Islamic Groups from Alawite to Zaidi

You can’t turn on the news these days without hearing about an Islamic sect.    While I can tell you the difference between a Roman Catholic, a Greek Orthodox and a Missouri Synod Lutheran, I have trouble separating the various Muslim groups.   Here is what I was able to pull together.

Islam is the world’s second largest religion with 1.5 billion adherents.  Islam follows the teachings of the Quran which is believed to have been revealed to the prophet Muhammad.   The religion dates back to the early 7^th Century.  There are two main branches of Islam.    The Sunni make up 80-90% of Muslims, while Shiites make up 10-20%.   The split between the two denominations has to do with the legitimate successor to Muhammad.   From 632 to 656, there were a total of four Caliphs, leading up to Ali ibn Abi Talib.    The Sunni believed that Muhammad did not name a successor and that each of these four Caliphs were proper successors to Muhammad, while the Shia believed that Ali was the only true successor.     The Shiites believe that the family of Muhammad was divinely chosen to lead the Islamic community, a belief that is not shared by the Sunnis.

Shiite Sects:

Alawite:   Alawites are a mystical banch of Shia Islam.    They number about three million and are centered in Syria, Turkey and Lebanon.  The sect dates back to the Eighth Century.    They revere Ali ibn Abi Talib, who was the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad.  While the ruling Assad family in Syria is from the Alawite sect, they are a minority in Syria.  

 

Alevi:   Alevites combine Shiite beliefs with Sufi elements and are found primarily in Turkey.

Druze:   The Druze emerged from the Ismaili school of Shia Islam.    They are located primarily in Syria, Israel, Lebanon and Jordan.

Ismaili:   The Ismaili are a branch of Shia Islam.   Most Ismailis are known as Seveners because they follow Ismail ibn Jaffar, the Seventh Imam, as the appointed spiritual successor to Jafar as-Sadiq.    They are found primarily in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.   On a personal note, I once represented some Ismaili Muslims from Vancouver.   They had been Untouchables in India who converted to Islam.   Under the British Empire, they provided much of the technocrat class in East Africa.   After independence, they were forced out of Africa and many emigrated to the United States and Canada where they were very prosperous in business.

Twelvers:   Approximately 85% of Shiites are Twelvers.    They believe that there were twelve divinely ordained Imams and that the Mahdi will be the returned Twelfth Imam.    Twelvers form a majority in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain as well as a plurality in Lebanon.    Alevis and Alawites consider themselves to be Twelvers but hold significantly different beliefs from the mainstream.

Zaidi:   The Zaidi are a Shia Muslim school of thought which follows the Fifth Imam and has many similarities with Sunni Islam.   They are found primarily in Yemen.

Sunni Sects and Groups:

Hamas:   Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine.   It is based on principles of Islamic fundamentalism.   

Muslim Brotherhood:  The Muslim Brotherhood is a pan-Islamic religious, political and social movement.    It seeks to instill the Quran and Sunnah as the sole basis for Muslim life.   It is also one of the largest opposition movements in the Middle East.    The Freedom and Justice Party in Egypt is associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Salafi:  The Salafi are associated with a literalist, strict and puritanical approach to Islam.  The Salafists follows the example of the first three generations of Muslims.    The al-Nour Party in Egypt is a Salafist political party.      Salafi jihadism is an extreme form of Salafism.    It is based on extreme devotion to Allah, rejection of innovations in Islam, the ability to reject non-conforming Muslims and jihad against infidel regimes.    Al Qaeda is an example of Salafi jihadism.   

Wahhabi:   Wahhabi Islam is an ultra-conservative branch of Sunni Islam.     It is based on the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, a 17^th century Saudi.    Wahhabi Islam is dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia.    Some consider it to be a branch of Salafist Islam.

Sufism

Sufism is defined by its adherents are the inner, mystical dimension of Islam.    It does not appear to fall within the Shiite Sunni dichotomy.    Sufis are opposed by Wahhabi and Salafist Muslims.     Sufism appears to be analogous to the gnostic movement in Christianity in that they claim to have the capacity to acquire the direct experience gnosis of God.    Sufism can be found across North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.

 Disclaimer

While this brief sketch outlines how certain Islamic groups relate to each other, I feel like I have done little more than scratch the surface.    Knowing that different groups disagree on the legitimate successor to Mohammad or whether there are five, seven or twelve Imams can distinguish groups but does not little to explain their motivations and beliefs.    I also feel like my sketch of Sunni Islam is deficient, since I was only able to identify two sects within the Sunni world, both of which are on the conservative side of the spectrum.   Since the Salafi Jihadists oppose liberal muslims, it stands to reason that there must be liberal Sunni sects or factions, but I have not been able to find much about them.

The Syrian Dilemma

The current situation in Syria poses a no-win situation for the United States.    On the one hand, the Syrian regime is supported by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah.   The rebel forces are supported by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but draw their most effective fighting strength from groups linked to al-Qaeda.   Within the U.S. opinion is mixed.   Sen. John McCain has been a staunch advocate of intervening on the rebel side, while some right wing groups have accused President Obama of treason for providing support to the Syrian opposition (on the theory that the same groups that attacked our consulate in Benghazi are active in Syria).    

