The battle of ideas within Islam
Moderate Muslims around the globe challenge Wahhabism.
The Washington Post
reports on the connection between the Saudi royal family and the strict brand of Islam known to the Western world as "Wahhabism." Wahhabism, which goes against much of the Koran's teaching about tolerance for other religions and individuals, has become closely identified with Al Qaeda. The
Post reports that it's also the strain that has been supported by billions of dollars from the Saudi royal family since the early 60s.
The worldwide export of Wahhabi Islam began in 1962 as a response to the
Pan-Arabism of then-Egyptian president
Gamal Nasser. Mr. Nasser was also advocating the overthrow of the Saudi monarchy. Since then the Saudi royal family has seen the export of this brand of Islam as "a sacred duty," known as 'dawah.'
Western diplomats stationed in Riyadh liken the Sauds' fervor to the zeal of the United States' own fundamentalist sects. "For Saudi Arabia to stop Dawah would be a negation of itself," said Sherard Cowper-Coles, the British ambassador to the kingdom. "It would be like Bush telling Evangelical Christians to stop missionary work abroad."
Meanwhile, the
Guardian reports, in the early 80s US officials saw no problem with Saudi money pouring into US mosques. They considered it as a "bulwark" against the "
radical Shiism" of Iran's then-leader, Ayatollah Khomeini.
"Many countries in the West asked Saudi Arabia to get involved in these [Islamic] centers because at that time Saudi Arabia was considered moderate," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Faisal said in an interview [with the
Washington Post] in March. The Americans "felt comfortable with the presence of the Saudis," he said.
The Christian Science Monitor reported last week on how moderate Muslims in the United States are starting to
speak out publicly against the extremist positions advocated by Wahhabism, and work with US law enforcement officials.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council has launched a
five-step program to teach Muslims how to "contact law enforcement if they suspect terrorist activity in a mosque; reemphasize that terrorism is not a valid means of struggle in Islam; and develop skills to detect criminal activities."
The
Monitor also reports that as Muslims become part of mainstream America society, it's less likely that extremists can use mosques as "breeding grounds for terrorism."
It becomes less likely each year as the Muslim mosque community emerges into the American mainstream, says Ihsan Bagby, professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky and coauthor of a recent study of attitudes among Detroit area mosques. "The 9/11 attack has really propelled the Muslim community to become more involved in American society. It has translated bitterness over American foreign policy into constructive engagement." Other nations are also looking at ways to promote more moderate views. The
International Herald Tribune reported recently that Spain has begun discussions on a proposal that would see the government
funding mosques in order to free them from financial dependence on "outside" sources. Spanish investigators say the terrorists who blew up trains in Madrid on March 11, killing 191 people, "attended mosques that had ties to Wahhabism."
Publicly, the proposal is being presented mainly as an egalitarian measure intended to offer all of Spain's major religions the same treatment given the Catholic Church, which has received state funding under a supposedly temporary agreement reached with the Vatican in 1979. But officials in the interior and justice ministries say the proposal is also motivated by a desire to seal off Spanish mosques from the influence of extremists in other countries.
The Christian Science Monitor reported last month on efforts by the Morrocan government to "rein in"
radical preachers of Wahhabism and to promote the "modernization of religious education." But critics of this plan say it's unlikely to work.
"It's not enough to control mosques to control [Wahhabism]," argues Mr. Darif. "The problem of the mosques is a fake problem. If we could put an end to this Islamist rise through the control of mosques, we would have done it [way before]." The key issue today is how to control clerics without discrediting their state-sanctioned speech and frustrating the population. If you exercise too much control, "you loose the commitment, the charisma. It is a problem posed to all religions. There's an equilibrium that has to be found," says Mohamed Tozy, a university professor and an expert on political Islam. Stanley A. Weiss, chairman of
Business Executives for National Security (a non-partisan group that promites US national security), wrote Tuesday in
The International Herald Tribune about Indonesia, which he believes is a key location in the battle of "ideas" between moderate and extremist Islam. Indonesia, the largest Muslim democracy in the world, is another country where Saudi Arabia has spent millions of dollars to promote Wahhabism.
Weiss argues that education which helps create employment in poor Muslim countries is
one of the best ways the US can fight the spread of extremist ideas, a suggestion also made in the
report of the 9/11 commission. But Weiss says the US is not spending near enough to help countries in this situation.
Muslim nations must make education a priority, and the United States must help. The final report of the Sept. 11 commission called on Washington to "offer an agenda of opportunity that includes support for public education and economic openness." But American resources currently don't match the rhetoric. William Frej, director in Indonesia for the US International Agency for Development, said, "Americans think they spend something like 10 percent of their budget on foreign aid, when the real figure is less than 1 percent." Finally, the
Independent recently profiled Saudi Arabia itself and finds a country "
racked by fundamentalism and political unrest." But, the
Times writes, there is also hope for the future, as the pressures exerted on the Saudi government by foreign sources, and the need to "save the economy and meet the challenges of the modern world" have finally given reformers a stronger voice. Those reformers are arguing that the best way to "marginalize the militants" is to give Saudis a greater say in the running of their own country.
Also...
•
Setting Up War With Iran (
Counterpunch)
•
Don't point the finger at Wahhabism (
Malaysiakini)
•
Old enemies (
Toronto Globe and Mail)
•
Reporter finds Al Qaeda links to blood diamonds (
AllAfrica.com)
•
Hollywood's next battle: Crusades (
New York Times)
• Feedback appreciated. E-mail
Tom Regan
.
|
RSS feed