Revolutions in the Middle East? I hope they go the other way and look for real freedom of mind!
”This suppression of majority Shiites’ right in Bahrain should no longer be tolerated.”
It is not about Shiite and Sunni way, it is all about human way.
People are confused at the nature of the Shiite-Sunni uprising today. Threats of mass Talibanization and Mahdaviat are at the core of possible end results. Is removal of self-indulgent Saudi Monarchy and its replacement with another strain of ‘Mahdaviat’ an option? I hope they go the other way and look for real freedom of mind. Revolutions that changed the world were inspired by the Lockes, Voltaires and Rousseaus of the world. But thinkers of such caliber in the Middle East who have talked of “enlightenment” and freedom have been subjects of attack and considered heretics, like Neguib Mahfouz. The Dark Ages of Europe were truly dark until the Renaissance of the 14th and 15th century which broke the chains of extreme ideology and theology. Free thought in Islamic societies is considered to be annihilative, but without concrete “free thought,” there will be no progress. Revolutionaries should first understand and appreciate that freedom comes from acceptance of contrary opinions. Unfortunately the revolutions in the hinterland of Middle East are targets of hijack by extreme ideological and historical strains that have divided Islam for 1,400 years.
I would like to discuss the theological issues that may need to be understood thoroughly to understand the genesis of these revolutions.
What kind of freedom are Shiites or Sunnis seeking? Will these freedoms meet the fate of Iran’s revolution which descended into total anarchy after the Shah followed by a disconnect with the modern world in the ensuing three decades? Revolutions should bring some kind of enlightenment. Liberty seekers should not become killers of liberty once they are in power. People on the street want their freedom but there looms a question mark on the intention of the new incoming leadership representing the very same “freedom.” If a revolution means replacement by another dictatorship, then what we will have is a failed movement. Liberty truly means acceptance of secular liberal democracy as a way of life and designating religion to its right place, restricted to the belief that it is a private matter between you and God.
“Talibanization” was the Sunni answer to the Shiite revolution of Iran. Bin Laden wanted to become the ‘Ayatollah Khomeini of the Sunni world.’ Talibanization under him would have definitely moved south into the hinterland of Pakistan as a counter to the Shiite revolution of Ayatollah. Global intifada is the part of the strategy of those who think revival of old Islam values and Caliphate is the only solutions for them.
Bin Laden and Mullah Omar, the ousted Taliban leader, used Afghanistan as a base for their strategy, the ultimate aim of which was to launch a Sunni revolution across the Muslim world in a hope to bring down moderate regimes such as Pakistan and Saudi in its first stage. Bin Laden, a veteran of Afghan wars, found in the Taliban enough of the tribalism and backwardness that could help him reincarnate the 1,400-year-old epoch once again.
Beyond abject poverty of Shiites and inequality in the littoral Gulf states the nexus of uprising is Shiite obsession with ‘Mahdaviat’ that demands ‘Global Chaos Creation’ as a cornerstone strategy:
One of the main reasons nations implode is the kind of ideological nonsense that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad articulated recently – that a new Middle East is being created which would be free of the United States and Israel. This was okay, as he calls for these ‘annihilations’ most of the time, but Ahmadinejad in his fiery style revealed his messianic beliefs saying the world was witnessing a revolution managed by Imam Mahdi, the 12th Shiite Imam who disappeared as a five-year-old in the 10th century and who Shiites believe would return on Judgment Day.
“The final move has begun. We are in the middle of a world revolution managed by this dear (12th Imam). A great awakening is unfolding. One can witness the hand of Imam in managing it,” said Ahmadinejad, wearing his trademark jacket.
Creation of universal strife and commotion is very much a part of Mahdaviat; peace and cohabitation in the world makes it superfluous. Iranian President is duty bound to help create environs which is conducive to the Mahdi’s return; unfortunately, ‘universal peace’ does not help the prophecies that are an integral part of his understanding of the scriptures.
Present insanity, psychosis, wars and craftiness in politics of the Middle East have religious historical conjecture; the higher the chaos and bigger the noise, the greater the chances of divine intervention. Very few in the West can understand the undercurrents of self-obliteration so evident in the cult of Mahdaviat.
In 2006, miscalculation of the Mahdi’s appearance cost Iran and their Hezbollah proxies in Lebanon opportunity losses for the next 5 years. The anarchy in Lebanon it appeared was not big enough to help the Imam appear from the greater Occultation! Maybe they now need to prepare for a bigger chaos! If all of the Middle East is involved in a chaotic turn of self-destruction, Mahdiviat becomes faster to manifest. What next? Maybe nuclear-tipped Zalzals might help tip the balance and generate sufficient universal anarchy for the Imam to finally come out of the heavenly shroud.
These kinds of statements prepare the ground for possible annihilation at a mass scale in the Middle East; this is exactly the kind of thinking that is embedded in a society as a result of a deficient intellect and reliance on miracles from a higher concourse.
