The Sunni-Shia Schism in Islam, Iran, Iraq and the origins of ISIL

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The Sunni-Shia Schism in Islam, Iran, Iraq and the origins of ISIL

ISIL- Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Sometimes called ISIS - Islamic State of Iraq & Syria-

have been in the news for sometime now. Ever wondered about the origin?

After Muhammed 's death in 632BCE ( at the age of 62) , there were disputes over religious and political leadership .

These would give rise to schism in the Muslim community.

The majority accepted the legitimacy of the three rulers after Muhammed ( Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab and Uthman ibn al-Affan) but won't accept the 4th Caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib

They became known as Sunnis.

A minority disagreed, and believed that Muhammad appointed his son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib, as his successor and only certain descendants of Ali could be Imams.

As a result, they believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib was the first Imam (leader), rejecting the legitimacy of the previous Muslim caliphs Abu Bakr, Uthman ibn al-Affan and Umar ibn al-Khattab.

-they became known as the Shiites

Shiism:

Remember this dude, Sheikh Ismail I (pix 1):

Iran’s population was mostly Sunni of the Shafi`i and Hanafi legal rites until the triumph of the Safavids

The Safavids were one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Persia (modern Iran)

(From 1500–2 Sheikh Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid dynasty, conquered Tabriz in Iran, as well as Azerbaijan.

He would take most of the next decade to consolidate his control over Iran, where most of the Persian population was still Sunni.

His hatred of the Sunnis knew no bounds: he was the most intolerant Shia ruler since the fall of the Fatimids and his persecution of Sunnis was ruthless.

He aimed at no less than the complete destruction of Sunnism.

The Safavid conversion of Iran from Sunnism to Shiism made Iran the spiritual bastion of Shia Islam against the onslaughts of Sunni Islam, and the repository of Persian cultural traditions and self-awareness of Iranianhood, acting as a bridge to modern Iran

Earlier on in history, the Muslims had taken over Persia:

The Persian ( Sassanid) Empire ( Iran) used to be the major player in the region and Iraq used to be it's capital state

This changed at the battle of Al-Qadissiyah fought in 636BCE:

It was the decisive engagement between the Arab Muslim army and the Sassanid Persian army ( supported by the Byzantines )during the first period of Muslim expansion.

It resulted in the Islamic conquest of Persia and was key to the conquest of Iraq.

As documented above, both Iran and Iraq ended up having Shia majorities. Sunni Muslims were in the minority

Then Saddam Hussein- pix 2 ( became President in 1979) and his Ba'ath party ( took power via a coup in 1968) happened to Iraq. He was a Sunni

This led to the persecution of Shiites in Iraq and frequent turf wars with Shia-dominated Iran

-In 1979, the Revolution happened in Iran

-The Ayatollah ( Ruhollah Khomeini, pix 3 ) encouraged repressed Shiites to revolt in Iraq

-this was one of the reasons ( including centuries of animosity and perceived wrongs) for the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq wars. It ended in a stalemate

-Saddam was deposed in 2003, following the Gulf war. He was executed in 2006 having been found guilty of many atrocities-including killing 148 Shiite Iraqis

- the Shia majority now took over Government and started persecuting the Sunni minority

-this is the genesis of the current terrorist group, ISIS or ISIL

-the group has grown significantly under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ( pix 4), gaining support in Iraq as a result of alleged economic and political discrimination against Iraqi Sunnis. They have also incorporated the Sunni insurgents in the Syrian Civil war

 

 

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The Fertile Crescent

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The Fertile Crescent

ONE OF THE central facts of human history is the early importance of the part of the Near East known as the Fertile Crescent

If you draw a line from the Nile River through the lower border of the Mediterranean and through the Tigris and Euphrates rivers , you'll get a crescent-shaped region around this line

This crescent-shaped region contains the comparatively moist and fertile land of an otherwise arid and semi-arid Western Asia

That area appears to have been the earliest site for a whole string of developments, including cities, writing, empires, and what we term (for better or worse) civilization

So civilization started here.

Why?

All those developments mentioned above sprang, in turn, from the dense human populations, stored food surpluses, and feeding of nonfarming specialists made possible by the rise of food production in the form of crop cultivation and animal husbandry

The Mediterranean climate was just suitable for crop cultivation and animal rearing, sedentary lifestyle and community development. Crucially, while some were engaged in these activities of daily living, it allowed other people to concentrate on the things associated with development and civilisation such as writing, carvings, arts and the building of empires

Note Canaan in that area in the maps ( thus a land 'flowing with milk and honey' makes more sense )

While my ancestors were still nomadic hunter-gatherers-moving from place to place, these dudes were settled and becoming civilised

Thus, with the coming of the Early Bronze Age (3200–2200 BCE) the first great civilizations emerged in proximity to the great rivers of the region, the Nile in Egypt, and the Tigris and Euphrates that define Mesopotamia (literally, the land between the two rivers) in modern Iraq.

In southern Mesopotamia, around the junction and mouth of the two rivers, the Sumerians are credited with the earliest known writing system, around 3200 B.C.E.

Egyptian civilization is almost as old as that of Sumer. A form of writing known as hieroglyphics first appears around 3100 B.C.E

Note that Canaan lies between these 2 great civilisations

Around 1400 B.c.E, the Kingdom of the Ugarit arose in Canaan

Israel emerged in the highlands of Canaan between 1250-1000 BCE (

Why is this bit of history important?

