Sheikh Namer al-Namer is back at it again. After his idiotic statements last summer he was detained for a while and later released, but he was banned from leading prayers and speaking in public. The recent tension in Madinah made him break the restrictions and he came out with even more idiotic statements.
In a speech he gave last Friday in a mosque in Awwamiyah, Sheikh al-Namer said that Shia should seek independence if the government continues its discrimination against them. “Our dignity is above the unity of this country,” he added.
What a moron!
Instead of trying to sooth the tension and calm the public down, he is openly calling for a civil war. During difficult times you expect some people to step up and rise to the occasion, show wisdom and leadership. Unfortunately, we have seen none of that during this crisis. Both the government and Shia leaders have failed to show the needed sense of responsibility to deal with the incidents and their aftermath.
However, I’m glad that I’m not alone in rejecting al-Namer’s divisive statements. People like Tawfeeq al-Saif has come out to denounce these statements. “They are totally rejected,” al-Saif said. There are conflicted reports on the web regarding the fate of al-Namer after his fiery speech. Some websites say he was arrested, others say he managed to escape the security forces that came to arrest him.
He will be arrested and then he will be released. But the truth is that his words will harm the Shia community and the national unity in Saudi Arabia much more than they will cause him harm.
Saudi Jeans 
Shia and Sunni have been fighting for years akhi. This is part of blood now. We will never get a long. This is the a fact. This is also the qadr of Allah.
Eh? I have never fought with a shia in my life and don’t intend to.
You are welcome to my home Ahmad if you ever come to the states. My mom will make you some very yummy south asian food! And my husband would be happy show you around Houston.
As for the Sheikh’s statement: “Our dignity is above the unity of this country,”
Ha! country? That’s the first I have heard a sheikh talk about unity of country that of unity of Islam.
It would be a real shame if the country of the Prophet erupts in fighting like that.
So what’s the shia/sunni mess in KSA? Is it lack of freedom of religion for the Shias?
I thought that the people who had major shia/sunni problems in the world were the Pakistanis. The shias are not restrictced to practice as they see fit, but there are people who do terror attacks on each other.
I say live and let live.
I wonder why Shia have done that, things were different before.
We were getting along and living in peace!
I pray and hope things get better before anything worse happen.
MR:
It’s that kind of mentality that keeps us divided. Shia and Sunni have lived in harmony in the past, and can do so again. I find that the majority of Sunni people who advocate discrimination against Shia do not know a single Shia person and simply parrot the rhetoric that has been passed on to them by the loud few, and that goes the other way around as well.
Ahmed:
We need moderates like you on both sides of the sectarian divide if we are ever going to change. Good work and keep it up!
He broke the silence?! lol man its gonna cost him.
May Allah bless you Ahmed i do agree on your opinion.
Cheers!!!
Excellent post, and shows that you Ahmad are much wiser then Mr. Namer.
I’ve always truly wanted, and still, sympathies with the Shias and hope they get a better treatment and more rights here (said by a Sunni, and a so-called “wahhabi” from Riyadh, moreover)
But some of you always gives us a reasons to think again about how we should set our relationships to each other. And I’m talking about us as the Sunni people, not the authorities or Sunni scholars.
What happened in Madinah is truly shameful and took us way back to the zero point.
When people here started to open up and get more informed and educated and more tolerant and accepting to each other, things like this just ruins everything. And statements and protests from Namer is not doing any help.
Now we may have our religious difference, that I’m guessing will never be solved, but we try to be more enlightened about it, however, we will never compromise nor tolerate national unity and civil war within this country, and here were Mr. Namer went beyond acceptable! The last thing we want is an unstable and insecure country hosting the two holy mosques, where 100 of millions of Muslims looks upon our country to be the center of Islam, and give an opportunity to foreign enemies (Iran) to slide in, which by the way, Mr. Namer calls for openly (talk about loyality!)
