Suicide Bomber Targets Shiite Mosque in Saudi Arabia

On May 22, 2015, a suicide bomber targeted the Shia Imam Ali Mosque in al-Qadeeh, a village located in Saudi Arabia’s eastern Qatif province. This suicide bombing marks the first of such attacks in Saudi Arabia amidst growing regional tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

The attack occurred when worshippers were honoring the birth of Imam Hussein, who is revered by Shiites, in the seventh century. Reports state that the bomber stood with the worshippers during their prayers and then detonated a suicide vest that had been hidden beneath his clothing as they exited the mosque.

This attack is the second to occur against Shiites in the past six months. Last November, a shooter killed eight worshippers in al-Ahsa, another village located in eastern Saudi Arabia, and the Islamic State was blamed for the attack.

The majority of Saudi Arabia’s population is Sunni, and its large Shia minority, which comprises ten to fifteen percent of the population, lives mostly in the Eastern Province. The Shia population claims to be discriminated against by the Sunni government by being denied resources and funding. They say that they are denied access to education, employment, equal opportunities in the government and military, and equality in the eyes of the judicial system. They also are denied religious freedom and cannot build their own mosques.

Sectarian conflict in Saudi Arabia is fueled by Wahhabism, an ultraconservative branch of Sunni Islam that views the Shiite practice of praying at the tombs of religious figures as polytheism. The country additionally is being affected by larger regional conflicts, and the attack comes in the midst of the Saudi-led fight against the Shiite Houthis, who have recently seized power from the Sunni government in Yemen. Though no group has claimed responsibility for the attack in al-Qadeeh, it comes on the same day as an ISIS bombing attack at a Shiite Houthi mosque in Sanaa, Yemen.

The Sunni-Shia conflict dates back to the beginnings of Islam and stems from a conflict over who the next leader of the Muslim community should have been following the death of the Prophet Muhammad. After centuries of growing conflict and differences in religious practices, governments affiliated with one branch have used their power to discriminate and oppress the other.  As the conflict intensifies and lengthens in Yemen, an ideological proxy war for Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran, the region will likely experience an increase in targeted suicide bombings.