Nadene Goldfoot
The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagreement over the succession to Muhammad and subsequently acquired broader political significance, as well as theological and juridical dimensions. Let's look at the 2 men who are being followed:
1. Abu Bakr: was an Arab political and religious leader who founded the Rashidun Caliphate and ruled as its first caliph from 632 until his death in 634. He was the most prominent companion and a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Abu Bakr is one of the most important figures in Sunni Islam. Abu Bakr was born in 573 CE to Abu Quhafa and Salma bint Sakhar. He belonged to the tribe of Banu Taym. In the Age of ignorance, he was a monotheist and condemned idol-worshipping. As a wealthy trader, Abu Bakr used to freed slaves. He was an early friend of Muhammad and often used to accompany him on trading in Syria. After Muhammad's invitation of Islam, Abu Bakr became one of the first Muslims. He extensively contributed his wealth in support of Muhammad's work and also accompanied Muhammad, on his migration to Medina. By the invitations of Abu Bakr, many prominent Sahabis became Muslims. He remained the closest advisor to Muhammad, being present at almost all his military conflicts. In the absence of Muhammad, Abu Bakr led the prayers and expeditions.
2. Ali ibn Abi Talib: was a cousin, son-in-law and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled as the 4th rightly guided caliph from 656 until his assassination in 661. He is the son of Abu Talib and Fatimah bint Asad, the husband of Fatima, and the father of Hasan, Husayn and Zaynab. As a child, Muhammad took care of him. After Muhammad's invitation of his close relatives, Ali became one of the first believers in Islam at the age of about 9 to 11. He then publicly accepted his invitation on Yawm al-Inzar and Muhammad called him his brother, guardian and successor. He helped Muhammad emigrate on the night of Laylat al-Mabit, by sleeping in his place. After migrating to Medina and establishing a brotherhood pact between the Muslims, Muhammad chose him as his brother. In Medina, he was the flag bearer in most of the wars and became famous for his bravery.
Those who followed the Prophet's closest companion (Abu Bakr) became known as Sunni (the followers of the Prophet's example – Sunnah). Those who followed the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law ('Ali) became known as Shi'a (the followers of the Party of 'Ali – Shi'atu Ali). Both started after Mohammad, the prophet died in 632.
Neither one was of a father to son relationship which the House of David was, and in that, there were a lot of differences among the line of descendants.
1. Sunnis: Abu Bakr and Sunni: focus on following the Prophet’s example: Sunni Islam is by far the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word Sunnah, referring to the behaviour of Muhammad. According to Sunni traditions, Muhammad left no successor and the participants of the Saqifah event appointed Abu Bakr as the next-in-line (the first caliph). Likewise, the foundational alliance between Wahhabism, (Wahhabism is a term used to refer to the Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement within Sunni Islam which is associated with the Hanbali reformist doctrines of the Arabian scholar Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab).and the rulers of Saudi Arabia has seen Shi’a movements marginalised there.
2. Shi'a: Cousin of Prophet: Shi’a focus on the lineage of Muhammad’s family through a series of Imams. Shi’as make up about 10% (approximately 162 million) of the global Muslim population and form a majority in five countries: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Lebanon, Iran and Iraq. The Shia view, which holds that Muhammad appointed his son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor is contrast to the majority of Muslims, the Sunnis. The Iranian Revolution led to the rise of a Shi’a theocracy which has since supported Shi’as in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain as well as supporting Hezbollah (Lebanon), Hamas (Gaza), and the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. Shi’a dominated governments in Iraq and Syria have committed violence against Sunni populations. Shi’a communities in Iraq have been subjected to extreme violence at the hands of the Sunni ISIS.
The Ayatollas are a title showing what they have accomplished in their Shia-Muslim religion, and are found in Iran. It is an honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. It is also absent in the vocabulary of Shias in Lebanon, Pakistan, and India. In Iraq, while the title is not unknown, it is only used for clerics of Iranian origin.
Twelver Shia Muslims believe that the process of finding God's laws from the available Islamic literature will facilitate in dealing with any circumstance. They believe that they can interpret the Qur'an and the Twelver Shi'a traditions with the same authority as their predecessors. This process of ijtihad has provided a means to deal with current issues from an Islamic perspective. Generally, the Twelver Shi'a clergy have exerted much more authority in the Twelver Shi'a community than the Sunni ulema.
Usooli Shia considering it obligatory to obey a mujtahid when seeking to determine Islamically correct behavior. They believe the 12th Imam, ordered them to follow the scholars (Fuqaha) who: "...guard their soul, protect their religion, and follow the commandments of their master (Allah)..." The mujtahid they follow or emulate is known as a Marja' Taqleedi. As of 2014 there were over 60 recognized Marj in the Shia Muslim world.
Iran is insidiously telling the world that they intend to rub out Israel. It's something they can brag about to the Sunnis. They've been making threats for a long time, and warning to telling your opponent is good form in Islamic politics. There is no reason to hate Israel other than it is the home of Jews. They're anti-Semitic to the core with the Ayatollahs, why beats me. We've had a long history with Persia and loved King Ahasueros; and the late Shah.
