By Ali Rawaf
“How could 100 million Shiites [worldwide] defeat 1.7 billion [Sunnis]? Only because [Sunni] Muslims are weak.”
“How could 100 million Shiites [worldwide] defeat 1.7 billion [Sunnis]? Only because [Sunni] Muslims are weak.”
These were the words of Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, a prominent Egyptian Sunni cleric,
in a recent TV interview during which he encouraged his followers to carry arms
and join the fight in Syria. He was later praised for his stance by Saudi
Arabia’s Grand Mufti, the most senior religious authority in the country.
Al-Qardawi’s statements followed a televised speech last month
by the Shiite leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah where he vowed victory in
Syria, "Syria is the back of the resistance, and the resistance
cannot stand, arms folded while its back is broken." He told his adversaries
to fight his men in Syria, not in Lebanon, Hezbolla’s home . But that’s too
late. The violence had already spilled into Lebanon, where gun battles frequently
rage between Shiites and Sunnis.
The Iraqi PM has charged the protests as being waged by Saudi
Arabia and Qatar in their bid to contain Iran’s growing influence in the
region. He also accuses them of funding Sunni rebels in Syria in their fight
against Assad’s regime.
Qatar does not hide its concerns about Iran’s growing influence
in the region. The Qatari government has declared Hezbollah as a terrorist
group and has been leading an effort at the Gulf Cooperation Council to have its
Sunni member states take a similar action. The country is also home to
Al-Qardawi whose recent calls for Sunnis to fight Shiites further strained
relationship between the Qatari and Iraqi governments.
Iraqi Shiite men have gone to Syria to fight along side Assad’s
army and Hezbollah. It will be a matter of time before more Sunnis act on the
words of Al-Qaradawi. It has become clear that the fight to win Syria is no
longer a local one. It is regional. It is sectarian. And the sect that wins in
Syria will win the region.