The protagonists: Islam Shiita and other creeds

 2nd part

The countries of the Middle East are countries without rains, with many deserts, arid soils, scorching suns and miraculous rivers, clear nights, crescent moonlight both in the sky and on the flags, territories with oil and gas, Countries of many religious beliefs sometimes fundamentalist and sectarian, often contradictory, conflict and war societies. Peoples who do not seem to know the concept of peace or remember it in their memories.

The protagonists are political and religious. It is generally difficult to tell them apart. Many political protagonists identify with a religion and many religious leaders act politically

From this point of view there are four great currents that are both religious and political. Sunni Islamism in its various versions, radical and moderate, Shiite Islamism, Christianity and Judaism.

 Here we try to decipher its historical, conceptual and strategic frameworks.

One of the most important currents of Islam is Shiism.

Shiism is a branch of Islam called twelfth referring to the transcendental belief in the 12 imams of the lineage of Muhammad beginning with Ali, husband of Fatima, who was the daughter of the Prophet, as well as the sons of Ali and Fatima, Hassan and Hussein and his descendants, of whom the last Imam al-Mahdi allegedly lives in hiding and will reappear at some point as the promised Mahdi impersonating the Dajjal (who is the impostor).

This current is the official religion of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is a country with a great international and regional historical projection, with an area of ​​1,650,000 km2 and 83 million inhabitants.

Most of Iran's population is Muslim of which 89% are Shiites, Sunnis reach 11%. Among the minority religions, the Bahá'í faith, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Christianity stand out.

Iran is a theocratic state in which there is no separation between the state and religion. The Islamic Republic's political system is based on the 1979 constitution that encompasses several intricately connected governing bodies. The Supreme Leader of Iran is responsible for the delineation and oversight of general policies, is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and controls the Republic's intelligence and security operations.3 In the absence of the Leader, a council of religious leaders. He himself has the authority to declare war, as well as the ability to appoint and fire judicial leaders, state radio and television networks, and the top leader of the Guards Corps of the Islamic Republic.

A branch of Shismo are the Alawites who mostly inhabit Syria. The Alawites are considered a moderate syncretic branch of Imani Shiism, who also accept the twelve imams as legitimate successors to the prophet. The Alawite trinity includes three emanations of the only God, the Essence, the Name and the Door. In Syria, they are mostly concentrated within the Socialist Arab Baath, occupying the most important and strategic levels of the government, including the presidency. They are concentrated in the coastal province of Latakia. They are also allies of the Lebanese Shiite movement called Hezbollah.

The Hezbollah organization is a Lebanese Shiite organization with a political arm and a paramilitary one. It was founded in Lebanon in 1982 in response to Israeli intervention at the time with Iranian assistance. They supported Assad in the Syrian war. It is together with the Amal Movement (with approximately the same demographic strength), the main political and military expression of the Lebanese Shiite community, currently the largest religious group in the country. He was looking for an Islamic republic, now he changed his postulates and aspires to a democratic and secular society.]

Another predominantly Shiite movement is the Houthis or Houthis of Yemen. They call themselves Ansarolá (also spelled Ansar Allah) which means "supporters of God".

In September 2014, after a coup, the Houthis seized Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, temporarily confirming control of the country. This resulted in a civil war and a military intervention led by Saudi Araboa to prevent the collapse of President Hadi's pre-existing regime.

Saudi Arabia, since 2015, has exerted a blockade that prevents food imports, triggering one of the largest humanitarian crises in recent decades.

The other religious currents of the Middle East include Christians concentrated mainly in Lebanon where most are called Maronites. They constitute 22% of the population of that country, They are participants of an Eastern Catholic Church that follows the Antioquia (or Western Syria) liturgical tradition in which they use Western Syriac (or Aramaic) as their liturgical language and Lebanese Arabic as their auxiliary language.

And finally, other protagonists of geopolitics in the Middle East are the Jews, especially those affiliated with the Zionist currents or returning to Israel. The Jews used to exist as minorities in all the countries of the Middle East but that due to the Arab-Israeli clashes they emigrated from most of the territories of the region moving to the State of Israel that was established in Palestine since 1948. The Israeli government has International support from the various Jewish organizations worldwide, tolerance from the European powers and above all is subsidized by large sums and military equipment by the United States.

