A Delegated System of Governance: Understanding the Concepts of Imamat and Wilayat in Shi’a Islam, Part II

October 13, 2020

by Mansoureh Tajik for the Saker Blog

 “In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

In Part I of this topic (See here), the inception of the Islamic Republic of Iran under the leadership of Imam Khomeini was referenced as a specific example of a system in governance based on Imamat and Wilayat as interpreted, implemented, and practiced in Shi’a Islam. Iran was a nation pegged and primed to become a model for a fully secularized, westernized, and liberalized society in a Muslim majority land. This was a nation endowed with lucrative material wealth and natural resources, several millennia of civilization, culture, and written history but headed by a darling pro-Western puppet regime brought about through series of costly overt and covert schemes and operations.

As well it was stated in the article that the inception of this system was to bring the Word of God into the governance of people exactly when supercilious Western elites, that is, the sorts of elites who have this delusion that history begins and ends with them, were gleefully celebrating an envisioned modern Atlantis in which the Word of God has no place in its systems of governance. Still, the Islamic Republic of Iran happened. Not only did the Islamic Republic of Iran happen, it became a significant, enduring, and dynamic force to reckon with despite all options on and under the table that were thrown at it. Talk about the showing of a heavenly middle phalange. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Before attending to the next segment, I would like to address here a question posed in the comment section of the part I of the essay since the response to that helps with specific points in the overall argument of the essays. “daniel” on October 02, 2020  ·  at 4:46 am EST/EDT wrote:

“99.25% of the participants voted “yes” to an Islamic Republic system of government in Iran[1] replacing a system of monarchy based on an inherited position transfer from a king to his eldest son.”

Was the Iran 1979 referendum (results shown above) a once off thing & considered binding for life or was it set up as a recurring probing exercise which follows some regular interval, say a 50 years cycle?

Until 1979, any major movement, like the Constitutional Movement of 1906 or any systematic mechanism that could have legitimately and authentically admitted the will of the people into the system of governance had often been violently suppressed. I addressed some of that in another essay last year titled “Willfully and Consciously Demonizing Shia: the Leadership of the Pious.” Please see here.

The revolution of 1979 happened because for hundreds of years almost all major and minor movements to reform the system of governance according to authentic desires and will of the people of Iran had failed. The referendum in 1979 was the first and the ONLY straight forward mechanism at that time to get the voices of the people heard, clearly documented, and actualized. After some revisions to the constitution 10 years later, another nationwide referendum was held and 97.38% of the participants approved the revised version of the constitution. Furthermore, through direct election of their representatives into Majlis Shoraye Islami (an assembly of 290 seats) and Majlis Khobregah Rahbari, the Assembly of Experts for Leadership (consisting of 88 seats), the people of Iran could make decisions about the constitution and the Wali Faqih, respectively.

When there are already appropriate, effective, and functioning venues and mechanisms in place, the need for a referendum becomes null and void unless either all of those systems become so corrupt and dysfunctional that the will of the people can no longer be genuinely manifested, or the issue in question is so novel that the approval of which does not fall within the realm of the established mechanisms and requires a nationwide referendum. So far, we have had neither of those situations occurring in Iran.

I would like to add a comment that I thought the answer provided by another commenter “arash” a good use of the instrument of jadal—a form of argument when one uses already accepted conventions of the opponent as proof and/or refutation of one’s own argument. Although I think “daniel” may have asked the question out of sincere curiosity, I do understand the sensitivity of the question and what may have prompted that response. A repeated ad nauseam favorite false statement by the Zionist West, Inc. has often been that a democratic referendum can work in a Muslim land only once: to bring about an Islamic State into power (often referencing Egypt and Muslim Brotherhood experience of 1950s as example); then it is stopped for good. Nevertheless, we are glad that the democratic processes work so very well and in an exemplary manner at least in the US, France, UK, and elsewhere in the West. Electoral College Votes. Two Party Systems. AIPAC. Industry Lobbies. Yellow Vests. Brexit. Arbitrary Lockdowns…

People. Glass Houses. Stones.

Now, in continuing with our topic in this follow-up essay, we start with defining the terms and concepts related to the topic of wilayat and Imamat. The term wilayat is derived from tri-literal root word “wāw lām yā,” literally meaning “something that comes very closely on the heels of another of a similar essence without distance and separation between the two.”^[1] Depending on the context, the word wali could take different (but related) meanings. Prominent among the meanings are guardian, protector, friend, ally, encouraging, aiding, assisting, heeding, following, parent, and offspring.^[2] The common denominator and implicit in all these meanings of wali and its derivatives are two conjectures: 1) a spiritual and devotional nearness, intimacy, and companionship; 2) a reciprocal and mutual relationship both in theory and in practice.

Generally speaking, anyone and anything can become anyone’s wali and/or one can choose him/her/it as his wali, be it an informal choice and/or a formal declaration though laws and conventions. If you want to know who your wali is, you must take an inventory of who and what your closest allies, companions, influencers, friends, masters, and followers are and how you spend most of your time. While at it, you should examine what credentials those awlia (plural form of wali) have, where they are leading you, what the final destination and ultimate consequence of the path in which you are following that wali are. Let’s make the meaning of the term more palpable and empirical.

An alcoholic has chosen alcohol and its colleagues –that is, anything and anyone connected to it by way of selling, serving, producing, distributing, and more – as his awlia. He spends part of his time chasing after getting that alcohol and the remainder of his time following where that alcohol takes him (in mind, body, and soul). Obedient to his wali to the bone. Ditto with a drug addict, sex addict, food addict, fame addict, internet addict, and you name it. For capitalists, capital et al. are their awlia. For Satan worshippers, Satan is their wali. They chase to find it and they follow where it leads, a downward spiral to be sure. For some Trump and his handlers are their wali/awlia; for others Biden and his handlers are their wali/awlia. Some choose Muhammad bin Salman as their wali, and some do the same with Abul Fattah el-Sisi. Sultan Erdogan Jr. is wali to some and Netanyahu is wali to others. Zionism, imperialism, globalism, and more are all awlia to this, that, and the other. For some, their ego is their wali and for some others their wants, lusts, ambitions and greed.

A troupe of wretched examples to be sure. The reality of our world is such that hopeless examples of wali far exceed the worthy and upright ones. As Molana Jalal-iddin Muhammad (Molavi) in Mathnavi reminds us: رشته ای بر گردنم افکنده دوست — می کشد هر جا که خاطرخواه اوست“A bridle around my neck placed by the beloved – Taking me place to place wherever s/he desires.” So, it behooves us to choose wisely that/s/he which/who we choose as our wali. Generally speaking, that is.

