A Discourse Analysis of the Unity of the Shiites and the Sunnites

The theory of ‘approximation’ between the Shiite and the Sunnite elites, and unity in the followers of the two sects may be investigated from different viewpoints. However, it seems that it has not been investigated from the viewpoint of discourse analysis yet. The present article claims that if this issue is studied through discourse insight, it will lead to new and deep findings. By using discourse ‘insight’ instead of discourse ‘method’, we mean freedom from the entailments of postmodern methods of discourse. The essence of religion is not consistent with the problems of postmodern methods. Although committing to using a method necessitates committing to the entailments of that method, applying the insights of a method does not mean accepting all the presuppositions, principles and consequences of that method. In the present article, to emphasize the global unity of the Shiites and the Sunnites, we attempt to make use of some of the conceptions and principles of the method of discourse analysis – emphasizing on Laclau and Mouffe. It seems that if the problem of unity is analyzed with discourse insight, many instances of otherness of the Shiite/Sunnite organizations are restricted to special conditions, and a new way is created for harmony of these two sects.