February 27, 2020

Shia-Sunni sectarianism has been a historic concern to the Muslim Ummah because enemies of Islam have always tried to exploit our differences. Not only that, our perceived differences have consistently held us back from advancing together as one community. Too many amongst us still hold onto divisive or factually unfounded beliefs about those from varying schools of thought.  

We cannot allow for this sectarianism to continue any longer. As faith leaders, it is our responsibility to inform and educate our community members on the Quranic principles of respect, unity,  and equity. That is why we, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), the Shia Muslim Council (SMC), the the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), and the Islamic Center of Southern California (ICSC), have partnered up to bring a joint khutba series to our local communities. 

Each of us on the organizing committee have reached out to khateebs in our network, asking them to give a khutba on our nonsectarian talking points in unison with khateebs throughout Southern California on Friday, February 28th. 

Our work will not end there. 

We understand we cannot bring down the walls of sectarianism overnight. To bring about lasting change, we must organize and engage around this issue consistently, across different layers of our communities. Our next program in our Shia-Sunni Nonsectarianism Series will be the Shia-Sunni Summit on Saturday, March 14th, where we will convene a meeting between imams and key community leaders to determine how we can effectively tackle our differences from the ground up. 

At MPAC, we are committed to promoting nonsectarianism and building intrafaith understanding. We could not do this work without your support. Thank you for always standing by us.