More specifically, however, about the term wali (and its plural form awlia), Quran issues certain caveats. There is a verse in Quran (2:255) called Ayatul Kursi which is memorized and often recited by Muslims with the two verses that follow it, verse 256 and verse 257.^[3] The trio offer many blessings and bounties for those who recite them regularly. So, they are quite well-known among those who are blessed enough to have chosen Quran as their regular companion. All three verses and their translations are in the reference sections. Here, however, I would like to restate first Verse 257 in which the word Wali with a specific meaning of Protecting Guardian and its plural form awlia meaning guardians are used:

 “Allah is Wali [Protecting Guardian] of those who have believed. He brings them out of the darkness(es) toward the light. And those who disbelieved, their awlia [guardians] are the Taghut [transgressing oppressor and evildoers] who bring them out of the light toward the darkness(es). Those are the companions of the fire and they abide therein forever.”

Thus there is only One True Wali for humanity and that is God, the Protecting Guardian. If a person or a collective (an Ummah) chooses anyone and anything other than God as his/her/their guardians, then they are eventually led into nothing but all sorts of darkness: Oppression, misery, ignorance, transgression and more. The choice is clear: Choose One True Wali, or become slaves to many masters and false gods and their self-serving impulses. If a nation does not choose God as One True Wali, it appears that any good-for-nothing two-bit jerk with some capital, fire power, and conniving skills would dare to imagine himself as qualified to be their master and make decision for them. I am just saying.

Logic, reason, wisdom, common sense, and intelligence all dictate that we, as individuals and/or as collectives choose the best and the most qualified for guardianship, administration, and caretaking of our affairs according to our beliefs and ideals. And nobody is putting a gun/sword over anyone’s head to choose God as their Wali.

I can see an explosion of fiery questions in so many minds. Wasn’t Islam spread by sword?! Didn’t Allah-fearing Muslims attack nations and forced people to convert to Islam or get decapitated?! Does the word Daesh/ISIS mean anything?! I am very grateful that you are asking all these questions, notwithstanding the questionable assumptions. The key to answering all these questions is following all the intricate details that one way or another link to the concept of wali and use concrete and true examples to distinguish true from false, which by the end of these essays we will have done, Inshallah.

Verse 256 of Chapter 2 (Baqarah) that we mentioned above states that:

“There is no compulsion in the religion. Certainly a distinction has been clearly made between the right and the wrong. Therefore, whoever disbelieves in false idols/evildoing transgressors and believes in Allah, then certainly he has grasped onto a robust anchor that will not break. And Allah is All-Hearing and All-Knowing.”

Since there is no (read, must not be any) compulsion in this religion and the distinction between right and wrong has been clearly made, our job is to first reject all false awlia and then accept One True Wali. If we do not, our punishment/the consequence is to fall into dizzying vortices of fear and regret. If we succeed in doing this though, then we have grasped onto a “robust anchor”—an unbreakable, firm, unwavering, and lasting chain and handhold. Again, the choice is clear and is ours.

Now, we need to follow up on two clues: 1) How God as Wali translates into the concept of wilayat of a person, which means guardianship, stewardship, caretaking, safekeeping, and supervision by other than God; 2) What/who the bands in the unbreakable chain of “robust anchor” are.

As Muslims, we believe the Almighty God has absolute Wilayat, the Absolute Protecting Guardianship, of all creation, including the human beings. This Wilayat takes two inter-linked and inter-related types of laws that govern us (humans) and the world in which we live. One form relates to the laws of Taqwin, or the innate laws of nature. Everyone and everything from a speck of dust to electrons to multi-cellular complex beings to the universe at large submits to, or is a Muslim to, these laws of Taqwin.

We are able to study the chemistry of water because the electrons, the protons, the neutrons, the atoms, the molecules, the hydrogen bonds, and every drop of water, every stream, river, lake, and ocean all faithfully submit to the laws of Taqwin. Because there is a law, we can learn from the repeated patterns made possible by that law and try to manipulate observable things around us. It does not really matter if someone believes in God or s/he is an agnostic or an atheist. Every ounce of his/her existence submits, or is a Muslim to the laws of Taqwin set by God, the Creator. When we study biology, anatomy and physiology, biochemistry, parasitology, microbiology, immunology, virology, ecology, and whatever else, we are in fact trying to understand the laws of Taqwin regardless of whether we fully understand or willingly admit this fact or not.

Most of these laws could be observed, learned, experimented with, and from them countless lessons could be drawn. God’s Wilayat in Taqwin is Absolute. That we can manipulate a gene, for example, it does not mean that somehow we have gained some sort of a veto power to overwrite the laws of Taqwin. It only means the laws of Taqwin that govern the genes offer a level of flexibility to be “interpreted,” to a certain point, in practice. So, those “scientists” with a tiny bit of knowledge but huge propensity for arrogance should exercise caution not to get too cocky since they do not really know when their arrogance might just force them to nosedive into abyss. Wilayat over Taqwin is not our topic of discussion here, so we leave it be.

The other form of God’s Wilayat relate to the laws of Tashri’e. These are laws that are sent to people by God through His great Messengers and Prophets (May peace be upon them all) to guide humanity in this life and prepare/educate/equip them with the appropriate knowledge and skill for the Hereafter. The first prophet, we are taught by Quran, was Adam (peace be upon him) and the last one was Prophet Muhammad. However, great prophets of God were not merely some post office employees given a piece of mail to deliver. They were also given the responsibility and mandate to govern the societies of believers in accordance to the laws set by God Almighty. In other words, they were delegated by God to govern; an authorized or deputized Wilayat. In this regard then a prophet is Wali of God, and all prophets are Awlia of God, Awlia-Allah.

Why? Because the one who knows and understands the laws best, the one who has been trained and assisted by the Law Maker the best, the one who is the most truthful, honest, trustworthy, pious, and pure and behaves most authentically in accordance with the laws of God and obeys him in heart, body, mind, and soul is the best qualified person to govern the believers of God based on His laws. It is not an unreasonable and illogical concept that would be hard to grasp. It is rather simple.

Is it stated in Quran that the prophets of God have guardianship over the believers’ affairs? Yes. A few examples are helpful. During the time of Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), he had the legitimate Wilayat and guardianship to govern and lead the society of the believers. During the time of Prophet Moses (peace be upon him), he had the legitimate Wilayat and guardianship to govern and arbitrate the affairs of the believers. Likewise with Prophet Isa Son of Maryam (peace be upon him), Prophet David (peace be upon him), Prophet Issac (peace be upon him), Prophet Muhammad  and all other prophets of God. Relevant verses abound in Quran but here are a few examples:

In Chapter 4 (Nisaa), Verse 64:1-8, it is stated: “And We did not send any Messengers except for them to be obeyed by Permission from God.”

Chapter 4, Verse 59:1-10 reads: “O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those among you who have the guardianship of your affairs.”

Chapter 26 (Shu’ara), Verses 105-110: “The people of Noah denied the Messengers. When their brother Noah said to them, ‘Will you not fear God? Indeed, I am a trustworthy Messenger to you. Therefore, fear God and obey me. And I do not ask of you any payment for it. My payment is not but from the Lord of the Worlds. So, fear God and obey me.”

