₦airaland Forum

AlBaqir:
[size=3pt]With Saudi Arabia and other Arab Sunni powers carrying out airstrikes in Yemen and accusing their regional nemesis, Iran, of instigating the Houthi uprising in the country, Wikistrat asked its Senior Analyst Dr. Timothy Furnish, who is an authority on especially Shia Islam, Mahdism and other Islamic sects, to provide background on the conflict and explain to what extent Iran really is involved.

Dr. Furnish notes that Yemen has been a
battleground for rival brands of Islam for over a millennium.

In the 900s, it was contested by dueling Shiisms: the (then-militant) Seveners, or Isma’ilis, from North Africa waged dawah and jihad against Fivers, or Zaydis, from Iran. (This was before Iran’s forcible conversion to Twelver Shiism by the Safavids in the sixteenth century.) The Zaydis won and established a militant Imamate in northern Yemen. The Ottomans occupied Yemen twice in order to safeguard the holy cities of Mecca and Medina as well as Red Sea trade. Both times, Zaydi insurgents forced them out, despite massive Ottoman efforts to delegitimize the Zaydi Shii Imamate.

In the 1960s civil war, staunchly Sunni Saudi Arabia (ironically) backed the Zaydis while Nasser’s Egypt supported the “republicans” who ultimately emerged victorious. After unification in 1990, the Sana’a government largely ignored the needs and demands of the 40 percent of the Yemeni population that was Zaydi, contributing to the sense of disenfranchisement felt by the main Zaydi tribe, the Houthis — which has now led to civil war again.

Iran has various aims in fanning the flames of the Houthi rebellion, Dr. Furnish explains:

* Leveraging “persecution” of Shia into regional geopolitical influence for Tehran-Qom;

* Appealing to, and exploiting, historical
connections with Shia Muslims of Yemen and greater Arabia;

* Undermining and delegitimizing the Saudi
government;

* Strengthening its strategic position on both sides of the Red Sea;

* Strengthening the anti-Israel Islamic front;

* Searching for allies wherever they can be found.

But Dr. Furnish also cautions that Iran neither created nor controls Yemen’s Zaydi discontent.

One might well argue, instead, that the Houthis Zaydi leadership is using Tehran more than the other way around.

For much of the last 1200 years, Zaydis have ruled over much of Yemen and they do have legitimate grievances against both the recent Sunni leadership in Sana’a and, of course, against Sunni jihadists like Al Qaeda and (allegedly) ISIS there.

Saudi Arabia’s reflexive theological and political fear of Shiism in the peninsula is understandable as well. Besides Yemen, there are large minority pockets of Twelvers in eastern Saudi Arabia and of Seveners in Najran.

Also, Mahdism has been a real fear since 1979, when Juhayman al-Utaybi declared his brother-in-law, Muhammad al-Qahtani, the Mahdi and their forces occupied the Great Mosque — a fear that has grown in recent years as Saudi Arabia has suffered a rash of “lone wolf” Mahdis across the kingdom.

Simply bombing Yemen is not going to stop such eschatological fervor, though, Furnish warns. If anything, it could drive more than just Houthis into Iran’s embrace.

Some means of redressing legitimate minority — Shia of all three denominations, that is —grievances must be part of the equation.

Perhaps Oman, whose Ibadi Islam is tolerant of both Sunnis and Shiis and whose government is on good terms with Iran, can play a key role here.

Finally, Furnish urges Saudi Arabia and other Arab states to keep in mind that the self-declared “Islamic State” to the north is ultimately far more dangerous than the Zaydis to the south.
www.wikistrat.com/irans-role-in-yemens-houthi-uprising-should-not-be-overstated/[/size]
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@Empiree, hope you can build on this bro.^

Besides, Empiree, I see often of late that you are often in the same boat with Sheik Imran Hussein in attaching and blaming Muslim's chaos on certain "Dajjal".

I've read lot of his literature on "Dajjal, Gog and Magog vis-a-vis Signs of the last hour". I believe the Sheik is shying away from treating Muslim deep-rooted age-long political, social and ideological problems.

It will be better for you to begin to see beyond what propaganda people spew,

and begin to understand that a lot of muslim govt. can be as bad as those they criticize, those they pretend to loath, actions they incite their people to hate. A muslim govt. that said nothing while of 100s of 1000s of muslims in Syria were murdered using barrel bombs, chemicals can never and should never be considered a govt. that represents Islam or at the very least stand for Justice yet suddenly same govt remembered that civilians are dying in Yemen while actively supporting a regime with ,money, men and advice in killing hundred of thousand of civilians this is dual standards and a poor attempt to take the ordinary Muslim for a ride! If a Muslim act bad we should be prepared to criticize them, not pretend and dubiously defend their actions that we believe represent our sects,

before you hold Saudi govt. to accountable

why don't you hold Assad accountable or is Assad actions now pleasing to you?

true2god:
We are not bashing Islam but only pointing out the fact that mohammed is a false prophet,

true2god:
@ Empire.e, are you saying that all the quranic verses quoted are false or all taken out of context? The sooner you agree that Quran is essentially an anti-jewish and anti-christian hate-book, the better. This is a fact that is known to an average arab-muslim but are denied by African\Nigerian muslims.

Mohammed, in the quran, attacked and cursed christians in many verses and you are fully aware, unless you are ignorant or deliberately lying about that, that is not to say that there are no few verses that are pro-Jewish and pro-christian (and had been abrogated).

So you accusing christians that are pointing out the flaws in your religion is ridiculous because your quranic and mohammed started the 'bashing'. We are not bashing Islam but only pointing out the fact that mohammed is a false prophet, going by his deeds and actions (and the deeds of the first caliph, Abkr, which led to the first civil war bw the sunnis and the shia).

MzNelly:
Lol, I actually read it.

And it's a bunch of Muslims who believe in the killing like their lives depended on it.

Being a while

AlBaqir:
If I attack Saudi, my sole aim has always been their Government policy which even core and average Sunni muslim does every now and then. This has nothing to do with "Sunni-Shi'a rivalry"

spyder880:
A fence from another thread, lovely isn't it

Fhemmmy:
Updates oh . . .Eyes are itching

Maamin:
You are still lying, stop lying..

9jaforlife:
You sound like colanut- which gets eaten up because of other people's affairs.

Do you read every single thread on FP? Is it impossible for you to skip Islamic topics on FP- which happens to constitute a veeery low fraction by occurrence on FP?

The fact that you're so pained that you can't comment means you would be one person who would gladly desecrate that section if you were granted free entry!! It's very obvious by the fact that you compare Muslims to a girl who walks n*aked in your post. Another christian who NEVER sees anything good in others... The m.ods took that action solely because of people like YOU!!!

[quote author=truthman2012 post=32880599]If you say the NT is a fraud, what do you call the quran? I noticed all of you are looking away from my thread for inability to defend allah's fraud in the quran. See it again:

https://www.nairaland.com/2260353/muslims-why-did-fail-probe

Paul wrote many epistles of the Gospel. If there was anyone who should attract allahh's attention in the bible, it is Paul. Paul had written all he wrote before Muhammad's islam, but allahh didn't dispute his writings as you islam adherents are doing today.

The bible had exited in the form it is now before Muhammad's islam, yet allah didn't make any comment about him. It shows allahh was forced to bow to Paul's writings. The miracles allahh and his prophet, muhammad were unable to perform were Paul's normal evangelical life.

Allahh claimed to have given Jesus a book as in: He (Jesus) said: Surely I am a servant of Allah; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet (Quran 19:30 Shakir).

Who wrote the Book and where is it if not the writings of the Disciple?