Nasrallah and Muslim Unity

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah opened the political section of his speech marking the anniversary of the Prophet’s birth, 1433 AH, by speaking about the manufacturing of sectarian strife and the accusation leveled against Shia in general, and Iran and Hezbollah in particular, of pursuing a programmed effort to convert Sunnis to Shiism. Sayyed Hassan denied the accusation, saying that the effort to stir up Sunni-Shia strife has been underway for years, particularly since the 2006 war.

From my own following of events, the effort to stir up Sunni-Shia strife has been underway since 1979, and this was clear to me while I was working at the University of Jordan. Official Arab quarters began opening the Sunni-Shia file after the victory of the Iranian revolution, encouraging the publication of books that reopened the memory of historical battles that did not serve Islam or Muslims, and some clergymen began speaking ill of the Shia, while the media was given free rein to highlight points that cast the Shia in a bad light. At the time I wrote a book titled The Fall of the King of Kings, in which I said that America would incite Arab leaders against Iran and push the Arabs into waging war on Iran. The reasons were that the Shah’s fall had caused America a great loss, that Iran had opened the door to an Islamic awakening that would spread to the Arab countries and undermine the rule of America’s friends, and that Israel would come within the circle of the target.

The war on Iran failed, but the efforts to corner Iran, besiege it, and topple its ruling system did not stop. The military and economic measures and the incitement campaigns against Iran did not cease over the years, but the focus remained on manufacturing Sunni-Shia strife in the hope that it would give birth to a war between Sunnis and Shia that would drain Arab and Iranian energies and stoke deep feelings of rancor and hatred, so that Arabs and Iranians would be driven apart for long centuries.

The campaign against Iran and the Shia in general subsided over the years, but the efforts to ignite strife continued in Pakistan, especially after the invasion of Afghanistan, and found a favorable climate in Iraq after the American invasion. But it intensified and gained strong momentum and concentrated effort after Hezbollah’s victory in the 2006 war. America, the Western bloc, and most Arab regimes had waited for Hezbollah’s defeat, and gave Israel all the necessary support, but their hopes were dashed, and Israel withdrew to lick its wounds. That is why we found broad, focused media campaigns around certain Shia rituals, statements made by extremist Shia figures throughout history were dredged up and put before us, and some Shia appeared cursing the Companions, may God be pleased with them, and accusing Lady Aisha. Media outlets, intellectuals, academics, and clergymen were recruited with the aim of manufacturing battles and wars between Sunnis and Shia, and it became clear that many clergymen on both sides do not know God, and are prepared to set the nation ablaze, not only its mosques.

Why the Strife?

America knows perfectly well that Iran and Hezbollah do not embrace a program to convert Sunnis to Shiism, and it knows that the Sunni states have no program to convert Shia to Sunnism, but it knows that strife is the best mechanism for exhausting Muslims, which enables it and Israel to maintain their dominance, and enables the Arab regimes to remain in power. Each party to the manufacturing of strife has its own interests and goals, and each of them is able to recruit a large number of fools, mercenaries, hotheads, and fanatics to drag people toward killing one another.

Strife is necessary because Iran’s pursuit of scientific development, mastery of technology, industrialization, and self-reliance will earn it strength toward independence and the rejection of foreign domination, colonialism, and occupation. The strength that Iran might gain directly affects the standing of Arab rulers, because it exposes them further before their own peoples, and it endangers American and Israeli dominance over the Arab-Islamic region. What is required of the countries of the region is that they remain weak, under a primitive rule resembling the rule of the dark ages, that they remain dependent on foreign protection, and that they remain pliant in squandering their peoples’ money through various means, including purchasing weapons in vast quantities and pursuing excessive and shameful indulgence of appetites.

Strife is also necessary so that Islam remains dormant, playing no role in ordering people’s affairs toward freedom and justice, and so that Muslims remain mired in depths of ignorance and stupidity, killing one another in the name of religion in defense of Ali or of Aisha, and repeating the tragedies of the Battle of the Camel, Siffin, and Karbala.

If strong Islamic states were to emerge, and enlightened Islamic parties were to appear, the price that America, Israel, and the primitive tribal regimes would have to pay would be steep. The peoples would rally around centers of strength, and would support the Islamically enlightened parties, so the Arab regimes would weaken and collapse, and with them American rule over the region would collapse. This is evident in the strength with which people rallied around Hezbollah after Israel was expelled from southern Lebanon in 2000 and defeated in 2006. This rallying weakened the American presence in the region, and formed a great incentive for Sunnis to search for sources of strength and to confront challenges. This was also evident in the great support that Hamas and the Palestinian resistance received after the war on Gaza in 2008/2009. The Arab rulers were vexed by Gaza’s steadfastness, Sunni as it is, just as they were vexed by Shia Hezbollah’s victory.

What frightens the Arab rulers, and those behind them, is not the conversion of Sunnis to Shiism, but rather the strength of the Shia, embodied in Iran and Hezbollah, which reflects positively on Sunnis, who thereby gain the strength that liberates them from kings, princes, and heads of tyranny. That is why they do not hesitate to carry out any act, however base, to plant the seeds of division, conflict, and internecine killing. And they are now terrified by the victory of Islamic parties in Tunisia and Egypt, because Muslims will draw closer together regardless of their sects and rituals. And if Muslims draw closer together, the role of the pseudo-Muslims comes to an end. That is to say, Egypt will inevitably draw closer to Iran, Tunisia to Egypt, and Tunisia, Egypt, and Iran to Gaza, Hezbollah, and all the factions and parties of resistance across the lands of the Muslims.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “نصر الله ووحدة المسلمين” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.