Chapter 26, Verses 142-145: “When said to them their brother Saleh, ‘Will you not fear God? Indeed, I am to you a trustworthy Messenger. So, fear God and obey me. And I do not ask of you any payment for it. My payment is not but from the Lord of the Worlds.”

Chapter 26, Verses 160-164: “People of Lut denied the Messengers. When said to them their brother Lut, ‘Will you not fear God? Indeed, I am to you a trustworthy Messenger. So, fear God and obey me. And I do not ask of you any payment for it. My payment is not but from the Lord of the Worlds.”

Therefore, this guardianship, this delegated (by God) system of governance is entrusted to Prophets who are trustworthy and get their wages/salary directly from God. They are not there to fill their pockets, accumulate wealth, and fulfill their lofty desires at the expense of people and under the guise of governing them. They have primacy over any other person for that position.

These are all Prophets of God and we are saying that Prophet Muhmmad was the last of the Prophets. Then, what happened after him? Was the world left without a Wali? Were people and the believers left on their own to find someone, anyone, to govern their affairs? Was there any criterion? Did the Prophet leave the people stranded to fight and divide? Would that even be a responsible and wise thing to do?

It is quite evident that we Shi’a Muslims believe that Wilayat did not end with the Prophet and the guardianship of the society of the believers, the Muslim Ummah, had a clear path to take. This brings us to the next phase of the essay in which we explore the term Imamat and how a major division occurred as soon as the Prophet passed away. We are entering into a very complex territory and a minefield and, with God’s Help, I will need to do some major mine neutralization. So, stay tuned, please.

References

[1] Jafari MR & Haeri SH (1390). “An Inquiry into the meaning of the term Wali.” Quarterly Special in Imamat Research, No. 1, Imamat Cultural Foundation, Spring 1390.

[2] Norasideh AA, Feyzullah-Zadeh AA, and Mastery Farahani J (1391). “Semantics of the term ‘Wali’ in Al-Quran Al-Karim.” Arabic Literature Bulletin,No. 7 (6/65), Pages 151-168. Shahid Beheshti University, College of Literature and Social Sciences.

[3] Holy Quran, Chapter 2 (Al-Baqara), Verses 255-257:

اللّهُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْحَیُّ الْقَیُّومُ لاَ تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَهٌ وَ لاَ نَوْمٌ لَّهُ مَا فِی السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِی الأَرْضِ مَن ذَا الَّذِی یَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِهِ یَعْلَمُ مَا بَیْنَ أَیْدِیهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَ لاَ یُحِیطُونَ بِشَیْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلاَّ بِمَا شَاء وَسِعَ کُرْسِیُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَ الأَرْضَ وَ لاَ یَۆُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا وَ هُوَ الْعَلِیُّ الْعَظِیمُ (255)

“Allah is One, there is no God but Him, the Ever existing, the Sustainer of all that exists. It does not overtake Him either slumber or sleep. To Him belongs all there is in the heavens and whatever on the earth. Who is the one who can intercede with Him except with His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them. And they will not encompass anything of His knowledge except that which He Wills. His dominance extends to all the heavens and the earth. And it will not tire Him the guardianship of them both.”

لاَ إِکْرَاهَ فِی الدِّینِ قَد تَّبَیَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَیِّ فَمَنْ یَکْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَ یُۆْمِن بِاللّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَکَ بِالْعُرْوَهِ الْوُثْقَیَ لاَ انفِصَامَ لَهَا وَاللّهُ سَمِیعٌ عَلِیمٌ (256)

“There is no compulsion in the religion. Certainly a distinction has been clearly made between the right and the wrong. Therefore, whoever disbelieves the false idols/evildoing transgressors and believes in Allah, then certainly he has grasped onto a robust anchor that is unbreakable. And Allah is All-Hearing and All-Knowing.”

اللّهُ وَلِیُّ الَّذِینَ آمَنُواْ یُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَی النُّوُرِ وَالَّذِینَ کَفَرُواْ أَوْلِیَآۆُهُمُ الطَّاغُوتُ یُخْرِجُونَهُم مِّنَ النُّورِ إِلَی الظُّلُمَاتِ أُوْلَئِکَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِیهَا خَالِدُونَ (257)

“Allah is Wali [Protecting Guardian] of those who have believed. He brings them out of the darkness(es) toward the light. And those who disbelieved, their awlia [guardians] are the Taghut [transgressing oppressor and evildoers] who bring them out of the light toward the darkness(es). Those are the companions of the fire and they abide therein forever.”

Understanding the Concepts of Imamat and Wilayat in Shi’a Islam: Iranian Revolution and Constitution, Part I

October 01, 2020

by Mansoureh Tajik for the Saker Blog

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim, “In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Who is qualified to be in the position of governing and based on what rules are two of the most essential questions with which human societies continue to wrestle. We are currently witnessing at the global stage how the fate and wellbeing of nations are tightly linked to the quality of, or lack thereof, the people in charge of their affairs and the quality of the rules with which they are governed. There is now multitude of nations and leaderships globally that operate based on many ideological shades and hues. From among them, one could choose a few systems to dissect, compare, and contrast to have a sober understanding of which system could offer the wisest framework for a given nation, why, and how. Here, I will focus on one specific form within Shi’a Islam frame of reference, that of Imamat with its extension Wilayat Faqih.

Admirers of secular and other non-secular persuasions could have their own picks and explain their version of things. While they are at it, they could also explain how theirs is working out for them but we request that they do so with intellectual honesty and solid evidence.

Happily, time is almost up for two specific groups of people who have actually been enablers of one another’s dysfunctions, true colleagues, if you will: 1) Religious hypocrites who have duplicitously used religion as a shield to further their selfish lusts and corrupt ways. 2) Non-believing seculars who have made misuse of religion by the first group a scapegoat for their ignorance, arrogance, and incompetence. They are in fact two blades of the same scissors, a match made in hell.

A genuinely interested and intellectually honest and fair person nowadays could examine all evidence about particular leaderships and nations that claim a given religion or ideology as their frame of reference and distinguish the real from the fake. Quite a few rulers around the world, for example, claim Islam as their frame of reference—let’s say, like Iran or Turkey or Saudi Arabia or Egypt or Pakistan or any other— but an impartial thinker could examine all the evidence and reach a reasonable conclusion that these nations have decidedly different systems of words and deeds even though they all claim Islam as the overarching framework. When, for instance, Ayatullah Khamenei of Iran speaks about which direction Iran and the Iranians should be, would be, and are taking, a diligent truth seeker has enough tangible, measurable, and truthful evidence to determine that this man is speaking and behaving as an honest, forthright, and God-fearing leader. In contrast, when the Sultan Al-junior Rajab Tayyib Erdogan of Turkey speaks of Islam, Muslims, and Quran, a fair person can clearly conclude based on real and tangible evidence that s/he is witnessing an Effendi Charlatan in operation.