I still hope things calm down and get better, maybe one day we’ll learn how to live together side by side.
I don’t think he has much support in Shia community so I’m not too worried about a possible civil war.
As an European I simply can’t understand why the two main branches of Islam are keep on fighting each other, punting bombs aven in moque and so on. In Europe we had pretty nasty fighting between cahtolics and protestant but it was centuries ago. If radical muslims can’t live peacefull with Shia or Sunni I can’t see how the could live peacefully with others religious beliefs
Yes because the Irish Republican Army was centuries ago.
It is regrettable that this always incendiary issue is being re-ignited.
To those outside, I would note that examining the issue of Sunna v. Shia in essentially theological terms may not be the best idea.
It is not a conflict at its heart about theology, but about many other issues, such as power, tribal/ethnic loyalties, suspicions of those viewed as ‘alien’, etc.
what is he specifically trying to achieve?
@Andrew thanks for the tip….I thought the rift was caused only because of theological terms
Thanks Ahmed.
Well, I think Al Nimr does not represent anyone but himself. I just saw his picture and immediately realized that he is no different from any other religious maniac and there are a lot out there.
When I read his crazy statements, I also thought he was no different from any Wahhabi radical.
I mean, radicalism always breeds radical responses and bigotry on this side leads to the same level of madness on the other. This should teach us a lesson: never tolerate with radicals, whether Wahhabis or Shia’as. Both groups are dangerous to the unity and security of this country and both should be stopped and held accountable for their evil pronouncements and satanic deeds.
Equality and justice are the best remedy that would lead to Al Nimr and his likes from the other side of the hill becoming voices from the past.
Thanks again.
@Countrygirl
Catholics and Protestant conflicts were centuries ago? What history book are you reading?
@Broke In northern Ireland it’is bound to territorial matter and isn’t bound to the religion. In the last centuries there weren’t a blood bath that you could compare to the current between Sunni and Shia.
countygirl
you’ve forget the older one, the ortodox against cahtolics. It is still working …
There was one very old saying from troubled balcan penisula related to relogious fights
“It’s better to have many gods and one priest than many priests and one god”
Can you tell me when an Ortodox (or Catholic) killed a Catholic (or Orthox) in the name of the religion? The Sunni and Shia are killing each other right now or the Taliban are killing other muslim in Pakistan. Christianity has miriads of different sects but there’s nothing comparable to the bloodbath that is occuring in Islam countries between Sunni and Shia and other sects
countrygirl:
“Can you tell me when an Ortodox (or Catholic) killed a Catholic (or Orthox) in the name of the religion?”
Such appeals to religion were undertaken during the war between Serbia (Orthodox) and Croatia (Catholic), in the 1990s.
Of course, this conflict, like Sunna v. Shia, is not at its heart about theology, but rather is about power, ethnic/tribal loyalties, etc.
Well it took a lot of soldiers and policemens lives to stabilize the situation in Northern Ireland ( and not to mention a lot of innocent people), and it’s both territorial and religious, I don’t think that there are more intermariages there, than in saudia arabia (!). And just as in parts of Iraq or Pakistan relatively few fundamentalists on both sides can do a lot of harm. If there’s a difference it could be, that all responsible leaders in Britain and Ireland supported the peace. Sometimes it seems like the rhetoric used by many groups in the middle east isn’t that helpfull: the rhetoric is often based on an archaic and traditional language and it’s symbols are often very violent.
But then again, if you look at the situation in the former eastern europe, then the development (and violence) has resulted in establising a lot of new national states based on etnic ( and religious) lines. But because of the EU as a strong integrating partner most of the violence is now contained.
If there is a problem in the middle east, then it is, that there is no integrational factor. All that the ‘Suits’ can agree about is critizising defamation of an religion that they can’t agree about anyway.
Countrygirl,
How do i know you are white? Because your holier-than-thou attitude for the rest of us ‘heathens’ is so typical of white Christians. You know how many African Christians are at each other’s throats in Africa?
