Sunday, April 08, 2007

Sunni vs Shiites

AllAroundPhilly reported Gunbattles between majority Sunnis and minority Shiites left at least 40 people dead and 43 wounded in remote northwestern Pakistan after men opened fire on Shiite Muslims, a Pakistani official said Saturday.

Some seem to think that Sunnis and Shiites are only killing each other in Iraq, and that for some reason it is all our fault for being in Iraq, but this just shows that they are willing to kill each other whereever they are. And this is nothing new. The conflict started when Muhammad died, and there was a debate on who should take control of this new religion. And this is true despite the fact that in their Holy Book Surat an-Nisa,093 (Quran 4.93) it says "If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him." Apparently either each must believe that the other is not really a Muslim, or they so hate someone for thinking other than they do about what should have happened back in the 8th century that they are willing to go to Hell as long as they can kill someone they don't like in this world.
... Pakistan has a history of sectarian violence, and scores of people are killed in such clashes every year. Although most Sunni and Shiite Muslims live peacefully together, extremists on both sides often target each other's leaders and activists.

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