Fanar Haddad. Understanding “Sectarianism”: Sunni-Shiʿa Relations in the Modern Arab World (London: Hurst Publishers, 2020), 368 pp. ISBN: 978-1-787-38206-0

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Abstract

The question of “sectarianism” in the Middle East began to preoccupy Western policymakers in the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Scholars were perplexed by what was perceived as a contemporary re-emergence of the early Muslim clash over succession to the Prophet, since the historicalenmity between Sunnis and Shiʿis had been dormant to a large extent during the transition to the modern era. The struggle against foreign control, modern ideologies, and the state-building effort had weakened the sectarian conflict and created avenues toward Shiʿi inclusion in the Arab-Sunni world, andparticularly in the new nation-states of Iraq and Lebanon. There were even calls for a historical reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiʿis, promoted byseveral leading mujtahids in both localities, in the first half of the twentiethcentury during the mandate period. Reformist mujtahids from Iraq and Lebanon began advancing a pan-Islamic ideology. They promoted a new reading of Shiʿi historiography, focusing on the shared principles of Islam, reflecting their communities' effort toward integration into these new nation-states and the growing contacts between Sunnis and Shiʿis.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)150-154
Number of pages5
JournalBustan : the Middle East book review
Volume12
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2021

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