{"id":285,"date":"2009-03-27T23:04:24","date_gmt":"2009-03-27T23:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/cityofbrass\/2009\/03\/the-saudi-shia-problem-a-wax.html"},"modified":"2009-03-27T23:04:24","modified_gmt":"2009-03-27T23:04:24","slug":"the-saudi-shia-problem-a-wax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/03\/the-saudi-shia-problem-a-wax.html","title":{"rendered":"The Saudi “Shi’a problem” – a waxing crescent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Relations between the Shi’a minority and the Sunni majority in Saudi Arabia aren’t great even in teh best of times, but in some ways the events of the past few years – notably the war in Iraq and the emergence of Iran as a regional player via proxy in the Israel-Palestine conlfict – have made fears of a “Shi’a Crescent” more acute among the Sunni establishment. This has translated into increasing restrictions on the Shi’a in KSA, but it also has meant that the Shi’a minority is also emboldened to a degree to push back. <\/p>\n

For example, via John Burgess and his indispensable blog Crossroads Arabia<\/a>, is a piece in the Financial Times about the Saudi relations with Shi’a<\/a> both within and without the Kingdom:<\/p>\n

\n

The hopes of Saudi Arabia’s Shia minority for greater representation
\nwere dashed last month when Riyadh shook up its government and
\nreligious establishment.<\/p>\n

King Abdullah appointed reformers to strategic posts in government
\nand the first female deputy minister, and opened the door for diversity
\nwithin the senior ulema council – the body that shapes religious and
\nlegal discourse in the kingdom. But although Sunni Muslims were invited
\nto advise the council for the first time, Shia clerics were not invited.<\/p>\n

Analysts warn that marginalisation of the estimated 1.5m to 2m Shia
\nliving in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province fuels tensions in
\nthe region – with majority-Shia Iran across the Gulf and majority-Shia
\nBahrain across a causeway, and a newly installed Shia government in
\nIraq. They believe that the kingdom can no longer afford to ignore the
\nissue.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

John adds his own analysis<\/a>, noting that Iran’s attempts at regional hegemony<\/a> are one provocation for the Saudi government’s antipathy, but the real root of the problem is much more fundamental::<\/p>\n

\n

It is not regional politics, however, that are at the root of this
\nproblem. Rather, it is a well-developed and centuries old religious
\nfear and loathing of Shi’ism that is proving the most troublesome
\nbarrier to resolving the frictions that run through the country and
\nsociety. The Ismailis in Najran, for instance, have nothing to do with
\nIran or Iranian Shi’ism, but they still find themselves targets of
\nopprobrium with some measure of government involvement. Here, the
\ntypical Saudi fear of ‘the other’ rears its head to the detriment of
\nSaudi Arabia as a whole.<\/p>\n

While King Abdullah has taken measured steps to open the door to
\nother manifestations of Sunni Islam within Saudi Arabia, he needs to
\npush that door further in welcoming Saudi Shi’a to the fold. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"shia-revival.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>I personally consider this to be a human rights and freedom of religion issue as far as Shi’a within Saudi Arabia are concerned, but there is a broader strategic question as pertains to US policy as to whether there is such a thing as a “Shi’a Cresent” or not and what impact it may have on our long-term goals for the region. The Council on Foreign Relations actually had a symposium titled “The Emerging Shi’a Crescent<\/a>” in summer of 2006 (audio<\/a>, video<\/a> and transcript <\/a>available) that delved into this question in great depth, with luminaries such as Fouad Ajami and Vali Nasr (author of The Shi’a Revival<\/i><\/a>) on the panel. It’s a substantive discussion with quite a lot of ideological depth and diversity, and I think is essential reading for anyone intent on commenting on sectarian tensions in the Middle East. My general take is that the Shi’a are indeed resurgent, but the idea of a “crescent” as being anything more tangible than a general demographic feature is as tenuous as the idea of a broader pan-Islamic Ummah. It doesn’t exist except in the minds of romantics; there is no unity across nationalist boundaries (and often not even within them). <\/p>\n

Incidentally, I’ve inaugurated a new category here at City of Brass, The Shi’a Crescent<\/i>, in which I plan to devote more attention to these sectarian tensions and hopefully, solutions. <\/p>\n

Related: Fouad Ajami’s essay early into the Iraq War (which he supported) about how Sunnis feared Shi’a emancipation<\/a>. Also, via POMED<\/a>, another essay about Shi’a repression<\/a> in Saudi Arabia, which has led to threats of secession by some Shi’a clerics. Given that most Shi’a live in the oil-rich provinces, you can imagine that the Saudis are taking that threat seriously. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Relations between the Shi’a minority and the Sunni majority in Saudi Arabia aren’t great even in teh best of times, but in some ways the events of the past few years – notably the war in Iraq and the emergence of Iran as a regional player via proxy in the Israel-Palestine conlfict – have made…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shia-crescent"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Saudi "Shi'a problem" - a waxing crescent - City of Brass<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Saudi "Shi'a problem" - a waxing crescent - City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Relations between the Shi’a minority and the Sunni majority in Saudi Arabia aren’t great even in teh best of times, but in some ways the events of the past few years – notably the war in Iraq and the emergence of Iran as a regional player via proxy in the Israel-Palestine conlfict – have made…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/03\/the-saudi-shia-problem-a-wax.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-03-27T23:04:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/cityofbrass\/files\/import\/shia-revival.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Aziz Poonawalla\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Saudi \"Shi'a problem\" - 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Aziz Poonawalla","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/87dfd5533a0222456bb5ad6eaf152fbb","name":"Aziz Poonawalla","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a95\/a95f814e7f2984c887f3b03aed357433x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a95\/a95f814e7f2984c887f3b03aed357433x96.jpg","caption":"Aziz Poonawalla"},"description":"Aziz Poonawalla is a member of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, and currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. City of Brass is his weblog, which was founded in 2002 under the name UNMEDIA. He is a co-founder of the annual Brass Crescent Awards. The name City of Brass refers to the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights, and the poem by Rudyard Kipling of the same name: Here was a people whom, after their works, thou shalt see wept over for their lost dominion; And in this palace is the last information respecting lords collected in the dust. -- Thousand and One Nights, Story of the City of Brass IN A land that the sand overlays, the ways to her gates are untrod, A multitude ended their days whose fates were made splendid by God, Till they grew drunk and were smitten with madness and went to their fall, And of these is a story written: but Allah Alone knoweth all! -- Rudyard Kipling, The City of Brass (1909)"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}