Customer Reviews

The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The current world environment is one of incredible dynamics, meteoric change, and turmoil, but it is one which we should all be familiar with. To misunderstand the players is to misunderstand the issues. To point, having familiarity with and a basic understanding of the Muslim world is tantamount to grasping world events. Vali Nasr's THE SHIA REVIVAL is an excellent treatise for the uninitiated to the Muslim culture and Islam.

Nasr attempts to unlock the doors to the political and theological ideals driving Islam. While we see political figures such as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syria's Bashar Al-Asad, the tilt Nasr drives at is the influence of the theologians, and their radical stances. Nasr describes, from a historical perspective, the omnipresent sectarian issues in the region, and the struggle for the foothold of power. And while the fall of Saddam was one that many applauded, the lack of a focal point of control is causing a bad situation to spin further into an abyss. Nasr builds on his thesis that future peace is tantamount to a solution (or some derivation thereof) to the ancient sectarian struggles between the Shia and Sunni.

Nasr illuminates this historical resistance between the Shia and Sunni, from the beginning (in the times of the Prophet Mohammad) to current times. Nasr explains the cultural differences, the religious impacts, and the light in which the Muslim world views the Western world. Nasr clarifies the in-country hostilities and defines the ostensible ongoing power struggles between various countries and their leaders.

Without doubt, Nasr's offering is an important one in that, in one volume, he has provided information associated with the Shia/Sunni rivalry, the history, the current struggle, and how it affects the rest of the world. I consider this important because it is insight that I did not possess prior to reading it, and rarely find in Western journalists work.

I would recommend this to most if for no other reason than to become more educated about whom we're dealing with in Iraq, and to gain insight into what the U.S. might be facing in the future.

Every once in a while an author writes a book that challenges the foundation of all of one's thinking.

Vali Nasr is such an author. "The Shia Revival" is such a book. Reading it will leave you questioning the value taxpayers have reaped from the billions invested in diplomacy and intelligence. His thesis is clear and obvious; yet, it pales one's imagination that it never exposed before this.

Nasr, a professor at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, CA argues convincingly that Saddam Hussein's removal from power in Iraq has changed the Mid-east, but in ways never conceived by President Bush and his neo-con advisors. By removing Iraq's Sunni dominated dictatorship, he argues, and replacing it with the Shiite majority, the United States has destroyed the buffer that has held the Shia in Iran in check.

This will play out, he argues, with increasing confrontations between Sunnis and Shiites throughout the region starting in Iraq and then spreading from Lebanon, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

This divide will have serious consequences for United States' foreign policy. By creating the first Shiite-led state in the Arab world since the rise of Islam, we have ignited hopes among the region's 150 million Shiites. Yet, our policy still operates under the old assumptions of Sunni dominance.

It never fails that actions often lead to unintended consequences. In this case, however, Nasr clearly lays out a case that there will be no quick fixes.

This is a book you owe it to yourself to read. Individuals who can look at the same set of facts and come up with a unique insight and analysis of them are to be celebrated.

Too bad no one in the diplomatic and intelligence bureaucracy had heard of him before 2001.

_The Shia Revival_ by Vali Nasr is a well-written and timely analysis of the history and nature of the greatest division within the Muslim world, that of the 1,400 year old split between Sunnis and Shiites, a division existing from practically the beginning of the faith, each sect viewing itself as the "original orthodoxy."

Though stressing that the Shias (like the Sunnis) are hardly monolithic, varying in degrees of piety and because of different cultural and economic backgrounds, Nasr listed a number of key characteristics of Shias worldwide.

Though Shias are a minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims (comprising 130 to 195 million people or about 10 to 15% of the total Muslims in the world), they are as nearly numerous as the Sunnis in the Islamic heartland from Lebanon to Pakistan and around the Persian Gulf comprise 80% of the population.

The Shia-Sunni split dates back to the succession crises after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Sunnis came to accept the notion that successor caliphs to the Prophet (perhaps individuals chosen by the community) need not possess exceptional spiritual qualities but merely be exemplary Muslims who could direct the religious and political affairs of the community and still later accepted future rulers so long as they maintained order, protected Islam, and left religious matters to the ulama (religious scholars).

What became the Shiites disagreed with this, feeling that the true leaders of the community should not be "ordinary mortals" but should instead be Muhammad's family - popularly known as the ahl al-Bayt or people of the household - as the blood of the Prophet ran in their veins along with the spiritual qualities invested in him by God.

Similarly, Sunnis and Shiites differed widely on matters of religious interpretation. Sunnis came to believe that all believers are capable of understanding religious truth in a way and to a degree that makes special intermediaries between God and man unneeded, while Shiites came to feel that there were outer and inner, hidden truths in religion, and that without the right leadership the true meaning and intent of Islam will be lost. Shiites believed that there is hidden and esoteric knowledge, inaccessible to the average believer without help.

