World Peace and Shia-Sunni Unity

The terrorists activities happening around the world and the Muslims involvement in it compels a man to think if this terrorism is because of the Islamic teachings or not. And such thoughts are being propagated in a planned way by the communities, countries and organization that are against Islam.

It is beyond doubt that this new changing ugly face of the Islam is because of the conservative and fundamentalist religious teachers in the Islam. These so called religious leaders have played a great role in keeping Islam followers away from the faith of other communities. And at the same time has sowed the poisonous seeds of hatred among the different sects of the Islam. Some Islamic scholars talk of the 73 groups in Islam at the world level. But the two main groups among these are the sunni and shia.

Surprisingly, both the classes, the Shia and the Sunni, equally accept and regards the same book ‘The Quran’ voiced by the God. Both the sects accept Prophet Mohammad as the last prophet of the incarnation tradition.

The *Haj*, the *Zaka*t, the *Roza*, prayer for five times a day and oneness of God are agreed to by both the sects. Despite the bloody scuffles between the two sects are common from India to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. It is not wrong to say that as a result of shia-sunni scuffle, the persons who label the Islam as a terrorist community immediately associate these struggles with the terrorist activities.

About three decades ago, when the two main Islam countries, known in the world as Sunni Iraq and Shia Iran were involved in a war for about 12 years the former prime minister of Israel, a Jew leader aerial Sharon, was happy to state, ‘Let them kill each other’ they will fulfill our motive’. Even today, most of the violent incidents that occur in Iraq are mostly because of the Shiya-Sunni differences.

A Muslim women demands Sunni Shia unity
A Muslim woman demands Sunni Shia unity

It is not so that persons of the Sunni sect refuse to accept the able leadership of the Shia sect because of his being a Shia. Same is with the Shia sect. often the persons of the Shia society has praised the able Sunni personality and leadership and has accepted it.

For example, Mohammad Ali Jinnah was a member of the Shia society. But a group of united India, especially the Muslims favouring the division accepted his leadership. But his thoughts about the Shia-Sunni issue, may be because of his far sighted motive, were different from the religious leaders that had limited feelings. Usually the common people and the journalists asked him a question if he was a Shia or a Sunni. In reply to it Jinnah used to ask a question, to what sect did Hazrat Mohammad sahib belong to. Shia or to Sunni?

In reply to it the person asking the question used to say that he was neither a Shia nor a Sunni but he was the founder of the Islam religion, a first Muslim. So Jinnah used to tell himself as the follower of Hazarat Mohammad and was satisfied to tell himself a Muslim. Same was with the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Despite being a member of the Shia community, he won popularity in Pakistan only due to his high thinking. He felt himself free from the Shia-Sunni bonds.

The same were the thoughts of her daughter Benazir Bhutto. The thoughts of Benazir were totally liberal Islamic thoughts. Because of her popularity, today, her Shia husband Asif Ali Zardari, has got the office of the president of Pakistan. The Shia-Sunni bloody scuffle is also at the peak in Pakistan only after Iraq. The Shia population is not more than 20 percent in Pakistan. In spite of it, the popularity of the Bhutto family is proof that most of the people from the Sunni sect are not conservative and orthodox there.

Now, the liberal Muslim scholars (Both the shias and the Sunnis) have started a strange movement whose motive is to abolish the black spot on the Islam and put the real teachings of the Quran and the Islam before the world. And for this great motive, a dire need has been felt that first of all the Shiites and Sunnis should be united.

They should sink their historical differences. In the present circumstances, the Islam should be presented in its real form in which it got spread. where the Islam got the religious form where there is equality, brotherhood and oneness of god. These attempts have been started in Lucknow, the capital of the largest state in India, the Uttar pardesh.

It is well known that Luknow is a city where the maximum number of the Shiites-Sunnis scuffles happen. Besides, in this city same Shia and Sunnis scholars have started the constructive work of uniting the Shia and the Sunni sects. The famous Shia liberal religious leader Dr Kalbe Sadiq, who is also the vice president of all India Muslim personal law board, started this movement of unity.

Sunni liberal religious leader Maulana Khalid Rashid and many others are helping him in this movement. These liberal personalities are in favor of giving modern and scientific education to the Muslim children. These liberal scholars think that the half learned and little learned religious teachers are responsible for the present spoiled form of the Islam.

These liberal Shia religious leaders are of the opinion that the scuffle between the Shiite and the Sunnis, which is going for the last 1200years, should be stopped. They are of the opinion that we should try to ignore the controversial Hadees (Religious historical books) and follow the teachings of the Islam based on the Quran said by Prophet Mohammad.

These liberal leaders have long felt that when during the Haj, all the Muslim world without and difference if they are the Shiites or the Sunnis follow the same traditions in Mecca city of Saudi Arabia and pray together at one time, why they indulge in the sect scuffle when they come back from the Haj? For this attempt of unity, this year for the first time a prayer was organized on the day of the Ied in which both the Shias and the Sunnis together prayed.

Certainly it was the first time this year on the day of the Ied. At Lucknow, on October 2, a prayer was held that showed a rare example to the Muslims of the world. This prayer held at Lucknow has warned the Muslims of the world to solve the class base struggles. If not stopped soon, the group based bloody scuffles will harm the Islam and the Islam will be insulted everywhere.