From: Gene McAloon 

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 09:51:20 +0100, Adam Flinton
 wrote:

>Also it should be pointed out that in a sunni islamic system, you can't
>really have an "islamic dictatorship" as in essence, there's you &
>there's God & that's it. i.e. noone twixt you & God &
everyone is equal
>before God etc. No need for a church/mosque etc.etc. Thus no particular
>weight given at an islamic level to some AQ type vs some Bedu with a
>camel or drain cleaner in downtown Riyahd.
>
>The Shia are much bigger on the whole ayatollah bit but in reality most
>of the Sunni view the Islamic republic of Iran with a degree of horror
>as the whole "rule by clerics" is in their view profoundly anti-Islamic
>as it's one of the main things Mohammed tried to ensure would not happen.
>
>Adam

Everything you say in the above is wrong, all of it without exception.

That Sunnis see no need for mosques or clergy because they believe in a
direct relationship between the individual and god is preposterous. 
Beliefs of that kind are restricted to the various Sufi sects, themselves
considered heretical by many of the more orthodox Sunnis. The basic
structure of Islam; mosque, spiritual leaders, lack of a distinction
between church and state, etc. is Sunni. Shiites follow the same basic
beliefs, but differ in who should exercise religious authority - the basic
split between Sunni and Shia.

Your claim that Sunnis find the religious dictatorship of Iran un-Islamic
is hilarious. From Mohammad's time to today, the more radical Sunnis have
tried to wrest power from secular rulers time and again. That is what the
Sunni, Osama bin Laden, is doing. Granted, some of the more conservative
Sunnis think the Wahabi sect heretical, but that is not a universal belief
among Sunnis.

You are confusing Sunni with Sufi, orthodox Islam with mystical Islam and in the
process completely mischaracterizing Islam. All the more so in that
overwhelmingly what Islam is, is what the Sunnis have made of it.

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