The Arab Shi'a: The Forgotten Muslims.

Graham E. Fuller and Rend Rahim Francke. The Arab Shi'a: The Forgotten Muslims. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. 290 pp. Hardcover $5.00.

Graham Fuller, a political analyst at RAND corporation and former vice chairman of national intelligence at the CIA, together with Rend Francke, an executive director of the Iraq Foundation, make clear that most Arab Shi'ite communities suffer from deeply rooted discriminatory policies applied against them by Arab regimes. With the exception of Lebanon and, to a much less degree, Kuwait, the Arab Shi'a have been steadily denied access to political power. In this timely text, the authors have successfully examined the Shi'ite plight in the Arab world and addressed many of the misunderstandings and stereotyping made against them by others. In the most general terms, the book identifies Shi'ism and Shi'ite movements in Islamic history, examines old and recent transformations affecting Shi'ite identities and situations, and addresses fluctuations in their domestic and foreign relations. Following Iran's revolution and subsequent regional and international reactions to it, most, if not all, Shi'ite movements in th e Arab world began to be increasingly perceived as having potential threatening effects on the political stability of the region.

Over the years, Sunni Arab regimes have managed to control Shi'ite communities within limits, and succeeded, to a large extent in associating most Shi'ite activists with radicals and dissidents in the Arab world. In the West, the Shi'a were largely connected with hostage taking, extremism and terrorism. These images have complicated Arab Shi'ite relations with others and undermined the extent of their misery in the Arab world. To say the least, today's 14 million Arab Shi'a have been subjected to a hostile environment that still treats them as a taboo. The ability of the Arab Shi'ite to integrate in their societies and the willingness of various Sunni regimes to accept them as equal partners have not yet been accomplished. As the book concludes, there are variations in the situations of the Arab Shi'ite communities, known as "twelvers," located in the countries of Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon. Iran's and Turkish Shi'a, the Zaydis of Yemen and the Alawis ruling elite in Syria are excluded fr om Fuller's and Francke's text. The study of Shi'ite communities mentioned in the above five countries are supported with extensive face-to-face interviews. Knowing that the Arab Shi'a would particularly find it more difficult than others to express their views openly for good reasons, the task of conducting these interviews alone contributes to the subject matter under discussion. Relying on journalistic accounts, the authors argue that most Shi'ite grievances are legitimate and, if fulfilled, Shi'ite inclusion in the political process of their countries may perhaps help liberalize Arab politics. As the authors' approach to Shi'ism seems quite unique and sympathetic, their text may entice balanced debates on the subject.

The book's eleven chapters are divided into three thematic parts. The first part provides an analysis of Shi'ite identities, relations with Sunnis and connections with Iran and the West. The second part examines variations in Shi'ite situations in Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, respectively. The last part contains summaries, remarks and insights on Shi'ite relationships to democracy. The text particularly argues that the Arab Shi'a are more genuine in their pursuit of democracy than the Sunnis, assuming that democracy would put an end to Sunni manipulation of power and give Shi'a an access to authority that they have been denied in past centuries.

Repression against the Arab Shi'a have mainly increased in the years following Iran's revolution that supposedly enticed acts of violence against Sunnis and Western interests. The tragic American experience with the Iranian and Lebanese Shi'a in past decades have also led many to assume that perhaps all Shi'ite communities are monolithic, fanatics and extremists. The authors are critical of those assumptions on the grounds that the Shi'ite communities are far from being homogeneous, and contrary to many held beliefs, most Arab Shi'a are in fact victims of brutal treatments that often lead them to violent means while pursuing their goals. This may be true considering that whether they are a majority in Iraq and Bahrain, a plurality in Lebanon, or a minority in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the Shi'a are subject to varying degrees of exclusions from centers of powers.

As Sunnis generally object to Shi'ite views on political successions of the Islamic Umma, a number of Shi'ite groups who were searching for acceptance often downplayed their own religious agendas and focused more on nationalist and secular objectives. However, knowing that the Arab Shi'a have historically emerged in the form of a protest movement that questioned Sunni practices, the Sunnis' willingness to accept and share power with them remains particularly difficult (p.12). Moreover, in spite of the fact that the inception of the Arab Shi'a pre-dates the emergence of Shi'ism in Iran, most Sunni leaders continue to associate Arab Shi'a with the Iranian regime in an effort to discredit their legitimacy in the Arab world. A number of Arab regimes have also argued that the Shi'ite communities in the Arab world are ideologically less Arab and religiously less Islamic than the Sunnis. Against such assertions, the Iraqi Shi'a have, for example, fought against Iran in defense of their country during the first Gulf war, and the Kuwaiti Shi'a have also participated in the Kuwaiti resistance against Iraq following its occupation of Kuwait. Despite apparent strength in their local national identity, the Shi'ite communities in the Arab world remain largely subjected to suspicions and to social as well as economic isolation and discrimination. The Arab Shi'a mostly live in poor or less developed areas, lack proper education, and in some countries, i.e. Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, suffer from a deep sense of loss and injustice. Although they have recently gained limited rights in Lebanon and Kuwait, the Shi'ite communities in these countries currently remain underrepresented compared to the Sunnis. In spite of that, Shi'ite political, religious and economic rights are much less restricted in those countries than they are in Iraq, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

