[00:06] Today there are more than 1.5 billion Muslims
living across the globe with Muslim majority
[00:11] countries spreading from Morocco to Indonesia.
[00:14] But just like virtually all other religions,
Islam is not united and has branches interpreting
[00:22] Quran and matters related to political events
in the history of Islam in a different way.
[00:28] The two main denominations of Islam are Sunnism
and Shiism with Sunnis making up 85-90% of
[00:36] the Muslim population.
[00:38] But how did the split in the Muslim world
happened?
[00:40] In today’s video we are going to talk about
the schism in Islam, emergence of Sunni and
[00:46] Shia Islam and the effects it had on the Caliphate
and beyond.
[00:51] We need to start our story with Ali ibn Abi
Talib, one of the most important persons in
[00:56] the history of Islam.
[00:58] Ali was born in Mecca in the powerful Hashimi
clan and was a cousin of the Muslim Prophet
[01:03] Muhammad.
[01:04] They had a strong bond, as Ali’s father
had raised Muhammad when he became orphaned
[01:09] and later Ali would live in Muhammad’s household.
[01:13] When in 610 AD Muhammad proclaimed his prophethood,
Ali was one of the first persons to accept
[01:19] Islam and recognize Muhammad as the prophet.
[01:22] But Muhammad’s proselytizing was not initially
popular among the polytheistic Meccans and
[01:28] he and the early Muslims had been oppressed.
[01:31] The rumours of a plot against Muhammad were
spreading, forcing him to leave Mecca for
[01:36] Medina with majority of his followers in 622,
which was called Hijra - the migration - an
[01:43] event so momentous that the new Islamic calendar
starts with that day.
[01:49] Initially Ali stayed behind to return people
the possessions they had entrusted upon the
[01:53] Prophet for safekeeping, but very soon he
joined other Muslims in Medina and in 623
[02:00] married Muhammad’s daughter Fatimah Zahra,
becoming one of the most trusted companions
[02:05] of Muhammad.
[02:06] Known in the Muslim community for wisdom and
fairness, he earned the nickname Asad Allah
[02:11] - the Lion of God - for his military exploits
and courage on the battlefield.
[02:17] By 631 the Islamic community - the Ummah - had
been able to assert control over Mecca and
[02:23] large swathes of the Arabian Peninsula and
was already a formidable force, but who was
[02:29] going to succeed aging Muhammad?
[02:32] And this is the root of the split in Islam.
[02:36] As one would expect Sunni and Shia sources
offer different interpretations.
[02:41] On the way back from his last pilgrimage Muhammad
made a sermon at the Ghadir Khumm oasis, took
[02:48] Ali by his hand and proclaimed that "Anyone
who has me as his Mawla , has Ali as his Mawla".
[02:55] Shia theology believes that in Ghadir Khumm
the Prophet designated Ali as his successor
[03:00] by calling him Mawla - a polysemous Arabic
word with several meanings, one of which is
[03:07] leader or master.
[03:09] Sunnis believe that the Ghadir Khumm episode
was merely a proclamation of affinity of the
[03:14] Prophet to his loyal companion and son-in-law
and interpret the word Mawla using its second
[03:20] definition - a friend.
[03:23] Another important episode in the succession
dispute between the Sunni and Shia theologies
[03:28] is connected to the so-called Pen and Paper
episode.
[03:32] This is considered a genuine hadith, as both
Sunni and Shia theologians accept it, but
[03:38] interpret differently.
[03:39] In Islam, a hadith is a story on the life
of Muhammad with religious and legal messages
[03:45] for the Muslim community, and according to
this one, a few days before his death, Muhammad
[03:51] asked his companions to bring him pen and
paper so that he could write a statement in
[03:56] order to prevent the Ummah from going astray
after his death.
[04:00] But one of Muhammad’s closest companions
Umar said: “The Prophet is seriously ill,
[04:06] and we have got Allah’s Book with us and
that is sufficient for us”.
[04:11] This led to a loud dispute in the room in
the presence of Muhammad, who got unhappy
[04:16] and called everyone to leave.
[04:18] It is still unclear what the prophet wanted
to write.
[04:21] Shias claim that he intended to designate
Ali as his successor, but there is no way
[04:26] to determine this.
[04:28] According to Sunnis, the Prophet did not explicitly
designate a successor and left it for the
[04:34] Islamic community to decide.