Questions (be they real, cynical, or rhetorical) forming in the mind of those without real familiarity with Quran and Islam might include the followings: If Islam as a religion and Quran as a Book of God have qualities that they could produce such contrary products and opposite leaderships as a wise leader like Ayatullah Khamenei and a weasel like Sultan Erdogan Junior, then what good is such religion and of what use is such Book?! Random and lottery picking could have a 50/50 chance of either of the two outcomes, too. So, why bother with God, Islam, the religion, and the Book?

These are rational questions and I am glad that some are asking them, albeit with their inner voices. The short answer to these questions is that the two are not both products of the same religion and Book. They are the products of the degree to which they stay on or astray from the Right Path as set by this religion and this Book. The Leader is an example of someone who is genuinely striving to be on the Right Path to the best of his abilities. The weasel is an example of someone who has willfully deviated from the Right Path in deeds but is pretending to be on it in his ramblings. The long answer and evidence and documents supporting it constitute the core of these writings.

For the sake of transparency and for those who may be new to my essays, I must state once again that I am a Shi’a Muslim Twelve-Imami and a believer in Wilayat Faqih, the current system of governance in Iran. An important task before me here as I see it, is not to get anyone to accept or approve of this system of Imamat and Wilayat Faqih. Rather, I hope to provide enough and clearly enough explanations and examples to disentangle and clarify complex and at times decidedly contentious historical and religious facts and concepts in order to correctly convey the wisdom and the reasoning behind this particular system of leadership and governance to those who are interested and/or have an intellectual curiosity about the subject.

I am certain I cannot pack into one moderately-sized essay everything I ought to say to do a decent job of explaining without making this difficult article so lengthy that by the time people reach the middle, they will have already forgotten the beginning. Therefore, in as much a synopsis form as possible, I will Inshallah explain in this and most likely one or two follow-up essays how a delegated system of governance by God based on God’s rules as revealed in Quran and interpreted by scholars of Shi’a Twelve-Imami has worked both in theory and in practice. We shall see. I will also use historical examples from Islam and Iran in addition to relevant concepts to make the text less abstract and more comprehensible. We shall see as well how things have been working out for us the non-seculars specifically the Shi’a Muslims under Imamat and Wilayat Faqih, as operationalized in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is not going to be an easy ride. So, do please bear with me and the essays.

“Islamic Republic, Not a Word More, Not a Word Less”

Fifty days after the victory of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, through a nation-wide referendum in which 98 percent of eligible voters participated, 99.25% of the participants voted “yes” to an Islamic Republic system of government in Iran^[1] replacing a system of monarchy based on an inherited position transfer from a king to his eldest son.

The ballots were worded rather simply (See the image below): “The change from previous regime to Islamic Republic the constitution of which will be put to the nation’s vote for approval.” The “Yes” ballots were in crimson text on a green background. The “No” ballots were in red lettering on a beige background.

No gimmicks. No play on words. No deceptive tactics. It was on persistent urging of Imam Ruhullah Khomeini the referendum was held in the first place. Many were insisting that he, as the uncontested Leader of the Revolution, should just make a public announce about the change in Iran’s political system since the majority in the population was wholeheartedly supporting him anyway. Why mess with a referendum?

Imam Khomeini begged to differ. He insisted on a real tangible and measurable participation by the people of Iran. The people of Iran must put their choice into writing. A choice in which there is obligation and responsibility for their life on earth and for the Hereafter. Their decision had to be clearly documented and witnessed by themselves first and foremost, by the world at large, by the future generations, and above all, by God. A majority “yes” vote in this context could be thought of as a written Bey’at, or a written covenant of allegiance, to the very principles of Islam as the overarching framework of governance. The governed does not just consent. The governed enters into a contract to never desert the scene and to remain ever-vigilant and ever-present at war or at peace or wherever the battle is. For the past 40+ years, majority of the Iranian people, by Grace of God Almighty, have been in the scene.

It is useful to go into a bit more details about the events surrounding the referendum since it gives us an inside look into how things were back then at the beginning. Also, I might need to refer back to some segments later on in the essays. Late Sadiq Tabatabai, the spokesperson for then the transitional government, writes the details in his memoires as follows:

We were in the middle of Esfand (the 12^th month in the Iranian calendar, March 1979) when Ahmad Agha (Imam Khomeini’s second son) called me from Qom. He said, “Agha says you must hold a referendum.”

I said, “That’s all good but I am not in charge!”

He said, “You should talk to the State Minister and tell him Imam says a referendum must be held.” I went to Agha Ahmad Haj Seyyed Javadi and relayed Imam’s message. He said, “A referendum needs tools. It requires provincial and regional governors. When we have none of these, how could we hold any referendum?! The State Ministry used to have a major office of elections but that is not currently active either.”

So, I called Ahmad Agha and told him what the State Minister had told me. An hour later, Ahmad Agha called again and said that Agha was asking how the referendum’s situation was progressing. I said, “Ahmad jan, this is not some dyeing barrel [an Iranian expression meaning it is not that easy].”

He said, “You know Agha and I know him, too! I am not going to go back to him a second time and say no! If you want, you come and tell him yourself.”

Immediately, I headed to Qom and went to see Imam. I said, “Agha, why a referendum? You should just make an announcement about it. The whole world knows that the entire population is behind you if you just announce that Islamic Republic is now our political system, all the people will be behind you and support you. Besides, a referendum is going to show exact same thing as well. Right now, we have no resources.”

He said, “You are not understanding things. Right now, it is as you say. But fifty years from now, they are going to turn around and say that they stirred people’s emotions and they just forced the system they wanted on them. They manipulated the public’s sentiment and had them say what they themselves told them to say. So, voting must be done and the precise number of people for and against it must be officially determined and publicly announced.”^[2]

Those of us who observe on a regular basis what is spewed out of the media outlets of hostile regimes in the UK, the US, the Zionist entity in Occupied Palestine, and their regional oil wells with flags, we could see quite vividly how they are trying so desperately to distort and falsify the Iranian history and the history of our revolution. So, we find ourselves always remembering to salute Imam Khomeini for his prudence and foresight.

Within less than three weeks from the majority “yes” vote to change to an Islamic Republic, another nationwide election was held and 73 members of Majlis Khubregan-e Qanon Asasi, the Assembly of Experts for Constitutional Laws were elected directly by the people. This assembly formulated the first constitution of the Islamic Republic with Wilayat Faqih, or the Guardianship of Faqih, as its core custodial authority and stewardship through some 67 public and open sessions.^[3]

The final draft of the constitution was once again put to a nationwide vote on November 22, 1979, just as it had been promised by Imam Khomeini and was clearly written on the ballots for the very first referendum (See above). Again, there were quite a few people who were insisting the constitution not to be put into another direct vote by the people. However, Imam Khomeini insisted once again on proceeding with another nationwide referendum so the people of Iran could cast their votes regarding the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The constitution was approved by nearly 95% of the eligible participants who voted positively.

