Re: On Wahhabism (1 of 3)

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James,

In order to better understand the topic at hand, there must be added a few
other qualifiers. Stephen Schwartz himself is a convert to Islam. He has
chosen to align himself with the Naqshabandi brand of Sufism.

During the period from the thirteenth century to the latter half of the
eighteenth century, the Naqshabandis were the main influence within the
Muslim world and the Muslim empires that ruled much of this world. These
included the Mughals, the Ottomans and the various Khanates of Central
Asia and Eastern Europe.

Since the eighteenth century, there were various Muslim revivalist
movements that dotted the globe. In India, there were the revivalist
movements of Shah Waliullah and Shaikh Syed Sirhindi while in the Nejd
areas of Arabia, Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab led his campaign. While the
campaigns of Shah Waliullah and his counterparts in Egypt and Syria
were essentially revolts against the European colonizers, the campaign of
Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab was directed mostly against the Arabs and Bedouins
who indulged in animist and pagan practices and practices such as grave
worship and witchcraft.

In the last two hundred years or so, the puratanical (or Salafi) brand of
Islam has gained popularity within the Muslim world. That has lead the
Naqshabandis (and other movements such as the Barelvi and other Sufi
orders) on a campaign to discredit the Salafi movement, by branding
it foremost, as a Saudi invention (hence the Wahhabi nomenclature).

Therefore, I view Stephen Schwartz writings as the latest in the
Naqshabandi campaign to discredit the "Wahhabis". Don't get me wrong,
there exists a similar campaign within the Salafi ranks to discredit all
Sufi practices and orders. A casual search on the web on these topics will
help you understand what I mean.

The error that Schwartz makes, and so do many other who oppose this
ideology is that they view the Saudi monarchy and its actions as
representative of a certain ideology. The Saudi monarchy is out to protect
itself, its interests and ensure its survival. If a certain ideology helps
it maintain power, it will adopt that, and when it suits them, it ditches
that part and justifies it under certain religious edicts.

Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab used the writings of Ibn Taimiyya and Ahmed Ibn
Hambal (both were scholars who lived in the early centuries of Islam) to
justify and model his campaign. However, both of these scholars
have firmly held the position that there should be no armed struggle
against an unjust ruler, and opined that patience was the best option.
This part was obviously ignored when Ibn Abdul Wahhab and the founder of
the Saud dynasty (whose name I forget) began an armed struggle against the
Ottomans and their vassals in Mecca. However, these very teachings are
today taught with great importance by the clerics of the Royal family.

Another fallacy that makes the rounds and promoted by Schwartz as well,
is that Saudi oil money is promoting this ideology called Wahhabi'ism.
If we look at the history of any religion or ideology, its success has
always lied in its thoughts and ideals and not some endorsement or patronage.
The success of the various communist/socialist movements lied in its message
of social reform rather than the rubles of the USSR. As a Christian, you
would recognize that much of the conversion of Hindus to Christianity in
recent years is not based on monetary power as claimed by the VHP and its
followers.

The Wahhabi thought survived because it merged itself within the larger
puritanical or Salafi movements that cropped up all across the Muslim
world from India to Morocco. None of these movements puport to be
monolithic and differ from each other in many ways. To classify all these
movements as Wahhabis is, in my opinion, an uneducated attempt to identify
those that are "different".

It is very easy to see the world the way the socialist movements were
viewed in the past. Moscow was the epicenter and it exported this violent
ideology called communism. The fact that much of the socialist movements
were indigenous and in response to certain conditions was glossed over.

In the same way, the increase in the popularity of the Salafi thought
within the Muslim world can be attributed to a variety of reasons. They
can vary from the lingering response to colonialism to lack of democracy
to a response to declining morality. That, in itself, is a subject to
examine.

Best regards,

Tariq



On Mon, 18 Nov 2002, James Almeida wrote:

