I as Muslim do not take my orders from an Ayatollah since islam is an individual religion, a one-to-one basis with Allah.

Visitation of the graves of al aima al saleheen is out of respect and to contemplate these companions roles in developing and strengthing the religion of Islam. I can speak of certainity regarding my family and myself and some people in Najaf.

and finally why does it have to be the iranian propoganda to control the middle east. The streets of Iraq has witnessed the shedding of blood by al-qaieda and those proclaiming ansar al sunna to kill and bestow harm on others since Shia are some sort of astryed people in need of self awakening back to the true Islam! if we keep up with history we would find that it was al saud the hashimates who sold their unifying ottoman empire to the harsh rulings of the British and French and not Khomieni and his advertising. again Omar or Ali, Abbas or Mua’wya we are all Muslims and thats what matter. and i agree with you that the prophet and the companions would’ve been extremely angry if they see how a muslim shed the blood of other on a name, a sect and a way of prayer calling.

Salam

If you would follow the shia in Iran and Iraq and other spots in the world, Imam Ali (peace upon him) should of been the kaliph of the Muslims right after the death of the prophet. They back it up in the ghadeer khumm incident where the prophet peace be upon him ordained the kilapha to Imam Ali and also the quote by the prophet “Im the city of knowledge and Ali its Gate” and it continues “and you only enter the cityfrom its gate”. Now regarding your question about Imam Hossien (Peace upon him) and to Shia school of thought he should of been the muslim Kaliph after his elder brother Imam Hasan. I didn’t understand though what you meant by a “catalyst”?

Omar Ali albaghdadi
While I understand the Muslim communities desire not to establish a hereditary kingship, or mulk, but is it really justified in repeating these arguments still today? Sure he was of only thirst years of age and considered “untried” to take M. A. Shaban’s Islamic History in mind. Yet, considering he was preparing for the burial of the Great Prophet when the election/oath of allegience, or bay’ah, of Abu Bakr took place seems a touch shady. The decision was certainly not unanimous, The Banu Hashim fumed since the shura was not fully represented without Ali there. He had also proven his military prowess as the personal secretary and standard-bearer in many important battles. Also, he was the only one allowed to assist the Prophet in the cleansing of the Ka’ba for God. While the Bedouin Arabs might have disliked the hereditary kingship, it was quite common for the aristocratic Quraysh. All these thoughts in mind, was Ali really not qualified?

As a Westerner, I can't even tell who is Protestant and who is Catholic. There is no obvious difference to my eyes. Yet if the sectarian violence in Iraq is anything to go by, there must be some way in which a Sunni recognises who is Sunni and who is Shia and vice versa??

The Catholic / Protestant split is a good analogy, regarding physical apperance. You can guess that most people who look Latin are probably Catholic, and that most people who look Norwegian are probably Protestant. But for ethnicities were both are common (say, American or German) it may be impossible to tell.

So really, all you are left with are clues. Does he carry a rosary? Then he's probably a Catholic. Does his name contain the name of a famous protestant (Wesley, Luther, or Calvin)? Then most like he's a Protestant.

Likewise, an Iranian is probably Shiite, because most Iranians (who look European) are Shiite. If the Muslim is black or oriental then he probably is Sunni, simply because most black and oriental Muslims are Sunni. For dividied cultures with Iraq, you are left with names: “Ali” (named for the first Shiite Imam) is probably a Shia, while “Abu Bakr” (named for the first Sunni Caliph) is probably a Sunni.

The lack of physical differences is one reason for the paranoia. Many Shia think the only way they can be safe is if /all/ Sunnis are removed from their neighborhoods (so there are no potential enemies who can walk into crowds with bombs), while many Sunnis believe the same thing about Shia.