When the influential cleric Yusuf al Qaradawi recently called on fellow Sunni Muslims to join the rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad 's regime , he effectively called for the Sunni-Shia conflict in the Middle East to escalate in some countries and start anew in others . Qaradawi said he was not demonizing all Shia Muslims -- but that is precisely the effect of his inflammatory words . He denounced al-Assad 's Alawite sect , an offshoot of Shia Islam , as `` more infidel than Christians and Jews . '' signaling a broader demonization of all Shia . He also said the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah ( whose name means `` the party of God '' ) is really `` the party of the devil . '' `` How could 100 million Shia ( worldwide ) defeat 1.7 billion ( Sunnis ) ? '' Qaradawi asked , speaking May 31 in Doha , Qatar , about the two largest Muslim sects . `` Only because they ( Sunni ) are weak , '' he said , attempting to inspire the Sunnis to go to Syria to fight against al-Assad and prove their strength . `` I call on Muslims everywhere to help their brothers be victorious , '' Qaradawi said in his sermon . `` Everyone who has the ability and has training to kill ... is required to go '' to Syria . `` We can not ask our brothers to be killed while we watch . '' Such provocative statements are classic Qaradawi , who in 2008 warned of the `` Shiitization '' of the Middle East . But as a clever operative , he knows this time his statements could escalate the conflict in Syria , Iraq and Lebanon . Qaradawi 's rhetoric could also embolden the Sunni majority in Saudi Arabia and the Shia majority in Bahrain , where the Sunni royal family is fighting a Shia-led uprising . In addition , his statements could add legitimacy to the alarm in Egypt , where Sunnis fear a possible , though improbable , infiltration of Shia Islam from Iran . Qaradawi , who is a controversial figure in the West but has millions of Sunni followers , timed his remarks on the heels of a speech a week earlier by Hassan Nasrallah , the Hezbollah leader . Nasrallah acknowledged what had been an open secret -- that Hezbollah fighters are in Syria battling the Sunni opposition and supporting the al-Assad regime . Like Qaradawi , Nasrallah said his condemnation of the Sunnis did not apply to all -- just those fighting al-Assad -- but he too aimed to escalate the sectarian animosity that has already begun to grip the Muslim world . What is striking about the statements by Nasrallah and Qaradawi , and their timing , is that the other open secret -- a deepening sectarian conflict spreading throughout the region -- has now been publicly acknowledged . In the past , both men attempted to talk in fake pleasantries about the other sect . Nasrallah claimed Hezbollah was fighting the `` resistance '' ( the war against Israel ) for all Muslims , and Qaradawi spoke of closing the divide between Shia and Sunni . On May 31 , Qaradawi reiterated this message in his Doha speech and explained why he has had a change of heart . `` I kept calling for years ( for efforts ) to bridge the gap between sects , and traveled to Iran during the era of former President Mohammad Khatami ( but ) these fanatics ( in Iran ) and hard-liners want to disempower the Sunnis . They deceived me and deceived many others like me by saying that they , too , want to bridge the differences , '' Qaradawi said . It is entirely possible that escalation of the sectarian conflict will lead to a profound remapping of some Arab states . This is already a likely possibility in Syria . If a negotiated settlement is not reached between al-Assad 's government and the opposition , al-Assad and his minority Alawites could partition the country by forming their own enclave , apart from the Sunni majority . In Iraq , Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al Maliki is trying to sustain and consolidate Shia dominance by excluding the Sunni from important institutions and labeling them terrorists . More broadly , the country is witnessing a return of Shia-Sunni clashes at the societal level -- some of the largest since 2006 . Even before the Syrian civil war began , sectarian conflict was a major outcome of the U.S. invasion of Iraq . In the tug of war between the Shia and Sunni , Nasrallah 's power is likely to diminish while that of Qaradawi is likely to rise . Once a leader who had support among the Sunni for defeating Israel in a battle in 2006 , Nasrallah , in fighting for Assad , has transformed himself and his movement into a strictly Shia paramilitary force engaged in a war with an uncertain outcome . Qaradawi , however , is riding a wave of Sunni triumphalism in the region and his sectarian rhetoric is likely to bolster the Sunni ascendancy , no matter what happens in Syria . Both men 's words leave little hope for reconciliation between Shia and Sunni , and instead serve as an open invitation for increased sectarian warfare -- now more likely than ever to be the most significant outcome of the recent Arab uprisings .
Geneive Abdo : The first thing I noticed was the smell. She says a prominent Sunni cleric gave sermon demonizing the Shia sect . Yusuf al Qaradawi harshly criticized Hezbollah which is backing Assad 's regime in Syria . Abdo : There 's little hope of tamping down the increasingly tense relationship .