The Shiites placed a great deal of emphasis on the history of the early rightful successors to the Prophet and on Shia saints and consequently also have a great love for visual imagery depicting these individuals and their struggles (most of which ended in martyrdom). This love of imagery grates on Sunni sensibilities, who often view it as "possible inducements to, if not outright expressions of, idol worship." Related to this is the great Shia festival of mourning, remembrance, and atonement known as Ashoura, a religious festival and drama akin in many ways to Christian festivals such as Good Friday "Way of the Cross" processions. As Nasr put it, while Sunnism "is about the law and the "thou shalts" and "thou shalt nots" of Islam, Shiism is about rituals, passion, and drama." Sunnism and Shiism differ not so much because of divergent practices but because of the spirit of their interpretation of Islam.

Shias, much like Christians, have a strong millenarian streak as well. They believe that the line of imams (descendents of Ali, son-in-law of Muhammad, first rightful successor to him) continued through the tenth century, when the Twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi (the Guided One) was taken by God into a miraculous state of occultation in 939. His return will be the "end of time and the advent of perfect divine justice." This messianic framework of belief (along with the martyrdom of the imams and of Shia saints) have been key influences on Shiites and resonate in events today, such as Shiite views of the Iranian revolution, the disappearance in Lebanon in 1978 of the popular leader Imam Musa al-Sadr (some felt he had been miraculously occulted), and in the actions of Muqtada al-Sadr in Iraq (who named his militia the Mahdi Army, implying that his cause was that of the Twelfth Imam).

The key reality of the Middle East today is the Sunni-Shia conflict. The most important outcome of the war in Iraq, its "central legacy," has been that Iraq has become the first Arab-majority country to be ruled by a democratically-elected Shia majority, tipping the scales against the long Sunni domination of the Middle East. Though the Shia revival began with the Iranian revolution and Hezbollah gains in Lebanon against Israel, today it is about "protecting and entrenching" Shia gains in Iraq. Shia success there will lead to greater ties among Shias throughout the Middle East, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and increased Shia demands for a greater political role everywhere. This Shia revival rests on three pillars; the newly empowered Shia majority in Iraq, the rise of Iran as a major regional power, and the empowerment of Shia populations in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Bahrain, and Afghanistan.

This revival will result in a huge Sunni backlash - as shown by the actions of such Sunni organizations as the Taliban and al-Qaeda - and if anything will strengthen anti-Americanism in the region, as the revival comes at a time of rising Sunni extremism. Anti-Shia feelings and actions by the extremists will hurt the U.S., as anti-Shia feelings will solidify Sunni public opinion and expand the influence of groups such as al-Qaeda.

Nasr does see hope though as well. Shiites will be much more likely to work with the U.S., as both the U.S. and the Shiites share a common enemy (Sunni extremists) and greater democracy in the region (a stated U.S. goal) will add Shiite empowerment throughout the region. The U.S. has already been of great aid to the Shiites, removing Saddam Hussein and empowering the Shia majority in Iraq (efforts at de-Ba'thification in Iraq have really been de-Sunnification efforts) and taking down the "Sunni wall" around Iran, as for a time Iran was constrained by Sunni-dominated Iraq to the west and a Pakistan-Taliban-Saudi axis to the east.

It's not an easy read. It covers a very complicated subject with deep roots that date back to the very establishment of the Shia faith some fourteen centuries ago who base their belief that God would not entrust his religion to ordinary mortals and that Muhammad's family were the true leaders of the Muslim community.

Considering this book discusses the revival of Shiism, I did not detect any appreciable bias favoring the Shia over the Sunni faith. Reading it actually provided me a great deal of insight for the overall struggle that exists in the Islamic world today. The complexities of modern Islam are enormous driven not only by religion but also by demographics, race, and the persistent meddling of foreign powers.

My primary motivation for reading this book, however, was to assess the wisdom of America going to war in Iraq. Unfortunately, I came away with an aching feeling that our leaders were at best naïve involving us in something they failed to understand themselves.

I picked up this book after a friend recommended it. I went through it quickly. It is not only very informative but also very-well written. It changed my view of the Middle East. There is a lot of history here, but also Nasr describes current events very well. Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia are all treated from a new angle. It qualifies as a must read.

This is an illuminating perspective on current Middle East politics by an Iranian-born and U.S. educated writer, who has credentials as a member of the faculty at the Naval Postgraduate School and associate chair of research at the Department of National Security Affairs. The overall argument of his book is that the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the war in Iraq have set in motion the reversal of an age-old balance of power between Sunni and Shia Muslims in the Middle East. After a millennium or more of sometimes brutal suppression by Sunni Arabs, Shias are experiencing a "revival" that will fundamentally change the political structure of the Muslim world.