Now, from among all existing systems of government, why this system and how is it different from other Islamic countries in the world? Why did it happen in 1979? Why in a Shia-majority Iran? What does “Wilayat” mean? What are the indicators of “Wilayat”? What does “Faqih” mean? What are the attributes of a “Faqih”? Why should a “Wali Faqih” become the supreme steward of the entire system? Where did this system and its principle concepts come from and why? Where is it headed, how, and why?

We will get to all these questions and more. But it is important to first contextualize the formation of this decidedly religious system by examining the global socio- and geo-political context in which it was being established during the last quarter of the 20^th Century. I apologize for zigzagging back and forth through time. It is a necessary tactic here to get to some significant events.

The Iranian Islamic Revolution in a Global Context

Written in blood-red color and pasted on a solid black background a rhetorical question was plastered on the cover of Time magazine on April 8, 1966, about thirteen years before the victory of the Iranian Revolution. At the cost of 35 cents per issue, a willfully ostentatious question read: “Is God Dead?”^[4] The cover, for the first time ever, used no figures, photographs, or drawings. Dismissal of a deeply-rooted system of belief in God was gleefully advertised. No need for any distractions and pictorial bells and whistles. The title aimed to rehash a rhetoric of Nietzsche from eight decades earlier written in The Gay Science:

“After Buddha was dead, people showed his shadow for centuries afterwards in a cave,—an immense rightful shadow. God is dead: but as the human race is constituted, there will perhaps be caves for millenniums yet, in which people will show his shadow.—And we—we have still to overcome his shadow.”^[5]

A shadow play, heh?! In the Time article, the author had not failed to overestimate the power of the self-proclaimed liberals of the West. Nor had it faltered to underestimate God and men of God. He wrote, “Secularization, science, urbanization all have made it comparatively easy for the modern man to ask where God is and hard for the man of faith to give a convincing answer, even to himself.” He was, after all, catering to his bosses’ greed to sell a few more copies of the magazine at 35 cents a piece. His boss was catering to the greed of his masters at Meredith Corporation to keep his job. Meredith Corporation in turn was catering to the greed of its shareholders at New York Stock Exchange to show a noticeable rise in their stock price. Greed, a deadly Sin? Says who?

The harbingers of the self-declared liberal West intoxicated by a feeling of intestinal fortitude failed to see, or more accurately refused to believe, what was going on right under their aloofly laic noses in their most precious puppet kingdoms. While the West was busy closing the file on anything God might say about the governance and rulership of people and societies in the West itself and around the world, Imam Ruhullah Khomeini, a man of God in his sixties then, who was sent to exile in Najaf by Shah’s regime was hard at work to bring the Word of God into the governance of the people who believed in God, and in Iran of all places.

Around the time the Time article was being circulated in April 1966, Imam Khomeini gave a mission to his first son, Agha Mostafa Khomeini to take part in Hajj and make connections with other Muslim activists and inform them of the aims and the progress of the Islamic movement. Shah’s SAVAK (National Intelligence and Information Agency) in close collaboration with Istikhbarat (Information Ministry) in Iraq and Saudi Arabia is following the movement. A memo from the central office of Shah’s SAVAK that was forwarded to a local office of SAVAK in Qom (See the image below) reads:

“Information obtained indicates Mostafa Khomeini, the son of Ayatullah Khomeini, who in the current year went to Mecca, has had contacts with a few radical elements including Majdiddin Mahllati, one of the opposition clerics in Shiraz. They have made some decisions for the months of Muharram and Safar. Since it is probable that these types of people, upon their return to Iran, create incitements, you must order a complete surveillance of the known entities and make necessary arrangements and announce the outcome.”^[6]

Iran was a country that was groomed by the lords of the West and through overt and covert operations and a major coup d’etat to become its most darling puppet secular regime and Gendarme in Persian Gulf. It was to be Shi’a only in name and a great model for the region. Even up until two years before the victory of the Iranian Revolution, Jimmy Carter referred to it as an “Island of Stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world.” How boorishly unschooled. (To be continued.)

References

[1] The Center for Islamic Revolution Documents, “Media Narrative Regarding the Islamic Republic Referendum on Farvardin 12, 1358.” News Code: 4822. Published online at 12:19, Farvardin 12, 1398 (April 1, 2019). Accessed online through the Center’s site: http://irdc.ir/

[2] Tabatabai S. “Social and Political Memoires of Dr. Sadeq Tabatabai.” Vol. 3, Pages 269-276. Translated from Farsi.

[3] Madani, Seyyed J (1382). “A Review of the Formation of the Islamic Republic’s Constitution.” Portal of Comprehensive Social Sciences, Zamaneh, No. 16. Social Sciences and Cultural Studies Research Center, Article Number: 9644. Online at: Insani.ir

[4] Time. Available online at: http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19660408,00.html

[5] Friedrich Nietzsche (2001). “The Gay Science.” Willimas B., the Editor; Nauckhoff J., the Translator. Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, UK. Available online at: http://www.holybooks.com/the-gay-science-friedrich-nietzsche

[6] SAVAK Memo #1432600011 to Qom’s SAVAK. Central Office of National Intelligence and Security Agency, Prime Minister’s Office, Farvardin 25, 1345 (April 14, 1966).

هل يفعل السيّد حسن نصر الله ما عجز عنه عبد الناصر؟

صادق النابلسي 

المصدر: الميادين نت

بعد تحرير الجنوب اللبناني، وانتصار تموز/يوليو 2006، ودخول حزب الله إلى سوريا في العام 2013، وجد الحزب نفسه أمام سؤال حان وقته.

في السادس عشر من شباط/فبراير 1985، تلا الرئيس الحالي للمجلس السياسي لحزب الله، السيد إبراهيم أمين السيد، الرسالة المفتوحة التي وجهها حزب الله إلى المستضعفين في لبنان والعالم. بدا ما قاله آنذاك بياناً حماسياً، غريباً، بل ممعناً في غرابته، من مجموعة جديدة وافدة إلى مسرح الأحداث في لبنان، يحار مراقبوها في نسبتها إلى المجال الذي تنتمي إليه، والأهداف الكبيرة التي تطمح إلى تحقيقها.

التطلّعات العابرة للحدود التي تضمَّنتها الرسالة أقل ما كان يمكن أن يردّ عليها بعضهم في حينها، بأن يستخدم عبارة الزعيم السوفياتي جوزيف ستالين حين حذّروه من قوة الفاتيكان، فتساءل ساخراً: “كم دبابة عند بابا الفاتيكان؟”، أو بحسب نصّ آخر: “كم فرقة عسكرية يملكها البابا في الفاتيكان؟”.

