By Aliyu Smith Almusawi
Shia had been under constant persecution as far back as the heydays of the Prophet Muhammad; the enemies started fighting Shia shortly after the demise of the prophet, but despite all that, Shia survived.
Shia survived when its members were virtually decimated, Shia survived on the sweltering desert of Karbala, when the family members of prophet Muhammad were massacred, but with the copacetic efforts of Imam Sajjad and that of Sayyida Zainab (AS), Shia survived.
Shia survived at the time when claiming to be Shi’itte was synonymous with death. Shia survived when its infallible imams were being hunted down and poisoned. Shia survived when its literatures were banned and burnt to cinder. Shia survived when the truth was being buried and supplanted with lies and fables. Shia survived when attempts were made to alter history in order to lead the posterity astray, and when writers and jurists were being rewarded to tell lies about Shias. From the rise and fall of Umayya and Abassid dynasties down to the collapse of Othman empire, Shia survived, and from the rise of Saudi royal family up to its downfall in the near future, Shia will surely survive.
In Afghanistan Shia survived when the Taliban slaughtered thousands of Shias and expelled millions more from the country during its reign of terror in 1990s. In Pakistan, Shias were and are still being targeted in broad daylight and gunned down with impunity. Its intellectuals and academics were the prime targets for whom Lashkar e-Jhangbi was established to kill. Hundreds of Shias are being killed yearly in Pakistan but there is neither justice nor is there respite in sight.
In Iraq Shias are bearing the brunt of terrorism from various fronts. Mosques, clerics and locals are being bombed by the Sunni simply because the country has returned to the hands of Shias. In Bahrain, Shias were being stripped of citizenship for simply speaking out against tyranny. They are being detained for protesting the killings of their brothers. This is the case for Yemen when Saudi’s war against humanity has resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands. This is the case in Syria when the New World Order has teamed up to eradicate Shias and dismantle the Axis of Resistance at all cost. But the spirit of Shia has defied the odds and survived.
In Nigeria the persecution of Shias has reached an apogee: there is no religious movement in the history of Nigeria that has been subjected to all sorts of discriminations for more than thirty years as Shias. They were massacred unjustifiably and the people welcomed it. They were detained and their Sunni brothers cheered. But little do they know that Shia is here to stay and no matter how much they try to eradicate us, their efforts will only ricochet and boomerang to haunt them for eternity as nobody throughout the history has ever fought Shia and survived or led a comfortable life. Examples abound and it is superfluous to shed more light.