Love, Compassion, Tolerance, Forgiveness

The shocking collapse of the al-Assad regime in Syria revealed the schism among the various branches of Islam. Since its origin in the 7th Century, these factions lived in harmony for centuries. But the discovery of oil reserves set the Middle East on fire as countries jockeyed for power and control of the oil markets.

Of the 1.8 Muslims in the world, 85% are Sunni and only 15% are Shia. Most Middle East countries have a mixture of both sects even if they have a majority of one of the branches. In these countries the distinction between secular and religious is not as clear as in the West. Religion and politics often are mixed in the power structures. There also is a distinction between Arab and non-Arab countries.

After the revolution by the Shia in Iran in 1979, the country established a theocracy in which the religious leaders also were political leaders. The rivalry between Iraq and Iran spilled over into a war from 1980 – 1988, with the Sunnis in Saudi Arabia and the US supporting Iraq. Russia supported Iran and occupied Afghanistan for a decade.

Here are some countries with a Muslim majority population:

• Middle East & North Africa: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen (*)
• Asia: Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan
• Africa: Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone

In Afghanistan today the Taliban, a right-wing group, controls the country after 20 years of occupation by the US.

In Syria, the Alawis, a sub-sect of Shia controlled the power of the military and security services. Iran supported them during the 13-year Civil War in Syria, but it did not in the recent uprising nor did Russia. Without their support, President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia and the government collapsed.

Two of the most prominent Terrorist Groups, Sunni al-Qaeda and Shia Hezbollah have focused on an anti-western struggle using violence as the means to achieve their ends. Al-Qaeda was the group that attached the US in 2011. The ISIS, or Islamic State, conquered a large part of Afghanistan and Iraq as the US withdrew its military. The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that has taken control of the government of Syria has been called a terrorist group but appears to be taking a tolerant approach to the sectarian divisions within the country.

Several other rebel groups still maintain control of various areas of the country. These include the Kurds, the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Syrian National Army, and the Druse. Whether these factions can learn to cooperate rather than continue to fight each other remains to be seen. Although these groups claim theological differences, the primary emphasis is on control of territories by local warlords. The US has maintained control of a small portion of the country to keep ISIS from emerging again.

The first century of Islam was dominated by continuing conquests and a policy of violence on the Arabian Peninsula. The Christians and Moslems fought over Palestine and southern Europe for almost 500 years. It appears that the region will again suffer from violence in the race between the proxies of Russia and the US fight to control the oil money and to oppose Israel.

* For a more detailed history of the divisions of Islam in the Middle East, see the Report “The Sunni-Shia Divide” published by the Council on Foreign Relations on April 27. 2023. www.cfr.org

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