The state of Israel, which in practice has a Jewish denominational government, controls its own territory with an area of ​​22,140 km2 and occupies the Western Band of the Jordan with just over 5,600 km2, in turn maintains an almost total fence on the strip Gaza that has an area of ​​365 km2.

9 million people live in the territory of the State of Israel, of whom almost 7 million are Jewish-Israelis and 2 are Arab-Israelis. In the Western Band of the Jordan 3 million Arab inhabitants and some 400,000 Jews settled in colonies within this territory. In Gaza there are 2 million Palestinians, which means that in the traditional territory of Palestine that includes Israel, the Western Band and Gaza there are 7 million Jews and 7 million Arabs. The Arabs of Palestine are governed by the moderate Fatah movement that controls the Palestinian Authority Government and Hamas which is a radical movement based in Gaza. These two Palestinian streams, Fatal and Hamas, have vied for political control of the Palestinian population in the occupied and / or blocked territories. The political effectiveness of both organizations is very limited by the occupation that they suffer by Israel, as well as by the expansion of the Jewish colonies, in the case of the Western Band and by the isolation imposed by the Israeli blockade, in the case of the Gaza strip.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam
The monotheistic religions of the Middle East and the search for power by any means (reflections)
Danilo  Antón
These reflections only seek to show some aspects of the organized monotheistic religions that practically from their beginning were used as tools to obtain and preserve power and to gain control of territories, resources, societies and minds.
In the countries of the Middle East some of the most important religions emerged, from the point of view of the number of believers and their influence on the political and social geography of those nations.
Judaism emerged as a set of traditions, originally transmitted orally, that tell the legendary history of a people influenced by the intervention of a single God. Jehovah (Hebrew transliterated YHWH YHWH). This story is contained in the Torah, a sacred book that contains the foundational narrative of the Jewish people: their trials and tribulations, and their covenant with their God, which consists in following a way of life embodied in a set of moral and religious obligations and civil laws. While the first prophet (Abraham) would have lived in the 20th century BCE and the second prophet who received the divine commandments in the 12th century BCE, most biblical experts believe that the Torah was actually written between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE , although some components may be older.
For its part, the second monotheistic religion that acquired historical importance derived from Judaism, is Christianity. It is based on the teachings of a prophet, Jesus, whose life is narrated in a sacred book generally called the New Testament, which is made up of four gospels officially authorized or canonical (Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Christianity also includes the holy books of Judaism, generically called the Old Testament. The real existence of Jesus has only been confirmed by the different Gospels, not only the official ones, but also several others that have been preserved or fragments are known, but that were not recognized by the ecclesiastical authorities. According to Biblical historians, the Gospels were transmitted orally and were only written between 65 and 100 DEC, that is, more than 30 years after the date Jesus was crucified.
Like Judaism, Christianity bases its religious system on the existence of a single God and the confirmation of the arrival of the Messiah announced by the prophets of the Old Testament, and whose death would allow to redeem humanity from its sins. The books include moral teachings transmitted by Jesus during his life.
Islam, which is also a monotheistic religion, developed as a religion in Arabia where a prophet (Muhammad), considered by his faithful as sent by God (Allah), preached a faith based on the ancient Jewish and Christian books to which added a new final and definitive message, the Koran, which contains the fundamental premises of the new religion. It states that “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet. The Qur'an also defines the obligations of Muslims (faithful of Islam) including the five pillars of Islam, profession of faith, daily prayers, zakat (alms), fasting in the month of Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in life, and various moral teachings, many of which are covered in the other holy books (Old and New Testaments) and accounts of the life of the previous prophets, mainly Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Like the Torah and the Christian Gospels, the Qur'an was memorized by the followers of Muhammad and was only written or compiled several years later. In short, the three monotheistic religions began as oral traditions and only later, a few years, decades or centuries later, were they recorded in writing.
The faithful of these three religions are numerous. There are some 2,000 million Christians, 1,500 million Muslims and 15 million Jews. For this reason, to a large extent, the thoughts and actions of many societies that embrace these faiths are directly or indirectly influenced by the fulfilled or unfulfilled moral, social or political mandates of these religions.
Now, all these religions are native to the Middle East (Palestine, Israel, Arabia) and since its inception the accession of the peoples of that region have been disputed. The history of the Middle East is largely the confrontation of organized groups that in the name of these religions fought in successive wars for control of territories, resources and societies. In fact, these religions were the reason or the excuse for bloody confrontations, deaths, rapes, looting, torture, racial or religious intolerance, enslavement or ethnic cleansing that began more than twenty centuries ago and still continue today. Not only have these three religions confronted each other violently, but also different tendencies or sects in these religions have also.
These concepts refer to organized religions, different churches, and especially states and rulers who base their power on religion. In this sense, we can consider that organized monotheistic religions, practically from their beginnings, were used as tools to obtain and preserve power, and to better control resources, territories, societies and minds.
And they still are.

