What is the Shia-Sunni divide?
By Ken Chitwood, Ph.D. Student, Religion in the Americas, Global Islam, University of Florida. The Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, when both Shia and Sunni Muslims come together to pray. Al Jazeera English, CC BY-SA In his address in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, May 21, while calling on Muslim leaders to lead the fight against terrorism, […]
Iran pilgrims to join this year’s hajj: Saudi Arabia
Iranian pilgrims will participate in this year’s annual hajj, Saudi Arabia has said, after an absence last year during tensions between the regional rivals. “The ministry of hajj and the Iranian organisation have completed all the necessary measures to ensure Iranian pilgrims perform hajj 1438 according to the procedures followed by all Muslim countries,” the […]
Rights Group Wants More Government Protection for Afghan Shi’ites
Human Rights Watch wants the Afghan government to do more to protect minority Shiites after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque in Kabul Monday, killing dozens of people gathered for a religious ceremony.
Iranian Security Prohibits Sunnis from Performing Eid Prayers in Tehran
London-Iranian security personnel prevented Wednesday Sunni worshippers from attending mosque prayers in Tehran. Member of Iran’s Parliament Mahmoud Sadeghi was quoted by IRNA news agency as saying that 18 parliamentarians had presented a warning to Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli after the closure of a Sunni mosque in Eslamshahr, west of Tehran. Sadeghi said that […]
Shia Muslims and world leaders condemn Saudi executions
Shia Muslims around the world are furious with Saudi Arabia over the execution of one of their leading clerics, and acts of violence against Sunnis are the result in several places. In Kashmir Indian police had to break up a demonstration, and in Iraq a Shia mosque in Hilla was ransacked by an angry crowd. […]
ICNA denounces the execution of Sheikh Nimr
-—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—- NEW YORK, NY (January 3, 2016) – The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), denounces the executions of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr a well-known Shia cleric and three other Shia Muslim activists in Saudi Arabia yesterday. ICNA believes that all citizens of any country have the right to voice their opinion peacefully and […]