Ok, even if your wrapped version of history is true, (Goodness, *where* did you learn your history?), I take comfort in the fact that centuries ago while your people were fighting each other and slaughtering each other like animals, all blessed by their priests and promised heavenly glories for doing so, our Muslim ancestors looked on incredulously.
We thought you were particularly brutal in the crusades. Christians riding their horses were wading through Muslim blood that flowed the streets. So shut up and get off your high horse.
Before the White Man used to speak to us heathens and now the White Woman Speaketh too.
Maybe I shouldn’t be too harsh? Maybe the Italians aren’t taught Irish catholic/protestant history? And it’s not just in Ireland that there were fighting.
The White Man has as many sins on its hands as everybody else. So if you want to contribute to a discussion how about do it based on morality instead of lecturing with your nose up in the air?
Get rid of your rose-tinted glasses and stop looking at the world so judgmentally.
@Salema ok I’m a white and I can tell you Muslim did the same thing of evil thing during the Crusades. Regarding The protestant/Catholic in Ireland read the reply by Niels or what right now the muslim are doing in the name of religion. Africa is total different matter they are killing each other in the name of different etnic (eg Rwanda). Ok maybe in the past “Your Muslim ancestors looked on incredulously” but please tell me tell me a scientific advancement done in a muslim country in the last 3 century, where is your Age of Enlightenment. What i wanted to point out is that in Europe right now there’s nothing similar to what is happening in Pakistan or other muslim countries, the citizen male and female are granted the same rights wherever religion they profess, we have many rigths that aren’t granted in many muslim countries
Countrygirl,
It is very obvious that you are a racist. No matter what shred of evidence is provided to you it will not satisfy you.
Our Age of Enlightenment occured while yours was going throught the Dark Ages.
Most recently: He published 45 books in the fields of medicine and pharmacology and edited more than fifteen patents all for new medicines * *He was not pushed up by anyone, nor did circumstances help him. He was not rewarded by anyone for his excellence, not even by a pat on the back.
http://www.kabobfest.com/search?updated-max=2009-03-16T05%3A46%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=11
Your Enlightenment wouldnt’ have been possible if we hadn’t saved your asses from the Dark Ages.
If nothing else, after you shit and wash your hands from soap, you should thank the Lord that he created Muslims because your stinky white ancestors didn’t even know the concept of bathing much less what soap was. One of the “wonders” that the crusaders took back home to darkened Europe was SOAP.
Incredible. The gall of the white man.
Africa is not a differen story. While they are fighting along ethnic lines they are killing each other because of differen sects too. Was it the Tutisis or the Hutus who in the 90s nearly wiped each others kind off the face of the earth because one of them saw the Virgin Mariam (may God bless her) on a hilltop and said to go on a killing rampage?
Anyway, Christianity hasn’t saved the Africans who converted and made them as “enlightened” as you. Why not? Something must be wrong with your religion.
I meant they are killing each other because of differnet “chrsitan sects”–in Africa.
“I’m a white and I can tell you Muslim did the same thing of evil thing during the Crusades.”
One more thing, countrygirl. Despite your efforts history cannot be rewritten because you merely said so here. Have you ever left the country, and um, gone to college? I mean you sound like a valley girl. Lots of talk but empty in the head.
Your white race came over to our part of the world, uninvited, and killed us. We did nothing in the crusades but mostly die, except for the few who were able to defend themselves did so. We shouldnt have defended ourselves? White man waded through our blood, we did not wade through yours.
If at the moment there’s nothing going on similar to what’s happening in Pakistan, does that make somehow prove your superiority? Either the White Man’s or for Christianity’s superiority?
And because nothing is happening at the moment do you have a gurantee that nothing ever will happen in the future?
Neils C,
You are absolutely right. There is not policy of or a mindset in the Middle East about integrating outsiders that live there and work there and even are born there.
