It appears that the thrust of Qaradawi's sectarian campaign has less to do with religious doctrine than the political, and sometimes military, battle shaping up around the Middle East.

On one side is Iran and the so-called "Resistance Bloc", which comprises Lebanon's Hezbollah, various Iraqi Shia groups and also some non-Shia Arab actors, like Syria - ruled by the Alawite minority -- and the Palestinian radical, and Sunni, group Hamas. On the other side is the established Sunni Arab order, including Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states, Egypt and Jordan, all of whom, it is worth noting, are US allies. Although the emerging Middle Eastern divide does not run precisely along Shia-Sunni lines, those who are exploiting the schism could fuel a more general conflagration from the eastern Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf.

The US-led invasion of Iraq, the subsequent overthrow of a Sunni strongman in Saddam Hussein and the enfranchisement there of a long-repressed Shia majority has been the catalyst for the current state of sectarian affairs. However, neither Washington policymakers, nor Zionism, nor even the legacy of Western imperialism engineered the Sunni-Shia schism. Indeed, this split and the concomitant political violence, and not external forces, that have shaped the fundamental character of the region since the earliest days of Islam.

Because Muhammad never named an heir, the death of the Prophet led to highly charged factional infighting to decide the future of the umma. One camp comprised the members of noble Arabian families, many of whom came to Islam late, and they became known as the ahl al-Sunna, or the people of law or tradition. The other group believed that Muhammad's successor should come from the prophet's own house, starting with the messenger of God's son-in-law and cousin, Ali. They were known as the faction of Ali, shi'at Ali.