مجموعة صغيرة حديثة العهد بالسياسة والقتال تدّعي لنفسها قوة خارقة، فتقول: “أما قدرتنا العسكرية، فلا يتخيّلَنَّ أحد حجمها، إذ ليس لدينا جهاز عسكري منفصل عن بقية أطراف جسمنا، بل إنّ كلاً منّا جندي مقاتل حين يدعو داعي الجهاد إنّنا متوجهون لمحاربة المنكر من جذوره، وأوّل جذور المنكر أميركا”.

أتصوّر مثلاً أن يقارن أحدهم بعد أن قرأ الرسالة بين الأحزاب القومية واليسارية التي كانت تحمل أحلام جماهيرها بالوحدة والتضامن والتكامل وتلاحم الجبهات، لدحر مشاريع الهيمنة الاستعمارية والانقضاض على “إسرائيل” وتدميرها واستعادة فلسطين من مغتصبيها، ولكنها مُنيت بعد مدة من انطلاقتها بفشل في أهدافها، وإحباطات في مشاعرها، ونكسات في نتائج أعمالها، وبين جماعة لا أرضية سياسية وعسكرية لها، تريد أن تختبر من جديد بـ”سوريالية ثورية” حجم الألم والأحلام الموجعة التي يُخلّفها طريق المحاولة والخطأ! لا بأس، يقول هذا البعض، فلتجرّب حظها من الخيبة والمرارة، ففي الإنسان دوماً شيء ما يقوده نحو حتفه وتلاشيه!

لكن لم تمرّ إلا سنوات قليلة حتى بدأ المراقبون يستكشفون شيئاً جديداً تماماً. رواية مختلفة تقول إنّه ليس بالضرورة أن يعيد التاريخ نفسه بطريقة حلزونية، فما رُصد بعد سنوات قلائل من تحولات وإنجازات وانتصارات، اتضح أنّها لم تكن استجابات عاطفية غاضبة متسرّعة على هوان قديم وعجز مقيم، بسبب ما حلّ من خراب داخل العالمين العربيّ والإسلاميّ، بل هي مبنيّة على رؤية علمية، وخطوات عملية، وعوامل تاريخية ودينية وجيوسياسية، ودوافع كافية لضمان اجتياز الصراع بنجاح. 

القضية لم تكن تتطلّب البتة عند “المؤسسيين الأوائل” تستراً على طرح ربما يؤدي إلى استنتاجات وتفسيرات خاطئة ومشوّهة، أو تستدعي مقاومة الفكرة المغرية القائلة إننا” أمة ترتبط مع المسلمين في أنحاء العالم كافة برباط عقائدي وسياسي متين هو الإسلام”، وبضرورة الدعوة” إلى إقامة جبهة عالمية للمستضعفين، لمواجهة مؤامرات قوى الاستكبار في العالم”، أو “أننا نطمح أن يكون لبنان جزءاً لا يتجزأ من الخارطة السياسية المعادية لأميركا والاستكبار العالمي وللصهيونية العالمية”، لجهة إفراطها وخروجها عن قوانين الاجتماع والسياسة اللبنانية.

لم يكن ذلك كله مدعاة للتحفظ، بل على العكس، جاء التأكيد في الرسالة على أهميته وقيمته الحقيقية، ولو كان العقل السياسي يضيق به، أو كان يطمح إلى ما يفوق إمكانيات الحزب آنذاك، لأنّ المبدأ العقائدي الذي كان يدفع في هذا السبيل، ويُملي هذه الاعتبارات، ويُذكي هذا الشعور، ويستجلب هذه الإرادة، كان أقوى من التصورات السيادية والدستورية السائدة، وأكبر من الوقائع والمعايير التي تحكم سلوك الدول وتوازناتها.

كل المؤمنين بالنهج الأصيل والعاملين في مداره كانوا مشغولين بالتأكيد أنّ أمةً جديدةً يجب أن تُولد من رحم التناقضات والصراعات المفتوحة على أكثر من ميدان. لم يشعروا بأنهم في مأزق أو تيه صحراوي لا يدري أحد منهم إلى ماذا يُفضي، بل كانوا على يقين من سلامة الطريق وتحقيق الأهداف.

 وإذا كانت بعض الحركات العابرة للحدود الدينية والجغرافية والعرقية في المنطقة العربية قد وصلت إلى طريق مسدود في نضالاتها، ولم تستطع تجاوز هزيمتها، بسبب طبيعة التكوين الفكري والسلوك السياسي الذي حوّلها إلى كتل جامدة معطلة، فإنّ التنظيم الجديد قد صمّم فكرته تصميماً ذهنياً صارماً، وحددّ لانطلاقته بداية واعية واعدة، وخلق تشكيلاً منفتحاً على الجهاد المحلي الحديث والإرث التاريخي القديم، بنحو يعيد هيكلة البنية الرمزية والإيديولوجية باستحضار ماضي الثائرين وإعادة دمجه بالحاضر، ثم إنّ هناك إدراكاً للثمن الفادح الذي يجب دفعه، لا أنّ القضية مجرد تكهن أو رغبة “صوتية” لا تنفع في الحقيقة أكثر من استدراج أقدام “المتكهّنين” إلى هاوية الوهم. 

كما أنّ التنبؤ بالنصر استشراف علميّ محفوف بالمخاطر، لا ينفصل لحظة واحدة عن الارتباط بالواقع الحي الذي يفرز الإنجازات والإخفاقات على السواء. ولأنّ صورة العدو أكثر تعقيداً من كونه مجرد مجنون يتغذى على القتل، فإنّ النصر ليس خبراً يُذاع، وإنما هو نضال محموم، ومقاومة ضارية واستراتيجية طويلة تتطلَّب قدرة عالية على تحمل الألم والصعاب، وإرادة فولاذية لمواصلة العمل، واعتماداً على الذات في النطاق الجغرافي المحلي، واستبعاداً كلياً لدور المنظمات الدولية التي تقف في معظم الأحيان إلى جانب الظالمين والغزاة، بدلاً من مساعدتها المستضعفين؛ أصحاب الحقوق المشروعة.

وكما يقول الشاعر عبد الرحمن الشرقاوي: “إنّ القضية ملكنا… هي عارنا أو فخرنا”، فالانهزام أو الانتصار تعبير واقعي متعلق بطبيعة المعركة وظروفها، ولكن المهم في الأمر أن لا ينضوي المقاومون تحت أيّ مظلة غير موثوقة، ولا ينساقوا وراء منهج غير إسلامي. أما الاعتماد على الذات، فلا يعني التردد عن قبول مساعدة قوى الأمة المختلفة، بل المطلوب أن تتحرك كل الطاقات في التعامل مع الأزمات والتحديات في إطار الوحدة أو “الجسد الذي إذا اشتكى منه عضو، تداعت له سائر الأعضاء بالسهر والحمى”.

