[Cronos]

Good post, but you haven’t mentioned that the Sunni-Shia or the Shia-Ismaili etc feuds are not the same as the Catholic-Protestant feud. Islamic sects were formed primarily because of political rivalry — the Shia’s believe that Husain/Ali should have been the Caliph, while the mainstream Sunnis think that Muawiyah was good enough. Then the fight between the 5ers and the 12ers in Shia Islam (i.e. the ones who support the first 5 imams as rightful and those that support the first 12 as rightful!)

[grey_whiskers]

I had thought Sunni-Shia feud being on a point of theology (who is the "right" successor to the Prophet?); it is interesting that you make it political (who is the correct Caliph?).

This presents some parallels to the entanglement of Church and State in medeival / early Renaissance Europe; and the fight between the 5ers and 12ers (which I hadn't even *heard* of, thanks for telling me about it) would be analogous to the split of Orthodox and Roman Catholic...(I wonder who the protestant Muslims are?)

But I didn't do much more than allude to these matters, simply because I was out of my depth. As Clint Eastwood said, "A man's got to know his limitations"; and as the old saying goes "It is better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

(G8, can you comment on the religious/sectarian quarrels within Islam?)

Cheers! Cheers!

[muawiyah]

There are, of course, the SEVENERS, and they have a whole ‘nuther take on the whole business.