This article is from the BBC and it is reporting on the current state of the Shia-Sunni fighting in the Punjab region of Pakistan.
I chose this article not because of the political identity of the fighting, but the religious backgrounds of the two groups. I also chose
it because unlike other articles that just talked about the fighting, this article actually gave some insight into the reasons, both cultural
and political, behind the fighting. I thought this a very well written and informative article, even though it was not very in-depth at all
it got the main points across.
To sum up parts of the article, the Shia Muslims are a group that believes in matrydom and the idea of "waiting for deliverance".
The Shia Muslims are a minority in the Islamic faith, the majority of Muslims are Sunni. Sunni Muslims do not hold the same
standards as the Shai and up until the 1980s the two groups did not violently oppose one another.
I find the conflict between these two cultures very facinating: the two groups worship the same God, Allah, and they both
recognize the prophet Muhammad. Yet the two groups are still locked in violent sectarian conflict. Perhaps the idea of cultural
identity can be adressed here. Both groups belong to the culture of Islam, but on an almost sub-cultural level their differences
are extremely varried. This conflict also is an example of how cultural ideas are passed down from generation to generation.
The article talks of how the schism between the two groups dates back AD661 when Ali, the son-in-law of the prophet was
murdered and his opponent was given control of the prophet's administration.
The Shia believe the Ali should have been giving power, and the Sunnis were in favor of his oppoent. This age-old feud has
been passed down for over 1,500 years, through cultural practices and identities and now has culminated in the violence that
is seen throughout the Muiddle East.
