I have been thinking about what moves could be done to heal the shia sunni divide.
Not in the gupshup sense but as a whole..there must be a way of reaching an acceptable dialogue between between mainstream sunnis and shias?
I’d like to hear some non controversial suggestions preferably shia’s could recommend what their own community could do as the diplomatic equivalent of a confidence building measure and sunnis can recommend what their own
Our guiding principles should be Insaniyat and a condemnation of zulm as well as a proper understanding of the effects of this never ending cycle of violence and how it weakens all Muslims.
They should realize by now that they'll have to respect each others believes if they want the respect of their religion in return. Besides, Islam teaches tolerance in every aspect of life, if certain individuals try to impose their ideas on others, it'll result in the disintegration of the society. Start by making a play where a group extremist shias and sunnis are sent to an island where they cut each others throats and thus there weren’t any Muslims left on the Island.
Don’t know if this useful to your thread but thought I’d post anyway :D
There are 10,000 threads on the differences between Sunnis and Shias where some individuals are calling each other kuffars and infidels. When someone posts a reconciliatory thread to bridge differences and reach out a brotherly hand of one Muslim to another Muslim, then there are only three replies.
Your idea is fantastic. i just am not certain what CBMs there could be from either side.
Collect everything in terms of religious literature and history etc which both sides can mutually agree upon. Use that as a building block and move forward together doing collective ijehaad as and when needed..
We first have to develop a mindset of agreeing to disagree with others. Right now if someone does not agree with your interpretation of Islam, he is a kaffir.
Some of my own points about what should be the guiding principles
1) not to divide people into shia's and sunnis ( or wahabi-barelvi etc) use the word Muslim
2) As I've been taught ...A Muslim is one who's tongue and hand another Muslim is safe from
3) On general issues of interfaith or inter-sect all Muslims should be respectful of other peoples faith or sect difference ..cursing another sect or faith is by intent an invitation for the opposite person to curse yours.
4) The most basic element of Islamic faith is consensus of opinion, that means showing flexibility to listen to other peoples point of views and accept your argument may not win the day ...
5) A rejection of Zulm (cruelty) or tyranny in any form..again it is said whether you are Muslim or non Muslim if you commit zulm against Allah's creation ( human beings) you will be punished regardless.
6) Reminding ourselves of Huqooq ul Abad (the rights of man) ..in the end Allah is Rahman ur Raheem (the beneficient and merciful) human beings are not..we should show forgiveness of others and greater awareness of our actions when discussing issues of faith.
Anyway this is just a framework about what I mean ..actual concessions need to be shown by both sides..so far very few people have said they would show flexibility on certain attitudes out of respect for other Muslims.
