The Mullahs Weigh In الملالي في وزن

الملالي في وزن

The Mullahs Weigh In

Islam was not the cause or issue behind the Arab revolts, but, as elections approach, Islamists are aggressively seeking power. In Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, the Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Mauritania, uneducated mullahs and imams are slowly tightening their holds over neighborhoods and villages.

Egypt – The Muslim Brotherhood is upset that Egypt's Supreme (Military) Council is giving one third of the seats in parliament, to independents. The MB had calculated that they could win almost a half of the seats, but the secular leaders of the Egyptian revolution, are not going to let that happen. Though the Egyptian MB claims to be “the only organized religious party,' actually, there exists many other religious groups, like the many sufi tariqats. The sufi moderates do not care to be absorbed and denied by the mass organ MB. After all, the MB grew out of Hasan Banna's hatred, ignorance and arrogance. To them, the only problem is the western nations. In this they deviated from the original Muslim reform tradition, initiated by Jalal ad Din Al Afghani, which saw the clergy as the main obstacle to progress.

The MB, were they to take the power, would quickly disable all the other parties as it puts through its narrow, selective interpretation of fiqh and shari'a. Are the Egyptians up for this? What if the economy contracts further? On Oct. 1, the military shura announces a change in the election law, so that supporters of Hosni Mubarak can never hold office. The MB threatened a boycott of the elections by its many members throughout Egypt.  The MB in Egypt have a bad record, and 30 years of repression, has further embittered them. We are right to assume re-polarizations, where the secular intellectuals join with former technocrats and business leaders, to prevent the psuedo-Muslims from gaining power. 

There are some spheres of social interaction in which Islamists have a role.  They should join the neighborhood Muslims and other secular leaders, in providing social services.  Just because you dress in white and pray together does not mean you can run a country or even claim knowledge of Islam. The great limit of almost all Muslim scholars is that they have not looked at the Muslim religion using the skills, techniques and sources of modern social sciences.  Islam does have a role, but the mullahs, muftis and qadis are not even able to analyze land law laid down by Muhammad at Medina, and the Qur'an. The great Muslim jurists talked specifically about waqf or dedicated land, about common land (miri) and  iqta' - land given by the emir to a specific individual;  ijra' or rented land, leased land;  dead land is barren land that no one owns but which can be revived; and finally: the simple free hold of a plot by a man or his brothers - such an arrangement goes directly against the Shari'a. The Qur'an and Muhammad wanted home ownership to be divided, that a mother and a grandmother and sister all get a tranche . 

The point is this: real Islam can be used to combat the usurping Islamists. Terrorism is condemned in the Qur'an, at every step: from the plotting, to the execution, to damnation in hell. Women are given definite rights. But Muslim education is so limited, so poor, that it rather rare to find scholars east or west, who Arabic well enough to examine the actual legal writings. Egyptians

لا يرتكبون الشر أو الأذى به باسمي. إذا قمت بذلك ، سوف أضع النفايات روحك.

Do not use my name to cause harm. If you do, I will lay waste your soul.

Libya – The Libyan democratic forces, now under command of the National Transitional Council, saw one Islamist group, assassinate its commander (M. Yunis) back in July. The Benghazi liberals arrested the killers, neutralizing the Islamist terrorists. But that's one cell amongst some 20. It was the jihadist Bilhaj who commanded the Islamist forces which broke into Qaddafi's compound. He is the leading Islamist member in the NTC.

Note that we do not call these groups Muslim. Islam mean s surrender, surrender to God, but these groups use the religion to justify their narrow, mean, violent ideology. The world is full of prayers, but prayers do little. As the scripture says: “Never use my name to cause harm. If you do, I'll lay waste to your soul.”

The self-acclaimed 'Muslim experts' tell the people that Islam is opposed to 'western' democracy. But that is wrong, inaccurate. Muhammad said “The government must consult with the people at every step.” He also called for the election of the Khalif. The first four 'rashidun' khalifs were elected by the elders of Medina. Finally, Arab nomads generally elect their chiefs – the sheikhs.

Sirte and Bani Walid remain besieged. Many civilians remain, and the NTC does not want to push them into the Qaddafi camp by attacking and killing civilians. We did see the capture of the biggest city in the south, Sabha, in the Fezzan. It is the main town for all the 20 some villages stretching to Ghat, on the southeastern Algerian border. Some three hundred miles north, also on the border with Algeria, is the ancient city of Ghadames. The town traded with Africa across the Sahara, and with the coastal Libyans to the north. On September 28, there was fighting in Ghadames. It seems that the settled folk are ethnically cleansing the native Tuaregs. Or is it pro-Qaddafi forces firing on anti-Qaddafi demonstrators?

