lmao and where's pakistan?
When Westerners think Middle East, Pakistan and AFG are two of the 3-4 countries they think of.
And btw, secterianism is highest in AFG and Pakistan. Saudi Arabia and Iran are pretty much untouched. Syria, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only 3 battle grounds.
We are the proxies for your political Islam, as sad as it is.
Abii, I've known you for a while so I hope you understand my viewpoint.
Iranians at large are a whole lot less extreme about religious differences than the Arabs.
And when I mean Arabs, I mean KSA+GCC.
I've had Saudi friends and literally they hate Shias.
My name is Raza, Ali Raza.
Ironically, I am a wahabi as well.
When I met some of these friends they first asked if I was a Shia. Although I was not, I asked them what does it matter.
They then started bad mouthing Shias. After a while, I told them that I am a wahabi.
They then started praising the heavens and becoming very friendly with me.
After a while they again started to badmouth Shias.
I told them that I am not interested in their political matters, and that if they wanted to play soccer, then we just play soccer.
On the other hand, I did have an Iranian friend in Pakistan when I was growing up. We used to call him Ghulab jaan.
We were very good friends. One day he asked me If I was a Shia; again due to my name. When I told him I am not, he told me I will go to hell. That he valued me as friend and that I should be a Shia.
In the US, I used to work for a cool Iranian guy, by the name of Yusuf. He was Shia, and he was tolerant. No superiority complex whatsoever. He was cool with the Pakistanis in the area as there were a lot. Used to go pray at a Pakistani sunni mosque no problem. Jokes were made and he was a very happy guy. Also very stylish and slick when it came to business.
So after hearing my experiences, you should understand why I hate sectarianism, and why I even hate my own people that indulge in this ignorance.