Anti-Shi'ism, also known as Shiaphobia, is hatred, prejudice, discrimination, persecution, or violence against Shia Muslims due to their religious beliefs, traditions, or cultural heritage. The term was first used by Shia Rights Watch in 2011, but it has been used in informal research and written in scholarly articles for decades.
The dispute over who was the rightful successor to Muhammad resulted in the formation of two main branches, the Sunni, and the Shia. The Sunni, or the "followers of the way", followed the caliphate and maintained the premise that any member of the Quraysh tribe could potentially become the successor to Muhammad if he was accepted by the majority of Muslims. The Shia instead consider the Ahl al-Bayt (household of Muhammad) and maintain the view that only God can decide who His hujjah (proof) can be. This is due to many reasons, including every successor to a prophet being chosen by God from Adam all the way to Muhammad. This includes leaders (Qur'an 5:12), Prophets, messengers, Imams (Qur'an 2:124) and righteous woman (Qur'an 3:42). It is believed that Ali ibn Abi Talib was chosen by God through Muhammad (Hadith of the pond of Khumm) which is also known as Ghadir Khumm where he becomes Muhammad's successor, thus Ali became the religious authority for the Shia people. Militarily established and holding control over the Umayyad government, many Sunni rulers perceived the Shia as a threat – to both their political and religious authority.
The Sunni rulers under the Umayyads sought to marginalize the Shia minority. Throughout the history of Islam, the persecution of Shias by their Sunni co-religionists has often been characterized by brutal and genocidal acts; the most recent case of religious persecution by Sunni Muslim militants involved the genocidal massacre, ethnic cleansing and forced conversion of Shias to Sunni Islam by ISIL in Syria and Iraq (2014–2017). Comprising around 10% of the entire world's Muslim population, to this day, the Shia remain a marginalized community in many Sunni dominated countries and in those countries, they do not have the right to freely practice their religion or establish themselves as an organized denomination.Nasr, Vali (2006). The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the Future. W.W. Norton & Company Inc. pp. 52-53.
On the other hand, Sunni and Shia Muslims have lived together in peace over the years. In many countries, they have prayed in the same mosques, while having distinct rituals. Shia identitarianism was based on victimhood narrative of alleged intolerance from mainstream Sunnis who historically questioned their loyalty and Islamic credentials as well as over verdicts of Takfir from hardline Sunnis who denounces all Shias as apostates.
Historic persecution
Ghaznavids and Seljuks In 1029 Mahmud of Ghazni conducted a brutal campaign against the city of Rayy. As a stauch Sunni orthodox, he crucified a large number of Ismailis together with Mazdakites and burned many Shi'ite books whose teachings he considered heretical. The poet Farrukhi Sistani wrote two related qasida poems, in which he depicted Rayy as a worthy target for a ghazi raid and those who disobey God to be infidels or heretic (kafirs, babd-madhhabi). During the rule of the Seljuks, large numbers of Ismailis are thought to have converted in hopes of evading persecution.
Siege of Baghdad After the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258, prejudice against Shias became more frequent, reminiscent of blaming Shias for every problem.Nasr(2006), p. 53 One statement states that a Shia minister had betrayed the empire by exposing their weaknesses to the Mongols.
Persecution in the Ottoman Empire
In response to the support of Alevis and Alawites to the Shia Safavid empire, who were converting the Sunni Iran to Shia along with cursing the first three Rashidun caliphs and burning the tombs of Sunni saints, Encyclopaedic Historiography of the Muslim World. NK Singh, A Samiuddin, p. 90.The Cambridge illustrated history of the Islamic world. Francis Robinson, p. 72.Iran: a short history : from Islamization to the present, By Monika Gronke, pg.90A.A. Duri, Baghdad, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, 903. the Ottoman Empire persecuted Alevis in Anatolia. Tens of thousands of Alevis were killed in Turkey. Alawites in Syria were also subject to persecution.Nasr(2006)p. 65-66
Sack of Shamakhi
The Sack of Shamakhi took place on 18 August 1721, when 15,000 Sunni Lezgins, of the Safavid Empire, attacked the capital of Shirvan province, Shamakhi (in present-day Azerbaijan Republic), massacred between 4,000 and 5,000 of its Shia population and ransacked the city.
Wahhabi sack of Karbala
On 21 April 1802, about 12,000 Wahhabi Sunnis under the command of Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad, the second ruler of the First Saudi State attacked and sacked Karbala, killed between 2,000 and 5,000 inhabitants and plundered the tomb of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of Muhammad and son of Ali ibn Abi Talib, and destroyed its dome, seizing a large quantity of spoils, including gold, Persian carpets, money, pearls, and guns that had accumulated in the tomb, most of them donations. The attack lasted for eight hours, after which the Wahhabis left the city with more than 4,000 camels carrying their plunder.