> Presented without comment.  The publications mentioned are typically deemed
> conservative publications in the US.
>
> James
>
>
> 18 November 2002
> The Good & the Bad
> Stephen Schwartz on Islam and Wahhabism.
>
>
> It was founded by Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who formed an alliance with the
> house of Saud, in which religious authority is maintained by the
> descendants of al-Wahhab and political power is held by the descendants
> of al-Saud: This is the Wahhabi-Saudi axis, which continues to rule
> today. From its beginning, Wahhabism declared the entirety of existing
> Islam to be unbelief, and traditional Muslims to be unbelievers subject
> to robbery, murder, and sexual violation. Wahhabism has always viewed
> Shia Muslims genocidally, as non-Muslims worthy of annihilation.
> Wahhabism has always attacked the traditional, spiritual Islam or
> Sufism that dominates Islam in the Balkans, Turkey, Central Asia,
> India, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Wahhabism and neo-Wahhabism (the latter
> being the doctrines of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and the
> Pakistani Islamists) are the main source of Islamic extremist violence
> in the world today. Wahhabism represents a distinct, ultraradical form
> of Islamism. Wahhabism is completely subsidized by the Saudi regime,
> using oil income.
>
> Wahhabism has always maintained a two-faced policy regarding the West.
> It has always depended on the armed forces of the Christian nations ?
> Britain, the U.S., and France ? to secure its domination in the Arabian
> peninsula, while it violently attacks Jews, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs,
> and Buddhists, as well as traditional Sunnis, Sufis, and Shias,
> throughout the rest of the world. Thus, the presence of U.S. troops
> guarding the Saudis did not begin with the Gulf War in 1991. From 1946
> to 1962 the U.S. maintained an airbase in Saudi Arabia, and before that
> the British assisted the Wahhabi-Saudi alliance against the Ottomans.
> When the Saudis needed to clear the Grand Mosque in Mecca of protestors
> in 1979, they employed French paratroops to kill Muslims within the
> walls of the mosque.
>
> Lopez: How widespread is it?
>
> Schwartz: Wahhabism is official in Saudi Arabia. It is influential in
> Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. It has a substantial
> following in Yemen, which also has many Shia Muslims. It is unpopular
> in Bahrain and irrelevant in Oman.
>
> Outside the Peninsula, Wahhabism is generally unpopular. But where
> trouble is found, Wahhabism may thrive. Hamas in Israel represents pure
> Wahhabism. Forms of neo-Wahhabi or Wahhabized ideology have been
> powerful in Egypt (the Muslim Brotherhood) and in Pakistan ? in both
> countries neo-Wahhabis lead attacks on other Muslims and other faiths.
> But in both countries mainstream Muslim scholars continue to struggle
> against Wahhabism. Wahhabi aggression was defeated in Algeria and
> Tajikistan.
>
> Wahhabi infiltration continues in Chechnya, to the detriment of the
> just struggle of the Chechens against Russian imperialism, and in
> Kashmir, where it is an obstacle to resolution of the conflict. Wahhabi
> extremism and terrorism continue to plague Nigeria, Uzbekistan,
> Indonesia, and the Philippines, although its real supporters in these
> countries are few in number.
>
> But Wahhabi infiltration failed in Bosnia-Hercegovina and suffered a
> smashing repudiation in Kosovo. Albanian Muslims in Macedonia and
> Albania dislike Wahhabism, more intensely in the former than in the
> latter. Wahhabism and its surrogate, the Deobandi ideology of the
> Taliban, has been defeated in Afghanistan. Wahhabism has no real
> following in among the Muslim masses in Francophone West Africa,
> Morocco, Libya, the rest of Central Asia, India, or Malaysia.
>
> As to other Middle Eastern regions and states: Saddam Hussein has used
> Wahhabism to give his regime an Islamic cover, but Wahhabism is deeply
> unpopular in Iraq.
>
> Kurdistan is mainly Sufi in its Islam and aside from a handful of
> mercenary extremists, Kurds reject Wahhabism.
>
> Syria, although a radical Arab state, is Islamically pluralist and
> rejects Wahhabism completely.
>
> Jordan is ruled by Hashemites, who are traditional enemies of Wahhabism.
>
> Turkish Muslims loathe Wahhabism because of its role in subverting the
> Ottoman caliphate.
>
> Iran loathes Wahhabism as much or more, because of its massacres of
> Shias and wholesale destruction of Islamic holy sites, among other
> issues.
>
> And other trouble spots: Sudan is a case unto itself, although Wahhabi
> influence has been present in the Khartoum regime.
>
> Wahhabi infiltration is a serious problem in East Africa.
>
> In the Western European immigrant Muslim communities, Wahhabism has a
> presence in France but has been weakened by the atrocities in Algeria.
> Britain has a loud Wahhabi, neo-Wahhabi, and Wahhabi-wannabe element
> but little real support for it among local Muslims. Wahhabism and
> Islamic extremism in general are weak in Germany, where most Muslims
> are Turkish and Kurdish.
>
>
>
>
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--
Tariq Siddiqui
tariq-w7o8QSjbB3j2fBVCVOL8/A@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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----------------------------------------------------------
What's On In Goa (WOIG): 
Nov 06 Children's book exhibn opens, Walkabout, Anjuna... (all weekdays)
Nov 06 ArtHouse, Calangute: Chaitali's acrylics on canvas till 19.11
Nov 07 Revision of electoral rolls (till Nov 30) See schedule.
Dec 01 Two day conference, Goa Agenda. IT For Society. (Ends 2.12) 
Every Sunday: Music therapy sessions at Moira, 5 pm. 278, N.Portugal

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