SUNNI AND SHIA IN THE ARABIAN GULF

The following discussion will consider the political implications of the sectarian divide between Sunni and Shia Muslims in the Arabian Gulf region. In particular it will examine the political implications as the rise of Islamist sentiment interacts with increasing demands for formal public participation in government in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain.

The distinction between Shia and Sunni Muslims goes back to the early days of Islam. After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the question arose as to who should take his place as the leader of the young Muslim community. All Muslims agreed in principle that the right to make this decision was in some ultimate sense vested in the community of believers as a whole, the ummah. However, no mechanism existed for identifying or defining the will of this community, already spread out over a vast region.

In these circumstances, effective authority devolved onto the Prophet's lieutenants, supported by leading circles in Mecca and Medina. To borrow the language of contemporary politics, this group formed the "Establishment," and its leader became Caliph, political and military leader of the Muslim community. The majority of the Muslim community readily accepted and supported this leadership, However, a significant minority of Muslims viewed his accession as a usurpation or power-grab, not a genu

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ulf. Thus the Gulf states, while British protectorates, enjoyed substantial internal autonomy, with which the British only sporadically interfered. III. Politics and Participation in the Gulf States To understand the issue of political participation by Shia Muslims in the Gulf states, it is necessary to first explore the evolving political structures of these states. The traditional political system throughout the Gulf region was monarchy, which remains the basis of the modern political structures of all Gulf states. However, the form of monarchy was far from the perception of absolutism, removed from all accountability. Instead, the kings and emirs of the Gulf communities traditionally operated within a complex system of informal constraints, which formed a system of concentric circles around the ruler. The innermost of these circles was the ruling family. The next circle was made up of families which had close ties to the ruling family, then a circle of "notables," and finally the community as a whole. The large extended families characteristic of Gulf Arabs meant that even the innermost circle, the ruling family, was and is a large one, and with many cross-connections between the various circles. The interconnection
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Approximate Word count = 4432
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page)

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