It’s not just a policy against non-Muslims but it’s a policy applied to anyone regardless of one’s religion and even to other Muslims.
It’s very disturbing and should be changed.
@ Seleema
“I take comfort in the fact that centuries ago while your people were fighting each other and slaughtering each other like animals”
The Religious Wars of the 17th Century devastated and depopulated large portions of Germany and crippled the European continent. The cost in Human lives was enormous. That such a devastating conflict took place was tragedy and nobody should take comfort in or wish such a loss of human life on any other people or nation.
@ Country Girl
The tone, as well as the use of broad European history as a mirror to affairs in the KSA, of your argument do it a disservice. Europe experienced the Modern age in extraordinarily different ways than did the Arab World, and especially the KSA. It is naive to try to understand an event such as Sheikh Namer al-Namer’s sermon through a “Europeanized” lens. Someday visit one of the countries you’ve mentioned in your post’s, it (hopefully) will be an eye opening experience for you.
@Saleema
Being naive or ignorant about a region half way around the world has nothing to do with being “White” or “Christian”. Plenty of people from different corners of the world and of different religions are bigoted, ignorant, and arrogant.
@ Luke,
You take offense. I was just letting Countrygirl taste a bit of her own medicine.
In my interactions with people I have found whites to be uptight and have snotty attitude towards non-white folks. It’s a fact that white Europe wrecked havoc on the world in the last centuries and so and the repercussions of that continue to be felt.
Unlike white snobs like countrygirl I don’t have a disparging attitude towards European history as they do towards ours.
The only whites in whom I haven’t seen that attitude are the progressive/liberals types or the ones that truly understand the message that Jesus brought to them, one of tolerance, understanding and LOVE.
countrygirl is exhibiting typical white european ignorance about other cultures and religions.
You will notice that the bigoted and ethnocentric attacks on Muslim culture and history were started by westerners on here and only got a similar response back because they refused to hold an intelligent conversation.
In order for children to understand, you have to speak on their level. And in order for bigots and racists to understand your point of view sometimes it’s necessary to use their language and terms to make a point.
“The cost in Human lives was enormous. That such a devastating conflict took place was tragedy and nobody should take comfort in or wish such a loss of human life on any other people or nation”
You are right. Go back over and read my statement again. I found comfort that while Europe was going throug the dark ages, ours was propering. I found comfort in our prospering. In fact, you should go over all my statements on this site and you wil find that I’m not the type of person that puts so little value on human life–be it Muslim or otherwise.
If you read my statemetns to countrygilr on this website, I have tried to hold a meaningful conversation with her but she refuses to open up her mind at all.
She wants us to condemn our religions and culture. That’s the only way she will be happy. Look at how she keeps posing her questions. That’s not going to happen. There are more beautiful things about my religion and our ‘mulsim culture’ than there are negative ones. If anyone here wants to get somebody to agree that islam and muslims today are somehow worse than all the other peoples on this earth then they need to go to muslim-hate sites and there are plenty. This forum isn’t for you then.
Ahmad, thanks.
What sheikh alnamer said was simply foolish, and irreponsible. Never let fools speak for you.
I have no background about whatever happened in madinah, but,
Independance? LOL!
&@countrygirl, christians fought in former yoguslavia, with muslims, and with theirselves.
@ Salema Doh i wasn’t aware that muslims were a race…a racist is someone who consider another race inferior and since muslim are of different colors you can’t call me racist. Granted during our middle ages you had your Enlightenment happened during middle ages but what about later….I didn’t say anything against your religion I you thought so it’s not my problem. You called me snob but I can say the same about you since you said that “It’s a fact that white Europe wrecked havoc on the world in the last centuries…repercussions of that continue to be felt.” so in your opinion it’s only “white man’s fault”?
FYI I’m not a valley girl , I love to travel and meeting with new people.
