Sunni, Shia, Sufi

A sermon by the Rev. Daniel Charles Davis

for the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem

November 13, 2005

In Iraq today you hear of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. This is the how the press has made distinctions and may well describe the divisions on the ground. But it is a flawed distinction because they are not distinct categories. Sunni and Shia are religious distinctions. Kurdish is a cultural distinction.

It would be as if someone were describing a conflict in the USA as between Catholics, Protestants and Hispanics. Many, but not all, Hispanics are Catholic. And even Catholic Hispanics may be separate from other Catholics by cultural and language factors.

Similarly, most Kurds are Sunnis but distinguish themselves by speaking the Kurdish language. Most other Sunnis in Iraq speak Arabic and are ethnically Arab or Assyrian.

Shiites tend to be ethnically Arab and Persian, live in southern Iraq and dominate the state of Iran.

Though political, ethnic and religious concerns are separate, they often get interwoven in knots tighter than a Persian rug. So let us review a little history.

Muhammad was born in what is now Saudi Arabia in 610 of the common era. After his marriage, he became a member of a religious group called the Hanifs. This group was influenced by Christians and Jews and practiced asceticism to try to get back to the original faith of Abraham.

While meditating in a cave, Muhammad had a vision of the angel Gabriel, who told him to read or recite from a scroll. Though tradition holds that Muhammad received the whole Koran in one night, it took years for him to write it down..

Most chapters, or suras, open with the phrase “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.” So the most repeated characteristics of God are generosity (most gracious) and compassion (most merciful).

In Sura 5, entitled “The Table,” Islam is defined in stark terms:

5:10. To those who believe and do deeds of righteousness hath Allah promised forgiveness and a great reward. 5:11. Those who reject faith and deny our signs will be companions of Hell-fire.

Later in that same chapter there is a recognition of Christians, Jews and others as possibly having the same faith and same reward.

5:69. Those who believe (in the Qur'an), those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Sabians and the Christians - any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, - on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

But the Trinity is rejected, because it takes away from the worship of God:

72. They do blaspheme who say: "(Allah) is Christ the son of Mary." But said Christ: "O Children of Israel! worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord." Whoever joins other gods with Allah, - Allah will forbid him the garden, and the Fire will be his abode. There will for the wrong-doers be no one to help.

73. They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One Allah. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them.

74. Why turn they not to Allah, and seek His forgiveness? For Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.

There are passages that command one to kill infidels:

47:4. Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks; At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: Until the war lays down its burdens. Thus (are ye commanded): but if it had been Allah’s Will, He could certainly have exacted retribution from them (Himself); but (He lets you fight) in order to test you, some with others. But those who are slain in the Way of Allah,- He will never let their deeds be lost.

But there are also verses of peace:

49.10: The believers are but brethren, therefore make peace between your brethren and be careful of (your duty to) Allah that mercy may be had on you

14.23: And those who believe and do good are made to enter gardens, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them by their Lord's permission; their greeting therein is, Peace.

Assalamu alaikum is the universal greeting of Islam. It means peace unto you.

The question is often asked, “Is Islam a religion of peace?” I reply that, like Judaism and Christianity, it depends on the believer. A hateful person will find scriptures to support their hate; a loving person will find scriptures to inspire their love.

Religion is like a knife. A chef will use it to prepare a banquet; a murderer will use it to kill.

So Muhammad received the Koran in 610 by our calendar and preached in Mecca for 12 years.

In 622 he and his followers were chased to Medina. This event marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. Muhammad died in 632. His teachings were continued by Ali, a cousin, who was murdered in 661. From there on there was a dispute about succession. Shiites followed Husayn, who was killed at Karbala in southern Iraq in 680. This battle sealed the split between Shiite and Sunnis.

The date of Husayn’s death is celebrated with a bloody ritual where men cut and beat themselves and walk down the street covered in blood.

Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, had banned this festival, but it has taken place the past two years under Shiite rule.

Eighty-nine percent of Muslims are Sunni. Shiite are dominant only in Iran and southern Iraq.

The word Sunni come from the word Sunnah, which means lifestyle of the prophet Muhammad. A direct line of successors to Muhammad is known as Caliphs. The caliphate lasted until 1923, when it was abolished in Turkey. This position was spiritual, not political, and the person was chosen or elected by the community.

The Shiite opted for family inheritance of the leading Islam. They are properly called Shi’ati ’Ali (the supporters of ’Ali). Ali was married to Muhammad’s daughter.

Only 12 generations of successors are listed. The 12th Iman is said to have disappeared. He is expected to return someday and restore true Islam.