MUHAMMAD'S FAMILY TREE
This family tree is about the relatives of the Islamic prophet Muhammad known as a family member of the family of Hashim and the Qurayshs tribe which is ‘Adnani.
Muhammad ibn Abdullah (570-632) Founder of the world religion of Islam; was an Arab religious, social, and political leader According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet, divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He wrote the Qur'an when the Angel Gabriel dictated every word to him. It was dictated to him, piecemeal during his 23 year prophetic career.
Muhammad claimed descent from Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian handmaid, through the Hashim tribe of Hagar. Abraham's line goes back to Noah and Shem, and Abraham's son by Sarah was Isaac. Isaac and Ishmael were half-brothers. He was under the impression that Jews would join his new religion. The only Jews he knew were those living in Medina, so he really didn't know us very well, and so he adopted a hostile attitude toward the Medina Jews who were either annihilated or expelled. One of his wives, Safia, was of Jewish origin. Could Safia be Salma bint Amr? Could researchers had confused Najjar with Nadir? Safiyya was born in Medina to Huyayy ibn Akhtab, the chief of the Jewish tribe Banu Nadir. Her mother, Barra bint Samawal, was from the Banu Qurayza tribe. She was the granddaughter of Samaw'al ibn Adiya from the Banu Harith tribe. According to a source, she was married off to Sallam ibn Mishkam, who later divorced her.
When the Banu Nadir were expelled from Medina in 625, her family settled in Khaybar, an oasis near Medina. Her father and brother went from Khaybar to join the Meccan and Bedouin forces besieging Muhammad in Medina during the Battle of the Trench. When the Meccans withdrew Muhammad besieged the Banu Qurayza. After the defeat of the Banu Qurayza in 627 Safiyya's father, a long-time opponent of Muhammad, was captured and executed by the Muslims. She later married Muhammad.
Muhammad/Mohammed also has Jewish ancestry through his great-grandmother, Salma bint Amr the mother of Abd al-Muttalib. Salma bint ‘Amr was the wife of Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf, thus the great-grandmother of Islamic prophet Muhammad. She was one of the most influential women of the Banu Khazraj tribe and the daughter of ‘Amr of Banu Najjar clan, one of the tribes in Medina. She traded and dealt with the caravans on her own behalf. Banu in Arabic is the same as saying, the house of-descendants, of...
Before Islam, the Banu Najjar of Medina practiced notably traditional Arab polytheism, and owned idols named Samul, Husa, and at-Tamm that were destroyed after the clan converted to Islam. They may have had a tribal alliance with Jews of Medina. That dosn't make them a Jewish tribe. I can find no evidence of Salma bint Amr being Jewish. There were three main Jewish tribes in Medina before the rise of Islam in Arabia: the Banu Nadir, the Banu Qainuqa, and the
According to Al-Masudi the northern part of Hejaz was a dependency of the Kingdom of Judah, and according to Butrus al-Bustani the Jews in Hejaz established a sovereign state. The German orientalist Ferdinand Wüstenfeld believed that the Jews established a state in northern Hejaz. It's all new to this Jew.
Other Jewish tribes lived relatively peacefully under Muslim rule. Banu Nadir, the Banu Qainuqa, and the Banu Qurayza lived in northern Arabia, at the oasis of Yathrib until the 7th century, when the men were executed and the women and children were enslaved after they betrayed the pact they made with the Muslims following the Invasion of Banu Qurayza by Muslim armies led by Muhammad. Remember, Mohammad died in 632, the 7th century.
Yusuf al-Qaradawi: is a Sunni, is an Egyptian Islamic scholar based in Doha, Qatar, and chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars. Egyptians are mainly Sunnis, following Shafi'i and Qatar is Sunni following Hanbali. His influences include Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qayyim, Sayyid Rashid Rida, Hassan al-Banna, Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi, Abul A'la Maududi and Naeem Siddiqui. He hates Jews and he broadcasts this hatred over the radio and probably TV from Qatar. Al-Qaradawi is sometimes described as a "moderate Islamist". Some of his views, such as his condoning of Palestinian suicide bombings against Israelis, have caused reactions from governments in the West: he was refused an entry visa to the United Kingdom in 2008, and barred from entering France in 2012. He's now 95 years old, born September 9, 1926.
Qaradawi similarly expressed his desire to see a "conquered" Jerusalem in a January 24, 2011, fatwa in which he negated Jewish attachment to Jerusalem and stated that it is the duty of Muslims to "defend" Jerusalem with "their lives, their money and all they possess, or else they will be subject to Allah's punishment." This fatwa is part of Qaradawi's long record of inciting violence against Jews and Israel. During a sermon that aired on the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera TV on January 28, 2009, Qaradawi told his audience, "I will shoot Allah's enemies, the Jews, and they will throw a bomb at me, and thus I will seal my life with martyrdom." In another sermon on January 9, 2009, Qaradawi lashed out at Jews, including calling on God to "kill them, down to the very last one." He has also refused to dialogue with Jews. Qaradawi declined to participate in the 8th annual conference organized by the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue because of the participation of Jews. He uses Al Jazeera to spread his word.
