Book Review: The Shi'a Revival

Reviewed by Sreeram Chaulia - Asia Times - Kowloon,Hong Kong

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Typical Western reference points for the Muslim world harp on such themes as authoritarianism, fundamentalism and women's rights but miss the basic fault line of sectarianism. Iranian scholar Vali Nasr's new book shatters this myopia through a masterly analysis of Shi'ite-Sunni rivalries that go back to the founding days of Islam and are currently playing out in the blood-stained streets of Pakistan and Iraq. Its central thesis is that the Shi'ite challenge to Sunni dominance will reorder the future of the Middle East and South Asia.

The book opens with Nasr's visit to the headquarters of Pakistan's Sunni-fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami in 2003, just after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. The Jamaatis were aghast to watch on television defiant and jubilant Shi'ites near Imam Husayn's shrine in Karbala. The Iraqi Shi'ite challenge to Sunni power and monopoly of what it means to be a "true" Muslim opened fresh sectarian wounds in Pakistan. Despite periods of co-existence, Sunni-Shi'ite antagonism has lasted long and retains urgency in the form of a contemporary clash of identities. It is "a very old, very modern conflict" (p 20).

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The rise of modern states fostered secular trends among middle- and upper-class Shi'ites in Lebanon, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. Urbanization loosened the grip of tribal leaders and motivated the masses to demand a direct voice in politics. Turbaned Shi'ite ulama such as Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah and the Azeri Abol-Qasem al-Khoi benefited from this radicalization and became prominent. After World War I, Shi'ites also embraced nationalism, imagining a community where sectarian divisions would not matter. This proved to be an illusion, as old institutionalized viciousness against Shi'ites continued under the guise of Arab nationalism and secularism. Discarded as disloyal agents of Iran, Shi'ites remained quasi-outsiders, "an undesirable and heathen minority" who were never admitted into bureaucracies or officer corps of Sunni-ruled states.

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Iran's present-day political and clerical brass are more anti-Sunni and anti-Wahhabi than usual and see opposing Sunni hegemonism as central to Tehran's regional ambitions. Riyadh, Amman and Kuwait (but not Damascus) have their national interests aligned with the Sunni insurgency's goal of wrecking the Shi'ite-led Iraqi state. The breadth of the al-Qaeda in Iraq network attests to the regionwide web of Sunni linkages. Despite US accusations, Nasr portrays Syria's Alawi leadership as a victim (not facilitator) of the growing Sunni extremism in Iraq.

A primary source of conflict in South Asia and the Middle East is sectarian, underlined by unequal allocation of power and resources that do not square with demographic realities. Nasr's forecast is that the worm in the Sunni apple, Shi'ism, will build on the grievances of its past suppression and cannot be prevented from getting its due share. The dust from the sectarian war will not settle until the underdogs, the Shi'ites, obtain justice.

Vali NasrThe Shi'a Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the FutureW W Norton, 2006, New YorkPrice US$25.95, 287 pagesISBN: 0-393-06211-2