were incited by Irish Protestants. 63 citizens, mostly Irish Catholics, were massacred in the resulting police-action. Wherever people of different religions live in close proximity to each other, religious sectarianism can often be found in varying forms and degrees. In some areas, religious sectarians (for example Protestant and Catholic
Christians) exist peacefully side by side for the most part, although these differences have resulted in violence, death, and outright warfare as recently as the 1990s. Probably the best-known example in recent times were
The Troubles. Catholic-Protestant sectarianism has also been a factor in U.S. presidential campaigns. Prior to
John F. Kennedy, only one Catholic (
Al Smith) had ever been a major party presidential nominee, and he had been solidly defeated largely because of claims based on his Catholicism. JFK chose to tackle the sectarian issue head-on during the West Virginia primary, but that only sufficed to win him barely enough Protestant votes to eventually win the presidency by one of the narrowest margins ever. Within
Islam, there has been dilemmas at various periods between
Sunnis and
Shias; Shias consider Sunnis to be false, due to their refusal to accept the first caliph as
Ali and accept all following descendants of him as infallible and divinely guided. Many Sunni religious leaders, including those inspired by
Wahhabism and other ideologies have declared Shias to be
heretics or
apostates.
Europe , an event in the
French Wars of Religion In some countries where the
Reformation was successful, there was persecution of Roman Catholics. This was motivated by the perception that Catholics retained allegiance to a 'foreign' power (the
papacy or
the Vatican), causing them to be regarded with suspicion. Sometimes this mistrust manifested itself in Catholics being subjected to restrictions and discrimination, which itself led to further conflict. For example, before
Catholic Emancipation was introduced with the
Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, Catholics were forbidden from voting, becoming MP's or buying land in Ireland.
Ireland Protestant-Catholic sectarianism is prominent in
Irish history; during the period of
English (and later British) rule, Protestant settlers from Britain were
"planted" in Ireland, which along with the
Protestant Reformation led to increasing sectarian tensions between Irish Catholics and British Protestants. These tensions eventually boiled over into widespread violence during the
Irish Rebellion of 1641. At the end of that war the lands of Catholics were confiscated with over ten million acres granted to new English owners under the
Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652. The
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–1653) saw a series of massacres perpetrated by the Protestant
New Model Army against Catholic English royalists and Irish civilians. Sectarianism between Catholics and Protestants continued in the
Kingdom of Ireland, with the
Irish Rebellion of 1798 against British rule leading to more sectarian violence in the island. The British response to the rebellion which included the public executions of dozens of suspected rebels in
Dunlavin and
Carnew, also inflamed sectarian sentiments.
Northern Ireland After the
Partition of Ireland in 1922,
Northern Ireland witnessed decades of intensified conflict, tension, and sporadic violence (see
The Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922) and
The Troubles) between the dominant Protestant majority and the Catholic minority. In 1969 the
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was formed to support civil rights and end discrimination (based on religion) in voting rights (see
Gerrymandering), housing allocation and employment. Also in 1969, 25 years of violence erupted, becoming what is known as “The Troubles” between
Irish Republicans whose goal is a
United Ireland and Ulster loyalists who wish for Northern Ireland to remain a part of the United Kingdom. The conflict was primarily fought over the existence of the Northern Irish state rather than religion, though sectarian relations within Northern Ireland fueled the conflict. However, religion is commonly used as a marker to differentiate the two sides of the community. Most Catholics favour the nationalist, and to some degree, republican, goal of unity with the
Republic of Ireland, whereas most Protestants favour Northern Ireland continuing the union with Great Britain.