On the other hand, Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is the mother of all intellectual radical movements of the world:
The Muslim Brotherhood provides the philosophical bedrock to the right wing entities who believe that the Islamic way of life will rule the world one day. This continuous 1400-year old romance with the idea of bringing back the “Golden Age” was very much clear in the fringes of the Egyptian revolution. It is the notion of nirvana through God’s system that will not bring any real change in Egypt. Freedom through the ballot box means that those who are friends of freedom and liberty should continue to ascendancy and those who want to instill radical dogma as a policy of statecraft should lose out. This is the real challenge for Egyptians – to understand that to progress means universal education, to progress means universal rights to all minorities, to respect their places of worship; to progress means understanding the unique feature that their thought is not superior to anyone else’s and to coalesce various demands into one charter of basic rights – this is what the Egyptian opposition should look for. The resumption of geopolitical confrontationist policies and ties with failed radical movements of the region will only lead to major disasters.
Extreme strains of Shiite doctrine and Sunni Talibanization have one common cause:
To take the world down the route of archaic medievalism. Revolutions are inspired by the prophets and so-called “heretics” of ‘Enlightenment.’ Until Iranian/Arab enlightened philosophers are brought ahead of the sacred writings no ‘revolt’ is possible. Revolutions only succeed when a society is able to embrace new realities. If society chooses to live in intellectually degenerate decadence and old thought, any revolution will only be a tool to accelerate its fall to ignominy and disasters.
Shiites may need to practice Grand Ayatollah Sistani’s favoured doctrine of “quietism” over calls of “activism.” Today the time has come for the Shiites and Sunnis to become pragmatic about their closeness and demand of Allah-instituted earth; the idea has to be finally put to rest otherwise the Middle East will dwell in a long period of instability for the foreseeable future. The Eastern province and entire Persian Gulf is predominated by the Shiites. During the war with Iran, Iraqi Shi’ites, who formed the rank and file of the Iraqi infantry, fought against their Iranian coreligionists, demonstrating that their loyalty to the Iraqi state overrode sectarian allegiance and their discontent with the Sunni-dominated Baath regime. Iraqi Shiites are known historically for their “Iraqi nationalism” whereas Iraqi Sunnis have looked towards “Arab nationalism” as the clarion call.
Within the Great Shiite-Sunni Schism lies a minor but potentially hopeful Schism i.e. intra Shiite Schism:
To understand the background of this schism between Qum and Najaf, one needs to look profoundly at contemporary centers of Shi’ite learnings. Four senior Grand Ayatollahs constitute the Religious Institution (al-Hawzah al-‘Ilmiyyah) in Najaf, the preeminent seminary center for the training of Shiite clergymen. Before the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, Najaf was the most important center of study for Shia religious leaders. However, Saddam Hussein ordered mass arrests and the expulsion of senior clerics, giving the Iranian seminary in the city of Qom the opportunity to take over the religious leadership of the Shias. Qom became the preeminent religious center for Shia Muslims since the Iranian revolution, but Najaf has a history of more than a millennium of leadership, and the Iranian clerics who run the holy city of Qum, are facing a revived rival.
As of mid-2003 the seminary in Qom hosted between 40,000 and 50,000 clergy, while the number in Najaf stood at about 2,000, down from about 10,000 before the Ba’ath regime took. The first exodus from Qom to Najaf is expected to be by exiled Iraqi clerics, estimated to number between 3,000, and 5,000.
At the heart of the schism lies the reluctance of Najaf’s seminary to get involved in worldly affairs — in essence al-Hawzah al-‘Ilmiyyah in Najaf wants to shield the highest Shi’ite religious leadership, the marjaiyya, from politics – this is an old tension within Shi’ite Islam between two conflicting tendencies, quietism and activism. Whether clerics should confine their activities to religious affairs or also seek a role in politics has been a matter of fierce debate among Shi’ites for well over a century. While Sunnis, in theory, are expected to obey their rulers and even tolerate a tyrant in order to avoid civil strife and preserve the cohesion of the Muslim community, observant Shi’ites recognize no authority on earth except that of the imam.
The twelfth imam is believed to be hidden from view and is expected to return one day as a messianic figure, the Mahdi. In his absence, there can be no human sovereign who is fully legitimate. This ambivalence towards worldly power has resulted in different interpretations within Shi’ite Islam regarding government accountability and the role of clerics in state affairs. Imam Khomeini’s concept of the rule of the jurist is only one among several competing views.
Qom is worried about facing a challenge over the concept of the Velayat-e-Faqih – the God-given authority for a top religious leader to oversee secular in the absence of the Prophet Mohammad and infallible imams. The Najaf seminary’s view of the Velayat-e-Faqih is that of a supervisor and adviser. The Qom school believes the opposite, with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, officially considered as the highest religious authority of the world’s Shias. Qom sees the direct involvement of clerics in state ruling and executive affairs as their legitimate right and moral obligation.
The battle of wills in the present altercation between Najaf and Qom will dictate the course of future Shiite revolutions:
Grand Ayatollah Sistani and his favored doctrine of “quietism” should win over calls of “activism.” From designed chaos aimed at popular uprising of the South to peaceful withdrawal, Sistani’s political maneuverings helped defuse the crisis in Iraq. In the process he has emerged as a new force to reckon with. Iranian-born Sistani plans to have higher goals; his ambitions of Shiite heart and soul stems from his desire to shift the thrust of Shiite theocracy from Qum to Najaf and Karbela. The Shiites of the Gulf should probably follow “quietism” to coexist with Sunni-dominated GCC. There is absolutely no doubt that the Genie is out of the lamp.
iqbal.latif@gmail.com