A violência sectária entre Sunitas e Xiitas

: da génese à contemporaneidade

Abstract

The present study in this master's thesis has as its title: "the sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite: from its genesis to contemporaneity". Starting from this title, the following question was elaborated: "What can help to explain the phenomenon of sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites, from its genesis to contemporaneity?" In order to answer this question, we have identified as the object of our analysis the Sharia, the Schools and the doctrines of Shiite and Sunni theology, the study of the Islamic law of war, or Jihad and the contemporary Islamic fundamentalism. In the present Master's thesis an "external" approach was used, which corresponds to a western view on the problem. This study has been developed using the most current literary and scientific works, articles and materials available online. As a study object, we have selected western works whose focus is on the Islamic literature, including "classical" (pre-19th century) and "modern" Muslim authors and jurists (19th to 21st century). At the end of this study, and with the instruments of analysis used, it was concluded that it is not possible, due to its complexity, to indicate only one decisive factor that definitively answers the question under consideration in this master thesis, among the following: different theological schools and Sharia interpretations, Sharia evolution and modifications due to historical and geopolitical changes, unequal conceptions regarding the political leadership of Muslims since the death of Ali and throughout the history of Islam, interpretation of the concept of internal armed conflict, transformations and development of the meaning of jihad for historic and political reasons and different views of jihad by Islamic fundamentalists as a result of geopolitical disparities.

Date of Award	27 Apr 2017
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	José Tomaz Castello Branco (Supervisor)