About 10% of Muslims are Shiites, which leaves about 1% of Muslims who are Sufi. Sufism is a varied and mystical tradition. Their origin is unclear. Their name may come from the Arabic word for veranda, indicating that they were Muhammad’s most devoted disciples, who sat on his porch. They interpret the Koran more broadly, seeing its inner meaning.

Two scriptures are particularly moving to them:

"We are nearer to him than his jugular vein."

    (Qur'an 50:16)

"To God belongs the East and the West: wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah; Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing." (Qur'an 2:115)

These indicate a closeness to God and the universality of God. Sufis seek the union Muhammad had with God in the cave. They arose about a century after Muhammad died but came to prominence in the 10th through 14th century. The Chishti Order was founded by Khwaja Abu Ishaq Shami ("the Syrian") (d. 941 C.E.), who brought Sufism to the town of Chisht. The order migrated to India, where early in the 20th century a diciple named Hazrat Inayat Khan migrated to America to start the Sufi order of the West.

He shared words his father had told him as a child: "God is in you and you are in God, as the bubble is in the ocean and the bubble is a part of the ocean and yet not separate from the ocean. For a moment it has appeared as a bubble; then it will return to that from which it has risen. So is the relation between man and God. The Prophet has said that God is closer to you than the jugular vein, which in reality means that your own body is farther from you than God is. If this be rightly interpreted, it will mean that God is the very depth of your own being." http://wahiduddin.net/hik/hik_origins.htm

In Spain, Ibn 'Arabi, a mystic who authored, among other works, the classic Sufi retreat manual Journey to the Lord of Power wrote: “Beware of confining yourself to a particular belief and denying all else, for much good would elude you - indeed, the knowledge of reality would elude you. Be in yourself for all forms of belief, for God is too vast and tremendous to be restricted to one belief rather than another. (Awakening - A Sufi Experience by Pir Vilayat ) http://www.om-guru.com/html/saints/khan.html

Sufism interacts with our own tradition. The Sufi poet Saadi was read by the transcendentalists Thoreau, Emerson and Fuller. Emerson even wrote a poem to Saadi. Saadi is responsible for practical wisdom like “Whatever is made in haste easily goes to waste.”

“The best loved by God are those that are rich, yet have the humility of the poor, and those that are poor and have the magnanimity of the rich.”

http://www.whatquote.com/authors/3588-Saadi.htm

He also spoke of a religion that was practical. “To worship God is nothing other than to serve the people. It does not need rosaries, prayer carpets, or robes. All people are members of the same body, created from one essence. If fate brings suffering to one member, the others cannot stay at rest.”

(selection 609 Singing the Living Tradition Beacon Press Boston 1993)

But the most famous Sufi is the poet Rumi, who started the Mevlevi order whose whirling dervishes spin in the ecstasy of God. Some of his words:

“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/rumi.html

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. . . Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there."

Jalal ad-Din Rumi quotes (Persian Poet and Mystic, 1207-1273)

http://en.thinkexist.com/quotation/out_beyond_ideas_of_wrongdoing_and_rightdoing/340806. html

The Sufi tradition has a broadness to it that is good to remember. Though the number of Sufi practitioners is small, their influence is great. They are the cultural icons of the Mideast.

Like Shakespeare is to the English world, the Sufi tradition of tolerance is part of the Islamic world.

Another liberal stream from the Islamic world is the Bahai faith, an offshoot of the Shiite tradition.

Remember, they are awaiting the return of the hidden Iman. Baha’ullah proclaimed himself the final messenger, trying to unite religion and science and work towards racial equality. Though rejected by Islam, it may be a pathway towards tolerance.

But another new sect is more troubling. In the 18th century Muhammed ibn al Wahab, a Sunni founded a sect called Wahabism. It seeks to reject all Western innovation and return to the true Sunnah, or life of the Prophet. This strain of Islam is dominant in Saudi Arabia. The 9-11 terrorists were influenced by Wahhabism.

This is only a cursory introduction to Islam. There is great variety within the religion. We cannot ignore those who use the religion for war, but we would do well to make friends with those who use the religion for peace.

The warmongers in any tradition are always louder than the peaceful.

Look at Christianity: Most pulpits fanned the flames of war. Televangelists preached hatred of Islam as a new crusade. But peace has a way of persevering; it is the depth of the ocean versus the shifting sea.

As Unitarian Universalists we are to Christianity what Sufis and Bahais are to Islam: an attempt to emphasize what religions have in common. A universalizing presence, we seek not to divide people between the saved and unsaved.

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Resources.

Ballou, Robert O., World Bible, Penguin Press.

Kennedy, Richard, The International Dictionary of Religion Crossroads, New York, 1984.

Severy, Merle, editor, Great Religions of the World, National Geographic Society, 1978.