The second part of the book begins with an examination of the Iraqi Shi'a, who represent the most important Arab Shi'ite community in terms of its history, numbers and ideological impact. The 12 million Iraqi Shi'a are also subject to far more repression than all other Arab Shi'ite communities (p.78). Prior to the 1958 revolution, activists in Iraq's Communist and other secular parties were mostly Shi'ite. However, once the Ba'th party came to power, Shi'ite involvement in public affairs became increasingly more restricted, and as a consequence most Shi'a began challenging the regime on religious grounds. Ironically, in the 1970s, the Kurdish minority in Iraq have been given a limited autonomy, while the Iraqi Shi'a, who constitute more than 55 percent of the total population, were denied equal rights and remained excluded from power. In the meantime, the decades of humiliation and repression against Iraqi Shi'a have created what is called "victim-hood" mentality that soon was translated into unending acts of violence against the regime (p. 99).

Constituting more than 70 percent of the total population, the Shi'ite community in Babrain faces a similar destiny like that challenging the Iraqi Shi'a. The largest wave of protest against the regime took place in Bahrain in the 1980s and continued despite severe reactions from the regime. As time progressed, Shi'ite secular and religious groups in Bahrain were outlawed, and increased suspicions towards them surfaced. (p.136). Although the situation of the Shi'ite community in Kuwait has significantly improved in recent years, the Sunni establishment in the country continues to enjoy a far more dominant political and social role. In relative terms, the authors argue that the case of the Kuwaiti Shi'a should be seen as an example of political success (p.155). Despite improvements in their situation, however, the Kuwaiti Shi'a, who represent about 30 percent of the total native population, hold only ten percent of the National Assembly's seats. Prior to recent improvements, the Kuwaiti Shi'a have also, for ma ny years, experienced tense relations with the Kuwaiti regime, some of which resulted in bombings and assassinations carried by Shi'ite extremists against the government in the 1980s. Similar to Iraq and Bahrain, the Saudi regime is very intolerant towards the Shi'a. In fact, the Saudi Ulama have, since 1927, issued a so-called Fatwa limiting Shi'ite ability to practice their beliefs by claiming that Shi'ite practices are non-Islamic and, in some circumstances, Shi'ite faithful may face death (p.183). With this in mind, the Shi'ite opposition to the Saudi regime went underground, became more connected with Iran and more religiously determined to overthrow the government.

Recent developments surrounding the Shi'ite situation in Lebanon following Israel's withdrawal from the South confirm the authors' insights and conclusions on the growing level of politicization of the Lebanese Shi'ite community. Although they remain underrepresented in the government, the Lebanese Shi'ite community has been included in Lebanon's political system since the formation of the country's government on the basis of the 1943 National Pact. The Shi'ite political influence on Lebanese society and politics began steadily gaining strength during and after the 1975 civil war that intensified Shi'ite conflicts with various factions inside Lebanon, and later with Israel and its allies in the South. As time went by, the Lebanese Shi'a have established themselves as the single largest sectarian community equipped with radical and well-known organizations in the country. Their accomplishments largely resulted from contributions made by their charismatic leader, Musa al-Sader, who gave the Shi'a a stronger sen se of identity and belonging (p.204). His supporters have created in 1975, an organization known as Amal, which in 1982, witnessed a split that led to the founding of a more militant oriented guerrilla group known by the name of Hizballah that soon became a nightmare for Israel and the United States.

The conclusion of the Tai'f Accord in 1989 have encouraged Lebanese Shi'a to undergo new political transformations that gave them more involvement in Lebanese politics. In the meantime, both Amal and Hizballah became more able and willing to accommodate their Islamic goals in a new context of a so-called quasi-democratic system that promises recognition of the interests of all sectarian groups in Lebanon (p.221). Despite its relative success, the Lebanese Shi'ite community, namely in the south, have experienced divisions that enticed a number of its members to collaborate with Israel against the wishes of the Shi'ite majority which is supportive of Hizballah and Amal.

In the final part, the authors argue that Shi'ite support for liberalization in the Arab world is genuine and should be seen as an empowerment for the Shi'ite and other groups that are excluded from the political process of their countries. Lastly, Fuller and Francke are to be commended for their compelling and important contributions as well as their valuable corrections to misunderstandings often made against Shi'ite communities in the Arab world. No doubt, The Arab Shi'a provides an accurate assessment of differences in the treatment of the Shi'a in the Arab world and also opens the door for more studies on this and other taboos in Arab politics in coming years.

Husam Mohamad is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Central Oklahoma.