A Little History
 

Things were a lot simpler forty years ago during the Cold War.   A country was either on our side or allied with the Soviet Union.    In the Middle East, Israel was our friend and the Arab states were in the Soviet camp.   Today Israel is still our friend, but the Arab/Muslim countries are no longer monolithic.  

1973 is a good example of the way things used to be.   On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria invaded Israel.   Libya, Saudi Arabia and the other Arab oil-producing states imposed an oil embargo to place pressure on the West.    However, the failure of the invasion ultimately led to the 1978 Camp David Accords in which Egypt recognized Israel.   Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. 

Meanwhile the Soviet Union was losing influence in the Middle East.   In 1979, the USSR invaded Afghanistan.    The United States and Saudi Arabia provided support to the mujahideen who fought against the Russians.   The Russians pulled out of Afghanistan by 1989 and by 1991, the Soviet Union itself disintegrated.    During the Persian Gulf War of 1990-1991, the United States came to the aid of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.     Egypt, Syria, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates all supported the coalition against Iraq.

1991-94 marked the high water mark of U.S. influence in the Middle East.    Our allies Egypt and Jordan had signed peace treaties with Israel.   We had good relations with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.    The only countries that truly hated us were Iran and Iraq (who also hated each other), Libya and Syria.    It was a far cry from 1973, when the Saudis had agreed to use oil as an economic weapon in support of the Egyptian-Syrian invasion of Israel.    

The Current Situation

Since that time, Muslim unity is a thing of the past, as Sunnis and Shiites hate each other almost as much as they hate Israel, and hostility toward the United States lurks beneath the surface of our nominal allies.    The Sunni-Shiite divide is illustrated by a passage from Jill Carroll's account of being held hostage by Sunni terrorists in Iraq.   

There was no mistaking that the mujahideen who held me hated America. "One day, hopefully, one day, America, all of America gone," said one of my guards early in my captivity. He spread his hands out wide as if to wipe America off the map.

"I don't quite understand," I said. "All America?"

My female jailer Um Ali, listening in on the conversation, translated the sentiment into simpler Arabic for me. "No journalists, no people, no nothing," she said.

I could also see that Shiites were high on their list of enemies. Once, when attempting to explain the historical split between Sunnis and Shiites, Abu Nour, the leader of my captors, stopped himself after he referred to "Shiite Muslims."

"No, they are not Muslims," Ink Eyes said. "Anyone who asks for things from people that are dead, and not [from] Allah, he is not a Muslim."

He was referring to Shiites appealing to long-dead Islamic leaders to intercede with God, asking for miracles such as curing the sick. It's a practice similar to that of Catholics praying to saints.

But after the Feb. 22 bombing of the Askariya Shrine, and rampant Sunni-Shiite killing, nearly every captor I came into contact with would tell me about their hate for Shiites first. Abu Nour now simply referred to them as "dogs."

You can find the link here.  

The Sunni-Shiite divide is made worse by geography and politics.    Shiites are a minority within Islam, comprising just 10-20% of the total.   However, they are the majority in Iran and Iraq.   While they are a minority in Syria, the government of Bashar Assad is drawn from the Alawite sect of Shia Islam.    The Hezbollah militia in Lebanon is also Shiite.    Bahrain is a majority Shiite country, although it is ruled by a Sunni monarchy.    On the other hand, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States are majority Sunni.    Al Qaeda is drawn from the Salafist Jihadi faction of Sunni Islam.    Al Qaeda has declared war on "Crusaders, Zionists and apostates."   Among the apostate category are liberal Muslims, Shias, Sufis and the Saudi royal family.  

Meanwhile, popular opinion amongst our erstwhile allies is virulently anti-American.   In Eqypt, both the Muslim Brotherhood and the pro-military factions accuse the United States of supporting their opponents.   According to a 2004 survey, 98% of Egyptians held a negative view of the United States, along with 94% of Saudis and 73% in the United Arab Emirates.   Angry mobs in Afghanistan and Pakistan chant death to America for a variety of reasons from drone strikes to YouTube clips insulting to Islam.  

The Fight for Syria

The fight for Syria is a diverse, multi-party struggle.   On one side is most of the Shiite world (excluding the Bahrainis).    Then there are the Saudis and the Gulf States who want to rein in the power of Iran.   The al-Qaeda based groups want to dominate the majority Sunni population.   Finally, there are the secularists and moderates who began the uprising and lead various exile councils, but don't seem to have much real power.   While the Saudis, jihadists and moderates are all united in their desire to overthrow Bashar Assad, it seems likely that their alliance is largely one of convenience which will unwind once they obtain their immediate goal.  

Opposing Iranian ambitions is a worthy goal for American foreign policy.   However, we should not be under the illusion that we have any friends in the Syrian conflict.  While we may try to influence the outcome, we should not give our wholehearted support to any group.