History books are written by people some f them are lefty/liberals and some others conservative and is only logical that thier ideas appears in their books.
You have you ideas I have mine and each of us thinks that they are right. I visit this blog to have more information regarding the daily life in KSA, to try to understand their culture, I hvae the right to say my opinion you have the right to say yours but i can’t accept that you attack me only because I said my opinion. World i beautifull a variegated but you can’t say a person is a snob, racist only from a short sentences.
I won’t say anymore on this subject.
Peace
Shia Calling for Civil war? Wait. Here in Bahrain Alkhawaja called for the same thing.
You don’t it’s orchastrated, do you?
Here is a video of him calling people to overthrow the ruling government, calling it a “Mob” and saying that Alkhalifa family will not Die by simple chants and that they have to take their words into action.
You r right about muslims not being a race. A better word would be islamophobic.
I’m glad u want to learn the KSA culture. it would be helpful to at least show a little bit of respect.
Peace.
@ Saleema
“I have found whites to be uptight and have snotty attitude towards non-white folks”
Yes, you have a point. This is especially a problem in the US where people grow up and live in very homologous suburbs. The University I attend is filled with people like this. Nonetheless, it is an unfair generalization. These people’s attitudes reflect their background and fears, and I am sure that there are more exceptions to your steriotype than you would expect.
Also, I can assure you that the watered down Christianity prevelent today which emphasizes “tolerance, understanding and LOVE” (and little else) does not correspond one bit to having a more enlightened understanding of and interactions with people of other cultural backgrounds.
Still, thanks for contributing a principled argument against “islamophobia” and the european superiority complex.
“These people’s attitudes reflect their background and fears, and I am sure that there are more exceptions to your steriotype than you would expect.”
Agreed.
Saleema
“It’s a fact that white Europe wrecked havoc on the world in the last centuries and so and the repercussions of that continue to be felt.”
Could be, but you tend to forget, that in the centuries before that the muslim world as carried by the ottoman caliphate did their best to destroy western europe, and that some of problems in the arab world today has their roots in a muslim civilization.
And I don’t really accept ‘european superiority complex’, but it’s a fact that we are proud of our civilization, because we know we have fought for it in centuries.Just as you are proud of your civilization, but it’s also a fact that the muslim tradition and the western tradition in some ways are incommensurable. So of course there have to be clashes.
And “islamophobia” well, now, you don’t have millions of christians inside your country, do you. In fact the christian groups in arab countries have nearly dimished in the last 50 years.
“And “islamophobia” well, now, you don’t have millions of christians inside your country, do you.”
Sure I do. In my country, houston, Texas ;)
I want to add something about “islamophobia” Here in Europe the thing are a little bit different compared to US. Some immigrants from muslim country doesn’t want to assimilate, and they create HUGE problems in some countries.Eg: In Sweden, UK and Holland some muslim girls are beaten up by other muslim because they go unveiled, in some swimming pools muslim demand separate hours for the women (if they want modesty they could wear burkini), here in Italy during a rally pro palestine a big group of muslim started to pray in front of the Milan’s cathedral, in the Uk a large part of the muslim population justify terrorist acts and (if I remember well) about 15%/20% of the young muslim wish to introduce Islam, and of course the rising numbers of honor killings and so on . In the eyes of your average European there’s a fear of losing their identity, their culture. And of course the foolinesh of P.C. eg in some english school Shoa isn’t taught anymore because it could hurt muslim sensibility. In the US (from what i know) if you ask a second generation muslim immigrant who he/she is the answer would be an American, if you ask the same question to a second generation muslim immigrant the answer could be a muslim and only then the nationality…I don’t know if I’ve made clear
Ops i wanted to say young muslim wish to introduce Sharia in the UK
Hm isn’t everyone blaming old Europe for their troubles ?
sounds familiar :))))
Please stop counting who had burned whose village centuries ago .. A ten years ago I’ve had a glorious replay in close neighborhood
it was nasty, all parties were included Islam, Ortodox, Chatolics …
Salema when you are talking about Islam spread please remember what was there before Islam,
like old Byzantine, this spread was not squeaky clean as you maybe think. Also you can always have a talk with some Hindu about India just to show bigger picture :(((
To be honest it is always same with all religions or ideology, so please don’t let few hotheads and would-be martyrs to blow your life away.