England In June 1780 a series of riots (see the
Gordon Riots) occurred in London motivated by
anti-Catholic sentiment. These riots were described as being the most destructive in the history of London and resulted in approximately 300-700 deaths. A long history of politically and religious motivated sectarian violence already existed in Ireland (see
Irish Rebellions). The sectarian divisions related to the "
Irish question" influenced local constituent politics in England. Liverpool is an English city sometimes associated with sectarian politics. Halfway through the 19th century, Liverpool faced a wave of mass-immigration from Irish Catholics as a consequence of the
Great Famine in Ireland. Most of the Irish-Catholic immigrants were unskilled workers and aligned themselves with the Labour party. The Labour-Catholic party saw a larger political electorate in the many Liverpool-Irish, and often ran on the slogan of "Home Rule" - the independence of Ireland, to gain the support of Irish voters. During the first half of the 20th century, Liverpool politics were divided not only between Catholics and Protestants, but between two polarized groups consisting of multiple identities: Catholic-Liberal-Labour and Protestant-Conservative-Tory/Orangeists. From early 1900 onwards, the polarized Catholic Labour and Protestant Conservative affiliations gradually broke apart and created the opportunity for mixed alliances. The Irish National party gained its first electoral victory in 1875, and kept growing until the realization of Irish independence in 1921, after which it became less reliant on Labour support. On the Protestant side, Tory opposition in 1902 to vote in line with Protestant proposed bills indicated a split between the working class Protestants and the Tory party, which were regarded as "too distant" from its electorate. After the First and Second World War, religiously mixed battalions provided a counterweight to anti-Roman Catholic and anti-Protestant propaganda from either side. While the IRA-bombing in 1939 (see
S-Plan) somewhat increased violence between the Irish-Catholic associated Labour party and the Conservative Protestants, the German May Blitz destroyed property of more than 40.000 households. Inter-church relations increased as a response as well, as seen through the warming up of relations between
Archbishop Worlock and Anglican Bishop
David Sheppard after 1976, a symbol of decreasing religious hostility. The increase in education rates and the rise of trade and labour unions shifted religious affiliation to class affiliation further, which allowed Protestant and catholic affiliates under a Labour umbrella in politics. In the 1980s, class division had outgrown religious division, replacing religious sectarianism with class struggle. by Catholic army in 1631. Of the 30,000 Protestant citizens, only 5,000 survived. Northern Ireland has introduced a Private Day of Reflection, since 2007, to mark the transition to a post-[sectarian] conflict society, an initiative of the cross-community
Healing Through Remembering organization and research project.
The Netherlands . Despite increased secularisation in the Netherlands, many of these patterns remain today. Because of the
Netherlands's diversity of Protestants, Catholics, as well as politically-oriented elements in society, the country used a system called
pillarisation (
verzuiling) whereby each religious-socioeconomic segment would only use services for their own pillar (such as media, schools or labor unions) and politically vote for the parties representing their own. This system remained strong until the 1960s, but some institutions continue to be divided as a legacy of pillarisation.
Ex-Yugoslavia The
civil wars in
ex-Yugoslav countries which followed
its breakup in the 1990s have been heavily tinged with sectarianism.
Croats and
Slovenes have traditionally belonged to Catholicism,
Serbs and
Macedonians to
Eastern Orthodoxy, and
Bosniaks and
Kosovo Albanians to
Islam. Religious affiliation served as a marker of group identity in this conflict, despite relatively low rates of religious practice and belief among these various groups after decades of
de facto state atheism in
communist Yugoslavia.
Africa Over 1,000 Muslims and Christians were killed in the
sectarian violence in the
Central African Republic in 2013–2014. Nearly 1 million people, a quarter of the population, were displaced.
Australia Sectarianism in Australia is a historical legacy from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, between Irish Catholics and Protestants of mainly Scotch Irish and English descent. It has largely faded in the 21st century In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, religious tensions were more centered between Muslim immigrants and non-Muslim nationalists, amid the backdrop of the
war on terror.
Asia of rival ascetics in 1567.
Hindu-Muslim conflicts provoked the creation of a military order of
Hindu ascetics in India. , one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, after
the first attack by
Sunni affiliated
Al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2006
Japan For the violent conflict between Buddhist sects in Japan, see
Japanese Buddhism.
Pakistan Pakistan, one of the largest Muslim countries the world, has seen serious
Shia-
Sunni sectarian violence. Almost 80-85% of Pakistan's Muslim population is
Sunni, and another 15-20% are
Shia. However, this Shia minority forms the second largest Shia population of any country, larger than the Shia majority in
Iraq. In the last two decades, as many as 4,000 people are estimated to have died in sectarian fighting in Pakistan, 300 in 2006. Among the culprits blamed for the killing are
Al Qaeda working "with local sectarian groups" to kill what they perceive as Shi'a apostates. Most of the
LTTE leaders were captured and gunned down at blank range in May, 2009, after which a genocide of
Sri Lankan Tamils in the
Northern Province, Sri Lanka has started. Even a book,
The Tamil Genocide by Sri Lanka has been written on this genocide. Tamils Against Genocide hired US attorney
Bruce Fein to file human rights violation charges against two Sri Lankan officials associated with the
civil war in Sri Lanka which has reportedly claimed the lives of thousands of civilians.
Turkey Ottoman Empire In 1511, a pro-Shia revolt known as
Şahkulu Rebellion was brutally suppressed by the Ottomans: 40,000 were massacred on the order of the sultan.
Republican era (1923–present) Alevis were targeted in various massacres including 1978
Maraş massacre, 1980
Çorum massacre and 1993
Sivas massacre. During his
campaign for the
2023 Turkish presidential election,
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was attacked with sectarian insults in
Adıyaman.
Iran Overview Sectarianism in Iran has existed for centuries, dating back to the
Islamic conquest of the country in early Islamic years and continuing throughout Iranian history until the present. During the
Safavid dynasty's reign, sectarianism started to play an important role in shaping the path of the country. During the Safavid rule between 1501 and 1722,
Shiism started to evolve and became established as the official state religion, leading to the creation of the first religiously legitimate government since the occultation of the
Twelfth imam. This pattern of sectarianism prevailed throughout the Iranian history. The approach that sectarianism has taken after the Iranian 1979 revolution is shifted compared to the earlier periods. Never before the Iranian 1979 revolution did the Shiite leadership gain as much authority. Due to this change, the sectarian timeline in Iran can be divided in pre- and post-Iranian 1979 revolution where the religious leadership changed course.
Pre-1979 Revolution Shiism has been an important factor in shaping the politics, culture and religion within Iran, long before the Iranian 1979 revolution. The monarchial power balance during the Safavid ere changed every few years, resulting in a changing limit of power of the clergies. The tensions concerning power relations of the religious authorities and the ruling power eventually played a pivotal role in the
1906 constitutional revolution which limited the power of the monarch, and increased the power of religious leaders. The 1906 constitutional revolution involved both constitutionalist and anti-constitutionalist clergy leaders. Individuals such as
Sayyid Jamal al-Din Va'iz were constitutionalist clergies whereas other clergies such as
Mohammed Kazem Yazdi were considered anti-constitutionalist. The establishment of a Shiite government during the Safavid rule resulted in the increase of power within this religious sect. The religious power establishment increased throughout the years and resulted in fundamental changes within the Iranian society in the twentieth century, eventually leading to the establishment of the Shiite Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979.
Post-1979 Revolution: Islamic Republic of Iran The Iranian 1979 revolution led to the overthrow of the
Pahlavi dynasty and the establishment of the
Islamic Government of Iran. The governing body of Iran displays clear elements of sectarianism which are visible within different layers of its system. The 1979 revolution led to changes in political system, leading to the establishment of a bureaucratic clergy-regime which has created its own interpretation of the
Shia sect in Iran. Authoritarian regimes can use religion as a weapon to create an
"us and them" paradigm. This leads to hostility amongst the involved parties and takes place internally but also externally. A valid example is the suppression of religious minorities like the Sunnis and
Baha-ís. With the establishment of
the Islamic Republic of Iran sectarian discourses arose in the Middle-East as the Iranian religious regime has attempted and in some cases succeeded to spread its religious and political ideas in the region. These sectarian labeled issues are politically charged. The most notable Religious leaders in Iran are named
Supreme-leaders. Their role has proved to be pivotal in the evolvement of sectarianism within the country and in the region. The following part discusses Iran's supreme-leadership in further detail.
Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei During the Iran-Iraq war, Iran's first supreme-leader,
Ayatollah Khomeini called for the participation of all Iranians in the war. His usage of
Shia martyrdom led to the creation of a national consensus. In the early aftermath of the Iranian 1979 revolution, Khomeini started to evolve a sectarian tone in his speeches. His focus on Shiism and Shia Islam grew which was also implemented within the changing policies of the country. In one of his speeches Khomeini quoted: "the Path to Jerusalem passes through Karbala." His phrase lead to many different interpretations, leading to turmoil in the region but also within the country. From a religious historic viewpoint,
Karbala and
Najaf which are both situated in Iraq, serve as important sites for Shia Muslims around the world. By mentioning these two cities, Khomeini led to the creation of Shia expansionism. Khomeini's war with the
Iraqi Bath Regime had many underlying reasons and sectarianism can be considered one of the main reasons. The tensions between Iran and Iraq are of course not only sectarian related, but religion is often a weapon used by the Iranian regime to justify its actions. Khomeini's words also resonated in other Arab countries who had been fighting for
Palestinian liberation against Israel. By naming Jerusalem, Khomeini expressed his desire for liberating Palestine from the hands of what he later often has named
"the enemy of Islam." Iran has supported rebellious groups throughout the region. Its support for Hamas and Hezbollah has resulted in international condemnation. This desire for Shia expansionism did not disappear after Khomeini's death. It can even be argued that sectarian tone within the Islamic Republic of Iran has grown since then. The Friday prayers held in Tehran by
Ali Khamenei can be seen as a proof of growing sectarian tone within the regime. Khamenei's speeches are extremely political and sectarian. He often mentions extreme wishes such as the removal of Israel from the world map and fatwas directed towards those opposing the regime.
Iraq Sunni
Iraqi insurgency and foreign Sunni terrorist organizations who came to Iraq after the fall of
Saddam Hussein have targeted Shia civilians in sectarian attacks. Following the civil war, the Sunnis have complained of discrimination by Iraq's Shia majority governments, which is bolstered by the news that Sunni detainees were allegedly discovered to have been
tortured in a compound used by government forces on 15 November 2005. This sectarianism has fueled a giant level of emigration and internal displacement. The Shia majority oppression by the Sunni minority has a long history in Iraq. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the British government placed a Sunni Hashemite monarchy to the
Iraqi throne which suppressed various uprisings against its rule by the Christian Assyrians and Shi'ites.
Syria Although sectarianism has been described as one of the characteristic features of the
Syrian civil war, the narrative of sectarianism already had its origins in Syria's past.
Ottoman rule The hostilities that took place in
1850 in
Aleppo and subsequently in 1860 in
Damascus, had many causes and reflected long-standing tensions. However, scholars have claimed that the eruptions of violence can also be partly attributed to the modernizing reforms, the
Tanzimat, taking place within the
Ottoman Empire, who had been ruling Syria since 1516. The Tanzimat reforms attempted to bring about equality between
Muslims and non-Muslims living in the Ottoman Empire. These reforms, combined with European interference on behalf of the Ottoman Christians, caused the non-Muslims to gain privileges and influence. In the silk trade business, European powers formed ties with local sects. They usually opted for a sect that adhered to a religion similar to the one in their home countries, thus not Muslims. These developments caused new social classes to emerge, consisting of mainly Christians, Druzes and Jews. These social classes stripped the previously existing Muslim classes of their privileges. The involvement of another foreign power, though this time non-European, also had its influence on communal relations in Syria.
Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt ruled Syria between 1831 and 1840. His divide-and-rule strategy contributed to the hostilities between the Druze and
Maronite community, by arming the Maronite Christians. However, it is noteworthy to mention that different sects did not fight the others out of religious motives, nor did Ibrahim Pasha aim to disrupt society among communal lines. This can also be illustrated by the unification of Druzes and Maronites in their revolts to oust Ibrahim Pasha in 1840. This shows the fluidity of communal alliances and animosities and the different, at times non-religious, reasons that may underline sectarianism.
After Ottoman rule Before the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the
French Mandate in Syria, the Syrian territory had already witnessed massacres on the Maronite Christians, other Christians,
Alawites,
Shias and
Ismailiyas, which had resulted in distrustful sentiments between the members of different sects. In an attempt to protect the minority communities against the majority Sunni population,
France, with the command of
Henri Gouraud, created five states for the following sects:
Armenians, Alawites, Druzes, Maronite Christians and Sunni Muslims. This focus on minorities was new and part of a divide-and-rule strategy of the French, which enhanced and politicized differences between sects. During the period 1961–1980, Syria was not necessarily exclusively ruled by the Alawite sect, but due to efforts of the Sunni Muslim extremist opponents of the Ba’th regime in Syria, it was perceived as such. The
Ba’ath regime was being dominated by the Alawite community, as well as were other institutions of power. As a result of this, the regime was considered to be sectarian, which caused the Alawite community to cluster together, as they feared for their position. Sectarian tensions that later gave rise to the Syrian civil war, had already appeared in society due to events preceding 1970. For example, President Hafez al-Assad's involvement in the
Lebanese civil war by giving political aid to Maronite Christians in
Lebanon. This was viewed by many Sunny Muslims as an act of treason, which made them link al-Assad's actions to his Alawite identity. The
Muslim Brothers, a part of the Sunni Muslims, used those tensions towards the Alawites as a tool to boost their political agenda and plans. Part of the animosity between the Alawites and the Sunni Islamists of the Muslim Brothers is due to the
secularization of Syria, which the later holds the Alawites in power to be responsible for.
Syrian Civil War As of 2015, the majority of the Syrian population consisted of Sunni Muslims, namely two-thirds of the population, which can be found throughout the country. The Alawites are the second largest group, which make up around 10 percent of the population. This makes them a ruling minority. The Alawites were originally settled in the highlands of Northwest Syria, but since the twentieth century have spread to places like
Latakia,
Homs and Damascus. Other groups that can be found in Syria are Christians, among which the Maronite Christians, Druzes and Twelver Shias. Although sectarian identities played a role in the unfolding of events of the Syrian Civil War, the importance of tribal and kinship relationships should not be underestimated, as they can be used to obtain and maintain power and loyalty. This changed after the protests and the following civil war began to be portrayed in sectarian terms by the regime, as a result of which people started to mobilize along ethnic lines. However, this does not mean that the conflict is solely or primarily a sectarian conflict, as there were also socio-economic factors at play. These socio-economic factors were mainly the result of Basher al-Assad's mismanaged economic restructuring. The conflict has therefore been described as being semi-sectarian, making sectarianism a factor at play in the civil war, but certainly does not stand alone in causing the war and has varied in importance throughout time and place. In addition to local forces, the role of external actors in the conflict in general as well as the sectarian aspect of the conflict should not be overlooked. Although foreign regimes were first in support of the
Free Syrian Army, they eventually ended up supporting sectarian militias with money and arms. However, it has to be said that their sectarian nature did not only attract these flows of support, but they also adopted a more sectarian and Islamic appearance in order to attract this support.
Yemen Introduction In Yemen, there have been many clashes between
Salafis and Shia
Houthis. According to
The Washington Post, "In today’s Middle East, activated sectarianism affects the political cost of alliances, making them easier between co-religionists. That helps explain why Sunni-majority states are lining up against Iran, Iraq and Hezbollah over Yemen." Historically, divisions in Yemen along religious lines (
sects) used to be less intense than those in Pakistan,
Lebanon,
Syria, Iraq,
Saudi Arabia, and
Bahrain. However, the situation has changed dramatically after the Houthi takeover in 2014. Most political forces in Yemen are primarily characterized by regional interests and not by religious sectarianism. Yemen's northern population consists for a substantial part of
Zaydis, and its southern population predominantly of
Shafi’is. It divided the
Yemen Vilayet into an Ottoman controlled section and an Ottoman-Zaydi controlled section. Before the agreement, inter-communal battles between Shafi’is and Zaydis never occurred in the Yemen Vilayet. In order to create unity and overcome sectarianism, the
myth of
Qahtanite was used as a nationalist
narrative. The latter established a Jewish kingdom in ancient Yemen, the only one ever created outside
Palestine. A
massacre of Christians, executed by the Jewish king
Dhu Nuwas, eventually led to the fall of the
Homerite Kingdom. His adversary,
Abdullah al-Sallal, received support from
Egypt and other Arab
republics. In Yemen however, President Abdullah al-Sallal (a Zaydi) sidelined his vice-president Abdurrahman al-Baidani (a Shaffi'i) for not being a member of the Zaydi sect. Saudi Arabia emphasized an alleged military support of Iran for the Houthis during
Operation Scorched Earth. The
slogan of the Houthi movement is '
Death to America, death to
Israel, a curse upon the
Jews'. This is a
trope of Iran and Hezbollah, so the Houthis seem to have no qualms about a perceived association with them. However, Yemen's northern part is still home to the powerful tribal
confederations of
Bakil and
Hashid. An
assassination attempt in 1995 on
Hosni Mubarak, executed by Yemen's Islamists, damaged the country's international reputation. Subsequently, a complex and violent power struggle broke out between three national
alliances: (1) Ali Abdullah Saleh, his political party General People's Congress, and the Houthis; (2)
Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, supported by the political party Al-Islah; (3)
Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, supported by the Joint Meeting Parties. According to Ibrahim Fraihat, “Yemen’s conflict has never been about sectarianism, as the Houthis were originally motivated by economic and political grievances. However, in 2014, the regional context substantially changed”. This includes the anti-Shi’ite policies and persecution of the Shi’ites by the Saudi government. According to
Human Rights Watch, Shi’ites face marginalisation socially, politically, religiously, legally and economically, whilst facing discrimination in education and in the workplace. This history dates back to 1744, with the establishment of a coalition between the
House of Saud and the
Wahhabis, who equate Shi’ism with polytheism. Over the course of the twentieth century clashes and tensions unfolded between the Shi’ites and the Saudi regime, including the
1979 Qatif Uprising and the repercussions of the
1987 Makkah Incident. Though relations underwent a détente in the 1990s and the early 2000s, tensions rose again after the 2003 US-led election of Iraq (owing to a broader rise of Shi’ism in the region) and peaked during the
Arab Spring. Despite
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's
reforms, Shi’ites continue to face discrimination today.
Lebanon Sectarianism in Lebanon has been formalized and legalized within state and non-state institutions and is inscribed in its constitution. Lebanon recognizes 18 different sects, mainly within Muslim and Christian worlds. The foundations of sectarianism in Lebanon date back to the mid-19th century during Ottoman rule. It was subsequently reinforced with the creation of the Republic of Lebanon in 1920 and its 1926 constitution and in the National Pact of 1943. In 1990, with the Taif Agreement, the constitution was revised but did not structurally change aspects relating to political sectarianism. The dynamic nature of sectarianism in Lebanon has prompted some historians and authors to refer to it as "the sectarian state
par excellence" because it is a mixture of religious communities and their myriad sub-divisions, with a constitutional and political order to match. Yet, the reality on the ground has been more complex than such a conclusion, because as Nadya Sbaiti has shown in her research, in the aftermath of the First World War, the “need of shaping a collective future that paralleled shifting conceptions of the newly territorialized nation-state of Lebanon” was clearly present. “Over the course of the Mandate, educational practitioners and the wide range of schools that proliferated helped shape the epistemological infrastructure en route to creating this entity. By ‘epistemological infrastructure’, one means the cast array of ideas that become validated as truths and convincing explanations.” In other words, contrary to the colonial sectarian education system, “students, parents, and teachers created educational content through curricula, and educational practices so as to produce new ‘communities of knowledge’. These communities of knowledge, connected as they were by worlds of ideas and networks of knowledge, often transcended confessional, sociopolitical, and even at times regional subjectivities.” This perspective therefore also uncovers the underlying factors at work within these historical events and confirms that such happenings were not inevitable but simply one of many paths for possible outcomes. In a more recent development, the sectarian political system in Lebanon was questioned, as 2019-uprisings prompted "calls to dismantle the system were both a culmination of the growth of multiple activist movements over the past decades—including the intersection of antisectarian, feminist, environmentalist, and queer rights strands—and an echo of earlier movements on the left." ==See also==