Written chiefly for the lay reader, the book helps non-Muslims understand both the historical and cultural differences that separate these two branches of Muslim faith. It charts the existence of the divide between them over the centuries, finally focusing on the years since WWI, and the deepening animosities that have found expression in the bloody excesses of Islamist fundamentalism, which Nazr attributes primarily to Sunni rage at losing political power and influence to Shias, whose center of power in the region is now Iran. Meanwhile, the American-led invasion of Iraq and its resulting democratization is seen as a handing over of that formerly Sunni-dominated country to its Shia plurality. Civil war in Iraq, as the situation is described by Nazr, seems not to have been the effect of American bungling, but an inevitable outcome of regime change. Nazr describes the scenario being played out at the time of writing as that of democracy-embracing Shias being targeted by various terrorist groups committed to murder and mayhem in the effort to not only return ascendancy to Sunnis, but wipe out Shia Muslims once and for all.

There is a Shia-Persian bias throughout the book, and Sunni Arab political analysts would no doubt offer another view of the people and events Nazr discusses. However, they may be in agreement on one subject - the character and aspirations of Ayatollah Khomeini, whom Nazr characterizes as a political opportunist with a self-aggrandizing agenda that put him briefly near the center of the world stage but left him finally as something of a walk-on in a very different kind of unfolding Shia drama.

Nazr's prognosis for the future is not encouraging. He sees continued bloodletting and violence and the potential for armed conflict to emerge elsewhere, notably in Saudi Arabia, but he believes that a Shia world view will eventually triumph in the Middle East. As an introduction to the subject, this book may be heavy-going for some readers. Though highly readable, it is packed with information and analysis. With such a large cast of characters and political groups, it's sometimes necessary to flip back to the index for help. But the book is definitely worth reading for its insight and perspective on the complexities of the Middle East.

The Shia Revival, How conflicts within Islam will shape the Future, Dr. Vali Nasr, W.W. Norton and Company, New York, 2006. ISBN 13-978-0-393-06211-3.

In spite of an obvious Shia bias, the author paints a rich picture of the historic conflict within Islam, which started 1,400 years ago with the succession following the death of the Prophet Mohammed in the year 632 C.E. Nasr, a scholar on near eastern politics and culture, guides the reader through the struggle pointing out the historic significance of places we hear in the news daily. Religious rites have their roots in these places and explain many of the passions we see played out in Iraq.

One such key event occurred in Karbala in the year 680 C.E. Soldiers of the second Caliph, Yazid I, massacred Ali's son Husayn and 72 of his followers following a six-day siege. A related amazing story is the tale of how a woman saved the sole male survivor of Karbala ensuring the survival of the Shia. The Shia Ashoura parades honor Husayn. This is a uniquely Shia event and is one of the signature divides between Sunni and Shia. This divide is both intense and long in duration.

President George H. W. Bush was warned by the Saudis not to upset the fragile power relationships in Iraq. His son did just that providing the fertile ground for a religious and cultural conflict. The US invasion unleashed an opportunity for the Shia majority in Iraq, long considered to be second-class citizens, to claim a leadership role. The largely Arab Sunni world is unlikely to allow that to occur without a struggle. The current sectarian violence in Iraq could well be the prelude to a regional conflict to adjust the center of gravity in the region.

The book is a must read.

This little book is beautifully written, solid history, and as clear an understanding of the shia-sunni divide in Islam that you will ever read. It has the advantage of being short, but complete, so it doesn't take long to read. The information is critically important to an American citizen's understanding why it is so unlikely that we will ever be able to orchestrate a resolution to the sectarian violence in Iraq.

Many of the current authors who write about Islam stand accused of Islamophobia, but Vali Nasr is not one of this group of hard-line conservatives. He can be labeled as pro-Shia, although not as particularly anti-Sunni. He comes across (to me at least) as an apologist for the minority religion within Islam.

He also comes across as supporting the current U.S. invasion of Iraq, as better than doing nothing and letting the Sunni extremist groups such as Al Qaeda slaughter the Shia majority. This book will make clear many of the mysterious and murderous conflicts that are taking place in Iraq, including the recent attempt on Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the spiritual leader of Shias, by a group of `End of Days' coreligionists.