Israel didn't exist until about 1500 years after the great civilisations of Egypt, and more importantly, Mesopotamia ( as the latter spoke a language similar to the Semitic language of the Israelites )

This earlier civilisations had to have an influence on the history and the culture of the Israelites

This narrative is important for my future posts

In current usage, all definitions of the Fertile Crescent include Mesopotamia, the land in and around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The modern-day countries with significant territory within the Fertile Crescent are Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Cyprus, and Egypt, besides the southeastern fringe of Turkey and the western fringes of Iran.

Any body who's met an educated Egyptian or Iraqi or Iranian knows how proud these people can be. Their people were the first ones to be civilised. Even Caucasians ( Europeans) were still hunter gatherers when these people were forming communities

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Of motivation quotes, errors and Coca Cola

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Of motivation quotes, errors and Coca Cola

Saw this quote on social media today

( one of the interminable ones you see on your Wall -posted by your FB friends who love channelling their inner Zig Ziglar :D )

This quote even has a Facebook fan page!

Great motivational quote, major error in the figures quoted

During the first year ( 1886) , sales averaged a modest nine drinks per day. You do the maths! :-)

It did make me read about the resourcefulness of the inventor, Colonel John Pemberton - who was wounded in the Civil War, became addicted to morphine, and began a quest to find a substitute for the dangerous opiate

The business-savvy of Asa Candler- who got the sole ownership ( in 1891 for $2300 ) by buying the interests of Pemberton & other rivals ( both by legal and crooked means! :-) )

The vision and even greater entrepreneurial spirit of Ernest Woodruff- who, in 1919, bought the Candler interests in The Coca-Cola Company for $25 million. With 1.8 billion servings per day worldwide, you can't argue that his vision of ' a Coke on every table' hasn't been achieved

Motivational quotes are good, error-free or not, but I hope people realise that Will is more important ( passion, vision, focus, absolute commitment)

Hallan Goerger wrote:

" as we look at "Motivation" and the ideas of goal setting, self-talk, being positive, keeping the right attitude and such, hopefully we see how "Will" needs to be the foundation and that motivation is the tool to assist. If we depend only on the motivational factor we have short term gain and we are constantly putting more wood on the fire. With "Will" we find people put their own wood on!"

I co-sign this

 

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Anton Chigurh: The personification of Death angle

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Anton Chigurh: The personification of Death angle

Remember the 2007 flick, No Country For Old Men?

This might interest you.

The 2007 Thriller dealt with themes like fate, conscience and circumstance

It starred Tommy Lee Jones ( Ed) and Javier Bardem (Anton Chigurh) -your Hitman from hell!

Somebody compared Anton Chigurh to the Bubonic plague in the film!

He could decide your continued existence on this earth with a coin toss:... " what's the most you've ever lost in a coin toss?"

An interesting plot point that people might have missed is that the movie is about Death.

The actual theme is Death.

Though the movie seems it's centered around Llewelyn, it's actually about Ed (Tommy Lee Jones) and him being unable to come into terms with the idea of his own, imminent death.

He's not scared of dying, he's terrified of dying. This is why he is so reluctant to retire. To him that's just acknowledging his age and that he is in his final stage of life.

Anton Chigurh is Death himself!

Not just a representation of death, but actually Death itself.

He walks the planet killing people because he is in a way, The Grimm Reaper. He kills those who are able to see him.

Towards the end of the film, when Ed is in the hotel room, investigating Llewelyn's death, Anton is also there hiding. Ed doesn't see him! He wasn't in the room next door, and wasn't hiding in a spot where Ed couldn't easily find him. No. Anton was invisible to Ed because It wasn't time for Ed to die.

Remember when Anton was in that accountants office and he shot and killed the guy at his desk right in front of the other guy? The other guy asks, "Are you going to kill me?" Anton replies, "It depends. Can you see me?" This isn't just a badass line. It's a legit question. Then the scene is done.

In the final scene of the movie, Ed is describing to his wife a series of dreams he had the night before. He goes on to describe how his father was in the dreams, and that his father is much younger than he because he died at a young age. Take a moment to appreciate how erie and poetic that is.

Well, anyway he goes on to explain that he and his father are riding horses. It's dark. And his father rides out ahead of him, representing his death. His father has built a camp fire for him, waiting on Ed's arrival. Waiting on Ed's death. As Ed is describing this vivid dream, he has this look of fear in his eyes, the fear of his own pending death

 

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Titanic: Old Rose's selfishness

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Titanic: Old Rose's selfishness

Y'all have seen Titanic 1997 ( I hope!! )

In the flick, Old Rose came out to the ocean to die and be with Jack forever!!

@cvanderen79 wrote:

"That touches on something that has bothered me as of late. She went on to live this whole other life after Titanic sank. Career, marriage, kids, and a lot of life in general. That last scene, which I assume is her dying image, of Jack at the top of the staircase with everyone standing around welcoming her. What the hell?!?!

So the man you eventually married and built your life around, had kids with, isn't there??

Where the hell is he?

Shoveling coal down in the boiler room? HA! "

Can't agree with him more!!

So insulting to her husband and kids.

It makes you feel bad for her husband and children, you know

She had spent all those years pining away for some poor guy ( Jack) that she slept with for a couple days on a cruise?

Moral of the story: Don't be like Rose

If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with.

 

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