Sunnis state that the adhan was not written or said by the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, but by one of his Sahabah (his companions).
People such as Ibrahim al-Sumadaie of the Iraqi Constitutional Party fear that JRNT could become increasingly attractive to Sunnis aggrieved by a Shiite dominated government or those who had previously left the insurgency and switched sides to the Coalition forces to fight al Qaeda, such as the Awakening Councils, who now feel abandoned.
His father and grandfather killed British Colonel Gerard Leachman and played a part in the 1920 revolution against British imperial rule, which was the fiercest in the Shi'ite south, and was a seminal moment of unity between Iraq's Sunnis, Shi'ites, and Kurds that forced the British to allow a form of self-rule.
A November 2004 Washington Post interview with the group's leader, Ishmael Jubouri, stated that the IAI was predominantly composed of Iraqis (Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, and Arabs) trying to force foreign troops out of Iraq.
Yusuf ibn abd al-Barr, an 11th-century Maliki jurist, writes that there have been differences of opinion on this issue and Sunnis accept the second coming of Jesus only through individual reports by narrators who are of sound character—a view supported by majority of Muslims (see Jesus' second coming).
According to one analyst, the controversy over the cartoons has resulted in bridging some of the divides that both sides of the "West vs Jihadist" conflict have historically exploited: The rift between the United States and Europe on one side, and the rift between Sunnis and Shiites on the other side.
Although these Shias are few in number, Shia observance commemorating the martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Husain ibn Ali, is widely observed by the nation's Sunnis.
Journalist Nir Rosen, writing for Al Jazeera, reported that members of the Alawite sect are afraid of Sunni hegemony, as they were oppressed by Sunnis during Ottoman times and in the early years of the 20th century, the Sunni merchant class held much of the country's wealth and dominated politics.