Enjoy, you are on this wonderfull planet only once for limited number of years …
What you do with your life is about you not about any relogion or politics.
A good discussion of islamophobia from Olivier Roy
http://www.lemonde.fr/organisations-internationales/article/2009/03/19/le-concept-de-diffamation-des-religions-repond-a-des-objectifs-politiques_1169735_3220.html
And if your french isn’t that well, google translate will help.
Well .. as usual we went off the topic but it is an interesting debate. I think we, muslims, in some parts of the middle east are going through the same thing europeans went through. It is saddening but it is the truth. Qur’an manipulation, extension and narrowing texts to fit whatever Ulema want to legalize. Censorship of books and even internet (which is brand new), interference in other’s life in the name of religion. Not only that but way worse : male-female segregation, hatred of other religions and so on and so forth ….
Not only that but also the rule of religious people and their impact in the middle east are quite similar to the role the church played back then. In fact, what Ahmad posted is not too far from that…
Thanks Ahmad for the objective perspective of alNamer announcement. With people like you we would be able to proceed and tolerate with one another one day.
Linguist:
I strongly agree with your view of the misrule of the ulemaa in our country.
I recently read of how the West went from a comparatively benign period during the 11th century to a highly intolerant and intolerant phase by the end of the 14th century, during which time the Catholic Christians launched the Crusades.
I found it to be interesting that the Orthodox Christians were apparently bitterly opposed to the Crusades of the Catholic Christians, apparently because these Orthodox Christians knew that relations would be permanently damaged with Muslims.
Intolerance and sectarian division is not limited to those who are self-proclaimed followers of the Rasulullah, but is a global phenomenon.
Hello Andrew, your Crusade timeline if off. It is impossible to understand the Crusades if you don’t understand that it takes 2 to start a conflict. The rise of Islam didn’t happen in a vacuum, as Islam rose in the middle east, the Byzantine empire declined in influence. The first Crusade was encouraged by please from the Byzantine Empire Michael.
The situation of Christians in that period is very similar to that of Arab Muslims in the middle east. The anger was based on real grievances, but the Christian response was self defeating (as the Arab Muslim response to current grievances seems to be).
This is a simplistic answer but the history of the Crusades is long and complex. The important point is that any understanding of the Crusades that leaves out real grievances the Europeans had toward Muslim armies will lead to a simplistic analysis.
change “encouraged by please” to “encourages by pleas”
Jerry M:
I will not pretend to an expertise regarding that phase of history; I am not a historian.
But, regarding your assertion that the “the Arab Muslim response to current grievances seems to be” self-defeating, I would merely note that there is no such response.
Arab Muslims are really quite heterogeneous; we are not a monolith, as Ahmed’s post demonstrates.
The perception of whether there are grievances, and what those may be, as well as the response to any such grievances varies extraordinarily. Arab Muslims in Mauretania are different than those in Egypt who are in turn different from those in Iraq.
We have much that unites us as Arab Muslims, but also profound differences in history, ethnicity, economics, religious sect, etc.
Indeed, even the language we speak is so different as to be incomprehensible at times to one another.
As such, generalizations about us Arab Muslims are necessarily deeply flawed.
“the Arab Muslim response to current grievances seems to be” self-defeating, I would merely note that there is no such response.
Arab Muslims are really quite heterogeneous; we are not a monolith, as Ahmed’s post demonstrates.”
By response I mean everything, including the shoe thrower in Iraq. I never said there was a unified Arab world or a unified response.
