Why sunni are wrong

Medical authorities reported at least 73 were gunned down as they attended Friday prayers. YouTube footage shows bodies lying across the mosque floor, including at least one child. A report by Human Rights Watch this month detailed cases of Iraqi security forces and government-backed militias executing Sunni prisoners. The reported killings took place in six Iraqi cities and villages in early June as civilians withdrew from IS advances. Just this week, families living in areas recently retaken from IS by the Iraqi government and Kurdish peshmerga have reported the deliberate burning of Sunni homes and intimidation of Sunni families who have no where else to go.

Rovera, who spoke to GlobalPost Thursday by phone from London, said the Iraqi government has not only allowed Shia militia groups to operate with impunity, but has supported and even engaged in committing some of the atrocities. This calls into question the accountability of governments who form the US-led international coalition currently supporting Iraqi troops fighting IS, who have so far failed to pressure the Iraqi government to crack down on militia violence.

President Barack Obama's four-point strategy for fighting the Islamic State, which he detailed in September just after Iraq swore in a new government , acknowledged threats posed to Sunnis by the terror group but not by Shia militias. Training and arming local forces means international governments share the responsibility for how those weapons are used both now and in the long term, she added.

Abu Makaram and his year-old son both worked as lawyers fighting for the rights of Sunnis. Eyewitnesses claimed the same militia group was behind his murder. I had clients whose heads were split open. One man had a concrete block tied to his penis. They declared that Sunnis and Shia were Muslim, and that violence should never occur between them. It was called the Amman Message, and was signed in July Ever since, hundreds more have signed the declaration online at www. A couple of months after that, it targeted Amman in a spectacular massacre of innocents.

But it failed to stop the momentum. Many around the world signed the original Amman Message, and developed their own local versions. Personally, I am not particularly interested in whether Islam is defined as a religion of peace, or a religion of war, or anything else for that matter. What is important is that we get qualified and authoritative definitions. Many are trying to claim the authority to do that: American pundits; radical extremists; take your pick. But what we have to do is realise who already has that authority.

This group held that Ali was appointed by the prophet to be the political and spiritual leader of the fledgling Muslim community. Abu Bakr became the first caliph and Ali became the fourth caliph. Aisha was defeated, but the roots of division were deepened. D For the Shias, this battle, known as the Battle of Karbala, holds enormous historical and religious significance. Hussein was killed and his forces defeated. For the Shia community, Hussein became a martyr.

The day of the battle is commemorated every year on the Day of Ashura. Over time, Islam continued to expand and develop into evermore complex and overlapping societies that spanned from Europe to sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa to Asia. This development demanded more codified forms of religious and political leadership.

Sunni Muslims trusted the secular leadership of the caliphs during the Ummayad based in Damascus from A. Their theological foundations came from the four religious schools of Islamic jurisprudence that emerged over the seventh and eighth centuries.

To this day, these schools help Sunni Muslims decide on issues such as worship, criminal law, gender and family, banking and finance, and even bioethical and environmental concerns. Today, Sunnis comprise about percent of the global Muslim population.