[04:36] There are other events which Sunnis and Shia
base their claims on regarding the succession,
[04:41] but in short following Muhammad’s death
in 632, the Ummah did not have a consensus
[04:47] on a new leader.
[04:49] While Ali took charge of the arrangements
of the funeral, a meeting to decide the successor
[04:54] took place in Medina.
[04:56] Ali and two other prominent companions of
the Prophet Abu Bakr and Umar were not present
[05:01] and deliberations took place without them.
[05:04] In fact majority of those present were the
Muslims residing in Medina, who welcomed Muhammad
[05:10] or were converted later, while very few of
those who went on a Hijra from Mecca to Medina
[05:15] with Muhammad were there.
[05:17] Abu Bakr and Umar rushed to the meeting and
took charge of the process in Ali’s absence.
[05:23] The latter was one of the first converts to
Islam, Muhammad’s father-in-law through
[05:28] his daughter Aisha.
[05:30] Deeply respected by modern Sunnis, he was
very rich and contributed a lot to the cause
[05:35] of Islam, and arguably one of the main contenders
to leadership.
[05:40] Umar was also a close companion of Muhammad,
also his father-in-law through his daughter
[05:45] Hafsa, known for his zealous protection of
the Prophet.
[05:49] He is known as a just, intelligent and wise
person in the Sunni tradition.
[05:55] After a heated debate, Umar was able to persuade
those present to choose Abu Bakr as the successor
[06:00] - the Caliph, a ruler of the Muslim Ummah.
[06:04] Ali was later presented with the fact of succession
and along with a number of other companions
[06:10] initially refused to accept the decision,
as it was taken without him, while he was
[06:14] one of the strongest candidates.
[06:17] Umar embarked on the process of persuading
or forcing the companions to offer fealty
[06:22] to Abu Bakr.
[06:24] He personally came to Ali’s house to persuade
him.
[06:27] The events which followed have been the subject
of much dispute, as the Sunnis believe that
[06:32] Umar was able to peacefully persuade Ali to
recognize Abu Bakr’s Caliphate.
[06:38] According to Shia sources, Umar forced Ali
to concede by breaking into the house, slamming
[06:43] the door, which broke Ali’s wife Fatimah
Zahrah ribs, eventually leading to miscarriage
[06:49] of their child.
[06:50] Ali himself was tied with a rope to force
his allegiance.
[06:54] It is impossible to verify what really happened,
but eventually Ali accepted Abu Bakr and his
[07:00] successor Umar as caliphs and retired from
public life.
[07:04] He was often consulted in matters of state.
[07:07] Ali accepted the selection of Umar as caliph
and even gave one of his daughters, Umm Kulthūm,
[07:13] to him in marriage.
[07:15] After the death of Umar in 644, Ali was considered
for the position, but eventually another companion
[07:22] of Muhammad, Uthman of the Banu Umayyah clan,
became the new caliph.
[07:26] Again, Ali recognized the new caliph, but
very soon discontent in the Caliphate grew.
[07:32] Again the sources do not agree on the reasons,
but many claimed that Uthman’s nepotism
[07:37] and leniency towards tribal rivalries was
the cause of the opposition against him.
[07:43] Rebels offered to support Ali as an alternative
to Uthman, but Ali refused and even sent his
[07:49] sons Hassan and Husain to protect Uthman’s
house, where eventually despite all the protection
[07:54] Uthman was assassinated by rebels from Egypt
in 656.
[08:00] Finally Ali’s turn to become a caliph came
and he became the fourth and the last of the
[08:05] Rashidun Caliphs.
[08:06] But his election was not smooth and he became
a caliph amidst very tumultuous times.
[08:13] The Prophet’s wife Aisha and Uthman’s
relatives from the Banu Umayyah clan, including
[08:18] the governor of Syria Muawiya demanded Ali
to punish the plotters of Uthman’s death,
[08:23] but since some of them were Ali’s supporters,
the new caliph rejected and soon the First
[08:29] Muslim Civil War, called Fitna started.
[08:32] In December 656, Ali’s army defeated the
rebels at the Battle of Camel near Basra,
[08:39] but Muawiya still refused to accept Ali as
a new caliph and the anti-Ali opposition gathered
[08:45] around him.
[08:46] Ali was willing to not repeat Uthman’s mistakes
and carried out measures to centralize the
[08:51] caliphate and decrease the power of governors.
