Sunni Muslims elect their own Marjaa to counter-balance shiite clerics.

Iraqpress ^ | 11/21/03 | Iraqpress

[Pikamax]

Sunni Muslims elect their own Marjaa

Baghdad, Iraq Press, November 21, 2003 – To counterbalance the rising influence of the majority Muslim Shiite clerics in the country, Muslim Sunnis have elected a religious body to look after their affairs.

There are differences between the Shiite and Sunni clergy in Islam. While clerics have a domineering role in Muslim Shiite communities, the part Muslim Sunni clergy play has not been that vital in Iraq.

But as the balance of power is tilting against the Sunnis in the country after decades of being at the helm, they are striving once again to regain lost authority.

In the absence of accurate counts, it is difficult to say which sect, ethnic or religious group has the most following.

The Sunnis say current claims that the Shiites make up more than 60 percent of the country are far from reality.

The statistical confusion compounds the murky political situation in which each group claims to have the largest following.

But out of the disparate and divisive religious and sectarian groups, it is the Sunnis who have mounted the toughest resistance to US occupation of the country.

To unite their ranks they have chosen a religious body of 28 senior clerics which they hope will function as a Marjaa or authority for Iraqi Sunnis.

Sheikh Mahdi bin Ahmad al-Sumeidi, the leader of the group, says it is the first time in Iraq that the Sunnis have rallied behind a Marjaa.

“We have written messages to Islamic organizations abroad for recognition. We want to tell everyone that we are the Marjaa for Sunnis in Iraq,” he said.

It is not clear whether the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority is in contact with Sumeidi’s group.

Many in Iraq say the group is now as powerful as the Shiite Marjaa in Najaf under grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.

Sumeidi had harsh words for the CPA, accusing the occupation authorities of “unfairly and unjustifiably detaining 100 Sunni clerics.”

He warned that there will be no let-up in the resistance against US presence in the country, insisting that the Sunni Marjaa, unlike its Shiite counterpart, will not appease the United States so long as its troops occupied the country.

“Under heavenly laws and earthly laws the resistance of the occupier is legal and part of religious duty,” he said.

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[mylife]

Both these groups should be heard but neither should have power. Both sides need to address their greivances through a secular body that has no interest in their religious differences.

[McGavin999]

This is just a bunch of thugs declaring themselves pope. In the first place, the numbers shouldn't matter, all Iraqis should be equal. These guys are looking to form a cult for a goup that has never been overly religious. I don't think they'll get very far.