Question for Shias

[HakimPtsid]

What I understand as a Non-12er, some people can envision their existence only as a victimized group; outside that, their anxiety would reach unbearable levels. This is why we see them eating, even listening to music and watching funny videos just before and after their sessions, sometimes even during the sessions - this is why it would be taken as a form of token of ritualized belonging within the community.

As a Twelver myself, I do agree with what you're saying here and I don't, personally, live myself in the victim mentality but I recognize very strongly historical precedent with the treatment of the Caliphs towards the early Shi'i and that there is a tendency of quite despicable oppressive behavior from Sunnis towards Shia.

My own relationship with Sunnis depends on the case-by-case basis. Most Sunnis are generally fine and get along but other Sunnis want to pick fights when they know you're a Shia.

As for the chest-bashing; it's not a practice I do, nor do I think all Shi'i do it. Still everything that time of remembrance represents in a more universal sense, I think is something deep within our hearts.

[muslim720]

My own relationship with Sunnis depends on the case-by-case basis. Most Sunnis are generally fine and get along but other Sunnis want to pick fights when they know you're a Shia.

Salaam alaykum wa rahmatullah,

Welcome!

Actually, I was introduced to Shia-Sunni differences not because I researched but because a Shi'i neighbor - whose furniture we helped carry from the moving truck up to his third floor apartment for no other reason except they were Muslim - decided to inform me of Umar's (ra) crimes, among other things.  First, he tried to recruit me as a Dari and Pashto translator for the US Army in Afghanistan; he was doing the same task in Iraq.

Ever since, and I sound like a broken record for members here, I have been attending Shi'i mosques mostly during Muharram but also outside that month and not a meeting or lecture has gone by without the mention of Sunnis (or making reference to a Sunni text).  In all of my experiences at Sunni mosques, which would account for over 90% of my mosque visits, I have never heard anyone make mention of Shias.  So I do not know of any Sunni that likes to pick a fight with Shias except the latter walk around with a chip on their shoulders so large that they have to strawman Sunni literature and then knock them down to prove their (fake) superiority.