لذلك، يؤكد المقطع التالي العلائقية والوشائجية المطلوبة بين الأطراف وقلب الأمة: “إننا أبناء أمة حزب الله في لبنان… إننا نعتبر أنفسنا جزءاً من أمة الإسلام في العالم، والتي تواجه أعتى هجمة استكبارية من الغرب والشرق على السواء”.

هذا التعاضد بين فئة في لبنان وفئة أو فئات في بلدان أخرى أشبه بصيغة قانونية لازمة بين طرفين أو أكثر، تقتضي كل أشكال التعاون المتاحة، ما يجعل النسق الديني المتشكل عن هذا التوليف “المقدس” يلبي الوظيفة الإيديولوجية والسياسية للحزب الذي يسعى إلى هدم أركان الأعداء في البقعة التي يتحرك فيها. 

إنّ هذا الاتصال المقصود بالأمة يهدف الحزب الجديد من ورائه إلى التمايز عن مغالطات نخب حزبية وعلمائية على امتداد المنطقة، كانت تنشر الاستسلام والقدرية، وعوّضت المقاومة بالتواكل والغيب، فكان ضرورياً تطهير الإسلام مما علق به من تشويهات، واستدعاؤه مجدداً ليكون المرجع النظري والحركي الذي يُلهم المسلمين اللبنانيين طريقة النهوض، وبناء العلاقات، ومواجهة التحديات بكل تشعباتها.

ولكنَّ مشكلة هذا الاتصال، في رأي البعض، أنّه يهزّ التكوين الوطني للحزب، ويشكّك في درجة التزامه بالقضايا اللبنانية التي يُفترض أن يُدافع عنها تحت سقف سيادة الدولة، لكنّه من خلال تفضيله إطار الأمة على إطار الوطن، وتوهينه البعد الداخلي في مقابل تعظيمه البعد الخارجي، يبلغ الرجحان مستوى يجعل الحزب يفقد خصائصه ومشروعيته المحلية، بيد أنّ حزب الله بانخراطه في محاربة الاحتلال الإسرائيلي ومشاريع الهيمنة الغربية على لبنان، يعيد إنتاج الأجوبة الحاسمة حول مَن صنع الهزائم، ومَن صنع العار، ومَن جلب التخلف والهوان لهذا الوطن.

هنا يأتي النص الديني الإسلامي، لا كدليل نظري فحسب، وإنما كسياق واقعي اجتماعي، وكممارسة سياسية وجهادية ملموسة، فحضور الدين علامة على الوعي الجماعي، باعتباره وسيلة لتغيير مقاصد الناس وتوجهاتهم، وأيضاً باعتباره هدفاً لتعديل مبادئ الحكم وموازين القوى، فالنص الديني بقدر ما يسمح بالكشف عن هوية فرد أو مجتمع، فإنه يؤسّس لنهج مختلف وأوضاع جديدة.

وحين يعلن الحزب عن الإسلام كمرجعية للحياة، فإنّه يموقع ذاته داخل النسق العام للأمة في عمقه وامتداداته، فلا يعترف بأي حدود ومسافات جغرافية تعترض طريق الأخوة الدينية! الإسلام هنا لا يحضر كطقوس يكتنفها مبدأ حرية ممارسة المعتقد الإيماني فحسب، بل كإطار شمولي أممي لا تنفلت منه قضية من قضايا الإنسان، في وقت يأتي تحرك الحزب في المجال السياسي أو العسكري ليخلق تميّزه وفرادته، في مقابل السكونيين من النخب والحركات الدينية التي تبحث عن الهروب خارجاً، وبعيداً من الواقع، لئلا تصطدم بقسوته ومتطلبات الحضور الحي فيه.

لذلك، لم يكن ممكناً للحزب أن يتطور خارج عملية الصراع مع أعداء الأمة، فالحزب الذي تنظم الشريعة الإسلامية كل وجوده ومساراته في هذه الحياة، يشعر بأن هيمنة القوى الاستعمارية وتدخّلها في شؤون المسلمين يشكل انتهاكاً صارخاً لا يمكن القبول به.

هذه النقطة بالذات ستمنح الحزب إمكانية كبيرة لقيادة الجمهور وتحريكه نحو مديات الأمة الواسعة ومداراتها الرحبة. على هذا الأساس، تستوي فكرة الجهاد كمصدر للشرعية، وتحضر المقاومة بوصفها سياقاً تحررياً على المستوى الوطني، وعلى مستوى الأمة أيضاً.

ولهذا تأتي العبارة التالية: “إننا أبناء أمة حزب الله التي نصر الله طليعتها في إيران، وأسّست من جديد نواة دولة الإسلام المركزية في العالم… لسنا حزباً تنظيمياً مغلقاً، ولسنا إطاراً سياسياً ضيقاً”، لتؤكد الارتباط المطلوب والحركة الحارة المتوقعة، انطلاقاً من مستويين ديني وسياسي؛ الأول استجابة لأمل (وعد إلهي) بالاستخلاف والتمكين، والآخر استجابة لموقف عملي يقتضي تحمل التكاليف والمسؤوليات والسعي لبناء التجربة الجديدة.

صحيح أنّ دوافع النشوة والفوران بعد انتصار الثورة الإسلامية في إيران مسؤولة عن تحرّك الأحاسيس الدينية بطريقة عفوية وتلقائية، لكن لم يكن ذلك خارج رؤية استراتيجية وعقلانية في بناء السياسات والبرامج. هنا تأتي النظرية، أي الأفكار التي تشكل أساس الإيديولوجيا التي على الحزب أن يعمل بها في ما يتعلَّق بأمور الحرب والسلم، لتستقر ضمن قالب “نظرية ولاية الفقيه”، التي أبرزها الإمام الخميني كإرث مخزني قديم، ولتكون البوصلة التي احتاجها حزب الله لترسم له التوجهات والقواعد العامة، ولتخلق لجمهوره الاهتمام المطلوب بقضايا الإسلام والصراع في المنطقة والعالم.

لكن ظهور هذه النظرية كتعبير موضوعي عن المقومات التي لا بدَّ من توفرها لتهيئ للحزب مكاناً بين الحركات الثورية، وتمنحه هويته الخاصة، كان مشروطاً بالظرف التاريخي، وهو ظرف الثورة الإسلامية، وانتشار شراراتها في أرجاء المنطقة، وتفاعل حركات المقاومة والتحرر المناهضة للمشاريع الأميركية والإسرائيلية مع تطلعاتها، وتحفّز مثقفين وعلماء دين وكتاب ونشطاء سياسيين على طرح ما لم يكونوا في السابق يجسرون على الاقتراب منه، وكذلك التحولات المحلية في لبنان العالق بين الهيمنة اليمينية الطائفية والاحتلال الإسرائيلي لقسم من الجنوب اللبناني، ووجود الفدائيين الفلسطينيين الذين أغنوا الأرض بالبندقيات والشعارات الثورية الحماسية.

