Overview

Today, the most important religious split is between the Sunnis and the Shias (Shiites) within Islam. Unlike divisions in other faiths - between Conservative and Orthodox Jews or Catholic and Protestant Christians - the split between the Sunnis and Shia has existed almost as long as the faith itself, and it quickly emerged out of tensions created by the political crisis after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. In a sense, what are now two different forms of Islam essentially started as political factions within the unified body of Muslim believers. Over the past few centuries, Christians have mostly been able to live alongside their co-religionists, but the split between the Sunnis and Shias is still so pronounced that many adherents of each branch view each other with disdain if not as outright apostates or non-believers. The religious divide is perhaps the most important fault line in the turbulent Middle East today, with Sunni nations like Egypt and Saudi Arabia at odds with Shiite nations like Iran. At lower levels, non-state groups like the Islamic State and Hezbollah are fighting each other in ways that cross state lines in places like Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria. Although it is technically a split in religion, the divide has had substantial global ramifications for decades, and there seems to be no end in sight. Of course, just the way Christian relics have been venerated by different denominations, Muslims of all sorts also have valued relics over the course of nearly 1,500 years. In Islam, relics are objects or remains associated with prophets or holy people, kept and venerated for their spiritual significance. However, it is also important to note that Islam does not place the same importance on relics as some other religions, such as Christianity, do. In Islam, the primary holy relic is the Kaaba in Mecca, which is considered the central holy place and is surrounded by numerous other relics, including items associated with the Prophet Muhammad. Other sacred relics do not play as significant a role in Islamic practice. Muslim relics have become sought after relatively recently, since in the tradition of Islam it is customary to bury the deceased together with his belongings. However, many religious relics have rather controversial origins. Sometimes the faithful sincerely worship artful forgeries masquerading as holy relics and things that supposedly belonged to saints. The real sanctuaries are carefully guarded and are not always accessible to believers. They are brought out for public viewing on especially festive days. It is often represented as creating a special ritual. It is curious that the attitude towards such relics gradually changed over the centuries. If, at first, they were considered amulets used by private individuals, then over time their purpose and comprehension took on a different character. Firstly, the possession of the relics of the prophet began to be considered one of the arguments in favor of the appointment of the Caliph. Secondly, where they once were kept in private houses, over time, they became an integral part of the Muslim cult, mosques became their place of storage. The concentration of several relics in one mosque immediately sharply increased, in the eyes of the believers, the piety of such a mosque; this, in turn, immediately affected the growth of its wealth and political influence.

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