I'm thankful that we have the Abraham Accords. It's to the credit of UAE and Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan (who has other problems right now) and even Kosovo, and their Sunni population who have decided that friendship with Israel has its plus side. They're going against the tide of influence in the Middle East to step up to the plate and sign onto peace. I'm thrilled and hope that others are, too!
What has it accomplished? For example, Israel and Bahrain were the first countries to mutually recognize one another’s digital COVID-19 vaccine passports, which means that people from your countries can go to restaurants and concerts when visiting each other’s countries without quarantining.
And the people of your countries are seizing the opportunity. Again, despite COVID-19, more than 130,000 Israelis visited the United Arab Emirates just in the first four and a half months after the Accords were signed. There is a hunger to learn about each other’s cultures, to see new sights, to try new foods, forge new friendships – all experiences that have been impossible for so long and for so many, and now they’re making up for lost time.
We’re seeing new economic opportunities, innovations, collaborations. The United Arab Emirates has pursued significant investments in strategic sectors in Israel, including energy, medicine, technology, healthcare. Private firms across your countries are working together on everything from desalinization to stem cell therapies. These opportunities would be exciting at any time – but they are particularly important today, as we work to build back better from the devastating economic impact of the pandemic.
The deepening diplomatic relationships also provide a foundation to tackle challenges that demand cooperation among nations, like reducing regional tensions, combating terrorism, mitigating the impact of the climate crisis.
And we all must build on these relationships and growing normalization to make tangible improvements in the lives of Palestinians, and to make progress toward the longstanding goal of advancing a negotiated peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Palestinians and Israelis deserve equal measures of freedom, security, opportunity, and dignity. (Maybe the Palestinians will watch this example and realize they've missed the boat this past 73 years. Maybe they will decide it's a good idea?)
This administration will continue to build on the successful efforts of the last administration to keep normalization marching forward. We’ll do that in three main ways.
First, we’ll help foster Israel’s growing ties with Bahrain, with Morocco, with the United Arab Emirates – as well as with Sudan, which has also signed the Abraham Accords, and Kosovo, which established ties with Israel at the beginning of the year.
Second, we’ll work to deepen Israel’s longstanding relationships with Egypt and Jordan – partners critical to the United States, Israel, and Palestinians alike.
It was 43 years ago today that Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords, and next month will mark 27 years since Israel and Jordan signed the Wadi Araba Treaty.
The visit to Cairo this week by Prime Minister Bennett to meet with President Sisi – the first trip at this level in over a decade – and the negotiations between Israel and Jordan around new agreements on water and trade show how these relationships continue to build on the trailblazing agreements signed decades ago.
And third, we will encourage more countries to follow the lead of the Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco. We want to widen the circle of peaceful diplomacy, because it’s in the interests of countries across the region and around the world for Israel to be treated like any other country. Normalization leads to greater stability, more cooperation, mutual progress – all things the region and the world need very badly right now.
Let me close by bringing us back to the primary beneficiaries of normalization: people across borders whose lives will be improved by these new possibilities.
Abdulla Baqer is an investor who co-leads the newly created UAE-Israel Business Council. He wants to spend a month in Israel to learn more about its people and culture, so that he can better connect entrepreneurs in the two countries. He says, and I quote, “Everything is possible if we sit together and have a dialogue and understand each other.” 
And so many people are eager to rekindle longstanding connections that had been cut off – until now. More than a million Israelis have Moroccan heritage, including five ministers in Israel’s current government. How meaningful it will be for more Israelis of Moroccan descent to travel back and forth between the two countries, rediscover cultural ties, and pass them on.
The 2020 World Expo was delayed by COVID-19, but it will soon open in Dubai. The Abraham Accords had not yet been signed when Israel’s pavilion was first conceived. It consists of seven consecutive free-standing gates – no walls, completely open. Across the final gate is a giant sign that reads, “For Tomorrow,” in a script that combines Arabic and Hebrew letters.
What an apt metaphor for the new horizons that open when countries are no longer closed to each other.
Thanks to the countries here today, others who have joined, and the people forging ties between these nations, that vision is becoming a reality. May it be a model for others to follow.
Resource:
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://crestresearch.ac.uk/comment/whats-difference-sunni-shia-muslims/#:~:text=Those%20who%20followed%20the%20Prophet's,%E2%80%93%20Shi'atu%20Ali).
https://crestresearch.ac.uk/comment/whats-difference-sunni-shia-muslims/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salma_bint_Amr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Saudi_Arabia#:~:text=There%20were%20three%20main%20Jewish,Qainuqa%2C%20and%20the%20Banu%20Qurayza.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banu_Najjar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Bakr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safiyya_bint_Huyayy
https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/anti-semitism/arab-world/Sheik-Yusuf-al-Qaradawi-2013-5-3-v1.pdf
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