April 11, 2011
So far, so bad. The post-Mohammed period’s tribal feuding reached its climax at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD. Ali’s grandson Hussein was killed in that battle and in the aftermath became known as a martyr. The battle also marked the permanent fissure of the Shiite movement from the rest of the Muslims. The latter called themselves Sunnis based on the Arabic world for tradition. A deep hatred settled in between the two sides, causing endless sectarian trouble across the Middle East and the Arab world. The division soon turned theological. The traditional Sunnis regarded the Shiites as heretics because the latter worshipped Ali and Hussein as the last prophets, whereas the Sunnis stuck with old Mohammed baby. I know, I know, these names might have confused W””Like, who cares, Mohammed, Ali, Hussein, they”re all towelheads””but Wolfie baby could have explained it to the president by substituting Texan names such as Billy-Joe versus Dawg and Roy. Mind you, the Shiites worship Ali and Hussein but not as much as they worship Mohammed or Billy-Joe.
So there you have it: the history of the great schism between towels in one easy lesson. The Sunni belief in the Shiites” heresy has led to repellent prejudice in Saudi Arabia and other such Sunni countries to the extent that Sunnis believe Shiites are unclean and one should never touch them or accept food from them. One man who knew how to take care of this problem was a chap named Saddam Hussein, the very same that our great 43rd president hunted down like a mad dog. Saddam was not a gentleman in the tradition of, say, John P. Marquand’s Boston clubmen”far from it”but, however violently, he knew how to keep the peace. So did the much maligned Shah of Iran before we sold him, too, down the Suwannee.
Now we have new names in the news: Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. Obama surely knows all about this”after all, Hussein is his middle name”but do the wise people advising him? I have yet to hear some pundit mention Mohammed, Ali, and Hussein, or as in Bush’s case, Billy-Joe, Dawg, and Roy.