The Tuaregs are the Berbers, longidolized by Qaddafi. (He lived in a tent). The Mad Dog of Tripoli may have been born outside Sirte, to Berber/Bedouin parents, but he returned to the remote, isolated Fezzan to go to high school. Sabha turned Qaddafi into a revolutionary, of sorts. Periodically, he tried to show solidarity with the Tuareg, but eventually came to believe they were a n untrustworthy folk to be corralled and settled, using force if necessary. So Qaddafi's reputation with the Tuaregs is equivocal.

NTC officials claimed that Qaddafi was seen in Ghat, on the border with Algeria, on or around Sept.. Regrettably, the NTC does not trust the Tuareg, seeing them as a privileged tribe. In Sabha and Awbari, and Marzuk, Tuaregs were driven from their homes, which were then burned. The Libyan Tuareg are part of a larger confederation of Berber tribes, from Algeria, Mali, Niger, who are bound to come and fight Tuareg enemies in the Libyan Fezzan. Strangely, the coastal Libyans are not admitting the nomads. But only the nomads can control the Libya's immense south.

On the 29^th of Sept., the NTC, Libya's lawful gov., spoke of inaugurating new ministries for a Libyan government., plus elections, and some basic rights. A democratic constitution will eventually be promulgated. But the immediate problem is controlling some 100 militia organs, each armed to the teeth. For example, some 48 militia groups fought in and around Tripoli.The opposition is so diverse that these fighters cannot even be put into categories. Incredibly, monarchists abound.  The Libyans did not forget the wisdom of the royal Senussi teaching brotherhood. That Sufi wisdom was very low key. It was of course the Sanusi emir who led the resistance against the Italians. It is a way, a way to hold Libya together.

Syria - The demonstrations began at the stone mosque of Dera'a al Bilad, over the detention of some teenagers accused of painting anti-government graffiti on walls. That was over six months ago. The unrest spread to Latakia (led by a Sunni cleric), to Homs, Suweida, and Deir Az Zaur in the east, on the Euphrates. Hama rose up. Again, we see peaceful protests become violent – riots, direct assaults on gov. ministries and arsenals. In Dera', rioters burned down valuable buildings. The government shot down rioters, and its own troops who refused to fire on civilians. The unrest spread, week by week, till some 2,700 Syrians had been killed, and another 20,000 missing. Now the Syrian army is attacking Rastan and Homs. They announce their own casualty figures.

The Ba'athi regime of the Al Assad brothers and their Alewite clique appears able to vanquish the 'terrorists' and 'foreign agents.' But can such conflict be sustained? Homs, Hama, Der'a, Suweida, Latakia, Rastan, Deir Az Zaur together with the villages surrounding these towns, have been repressed. For months they've been without water, electrical power, or the freedom to walk around outside. We are worried that Syria will become a humanitarian disaster area. Can the gov. even control its borders? Some small arms have been coming into Syrian over Mount Lebanon. Sunnis arming Sunnis, Shi'a arming Shi'a. No solution appears possible. How about a ceasefire?  The democratic opposition is unarmed, and do not want a big shoot out with the regime. So it is up to Bashar and Mater Al Assad The democrats will not agree to any legal, step-by-step reform process. They do not trust Bashar al Assad. Even if he and his regime agrees to step down with blanket immunity from prosecution, the revolutionaries will not talk to them, for the rebels want revenge, 'justice,'. Too much blood has been shed. But such victim hood augurs poorly for the next twelve months.

Saudi Arabia – There is a long history of royal resistance to fanatic Wahhabi Islamists. Ibn Saudi allied with them, in his bid to take over the Hashimite shrines of Mecca and Medina and create the Saudi state.. Like the Muslim Brotherhood, the Wahhabis are only interested in surface appearances: the shape and length of your beard, your clothes, being seen at prayers, the mouthing of the Qur'an, etc. This superficiality makes possible, step by step, the killing of innocents, even other Muslims. Islam has matured a bit in the Kingdom. Why? Many of the Wahhabi mullahs appointed to the big Saudi-built mosques outside of Arabia, proved downright embarrassing. Many of these clerics supported the political radicalization, the preparation of the youth for jihad, even acts of terror. They themselves demonstrate none of the self-critical logic which is the very root of Islam. They take no blame. Very, very few of those Wahhabi Hanbali clerics ever studied any social science. So what do they know?  Many propagate hatred, just hatred.