Given the wide range of meanings for the word Arab, it is easy to make a confusing statement. I primarly mean the Arab States in the Gulf, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. The countries that would have been involved with the various wars against Israel.
Jerry M:
I remain perplexed.
You posit a response from Arab Muslims; I would ask what is this response of which you speak?
If, as you seem to mean in the final paragraph, your statement regards Palestine, you should be more clear.
My own view is that the issue of Palestine is not the central focus of Ahmed’s site.
I am comparing Arab anger to Christian anger from Muslim conquests (starting with Spain and going forward). The Christian response, the Crusades was incompetent and bloody. The Arab Muslims response to Western influence and continued colonialism is not as unified but it is equally incompetent.
I am responding to a post that brought up the crusades, I am trying, perhaps not too well to make a historical comparison.
Jerry M
I am sorry man but I remain perplexed too even after you posted your last post.
Could you say it clearly, I am not good at reading between the lines.. yeah not that smart guy. Or may be because English is my second language..
Just say it… I know Saleema has been terrifying the posters here, including me, and may the blogger.. but just say it …
I swear I am kidding… let’s have fun for a lil bit ..
Sorry Saleema .. but there is not debate going on here without you..
Jerry M and Andrew,
Both the Crusades and the modern antagonisms between the Western World and the Muslim World are not two sides of the same coin, and so making comparisons between them are futile. Rather, they’re both part of a long history of conflict between the two groups where it’s not easy to blame one side over the other.
Both sides need to understand that the other is here to stay, and that they (and the rest of the world) has benefited most when they are at peace with each other, and utilise each other’s strengths for a common good.
This means that the Western World needs to stop interfering in Muslim/Arab affairs and the Muslim/Arab world needs to stop blaming all their ills on the West.
PS I’m not even sure how we ended up here, when the post is on about conflict between Shiites and Sunnis. As for that, Ahmed speaks a lot of sense, and eventually (fingers crossed) the vast majority of Saudis think like him.
Shafiq:
I entirely agree with your sentiment:
“This means that the Western World needs to stop interfering in Muslim/Arab affairs and the Muslim/Arab world needs to stop blaming all their ills on the West.”
May it rapidly come to pass.
You should report and not make judgmental comments like “what a moron”. It shows you are intolerant of others who do not agree with your views.
Oh my God, I can’t understand how on earth there is someone on earth at the 21th century still thinking like this
What was idiotic about what he said? I am a non-Arab sunni Muslim, and if the saudi government is baselessly abusing at-Tasha’yu, then they have a right to fight back.
There is a disturbing anti-Iranian sentiment that has been in the minds of Arabs since the days of Jahiliyah, even before Shia’ism was established (by bloody force) in Iran.
Please make a note at what is going on in Palestine, ever since Hamas decided that it would actually take up Iran’s offer of support there has been nothing but abuse and obfuscation from Israel, and even KSA blamed Hamas for its latest difficulty.
Do you think KSA (or any of the other Arab countries) is sincere then in terms of giving rights to Shia’at and enhancing Muslim unity? KSA and the rest of the Arab league are a huge obstacle in that path. To give yet another example, please recall what was the reaction of Amr Moussa when the official name of Iraq was changed to “Islamic Republic of Iraq”? He nearly shit in his pants. Perish the thought that the people would want to drop the “Arab” from its name and put Islamic. There was such a hue and cry from the nationalists that the name “Republic of Iraq” is now used.
How does that tie in to the above? Here is how. Ask yourself, do you see the Saudi government reducing its abuse of Shi’at any time in the near future, or in your life time? That is something to think about. Iran has been saying for the longest time to look beyond the Sunni Shia divide and find common cause in Islam. It seems to me that the Arab nations can’t stand that because it undercuts their efforts as being the incompetent leaders of the Muslim world. Iran has the balls to move full steam ahead, maybe KSA need to move to the back of the line and at the same time stob being such a bootlicker to the USA….