There is an intense struggle underway in Iraq between secularists and the Islamic movement. Unfortunately, the latter too has not fully shed sectarian tendencies despite the fact that it is the land of Prophets as well as great Imams.
Instead of adopting and living up to the Qur’anic description of being a Muslim or a mumin, many have fallen into sectarian labels that exclude the ‘other’ from their self-designated identity.
One of the “disorders” that the Arab world (and other parts of the Muslim world, unfortunately) has been afflicted with is the Sunni vs. Shi’a pathology; and needless to say, those advocates of U.S. global supremacy are exploiting this shameful and divisive disorder for all that it’s worth, at the expense of the Muslim Ummah.
1The importance of Muslim unity, preservation of the Ummah against international plots, support for the intifadah in Palestine and the Islamic resistance in Lebanon as well as condemnation of Zionist attempts to usurp the holy city of al-Quds were major themes discussed at the eleventh International Conference on Islamic Unity in Tehran
This 'letter' was sent by Martyr Sayyid Qutb, the Egyptian writer of renown, to Ayatollah Kashani of Iran as a confirmation of the emerging unity of the Muslim Ummah. It was published by the journal al-Risalah (No. 951, Dhu al-Hijjah 24, 1370/September 25, 1951) nearly 38 years ago from Cairo.
What follows is the Fatwa (religious verdict/ruling) of one of the Sunni world’s most revered scholars, Shaikh Mahmood Shaltoot with regard to the Shi’a. Shaikh Shaltoot was the head of the renowned al-Azhar Theological school in Egypt, one of the main centers of Sunni scholarship in the world. It should be of interest to know that a few decades ago, a group of Sunni and Shi’a scholars formed a center at al-Azhar by the name of "Dar al-Taqreeb al-Madhahib al-Islamiyyah”which translates into "Center for bringing together the various Islamic schools of thought".
1