[08:55] The two men assembled their armies and confronted
each other at Siffin, on the Euphrates, in
[09:00] 657.
[09:01] Neither side was keen to commit to a major
battle, but after three months of occasional
[09:07] skirmishes, when serious fighting finally
broke out, Muawiya’s followers called for
[09:12] an arbitration, apparently after riding out
with copies of the Quran on their lances to
[09:17] bring the conflict to a stop.
[09:19] Ali was forced to agree, but some of his followers
objected and abandoned him; they became known
[09:25] as kharijis, from the Arabic verb kharaja
to leave because they left Ali’s army.
[09:32] According to the arbitration, which took place
at Adhruh in 658 or 659, it was ruled that
[09:39] both Ali and Muawiya should relinquish their
claims and the Muslim Ummah should have a
[09:44] chance to choose their own ruler.
[09:47] Ali rejected this ruling and the stalemate
continued as Muawiya’s supporters proclaimed
[09:52] him a caliph in Damascus in 660.
[09:55] The following year Ali was assassinated by
the Kharijis while praying in the mosque at
[10:01] Kufa.
[10:02] Ali’s son Hasan was proclaimed a new caliph
in Kufa, which became the capital during Ali’s
[10:07] short reign.
[10:09] But Muawiya had a far stronger army, thus
Hasan stepped down as a caliph in order to
[10:14] avoid further bloodshed and a treaty between
the sides was signed.
[10:19] According to the treaty:
- Hasan accepted Muawiya as a caliph under
[10:23] the condition that he would act in accordance
with Islam
[10:26] - Muawiya should not appoint a successor and
a new caliph should be elected by the electoral
[10:32] council - Shura
- Muawiya should abandon cursing Ali and persecuting
[10:37] Ali’s family and supporters.
[10:40] But Muawiya would not stay true to his pledges
and towards the end of his reign he designated
[10:45] his son Yazid as a successor.
[10:48] This would be breaking off the tradition of
the Islamic Caliphate as a state, which elected
[10:53] its leader through consultation or election,
to a monarchy.
[10:57] Muawiya summoned the Shura in Damascus, the
new capital of the Caliphate and through persuasion
[11:03] and bribery was able to secure support for
Yazid.
[11:08] This development caused significant opposition
in different quarters and this opposition
[11:12] started gathering around Muhammad’s grandson
and Ali’s son, Husain, who replaced Hasan,
[11:18] who passed away in 670, as the leader.
[11:22] Despite the opposition, Muawiya was able to
secure the support of Mecca and Medina for
[11:27] Yazid.
[11:28] Ali’s capital Kufa was the potential stronghold
of the opposition and the death of Muawiya
[11:34] in 680 put the events, which would further
divide the Islamic World, into action.
[11:40] Following Muawiya’s death Yazid became a
new caliph and immediately demanded allegiance
[11:45] of Husain.
[11:46] Yazid’s envoy could not persuade Husain
to do this and was afraid of killing him,
[11:51] since Husain was the Prophet’s grandson.
[11:55] Around the same time, the people of the city
of Kufa started sending letters to Husain
[12:00] informing him about their opposition to the
Umayyad rule, their support for him and intention
[12:05] to remove Yazid from power and install him
instead.
[12:09] The Kufans sided with Ali during the first
Fitna, continued to support his family by
[12:14] backing Hasan and were unhappy when he abdicated
in favour of Muawiya.
[12:20] Husain accepted this call and sent his cousin
Muslim ibn Aqil to Kufa to assess the situation
[12:26] and gather support.
[12:28] Initially, Muslim ibn Aqil was very successful
and he informed Hussain of the progress.
[12:34] Yazid was forced to change the governor of
Kufa to defeat the opposition in the city
[12:39] and the new governor succeeded in doing just
that.
[12:42] With the support dwindling, Muslim ibn Aqil
decided to carry out a revolt before Husain’s
[12:48] arrival, but it was defeated.
[12:50] Husain did not know about this and in September
680 started his journey towards Kufa with
[12:57] around 50 men and his family members.
[13:00] On the way Husain received information about
the death of Muslim ibn Aqil and the defeat
[13:05] of the revolt in Kufa.
[13:07] He called on those who joined him on the way
to leave, understanding the futility of his
[13:12] attempt to challenge Yazid.
