Sectarian Disease

(This is what our enemies wanted us to be. Divided into different sectarian pieces. This BLOG has several writings denouncing the evil of sectarianism. The matter going beyond the limits of the division within the societies in the Muslim countries, now the neighbouring countries are seen subject to the same plague. It was almost two and half decades back, after the heroic struggle of the Afghan Mujahidin became fruitful in getting their country free from the Red Imperialism by defeating Russia on their soil when we started smelling the secret plots of the American media and Think Tanks to make the Muslim societies disjointed through injecting sectarianism in their veins. Only a few years ago RAND, one of the biggest American Think Tanks, published its detailed and comprehensive reports suggesting their administration to mould a policy of projecting Sufism and debilitating Wahabism, Traditionalism and Fundamentalism. Iranian revolution and start of Afghan Jehad were coincidently very close phenomenons of the post World War -II. The Americans were backing the Afghan resistance to make its rival super power Russia collapse. At the same time America had made very narrow observations of miracalous outcome of the Faith. Since then the West had started to get alarmed of Wahabism. Shia Iran had already set a very difficult task and proved a great trouble for the American. So, the game started to set the integrity of the Muslim Ummah into pieces by creating divisions of on one hand Wahabism and Shiaism, on the other hand clash of Sunni and Shia and last and not least, of Sufism and Wahabism. Now, their evil designs seem to be successful. Iran has chosen to take side of Syria in crushing a popular rise against Bashar Al-Asad regime. Thus two Shia states have joined their hands in accordance. Turkey is on other side thought to be leading Sunni school of thought. Saudi Arabia is the third giant actor in this game. Very recently the Prime Ministers of Iraq and Turkey have exchanged serious and bitter words and caused ignominy for eachother. The article below has been taken from a Turkish English Daily Today's Zaman with thanks to the writer and the newspaper. Munir Ahmed Khalili)

ABD,ÜLHAMİT BİLİCİ

 Over the years, we have learned more and more about methods used in line with ideologies and religious trends that are imbued with hostility towards Islam. We know of the harm they do to Muslims, which is not surprising.

After all, what could be more natural than factions focused on hatred and enmity to do what they feel is asked of them? More surprising, and for that matter interesting, are the blows struck against Islam by those who emerge from the ranks of Muslims, thinking they are speaking in the name of Islam. Sometimes words spoken or actions taken by said individuals can do more damage than any good acts could possibly repair. One of the most prominent examples of such blows being struck to Islam from within the ranks of Muslims were the words by Saudi head mufti Sheik Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, who, thinking he was somehow speaking for the Islamic world in general, asserted, “The churches on the Arab peninsula ought to be torn down.” For those factions wishing to see Islam associated entirely with ignorance and terrorism, there could not have been a better gift.

And, in fact, they took great advantage of this opportunity. People who represent reasonable and moderate approaches spoke out in attempts to reduce the damage done by these words, making brave pronouncements against this skewed interpretation of Islam. Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, secretary-general of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), noted that Islam’s stance of respect for other the Abrahamic religions in particular is known and recognized both religiously and historically. Recalling the freedom of religion granted by notable Islamic figures towards believers of these other faiths, İhsanoğlu pointed to the fact that places of worship for these three great religions coexist in peace in Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo and İstanbul and that this reality is one which stands as an example to humanity, even now in the 21st century. As for the reaction of the Religious Affairs Directorate, its head, Mehmet Görmez, earlier this month said: “This way of thinking is a curse to both to the basic foundations of Islam and to 14 centuries of experience with civilizations. It can never be accepted.”

Although it is sad to hear a man of religion call for the “tearing down of churches,” it is equally saddening and harmful to see a nation that bears the name “Islamic Republic” in its title have in power a blood-stained regime supported by a sectarian mentality. Thankfully, just as there were those who emerged from within the Sunni world to respond negatively to the aforementioned sheik who believed he was speaking in the name of Sunnis everywhere, there are also Shiites emerging these days to oppose the support given to the regime in Syria by those who engage in politics in the name of all Shiites, such as Iran and Hezbollah.

Words spoken to the Timeturk news website by the first secretary-general of the Hezbollah in Lebanon Sheik Subhi al-Tufayli, were for all these reasons of historic character. Sheik al-Tufayli said that the sectarian ways embraced by the leadership in both Iran and Saudi Arabia are a disaster for the Islamic world and that the support given by the Iranian government and Hezbollah to the regime in Syria is wrong.

Appearing at an İstanbul press conference recently, Görmez voiced strong complaints about mistakes in the Islamic world that are doing just as much damage as blows struck by the West. Görmez, noting that it is really political ambition that lies behind regional sectarian violence, said that Muslims and the rest of the world can overcome this tension not through Western humanitarianism but rather through Islamic wisdom. The problems in the Islamic world never seem to come to an end because we have turned our backs on the tradition of wisdom in which we were steeped for centuries and have instead sought to console ourselves with a dried-out, empty, frozen over sort of piety, he said. Yes, questioning is important, but amnesty and forgiveness are even loftier.

Görmez also pointed to the fact barely any religious works produced in Turkey are available at Western booksellers and libraries. He then underscored three points on this front. One was that with the increasing polarization in Turkey, the “middle road” seems to remain in the shadows. The second point is that the most significant problem in the Islamic world today is that spiritual therapy is sought without the proper remedy. Islamic history is completely discounted and, in its place, conclusions are drawn from other pieces of “evidence.” The statement about “tearing down churches” is one of the results of this problem. The third major problem, according to Görmez, is that some of the knowledge centers of the Islamic world, such as madrasahs and other Islamic schools, in fact are creating problems.

There is a total of 7,000 foreign students at all universities in Turkey. At the same time, at Al-Azher University in Egypt alone, there are 38,000 foreign students. At the University of Qom in Iran, there are 42,000 foreign students. These students are all learning religion, but what exactly they are learning and how true it is is a matter of some question. Thus, these knowledge centers need to be reviewed. One possibility is that the directors of these institutions could come to Turkey, where there are meetings on this topic.

As one can now clearly see, both Turkey and the world in general need more than ever a Religious Affairs Directorate that can do its job and religious institutions the spirit of which is not removed from the world around them.