Middle East Focus: Islamic Scholars Opine on Revolution, Oppression, and the Shari’a…………

Arabia Deserta

Islamic Scholars Opine on Revolution, Oppression, and the Shari’a…………

Walking on water

“Shaikh Yosef al-Qardhawi, head of the International Union of Muslim Ulema said that 'Zealous Salafism'and Sufism both agree on demeaning the Arab revolutions through their encouragement of a “poisonous culture” that ties fitna (sectarian and national divisions) to rebellion against rulers. At a symposium in Doha about the relationship between the ruler and those ruled (the people) Al-Qardhawi stressed that Islam orders us to rise against oppression and injustice by the rulers…… He said that injustice and usurping people’s rights justify rebellion by the people against their rulers, stressing that achieving freedom precedes the application of the Shari’a in Islam. The secretary general of the Scholars Union also considered popular rebellions as a form of the ‘propagation of virtue and prevention of vice’…….He said that regional rulers treat their peoples with arrogance and hog absolute power for themselves…….”

This type of attitude is certain to rile up the Qataris’ fellow oligarchy rulers in the Gulf, especially the rulers of Bahrain who have serious issues with their people, and the Saudis who are beginning to hear popular rumblings. But they are both right about Salafis: they adhere, nay cling, to one Hadith in justifying their cozy ties to despots. This Hadith quotes an ‘alleged’ saying by the Prophet, telling people to obey their Muslim rulers no matter how unjust these rulers are (as long as they are Muslim and enforce Islamic laws). This ‘alleged’ Hadith has been used extensively by the modern Salafis to justify their comfortable and convenient alliances with some of the most oppressive and most corrupt regimes in our region. It has been used to selectively pick causes to sanction as 'Islamic' and causes that have been opposed as 'un-Islamic'. This is starkly clear in places like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, where the Salafis have had a marriage of convenience with unsavory rulers (a sort of mesayar marriage, or even a mut’a marriage, of convenience).

The Salafi movement is full of contradictions, like all such movements, and it is full of opportunism as well, probably more than other movements. The movement is schizophrenic: it supports some of the most oppressive and most corrupt rulers in our region against their peoples. In addition to doctrine, it is also probably a case of money, access to influence, and the view that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend, for now”.
Yet Salafis also have a warm spot for the likes of Osama Bin Laden and his cave-dwellers, no friends of these regimes. Many of them still hold the hope that Bin Laden may someday see the light and fly into Riyadh, and straight into the forgiving royal arms. Hope springs eternal.
Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com