“Last week, 128 clerics and Islamists formed the Syrian Islamic Council (SIC) in Istanbul with a stated mission to serve as a religious authority for all Sunnis in Syria. Unlike previous Islamic councils in the country, the SIC has combined three otherwise irreconcilable Islamic currents under one canopy: Sufis, Muslim Brotherhood and Sururis. This latter component deserves a closer look. They are a hybrid movement that blends Salafism with Muslim Brotherhood ideology, while not agreeing with either. The movement incorporates Wahhabi teachings, mainly those of the “father of Salafism” Ibn Taymiyya, with the Brotherhood’s teachings, including those of Sayyid Qutb, the “father of modern fundamentalism”. Sheikh Mohammed Surur Zain Al Abedine, a former member of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, founded the movement in the 1970s in Saudi Arabia……………..”
This looks like an attempt to sneak in a Wahhabi “church” hierarchy into the future of Syria without saying so. A halfhearted attempt to establish a “Sunni” equivalent of the highly independent Shi’a Hawza in Najaf (Iraq) but what they seek is a highly politicized one that is subservient to the Al Saud princes. A blend of Islam and Wahhabism to keep the West and many Syrian mollified while reassuring the Al Saud potentates and moneybags.
It will not work: Syrian Sunnis are a sophisticated bunch and will see through the machinations behind it and many will reject it. Besides, the Salafis are the least trustworthy of all Islamist groups and others will not trust them after they betrayed the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and supported the military coup last summer.
In cases like this, usually the common denominator would be the most extreme, or the worst, depending on one’s point of view. Many Syrians (secular or religious) don’t cotton up to legally chopping heads and cutting off limbs and stoning and crucifixion in public.
Cute, but no cigar.
Cheers
mhg
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