On Sunnite-Shiite Doctrinal and Contemporary Geopolitical Tensions
Abstract
Despite a discourse proclaiming the unity of the umma, Islam is fragmented. This chapter begins with the question: how to define Shiism? Then it lits the main doctrinal points of contention between Sunnism and Shiism and the attempts to bring together the two main branches of Islam carried out during the contemporary period (taqrib). The Shiite revival, first following the Iranian revolution in 1979 and then after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, caused a resurgence of tensions in a context of rising Salafism.