Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi
A wave of doctrinal dialogue had prevailed over the past three decades. During this period, the political factor played the most important role among figures and different doctrinal leaderships in converging views and practicing taqiyya, a form of religious dissimulation.
What helped achieve this was the other side of the equation, namely the Israeli enemy, outbidding regarding the adoption of Arab and Islamic issues and defending them, fighting imperialism, colonization, the Great Satan (the US) and the Lesser Satan (Israel).
The scene now seems to be different as this wave of doctrinal dialogue has moved from using convergence and dialogue into engaging in a struggle and open confrontation.
The political factor has played a key role in this change, which is clear in the Syrian crisis. That is the marginalisation and isolation of Sunnis in Iraq, Hezbollah’s involvement and participation in the fight against the Free Syrian Army and its support of the hostile Ba’athist regime and siding with the Assad regime against his people and Iran’s intervention and its attempts to control the region.
The recent statements of Yousuf Al Qaradawi, an Egyptian Islamic theologian, were resonant. “For years, I continued to call for convergence between doctrines and I travelled to Iran, when Mohamed Khatami was the president of the state, (but the Iranians) deceived me and others by saying they wanted to achieve doctrinal convergence”, he said.
These statements were preceded by statements by the current Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Ahmed Al Tayeb, who condemned the “sectarian” intervention of Hezbollah and Iran in Syria to support Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in his attempts to suppress the Syrian people.
These statements were met with a harsh response from Shia cleric Sadr Al-din Al Qabanji, one of the leaders of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a political party in Iraq, and other affiliates from the other camp.
A recent Foreign Policy report says that the appalling massacres committed inside Syria have increased fears that the conflict in Syrian will open the way for a Sunni-Shia war across the Middle East. These fears were reinforced by the escalation of violence in Iraq, confrontations in Bahrain, constant uncontrollable tensions in Lebanon, which in turn will redraw regional policies.
But another report by the Brookings Institution says the Shia-Sunni division will replace the struggle between Muslims and the West. It adds that this rift can replace the Palestinian issue as a central issue in Arab political life.
A wave of doctrinal dialogue had prevailed over the past three decades. During this period, the political factor played the most important role among figures and different doctrinal leaderships in converging views and practicing taqiyya, a form of religious dissimulation.
What helped achieve this was the other side of the equation, namely the Israeli enemy, outbidding regarding the adoption of Arab and Islamic issues and defending them, fighting imperialism, colonization, the Great Satan (the US) and the Lesser Satan (Israel).
The scene now seems to be different as this wave of doctrinal dialogue has moved from using convergence and dialogue into engaging in a struggle and open confrontation.
The political factor has played a key role in this change, which is clear in the Syrian crisis. That is the marginalisation and isolation of Sunnis in Iraq, Hezbollah’s involvement and participation in the fight against the Free Syrian Army and its support of the hostile Ba’athist regime and siding with the Assad regime against his people and Iran’s intervention and its attempts to control the region.
The recent statements of Yousuf Al Qaradawi, an Egyptian Islamic theologian, were resonant. “For years, I continued to call for convergence between doctrines and I travelled to Iran, when Mohamed Khatami was the president of the state, (but the Iranians) deceived me and others by saying they wanted to achieve doctrinal convergence”, he said.
These statements were preceded by statements by the current Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Ahmed Al Tayeb, who condemned the “sectarian” intervention of Hezbollah and Iran in Syria to support Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in his attempts to suppress the Syrian people.
These statements were met with a harsh response from Shia cleric Sadr Al-din Al Qabanji, one of the leaders of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a political party in Iraq, and other affiliates from the other camp.
A recent Foreign Policy report says that the appalling massacres committed inside Syria have increased fears that the conflict in Syrian will open the way for a Sunni-Shia war across the Middle East. These fears were reinforced by the escalation of violence in Iraq, confrontations in Bahrain, constant uncontrollable tensions in Lebanon, which in turn will redraw regional policies.
But another report by the Brookings Institution says the Shia-Sunni division will replace the struggle between Muslims and the West. It adds that this rift can replace the Palestinian issue as a central issue in Arab political life.
