Why do sunni's and shia muslims hate each other so much in Iraq?

[Joker37]

What is the difference between Sunni muslims and Shia muslims? Why is it that in Iraq they are fighting against each other?
I mean it's pretty much the same religion. They both read the same Koran and both pray seven times a day. So what exactly are the differences? Why do they hate each other so much, particularly in Iraq? Is it a political or religious reason?

[Koshur]

You will probably have more lucky googling this stuff!
Its only gonna start a sunni v shia match on here, as i have seen from the last time i used to post on here.

[MagdoLeen]

I've noticed that too. In Lebnon, Shia and sunni muslims live together in peace and harmony. I think the difference is that Iraq was the place where Imam Al-Hussin RAA was killed, and the old feelings of hate and the desire to revenge still exist there till now. Not to mention the role of Sadam Hussin in this conflict when he killed a lot of Shia and tortured them.

[Massilia]

It's five times a day not 7. And there are many threads about this, it's not only political, if it was only that a good war and it's over.
They slander Aisha (ra) , the Sahabas ra, practice temporary marriages, flog themselves etc........................................

[*Sarah]

Under the banner and pretence of Islam, Shias do many things that are strictly prohibited by Allah and His Messenger

Basically.

[Glorfindel]

All that is isn't what once was. What most people don't realise is that during the the time before the American invasion Ba'athism was the dominant ideology which unfortunately had many Sunni in charge all under the guise of Arabism this was because most of the Sunnis were living in the urban centres whilst the Shia were primarily in the agricultural areas - inevitably as Ba'athism began to wither and die the Shia bolstered by Khomeini's revolution viewed Ba'athism as synonymous with Sunnism. The Shia in Iraq were viewed with suspicion during the Iran-Iraq war and many who didn't want to take part in the war fled to the west and Iran - this government in waiting was primarily composed of Shiite secularists and Shiite religious figures. Saddam Hussein bolstered the Qabila (tribal) system which was made up of Sunni and Shiite families...this worked so long as no group forwarded any religious agenda. The Sunnis traditional have thought of the Shia as being very provincial at best and Iranian agents at worst.

When Baghdad fell to the invasion, the Shiites who were organised along religious lines by the Iranians in the form of militias and along secular lines from their time in the west easily managed to take the lions share of the parliament in the new Iraq (also because of the greater number of Shiites in Iraq). The Sunni were sidelined because of their traditional allegiance (real or imagined) to the Ba'athists and so when de-Ba'athification occurred they lost and the only people who represented the Sunni were Al-Qaeda and the associated groups who eventually fell foul to the Iraqi Sunnis who formed the As-Sahwa (awakening) council funded by the Americans who took over security in Sunni neighbourhoods after the Shia (and in some cases Al-Qaeda) had cleaned many of them out, especially in Baghdad.

The hatred we have seen is because the Sunnis have lost their power and of course because of opportunist terrorists who are following a policy of destabilising Iraq so that Shia power cannot extend to the Persian gulf region which has a sizeable Shia population ruled over by minority Sunnis (Shieks/Monarchs) and the Shia view the Sunni as enemies of yesteryear when Ba'athism and Sunnism were the same thing in their mind. As for the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (radi allahu 'anhu) it plays a part in the hatred but that is more to do with Shiasm and Sunnism as a whole and not peculiar to the Iraqi context as the army which killed him were for the most part Syrian.

Lebanon was as bad if not worse during the civil war, but then again that was because of the imbalance of Sunni numbers caused by the Sunni Palestinians who came as refugees. During the civil war alliances and fault lines shifted on a day to day basis, sometimes the Sunni were aligned with the Maronites, sometimes the Shia were aligned with the Israelis and sometimes the Sunni and Shia groups were aligned with each other until the (ridiculous) constitutional settlement (Taif Agreement 1989) in which the President in a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister is a Sunni and the speaker of the Parliament is a Shia.

I hope this helps.

[noobz]

i find it ironic that shias beat themselves considering ive heard from people that it was them that killed Hussain(rad) and i also heard that woman that were with them, cursed the traitors to beat themselves until the day of judgement ... is that true?

[Glorfindel]

i find it ironic that shias beat themselves considering ive heard from people that it was them that killed Hussain(rad) and i also heard that woman that were with them, cursed the traitors to beat themselves until the day of judgement ... is that true?

Umar ibn Sa'd (Sa'd being Sa'd ibn Abi-Waqqas [ra]) was in the army of Hasan ibn Ali when he faced Mu'wiyah. Umar ibn Sa'd was in charge of the army which besieged Hussein's camp in Kerbala.

Shimr ibn Thul-Jawshan (la) was the one who cut off Hussein's head and he was in the Army of Ali ibn Abi-Talib (ra) during the Battle of Siffeen. His relative (some say sister) was also married to Ali, her name was Umm Al-Baneen.

So it is not a stretch to say they were 'Shia' of the previous Imams, but obviously not of Hussein. As for the women cursing the Shia, actually it was Zainab the sister of Hussein and the daughter of Ali who said to the people of Kufa that they were cursed for bringing Hussein and not defending him. These 'speeches' are usually from history books such as Abi Mikhnaf's Maqtal Hussein which is baseless and has no chain of authorities and so as ibn Mubarak (allah yarhamhu) said about Isnad, without it '...anyone can say anything they like'.

I hope this helps.