The monotheistic religions of the Middle East and the pursuit of power by any means

Danilo Antón
These reflections only seek to show some aspects of organized monotheistic religions that practically from the beginning were used as tools to obtain and preserve power and to achieve control of territories, resources, societies and minds.
Some of the most important religions developed in the countries of the Middle East, both from the point of view of the number of believers and their influence on the political and social geography of those nations.
Judaism emerged as a set of traditions, originally transmitted orally, that tell the legendary story of a people influenced by the intervention of a unique God. Jehovah (in Hebrew יהוה transliterated YHWH). This story is contained in the Torah, a sacred book that contains the founding narrative of the Jewish people: their trials and tribulations, and their covenant with their God, which consists in following a way of life embodied in a set of moral and religious obligations and civil laws.
While the first prophet (Abraham) would have lived in the 20th century BCE and the second prophet who received the divine commandments in the 12th century BC, most biblical scholars believe that the Torah was actually written between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE , although some components may be earlier.
On the other hand, the second monotheistic religion that acquired historical importance, derived from Judaism, is Christianity. It is based on the teachings of a prophet, Jesus, whose life is narrated in a sacred book usually called the New Testament, which is constituted by four officially authorized or canonical Gospels (Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).
Christianity also includes the sacred books of Judaism, generically called Old Testament. The real existence of Jesus has been confirmed only by the different Gospels, not only the official ones, but also several others that have been preserved or fragments are known, but which were not recognized by the ecclesiastical authorities. According to biblical historians, the gospels were transmitted orally and were only written between the 65th and 100th DEC or more than 30 years after the date on which Jesus was crucified.
Like Judaism, Christianity bases its religious system on the existence of only one God and confirmation of the arrival of the Messiah announced by the prophets of the Old Testament, and whose death would allow humanity to be redeemed from its sins. The books include moral teachings transmitted by Jesus during his life.
Islam, which is also a monotheistic religion, developed as a religion in Arabia where a prophet (Muhammad), considered by his followers as sent by God (Allah), preached a faith based on ancient Jewish and Christian books to which added a new final and final message, the Koran, which contains the fundamental premises of the new religion. It states that "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet. The Koran also defines the obligations of Muslims (followers of Islam) including the five pillars of Islam, profession of faith, daily prayers, zakat (almsgiving), fasting in the month of Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in life, and several moral teachings, many of which are included in the other sacred books (Old and New Testament) and accounts of the life of the previous prophets, mainly Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Like the Torah and the Christian Gospels, the Koran was memorized by the followers of Muhammad and was only written or compiled several years later. In short, the three monotheistic religions began as oral traditions and only later, some years, decades or centuries later were recorded in writing.
The faithful of these three religions are numerous. There are about 2 billion Christians, 1,500 million Muslims and 15 million Jews. For that reason, to a large extent, the thoughts and actions of many societies that embrace these faiths are influenced directly or indirectly by the moral, social or political mandates fulfilled or not fulfilled by these religions.
Now, all these religions are originally from the Middle East (Palestine, Israel, Arabia) and since its inception the adhesion of the peoples of that region has been disputed. The history of the Middle East is to a large extent the confrontation of organized groups that in the name of these religions clashed in successive wars over the control of territories, resources and societies. In fact these religions were the reason or the excuse of bloody confrontations, deaths, rapes, looting, torture, racial or religious intolerance, enslavement or ethnic cleansing that began more than twenty centuries ago and still continues today.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Monotheistic religions of the Middle East and the pursuit of power by any means
Danilo Anton

