Islam Versus Islam (Shahid Javed Burki, Project-Syndicate)

Turmoil has seized much of the Muslim world. In Syria, a brutal war has already taken 250,000 lives, displaced half of the country’s 21 million people, and sent a million refugees to Europe seeking asylum. In Yemen, the Houthi tribe has risen up against the government, and are now facing Saudi-led airstrikes. Conflicts like these reflect a number of factors, the most prominent of which are the conflicts between Islam’s two sects, Sunni and Shia, and between fundamentalists and reformists.

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/islam-sunni-shia-reform-divide-by-shahid-javed-burki-2016-02