[13:14] Very soon Yazid’s forces confronted Husain
and an envoy of the Kufa’s new governor
[13:20] told Husain to come with him or turn back
and go anywhere, but Medina.
[13:25] Husain refused and continued on his path with
the envoys forces accompanying him.
[13:30] On the 2nd of October Husain reached Karbala
and set camp there.
[13:35] On the following day Yazid sent additional
4k men to confront Husain.
[13:41] The Umayyad army had orders to prevent Husain’s
men from accessing the Euphrates river, in
[13:46] order to force them to concede due to lack
of water.
[13:50] But 3 days later Husain’s group was able
to access water, creating a stalemate.
[13:56] For over a week Yazid’s officials had tried
to persuade Husain to accept his fate and
[14:01] pledge allegiance to Yazid, since they understood
the consequences of attacking the Prophet’s
[14:06] grandson.
[14:07] Ultimately, Husain refused the offers of Yazid
and on the 10th of October the Umayyad army
[14:13] approached Husain’s camp and both sides
took their battle positions.
[14:18] Husain’s companions fought valiantly, but
the forces were extremely uneven - he and
[14:23] his men were massacred.
[14:26] This included 7 sons of Ali, including Husain
himself, two of Husain’s son’s, three
[14:31] sons of his brother Hasan and other grandchildren
of Ali.
[14:36] Many from the prophet’s family were killed.
[14:39] This was a final straw completing the schism
in the Islamic world and dividing into Sunni
[14:45] and Shia.
[14:46] The process, which started with the dispute
over succession to Muhammad and continued
[14:52] with killing of Ali and Husain caused the
split of Islam with Shiat Ali - Ali’s Party
[14:58] - first becoming a political movement within
Islam and later transforming into a branch
[15:03] of Islam offering alternative interpretation
of Quran and Hadiths, its own view on Islamic
[15:09] jurisprudence, on state and some religious
practices, venerating the People of the House
[15:15] (Ahl al-Bayt) Muhammad’s direcet descendants
as his righteous succesors.
[15:20] The Sunni, also known as The People of the
Sunnah and the Community - Ahl as-Sunnah wa
[15:25] l-jamaah) remained the majority in Islam and
although naturally there have been some transformation
[15:31] in the Sunni Islam in comparison with early
Islam coming with new times and different
[15:36] interpretations of holy texts by the Sunni
scholars, the main distinctions between the
[15:41] two largest branches of Islam go back to the
events we have described above.
[15:46] And while the Sunni theology respects the
Ahl al-Bayt as well, it rejects the premise
[15:51] that the Islamic Ummah should be ruled by
Ahl al-Bayt.
[15:56] The Killing of Ali, massacre of Husain, his
family members and companions strengthened
[16:01] the sense of injustice against the Prophet’s
family among the Shia Muslims and turned martyrdom
[16:06] into one of its main pillars.
[16:08] Ali’s martyrdom during the prayer, Husain’s
martyrdom during the struggle against the
[16:13] perceived tyrant and usurper, turned into
a powerful symbol of the Shia Islam.
[16:19] The first month of the Muslim calendar - Muharram
is the annual period of mourning for the Shia
[16:24] Muslims with the 10th of Muharram known as
Ashura, the day of the Battle of Karbala,
[16:30] becoming the peak day of mourning ceremonies.
[16:33] Millions of devoted Shias make the Arbaeen
pilgrimage on foot to the Holy Shrine of Imam
[16:39] Husain in Karbala every year.
[16:42] The Shia defeat in the Battle of Karbala did
not stop the supporters of the Ahl al-Bayt
[16:47] from opposing the existing state of affairs
in the Islamic World.
[16:52] Dissenters to the existing state of affairs
in Islam would take up the flag of the Party
[16:57] of Ali and challenge the rule of the Caliphate.
[17:01] Numerous powerful states and dynasties such
as the Fatimids, Buyids, Nizaris, Safavids
[17:07] and others emerged throughout the Islamic
world armed with the powerful idea of Shia
[17:12] Islam.
[17:13] In our episode on the Hashashins, link to
which is in description and pinned comment,
[17:18] you can learn about some of the events that
followed the Muslim Schism, and we are planning
[17:22] more episodes on the topic, so make sure you
are subscribed and have pressed the bell button
[17:27] to see the next video in the series.
[17:30] Please, consider liking, commenting, and sharing
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