These thoughts only seek to show some aspects of organized monotheistic religions that virtually  since their inception were used as tools to obtain and retain power and to gain control of territories, resources, societies and minds.
From the point of view of the number of believers and their influence on the political and social geography of these nations the three main religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are the most important in the world history. All three of them originated in the Middle East.

Judaism emerged as a set of traditions, originally transmitted orally, that narrate the legendary history of a people influenced by the intervention of one God, Jehovah (in Hebrew יהוה transliterated YHWH). This story is contained in the Torah, a sacred book that contains the foundational narrative of the Jewish people: their trials and tribulations, and its covenant with God. It describes a way of life to follow embodied in a set of moral and religious obligations and civil laws. While the first prophet (Abraham) has lived in the twentieth century BCE and the second prophet, Moses, who received the divine commandments in the twelfth century BC, Most biblical scholars believe that the Torah was actually written between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE, although some components may have been recorded in earlier times.
The second monotheistic religion that acquired historic importance was Christianity, which was derived from Judaism. It is based on the teachings of a prophet, Jesus, whose life is chronicled in a holy book usually called New Testament, which consists of four officially approved (or canonical) Gospels (Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Christianity also includes the ancient sacred books of Judaism, generically called Old Testament. The actual existence of Jesus was only confirmed by the gospels, not only official ones, but also several others that have been preserved or its fragments are known, but were not recognized by the ecclesiastical authorities. According to the biblic historians, at the beginning, the gospels were transmitted orally and only were written between 65 and 100 DEC or more than 30 years after the date on which Jesus was (probably) crucified.
Like Judaism, Christianity bases its religious system in the existence of one God and on the confirmation of the arrival of the Messiah announced by the prophets of the Old Testament, and whose death would redeem mankind from their sins. The books include also the  moral teachings transmitted by Jesus during his life.

Islam, who is also a monotheistic religion, developed in Arabia where a prophet (Muhammad), considered by his followers as sent by God (Allah), preached a faith based on the ancient jewish and christian sacred books. Muhammad added a new final divine message, the Koran, which contains the fundamental premises of the new religion.

A basic belief of the religion was that "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet". The Quran also defines the obligations of Muslims (followers of Islam) including Islam five pillars, profession of faith, daily prayers, zakat (alms), fasting in the month of Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in life, and various moral teachings, many of which were included in the other holy books (Old and New Testament). They included also the life stories of the previous prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Like the Torah and the Christian Bible, the Quran was memorized by Muhammad's followers and was only written or compiled several years later. Ultimately the three monotheistic religions began as oral traditions and only some years, decades or centuries later were recorded in writing.

The faithful of these three religions are numerous. There are about 2,000 million christians, 1,500 million muslims and 15 million jews. For that reason, largely, thoughts and actions of many societies that embrace these faiths are directly or indirectly influenced by the moral, social or political mandates (fulfilled or not) of these religions.

We must consider that ALL these religions originated in the Middle East (Palestine, Israel, Arabia) and since its inception the have disputed for the control of the territories and peoples of that region. The history of the Middle East is largely the confrontation of organized groups on behalf of these religions who fought successive wars for the control of lands, resources and societies.

These religions were the reason or the excuse for wars, bloody clashes, killings, rapes, looting, torture, racial or religious intolerance, enslavement or ethnic cleansing that began more than twenty centuries ago and still continue today. Not only they have these religions have violently confronted among them but their different organized divisions or sets also have bloodily fought to obtain or preserve power. These concepts apply to these organized religions, their churches, and mainly to those leaders who base their power in religion.
In that sense we can consider that monotheistic organized religions organized, almost from the beginning were used as unscrupulous tools to obtain and retain power, and to better manage resources, territories, societies and minds.
And still they are.