According to Vali Nasr, the Shia are the butt of jokes and stories about stupidity and bad hygiene in the Sunni world (85 - 90% of Muslims), and in some countries, e.g. Saudi Arabia, they are not granted full citizenship. They split off from the majority Sunni twenty-four years after the Prophet Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. Sunnis accepted the rule of elected caliphs, while Shias recognised only imams, descendants of the Prophet through his daughter Fatima and his cousin and son-in-law Ali (descendants, who like Moqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Mahdi militia in Iraq, wear the black turban). The Twelfth Imam, who disappeared in Samarra in 874 A.D. is the `Hidden Imam' who is expected to return in the 'End of Days' (by some Shia, at least) to re-establish Islam throughout the world.

In the 16th century, the Shia Persian Safavid dynasty battled Sunni Ottomans for control of Iraq, and Sunni militants in Iraq today still describe Shia opponents as "Safawis". Ever since the overthrow of the Shah in Iran by Shia militants, orthodox Sunni Arab leaders, including Jordan's King Abdullah have been warning of a "Shia crescent" stretching from Iran through Iraq to Syria and Lebanon (where Iran is supporting the Shia Hezbollah), and destabilising the world's oil supply. Anti-Shia paranoia seems to be sweeping through regions where Shia and Sunni lived in peace (although not necessarily in equality) for many centuries.

"The Shia Revival" is up-to-date (08/2006) and very readable. It educated me and at the same made me crazy at our government's ignorance of the conflict we got ourselves into. Americans obviously didn't cause the Sunni-Shia rift. We seemed to have blundered into Iraq for the wrong reasons, accidentally empowered the Shia majority, and are now being pressed by our Sunni allies to fear the so-called `Shia Crescent.' This book could go a long way toward alleviating that particular fear, especially in the case of Iran. I strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested in how conflicts within Islam will shape our future, regardless of our own religious beliefs.

This is a much needed book, and I recommend it to lay readers wanting more background knowledge on the Shia part of the Muslim world, and the role the Shia play in current events. I give the book four stars rather than five because I think that Nasr draws some conclusions which fit well with fashionable academic thinking in Middle Eastern studies but which do not spring at all from his research, and which I in fact think are contradicted by much of what he writes in the book.

This book is first and foremost a backgrounder for modern Shi'ism. Even those with significant background in the Middle East will likely find a good amount of new information, especially in the sections dealing with the Indian and Pakistani Shia (on which Nasr has done much of his own original research). Nasr discusses the history of the Shia in the Arab and Indian subcontinent, and provides much insight into the intra-Shia dynamics.

In this regard, Nasr does an excellent job of setting forth the differing theologies and political philosophies of the major Shia marjayia, or religious authorities, most of whom are centered in Najaf, Iraq or Qom, Iran. Superficially the ayatollahs may appear to be all the same, but understanding the differences between the theofascist ideology of Iran's Ali Khamanei (velayat e faqih) and Iraq's pluralistic democracy-supporting Ali Sistani and the other senior clerics is where real understanding of modern Shi'ism comes.

The major point is that the opening up of Iraq has begun a religious revolution in global Shi'ism, as the quietist Sistani has come to command the allegiance of 80 percent of the world's professed Shia. Support for Sistani is blooming in Iran and elsewhere. Not that Khamanei's Iran hasn't been fighting back; they have, and Iran has used its wealth to fight back at home and to build constituencies in Iraq, the Persian Gulf and Lebanon. Anyone interested in a more detailed look at the way money and the Shia seminaries of Iraq and Iran work should look at a policy focus report published by the Washington Institute for Near East Studies titled "The Last Marja." In short, there is an intra-Shia war going on, and if Khamanei defeats Sistani and like-minded clerics, all hope of avoiding full-scale war with Iran will be gone. But if Sistani wins, we will likely not need to bomb those Iranian nuke sites after all.

Nasr's key argument is that democracy will empower the Shia in Iraq and Bahrain where they are a majority, and bring fresh pressure for democratic change and more religious freedom where they are a minority, and that this is a good thing. I largely agree. Lebanon is an exception, where Iran's client Hizballah is well entrenched and would benefit from more open politics. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are countries with significant Shia minorities where the Shia are the natural allies of democratic reformers. This is certainly a good thing in Iraq, which is arguably the only Arab country of consequence in which the senior religious authorities are pro-pluralism. The most respected religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Syria and Sunni Iraq are firebreathing jihadists.

As an aside, it does come as something of a surprise then that Nasr so fervently condemns the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, until one remembers that in the academy making sure that the United States gets its share of the blame for the world's ills is the litmus test of sophistication. Much of the book is spent explaining how the peaceful and democratic side of Shi'ism as been taking root precisely because of the removal of the Baathist regime. Yet take out a few pages near the end and one could imagine the Bush administration passing this text around to advance the argument that Iraq is truly pivotal and that standing by the Iraqi government, even given current human and financial sacrifice, will be paying dividends for decades to come.