Last week the king announced that women will eventually be able to vote in municipal elections. He also overturned the sentence (10 lashes) given to a woman driver in Riyadh. No doubt leading Wahhabi clerics were miffed if not outraged. The repression of women goes directly against Muhammad's practice at Medina. For example, Islam gives property ownership not just to the men, but to all family members. Human rights advocates ask for the election of parliamentary reps. But Saudi Arabia does not even have a parliament. It is governed by the shura council appointed by the king. The campaign to elect parliamentarian representatives constitutes the leading cause for Saudi Arabia's closet opposition.

Bahrain – Twenty doctors were sentenced to prison for 5 through 15 years. The crimes relate to dissidents using the general hospital as a center for rallies and more aggressive operations, aimed at removing the government. How unfortunate that the original leaders of the secular, educated resistance got themselves usurped and hijacked by Shi'i imams and their poor, young activists. Even as they occupied Pearl Square in Manama, the demonstrators tried to differentiate themselves from the many religious and ethnic dissidents, but the moderates were infiltrated, and the revolution taken over by young agents of the clergy. The police fired on the crowd, a bad mistake, as it permitted the radical imami activists, to redefine the movement as a direct bid to overthrow the king. It was a tragic escalation, and no one can be sure who bears greater blame: the regime and its police, or the Shi'i hot heads.

With all the wounded and dead, the general hospital became a tactical center, of sorts. It was taken over for three weeks, becoming a de facto coordination center for the resistance. Hence the prosecution of some 20 personnel out of some 2,400 who work there. These 20 doctors allegedly barricaded themselves off from the rest of the hospital, turning away Sunnis injured by the rioters. Weapons were found stocked in the hospital. Many outside commentators reject this narrative. In their view, the doctors were targeted because they gave interviews to the foreign media in which they condemned the violence, the savage response of the police. Either way it augurs poorly for the future. The tragedy is this: the demonstrators did not, and will not, join the Sunnis in Bahrain's parliament. Reform has been offered, via legal means, for some ten years. But such is the Shi'i leadership that they will only settle for the removal of the government.

The Yemen – No sooner did Ali Saleh arrive in Sana'a, than he ordered his troops to open fire on opposition positions. Many unarmed demonstrators were caught in the crossfire. Part of the army follows dissident Gen. Ali Mohsen. He in turn is tied to the Hashid tribe, led by Sheikh Sadeq al Ahmar. They were the ones who almost killed Saleh some three months ago. Naturally, they are Saleh's chief target. Whether the Revolutionary Guards will do his work remains to be seen.

Yemen is coming apart, resuming a de-centralization mode characteristic of Yemen's history. Basically, the tribes control all movement. Yemen's royalists are the Zaidi Shi'a, in the mountains of the north. There, they've joined the Al Houthi tribe, preventing army occupation of Sa'ada and other towns. The entire south of the country has its own twin agenda: the army tries to exert control over installations (like the port of Aden), and roads, while Al Qaida and its affiliates infiltrate surrounding villages. The Tahima, on the Red Sea coast, is the only quiet place. The main port of Al Hudayda is functioning. Out in the east, there is an array of tribes and clans, in the Hadramaut up through Shibam and Tarim, and the wild northeast of Yemen, centered in Minwakh and Hisn al 'Qabr. Here lives Anwar al Awlaki 'the American,' al Qaida's most dangerous operative. Using drones (probably flying from Masirah Island) and jet strikes from carrier-based bombers, the US DOD and CIA hope to kill him. FLASH:  report of Awlaki being killed by a drone Hellfire, Sept.30.

Again, here is a case where a leader offers to engage in a step-by-step reform, leading to his retirement. But the opposition, led by extremist youths armed with cell phones, has not proven able to pursue such legal step-by-step democratization, even if it calls for the quick retirement of the president. The Yemeni opposition in Sana'a was originally a movement by educated secular dissidents, arising largely over the lack of water, electric power, inexpensive food and fuel, housing and jobs. But other dissidents joined in, taking control: the shebab (the youth) and tribes and labor unions and professional organs.
 

                                                                                                                  By John Paul Maynard