First Jihad: Khartoum, and the Dawn of Militant Islam by Daniel Allen Butler Read Free Book Online Page A

Arabs.
The fundamental dispute between the Shi’ites and Sunnis is that the Shi’ites believed that the only legitimate leadership of Islam rested in the lineage of Muhammed, specifically through his cousin and son-in-law, Ali.Consequently they did not recognize the legitimacy of the Caliphate when it passed to Abu Bakr and his successors, after Ali had been killed in battle near Karbala, Iraq.Instead the Shi’ites regard the twelve descendants of Ali as Imams, or spiritual successors of the Prophet.The name “Shi’ite” came from the Arabic phrase “shi’at Ali,” which literally means the followers of Ali.The Sunnis in turn refused to accept that Ali was the designated successor to Muhammed.Because within the validity of the succession to Muhammed rests the legitimacy of all the laws, teachings, and instructions given by those who have held the office of the Caliphate, it was—and remains—a major issue to Moslems.
Because the Shi’ites are a minority—and not a particularly popular one—within Islam, they have often been subject to varying degrees of persecution at the hands of their fellow Moslems.Because of the persistence and sometimes severity of the persecution, Shi’ite theology has made the suffering of Shi’ites at the hands of Sunni and infidel alike an essential doctrine of their belief.Shi’ite theologians teach that because the Sunni know they are wrong in their belief that the Caliphs were the true successors to the Prophet, and the infidels know they are condemned to perdition by their refusal to embrace the true faith, both feel the need to bring suffering to the Shi’ite faithful in order to assuage their guilty consciences.So deeply did this sense of persecution become ingrained in Shi’ite dogma that no amount of reassurance to the contrary by either Sunni Moslems or Christians could convince them otherwise.
It is an attitude and belief that has persisted into the 21st century, though on an ever-shifting playing field.On the one hand, in today’s Iraq, for example, the West can see the battlelines drawn starkly between Shi’ite and Sunni areas; on the other hand, the war against Israel waged by the Shi’ite group Hezbollah (“Party of God”) in Lebanon in 2006 forged a common front, after initial resistance, across both major Islamic groups.Though the difference between Shi’ite and Sunni Islam is profound, the West would do best not to overestimate the division, just as any invaders of Christendom—past or present—would be advised not to misjudge the degree of theological or political separation between Catholics and Protestants.
Into this somewhat volatile mix of beliefs stepped the theological figure of the Mahdi.Because the doctrine of the Mahdi was not found in the Koran, the Sunni, who recognized the authority of the Caliphs, embraced the tradition of “mahdis” as enlightened teachers, and imbued them with much less credence and authority than did the Shi’ites.To the Shi’ite Moslems, the Mahdi was the “hidden Imam,” the ultimate true successor to the Prophet Muhammed.To them, the Mahdi would carry greater authority than any of the Caliphs, second only to that of the Prophet himself.
The Shi’ite tradition held that the Mahdi would appear during the last days of the world, and precede the second coming of Jesus, who Moslems believed to be the Messiah.The Mahdi and Jesus were two distinct individuals, who would work together to fight the evils of the world and effect justice on Earth.The Mahdi would first come to Mecca, then rule from Damascus, preparing the world for the return of Jesus.He would confront and reveal the false Messiah, known as Dajjal, but not defeat him: that was to be done by Jesus, who would overthrow and destroy the pretender.Once Dajjal was defeated, Jesus and the Mahdi would live out their lives on Earth.Some teachings even maintain that Jesus would marry and have a family, eventually dying a natural death.There is an old Moslem tradition