Indian subcontinent
While Shias and Sunnis have lived side by side in the subcontinent for almost fifteen centuries, anti-Shia violence has been growing consistently for the past three centuries. Anti-Shi'ism has two aspects: shiaphobic literature and hate-crimes. The anti Shia literature that portrays Shias as religiously heretic, morally corrupt, politically traitors and lesser human beings sets the ideological framework for the violence against them. In the medieval period, the Middle East saw bloody clashes between both sects but the Indian subcontinent remained safe and peaceful because of the secular policy of Mughals. Until the end of the seventeenth century AD, only two anti-Shia books were written in India: Minhaj al-Din by Makhdoom-ul Mulk Mullah Abdullah Sultanpuri and Radd-e Rawafiz by Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi.S. A. A. Rizvi, "Shah Abd al-Aziz", p. 253, Ma’rifat Publishing House, Canberra, (1982). Sirhindi also wrote this treatise in order to justify the slaughter of Shias by Abdullah Khan Uzbek in Mashhad. In this he argues: Since the Shia permit cursing Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and one of the chaste wives (of the Prophet), which in itself constitutes infidelity, it is incumbent upon the Muslim ruler, nay upon all people, in compliance with the command of the Omniscient King (Allah), to kill them and to oppress them in order to elevate the true religion. It is permissible to destroy their buildings and to seize their property and belongings.Yohanan Friedmann, "Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi", Chapter 5(3), p. 74, PhD Thesis, Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, Montreal, (1967). As far as armed violence is concerned, the medieval period has only few examples of Shias being killed for their beliefs, most notable incidents are the killing of Abdullah Shah Ghazi in 769 AD,Derryl N. Maclean," Religion and Society in Arab Sind", ch. 4, BRILL, (1989) . the destruction of Multan in 1005 AD, the persecution of Shias at the hands of Sultan Feroz Shah (1351–1388 AD),Sirat-i Firozshahi, facsimile ed. of Patna MS, 1999, pp. 117–22. As cited in: S. A. N. Rezavi, "The Shia Muslims", in History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, Vol. 2, Part. 2: "Religious Movements and Institutions in Medieval India", Chapter 13, Oxford University Press (2006). and the target killing of Mullah Ahmad Thathavi in 1589 AD.S. A. A. Rizvi, "A Socio-Intellectual History of Isna Ashari Shi'is in India", Vol. I, pp. 233–234, Mar'ifat Publishing House, Canberra (1986). However, the killer of Mulla Ahmad Thathavi was served justice by Emperor Akbar.S. A. N. Rezavi, "The State, Shia's and Shi'ism in Medieval India ", Studies in People's History, 4, 1, p. 32–45, SAGE (2017). The death of Syed Nurullah Shushtari seems to be politically motivated as Emperor Jahangir disliked his father who did not consider him suitable for the throne, and persecuted men of his court, as an eighteenth century editor of Jahangirnama puts it, "the new sovereign possibly wished to draw a line under the rule of his father and all those associated needed to be sidelined".Sajjad Rizvi, "Shi'i Polemics at the Mughal Court: The Case of Qazi Nurullah Shushtari", Studies in People's History, 4, 1, pp. 53–67, SAGE (2017). The region of Srinagar in Kashmir is an exception in Middle Ages with ten bloody Taraaj-e Shia campaigns.Zaheen, "Shi'ism in Kashmir, 1477–1885", International Research Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 4(4), 74–80, April (2015). Shias faced severe persecution in India in Kashmir for centuries, by the Sunni invaders of the region which resulted in the killing of many Shias and as a result most of them had to flee the region. Plunder, looting and killing virtually devastated the community. History records 10 such Taraajs between 15th to 19th century in 1548, 1585, 1635, 1686, 1719, 1741, 1762, 1801, 1830, and 1872, during which the Shia habitations were plundered, people killed, libraries burnt and their sacred sites desecrated. The community, due to their difficulties, went into the practice of Taqya in order to preserve their lives.
However, in the eighteenth century AD, the number of polemical writings started to increase.S. A. A. Rizvi, "Shah Abd al-Aziz", p. 255, Ma’rifat Publishing House, Canberra, (1982). It started with Aurangzeb's discrimination against the Shias. The sixth Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir hated the Shias; he abolished the secular policy of Akbar and tried to establish the superiority of the Sunni sect. He supervised the compilation of an encyclopaedia of religious rulings, called fatawa Alamgiri, in which Shias were said to be heretics. The spiritual leader of Bohra Shias, Sayyid Qutb-ud-din, along with his 700 followers were massacred on the orders of Aurangzeb. He banned the tazia processions.A. Truschke, "Aurangzeb: The Man and The Myth", Penguin, (2017). In the century following his death, polemical literature and sectarian killings increased.
Aurengzeb heavily persecuted many Shi‘a communities. ‘Ali Muhammad Khan, whose father accompanied Aurengzeb during his Deccan campaigns, reports:During the reign of the late emperor, tremendous emphasis was placed on matters of the shari‘a and on refuting various [non-Sunni] schools of thought. No efforts were spared in this regard. Many people thus emerged who maintained that, for God's sake, their very salvation lay in this. Because of religious bigotry, which is the bane of humankind, they placed a group under suspicion of Shi‘ism (rafḍ), thus destroying the very ramparts of the castle of their existence [i.e., having them killed], while others were thrown into prison.Shah Waliullah (1703–1762 AD) was among those Sunni clerics who were patronized by the Sunni elite. He started his career by translating the anti-Shia track of Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, radd-e-rawafiz, into Arabic under the title of al-muqaddima tus-saniyyah fil intisar lil-firqa te-sunniya (المقدمۃ الثانیہ فی الانتصار للفرقۃ السنیہ). He continued to criticise the Shias in his books like Qurat-ul Ainain (قراۃ العینین), Azalah-tul Khafa (ازالۃ الخفا), Fayyuz-ul Haramain (فیوض الحرمین), etc.Khaled Ahmed, "Sectarian War", pp. 12 – 14, Oxford University press, (2012).S. A. A. Rizvi, "Shah Waliullah and His Times", pp. 249 – 256, Ma'rifat Publishing House, Canberra, (1980). Other Sunni polemics include Najat al-Muminin (نجات المومنین) by Muhammad Mohsin Kashmiri, and Durr-ut Tahqiq (درالتحقیق) by Muhammad Fakhir Allahabadi. In a letter to Sunni nawabs, Shah Waliullah said: