All praise be to Allah, and His blessings and peace be to Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.w., his family, and all those who follow their footsteps.

The differences between Shia and non-Shia Muslims have a very long history. They started many centuries ago; in fact immediately after the death of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.w. But even then, during the period of the first two Caliphs (Abubakar and 'Umar) these differences did not cause as much controversy and ill feelings as they did during the last two Caliphs ('Uthman and 'Ali). The reasons as to why it was so are outside our current topic; I therefore do not intend to deal with them here.

Suffice it to know, for the present moment, that it was after the assassination of the third Caliph ('Uthman), and a person called Muawiya leading the opposition against the fourth Caliph (Imam 'Ali), that those differences were intensified. It was because of that opposition, and on Muawiya's orders, that Imam 'Ali a.s. was regularly cursed in the course of Friday prayer sermons for not less than eighty years. It was also why all those who recognized Imam 'Ali a.s. as the rightful Imam (i.e. the Shias) used to be hunted down like snakes and killed! It was thus that Imam Hassan (a.s.) the grandson of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.w., was killed by administering poison in his food! Similarly, that was why Imam Hussein a.s., another grandson of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.w, was brutally killed at Karbala (in the present-day Iraq) and his severed head stuck on a spear with people in a procession dancing with it, while his torso was left to be trampled upon by horses! That was why, during Muawiya's rule, Muslims could not risk even to call their own children by the name of 'Ali. Equally the 'ulamaa, for fear of facing persecution or even death, were scared to mention Imam 'Ali's name while narrating Prophet Muhammad's Traditions (ahadith); they, instead, used to say: "The Sheikh said …" meaning "Imam 'Ali said"!

That was the time when these differences and prejudices between Shias and non-Shias were on the increase, and the trend continued for many years - with emotional temperatures rising and falling - till this century. About thirty years ago, some of the Shia and non-Shia scholars in the Middle East were of the opinion that this situation could not be left to continue. They therefore met and discussed how to bring about mutual understanding and unity between different Muslim sects (madhaahib), especially between Shias and Sunnis. The outcome of that gathering was the formation of an organization called Dar ut Taqriib Baynal Madhaahibil Islaamiyya (Institute for Promoting Proximity Between the Schools of Islam). The idea behind this was for Muslim scholars from a variety of sects to have a common platform whereby they could discuss and expound on their differing religious beliefs and positions.

This helped matters a lot, to the extent that Sheikh Mahmud Shaltut (the then Mufti of Al-Azhar) issued his famous and historic religious fatwa (ruling) which stated that the Ja'fari sect (i.e. the Shia Ithnaashari) was part of Islam, and that it could be followed by other Muslims in matters pertaining to worship like any of the Sunni sects. For the first time ever, he allowed Shiism to be taught at the Al-Azhar University in Egypt.