# Can the Sunni-Shia schism be resolved? With Dr Tareq al-Suwaidan

An episode of [The Thinking Muslim](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1471798762), 13 Sep 2024, 37 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/64fc8470defa1f0011d1a4d6/e/66e4642c2dcefcfc93dfab6b/media.mp3

The Sunni Shia divide remains an open wound and a means by which our enemies meddle in our internal affairs. Since the war on terror, and the horrible sectarianism unleashed on Iraq, this divide has got even bigger and has often led to bloody violence. However, amidst this turmoil, we often hear voices from within the Ummah and beyond, dreaming of unity to confront the misery, humiliation, and suffering of the oppressed, especially in the current situation with Palestine. But it’s a difficult topic, there are a host of theological and political concerns and the current tussle between Saudi Arabia and Iran makes any talk of reconciliation or an overlapping consensus politically charged. Dr Suwaidan is a profile writer, speaker, trainer and in many ways has brought much needed intellectual thought to our age. Let me remind all viewers that to help us continue to engage critical thought at this time, Please consider becoming a Patron. https://www.patreon.com/TheThinkingMuslim You can also support The Thinking Muslim through a one-time donation: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/Donate Listen to the audio version of the podcast: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7vXiAjVFnhNI3T9Gkw636a Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-thinking-muslim/id1471798762 Sign up to Muhammad Jalal's newsletter: https://jalalayn.substack.com Purchase our Thinking Muslim mug: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/merch Find us on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Thinking-Muslim-Podcast-105790781361490 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingmuslimpodcast/ Telegram: https://t.me/thinkingmuslim Host: https://twitter.com/jalalayn Website Archive: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com 0:00 – Introduction 1:55 – Iraq: Framing sectarianism 10:00 – Iran’s Shia exceptionalism 15:30 – Iran and Shia not the same 16:48 – Why do we need unity? 21:03 – Overlapping consensus? 22:06 – How do we do this? 24:32 – Declaring takfir and abuse of companions 31:44 – A major cultural shift? 33:50 – Our enemies using our division Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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