Shias and Sunnis, how do they interact and pray together in Mecca?

[GIGObuster]

Shi’a is the second largest denomination of the religion of Islam. The main one is the Sunni, my question came when I found that the Sunni are the majority in Saudi Arabia, and therefore Mecca, the thing is, how do they deal with their differences when the Shi’a go to Mecca? Are the Shia in danger sometimes? Any restrictions at all, or do they have an implied truce when Shi’as are in Mecca?

Because there are differences on how they pray:
http://www.islamfortoday.com/shia.htm

On a practical daily level, Shias have a different call to prayer, they perform wudu and salat differently including placing the forehead onto a piece of hardened clay from Karbala, not directly onto the prayer mat when prostrating. They also tend to combine prayers, sometimes worshipping three times per day instead of five. The Shias also have some different ahadith and prefer those narrated by Ali and Fatima to those related by other companions of the Prophet (pbuh). Because of her opposition to Ali, those narrated by Aisha count among the least favored.

How do they coordinate when they have to pray in Mecca?

[Kimstu]

Apparently

@http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/20030211.asp

Shi`as and Sunnis

tend to make the haj in separate groups:

Shi`as are allowed to go on a Hadj pilgrimage to Mecca, but usually in separate groups, and with occasional violence between Shias and Sunnis.

The rituals particular to the Haj are different from ordinary prayers, and I think Shi`as and Sunnis perform them in the same way.

[Testy]

Well, I’ve never been to Mecca but my understanding is that the Sunnis require the Shia to pray in an othodox manner. I’m basing this on the complaints of several Shias I’ve met who complained most bittlerly that “the Sunnis won’t even let us pray properly in Mecca!”
Take that FWIW. I do know there have been quite a few squabbles between Shia and Sunni in Mecca over the years.

Regards

Testy

[cerberus]

Well, even though Saudi Arabia “hosts/owns” both Mecca and Medina, it is still a super-majority Sunni state. So I would expect a Sunni orientation in Islamic rituals conducted in Saudi Arabia, including the Hajj in Medina.

[Johanna]

The differences in procedure are so minor that a Shi‘ite can easily pray behind a Sunni imam, and vice versa. The actual sequence of events in the prayer is exactly the same for both types. Even if an individual does variations from the rest of the congregation, it won’t affect how they all track together. The tracking is not a problem. In fact, it happens every day in mosques in different countries, that a Sunni can just walk into a Shi‘ite mosque and pray, or vice versa, and nobody will care. It’s only in certain regions where sectarianism has gone crazy and violent, like Pakistan, that it becomes a problem for political reasons.

Shi‘ism follows one school of Islamic jurisprudence, but Sunnism has four different schools. There is as much variation amongst the four Sunni schools as any of them has with the Shi‘ite one. The five schools are just not that different from one another. What separates the Shi‘ites and Sunnis is more a matter of religious politics than law. The only legal controversies between Shi‘ism and Sunnism are a few issues like mut‘ah marriage that happen to occur only in the Shi‘ite school of law.

[GIGObuster]

Well, Saudi Arabia being an extreme fundamentalist center of religious Sunni politics is bound to affect the relation then. However, it is hard to find accurate information from inside Mecca, looking elsewhere in Saudi Arabia one can see the restrictions imposed:

Freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia

Members of the Shi’a minority are the subjects of officially sanctioned political and economic discrimination. The authorities permit the celebration of the Shi’a holiday of Ashura in the eastern province city of Qatif, provided that the celebrants do not undertake large, public marches or engage in self-flagellation (a traditional Shi’a practice). The celebrations are monitored by the police. In 2002 observance of Ashura took place without incident in Qatif. No other Ashura celebrations are permitted in the country, and many Shi’a travel to Qatif or to Bahrain to participate in Ashura celebrations. The Government continued to enforce other restrictions on the Shi’a community, such as banning Shi’a books.

Shi’a have declined government offers to build state-supported mosques because they fear the Government would prohibit the incorporation and display of Shi’a motifs in any such mosques. The Government seldom permits private construction of Shi’a mosques. In March 2001, religious police reportedly closed a Shi’a mosque in Hofuf because it had been built without government permission.

Members of the Shi’a minority are discriminated against in government employment, especially with respect to positions that relate to national security, such as in the military or in the Ministry of the Interior. The Government restricts employment of Shi’a in the oil and petrochemical industries. The Government also discriminates against Shi’a in higher education through unofficial restrictions on the number of Shi’a admitted to universities.

Under the provisions of Shari’a law as practiced in the country, judges may discount the testimony of people who are not practicing Muslims or who do not adhere to the official interpretation of Islam. Legal sources report that testimony by Shi’a is often ignored in courts of law or is deemed to have less weight than testimony by Sunnis. For example, in May 2001, a judge in the eastern province ruled that the testimony of two Shi’a witnesses to an automobile accident was inadmissible. Sentencing under the legal system is not uniform. Laws and regulations state that defendants should be treated equally; however, under Shari’a as interpreted and applied in the country, crimes against Muslims may result in harsher penalties than those against non-Muslims. Observers believe that the new Criminal Procedure Law, passed in late 2001 and became effective on May 1, 2002, should give fairer treatment to all defendants.

Customs officials routinely open mail and shipments to search for contraband, including non-Muslim materials, such as Bibles and religious videotapes. Such materials are subject to confiscation, although rules appear to be applied arbitrarily.

…

In April 2000, in the city of Najran in the southwestern province bordering Yemen, rioting by members of the Makarama Ismaili Shi’a eventually led to an attack by an armed group of Shi’a on a hotel that contained an office of the regional governor. Security forces responded, leading to extended gun battles between the two sides. Some press reports indicated that the rioting followed the arrest of a Makarama Ismaili Shi’a imam and some of his followers on charges of “sorcery.” Various other reports attributed the unrest to the closure of two Ismaili Shi’a mosques and the provincial governor’s refusal to permit Ismailis to hold public observances of the Shi’a holiday of Ashura. Still other reports attributed the unrest to a local crackdown on smuggling and resultant tribal discontent. Officials at the highest level of the Government stated that the unrest in Najran was not the result of Shi’a-Sunni tension or religious discrimination. After the unrest ended the Government stated that 5 members of the security forces were killed, and Ismaili leaders claimed that as many as 40 Ismailite tribesmen were killed. There was no independent confirmation of these claims. In November 2001 and again in January 2002, the authorities in Najran arrested at least six more Ismailis. They were charged with practicing sorcery and continued to be detained at the end of the period covered by this report. The November and January arrests were in addition to the 93 Ismailis, including several Ismaili leaders, who have been detained since the April 2000 incident.

In July 31, 1987, pilgrims from Iran rioted in Mecca causing the deaths of over 400 people, it was attributed to Shia and Sunny differences, but there was very little I found regarding that incident, only that it was mentioned that Sunni and Shia relations in Mecca were stressed more after that.

[Captain_Amazing]

@Johanna

Shi‘ism follows one school of Islamic jurisprudence, but Sunnism has four different schools.

Two schools. Ja’fari and Zaidi. And, sort of off topic, but the differences between the Sunni and Shi’ite schools of jurisprudence can be significant in some matters.