Tomb of Imam al-Ghazali discovered in Iran:
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thabet
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johnpi
Eman Al Nafjan (Saudiwoman) blogs on the Sunni-Shia divide.
The break in Islam into the two sects reminds me of the break between Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, with Shias resembling the Catholics with all these saints and rituals and Sunnis resembling Orthodoxies with an emphasis on puritanical practices. I have seen paintings of Ali bin Talib (RAA) that could just as well have been paintings of Jesus in a church with the beard and long hair. Saudi Sunnis interpretation of Islam could be considered as parallel to the Amish and Mormon interpretations of Christianity. If you squint and glaze over the details, the history looks quite similar, with Islam currently being in its own version of the Dark Age.
At a more personal level my experience has been mostly neutral with phases of mystification with what I hear about Shias. However my sources were questionable as they were other Sunnis like myself.
She writes about the four controversial claims she heard about Shias growing up in Saudi Arabia:
1- Warnings that Shias gain religious points by harming Sunnis.
2- Watch Shias the day after Ashoora (Islamic day) because they always wear long sleeves and turtle-necks to hide their injuries.
3- They reject and insult some of the prophet’s closest companions.
4- And of course Mutaa’ marriages (pleasure based marriages that are temporary and require no witnesses or legal papers). And I would like to note here that I was shocked to learn that this was also ok in Sunni Islam until very late in the Prophet Muhamed’s lifetime (PBUH).
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thabet
It just occurred to me that all six authors of the Sihah al-Sittah were either Persian or were born and died in areas which were part of historic Iran.
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johnpi
To counter sectarian social breakdown, Iraqi government offers payment program to encourage mixed Sunni-Shia marriages.
The Iraqi government pays all new brides/grooms, but the amount furnished to mixed-sect couples is almost double that of the others, according to Fox News.
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thabet
Iran invites Al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning, to open a branch in Tehran.
