims of discrimination and oppression. Sunni extremists frequently denounce Shia as heretics who should be killed; even to the point of declaring them apostates. (Source:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40102903)
In January 2016, Saudi Arabia executed the prominent Shia cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Sheikh Nimr was a vocal supporter of the mass anti-government protests that erupted in the Eastern Province in 2011, where a Shia majority have long complained of marginalisation. He was among 47 people put to death at that time after being convicted of terrorism offences. (Source:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35213244)
The international rights group Reprieve
called the executions "appalling", saying at least four of those killed, including Sheikh Nimr, were put to death for offences related to political protest, not criminal behaviour.
Meanwhile in Pakistan, as early as June 2014, Human Rights Watch, an independent and well respected agency, has said, “
Pakistan’s government should take all necessary measures to stop Sunni extremist groups in Balochistan province from committing further killings and other abuses against Hazara and other Shia Muslims.”
Following attacks on a Shia school in 2014, Ali Hussain, an elder of Ibrahimzai village in District Hangu in Pakistan, told Human Rights Watch about his reluctance to send his son to school after the attempted suicide bombing by Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LeJ): “We already feel threatened because we are Shia. However, nobody thought that the LeJ would attack a school. School is supposed to be a place of safety of our children. For many days after the attack, my son couldn’t go to school. I also didn’t want him to.”Sectarian (Sunni) militant organizations such as the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LeJ) have also killed teachers who were Shia. The LeJ views Shia Muslims as heretics and their deaths as religiously justified. (Source:
https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/03/27/dreams-turned-nightmares/attacks-students-teachers-and-schools-pakistan) (Source:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/06/29/pakistan-rampant-killings-shia-extremists)
A
list by the South Asian Terrorism Portal (SATP) which compiles data on incidents of targeted violence against Shia Muslims in Pakistan, reports more than 2558 Shia were killed and over 4518 were injured from 2003 to May, 2016. (Source:
https://thewire.in/41862/the-rising-threat-against-shia-muslims-in-pakistan/)Sunni jihadist groups, including Islamic State (IS), have been targeting Shia and their places of worship in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
“In Syria, hard-line Sunni Islamists have used harsher historic terms, such as rafidha, rejecters of the faith, and majus, Zoroastrian or crypto Persian, to describe Shias as heretical.
In contrast Iraq’s “foremost Shia religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has been a voice for sectarian restraint in Iraq, and the country's Shia community absorbed thousands of deaths before fighting back with their own militias” backed by Iranian support.
Shia leaders, however, are not without fault. Iranian officials, Iraqi politicians, and Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, routinely describe their Sunni opponents as takfiris (referring to the doctrine embraced by al-Qaeda of declaring fellow Muslims apostate) and Wahhabis (referring to the puritanical Saudi sect). This cycle of demonization has been amplified throughout the Muslim world.”
The irony is, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, “Sunni and Shia Muslims have lived peacefully together for centuries. In many countries it has become common for members of the two sects to intermarry and pray at the same mosques. They share faith in the Quran and the Prophet Mohammed’s sayings and perform similar prayers, although they differ in rituals and interpretation of Islamic law.” Source:
https://www.cfr.org/peace-conflict-and-human-rights/sunni-shia-divide/p33176#!/
Instead of promoting brotherhood and peaceful coexistence, many rulers and politicians throughout the Muslim world seek to further the differences between Muslims of all stripes. What can be done to stop the use of Sunni versus Shia and Shia versus Sunni?
In order to tackle the sectarian divide, tolerance must be preached by Sunni and Shia alike. People experiencing insecurity (economic, through conflict or otherwise) tend to fall back on their religious identities and then demonize others. In this regard, the principle of mutual co-existence and respect for differences ( which are for the most part in practice but not in substance) must be preached by the Ulema and by teachers in schools and parents at home. The example of the Prophet (PBUH) and his progeny would be a great place to begin making a positive difference.
