Until the attacks of September 11, 2001, few Americans knew
anything about Islam, let alone about the distinctions between
Sunni and Shi`a, the Sufi and Wahhabi, the origins of the Holy
Qur'an and Shari`a law, and the respect that all Muslims, even
secular ones, harbor for the prophet Muhammad, his family, and
Islamic traditions. In The Sunni-Shi`a Divide Robert Betts traces
the tortuous history of Islam's sectarian divisions, emphasizing
the most important one, the Shi`a departure from Sunni"orthodoxy."
Although the majority of Muslims remain faithful to the Sunni sect
of Islam, approximately 15 percent subscribe to the Shi`a creed. As
America's involvement in the Middle East drags on, Betts reiterates
that policymakers, scholars, and laymen alike must understand the
many faces of Islam, the internal forces in the United States that
have brought us into these conflicts, and the role of Israel in the
region's escalating tensions. How the increasing hostility between
the two main Islamic factions plays out on the world stage-as Sunni
Turkey, Shi`a Iran, and their allies vie for dominance-is of major
consequence for everyone, especially financially strapped Europe
and the United States. About the Author ROBERT BRENTON BETTS is a
retired professor at the University of Balamand, Lebanon, and at
the American University of Beirut. He holds a PhD in international
relations and Middle East studies from the Johns Hopkins School of
Advanced International Studies and is the author of three
previously published books: Christians in the Arab East: A
Political Study (John Knox Press, 1978), The Druze (Yale University
Press, 1988), and The Southern Portals of Byzantium (Musical Times,
2009). He lives in Summerville, South Carolina.
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