ضمن إطار هذه المجموعة من الأحداث بذاك السياق الطولي، بنى حزب الله مفاهيمه التأسيسية حول الجهاد المحلي والأممي، والتي لم تنحصر بالمناسبة في الوعي المكتسب من طرف نظرية ولاية الفقيه والثورة الإيرانية، بل في عمقها الممتد إلى باطن البنية الاجتماعية اللبنانية، بعناصرها التاريخية المُستلهمة من الاحتكاك بتجارب نضالات ثورية في مناطق مختلفة من العالم، ولكن عبقريته التي طورها لاحقاً أمينه العام الحالي السيد حسن نصر الله، تكمن في أنّه استطاع أن يحمل بقوة فكرة جاء أوانها، وأن يصعد بتيار استيقن أنّ حركته نحو الآماد الواسعة بدأت. 

بعد تحرير الجنوب اللبناني، وانتصار تموز/يوليو 2006، ودخول حزب الله إلى سوريا في العام 2013، وجد الحزب نفسه أمام سؤال حان وقته: كيف يمكن تشبيك الجبهات لتحقيق الهدف المقدس، وهو إزالة “إسرائيل” من الوجود؟

لقد فشل تيار القومية العربية في توظيف الإمكانيات البشرية والمادية واستثمارها وإدارتها لإنزال هزيمة بالعدو، وفشلت الأحزاب اليسارية العربية في بناء مناخ عام يتيح اتخاذ قرارات تتطلَّبها ظروف الصراع، فلم تستطع تلك القوى التي لها ارتباطات واسعة خارج المنطقة العربية تشكيل بيئة دولية للصراع، وتوجيه الحركة السياسية أو العسكرية العربية في إطار خطة عامة جدّية تستهدف إنهاك الكيان الإسرائيلي وإرباكه.

المراوغات والاستعراضات، وأنصاف الضربات، وتصادم الأولويات، وتضارب التصورات، لم تؤدِ إلا إلى تحويل الصراع من صراع عربي – إسرائيلي إلى صراع عربي – عربي. تحوّلت الحرب مع “إسرائيل” إلى شبه حرب، والتسوية معها إلى استراتيجية انجرّت إليها الأنظمة على نحو متتالٍ. 

حزب الله، في المقابل، أدرك أنّ “التفكك العربي الكبير” الذي أرادته أميركا عبر “الربيع العربي” يجب أن يُرد عليه بالعودة إلى فكرة “أمة حزب الله” العابرة لدول سايكس – بيكو المقطعة لأوصال الوحدة السياسية والدينية. قد يكون ذلك شيئاً مثيراً في لحظة مختلطة بالتحولات ودماء الشهداء ونداء القدس الغلّاب الذي ينفذ كالأذان إلى أعماق الحالمين بالنصر الأكبر.

 أفراد الحزب الذين قطعوا خطوة في هذا الطريق مع الدخول إلى سوريا، وتهشّم الحدود بين أكثر من دولة من دول المنطقة، أضفوا على الموقعية الجديدة لحزبهم مسحة دينية ومسحة تاريخية. مقطع من الرسالة يقول: “إننا نعلن بصراحة ووضوح أننا أمة لا تخاف إلا الله، ولا ترتضي الظلم والعدوان والمهانة، وأنّ أميركا وحلفاءها من دول حلف شمال الأطلسي والكيان الصهيوني… مارسوا ويمارسون العدوان علينا، ويعملون على إذلالنا باستمرار. لذا، فإننا في حالة تأهب مستمر ومتصاعد”.

المطلوب، إذاً، بناء وحشد قوى الأمة التي بدأت طلائعها تتبلور في اليمن “أنصار الله”، والعراق” الحشد الشعبي”، وفلسطين “فصائل المقاومة المختلفة”، لتغلب على هذه العطالة التاريخية. أمة حزب الله تحتاج إذاً إلى القدرات الكبرى والمشاعر العظيمة، وإلى موقف جماهيري يستهدف التقدم بالوعي والإلهام، وذلك بالخروج من الالتزام الجغرافي المزعج، لجهة عبئه الداخلي المعاكس لحركة الساعة السريعة المستمرة! 

اليوم، ليس لهذه القوى سبب يؤطرها ويحدّها في بقعة جغرافية واحدة وفي مهام محلية محددة. الأحداث الكبرى في المنطقة حوّلت الدول إلى حدود وسكان ومتوسط دخل وميزان مدفوعات، والأنظمة إلى بروتوكولات واحتفالات وميديا، فيما حزب الله يدرك ضرورة أن تتحول هذه القوى المقاومة إلى فكرة وتيار وحركة تاريخية، وينبغي أن لا يدعها أحد مكتوفة اليدين في الحروب المقبلة إذا ما هدد وجود الأمة خطر، أو دفعها طموح محموم إلى خوض حربها المقدسة نحو فلسطين!

هل حانت اللحظة فعلاً؟ وهل لدى حزب الله الشجاعة الكافية ليقود جماهير الأمة لتوحيد التراب العربي، مدشناً مرحلة جديدة من تاريخ حركات المقاومة في المنطقة والعالم؟ وهل يفعل السيد حسن نصر الله ما لم يقدر عليه جمال عبد الناصر؟

Sayyed Abdul Malik Al-Houthi: Arrogance states led by the US are primarily responsible for spreading pandemics

Sayyed Abdulmalik Al-Houthi said in a speech today, Saturday, on the occasion of the anniversary of Sayyed Hussein Al-Houthi’s martyrdom that the Coronavirus appeared as a new threat in the global arena. He noted that it is possible that America has a hand in spreading the epidemic and taking advantage of it even if it means harming the American society itself.

He also pointed out that companies owned by the Zionist lobby in America consider the economic interest a justification for doing anything, no matter how harmful. “It is possible that the Zionist lobby spread a pandemic and create a vaccine for treatment in exchange of immense profit,” he explained. He continued, “some American companies are known to have had created a pandemic after preparing a vaccine for it to sell it in very large amounts.”

He stressed that many of the epidemics and problems are the product of a person’s actions and his/her behaviors as confirmed by the Holy Qur’an. He then continued explaining that this might occur due to the lack of adhering to the right guidance and divine instructions.

“Epidemics may come due to an imbalance in how humans deal with nature, such as a man-made error that may result in significant damage,” he said. “Epidemics and diseases may also occur due to systematic work intended to spread damage, such as biological warfare, which includes the usage of viruses to spread epidemics in specific societies.”

Moreover, Sayyed Abdulmalik Al-Houthi expressed that America and some countries have huge laboratories with great capabilities that work to use harmful viruses that spread epidemics and kill people. He added that it is not the first time the US uses biological warfare, reminding everyone of the blankets infected with smallpox germs once provided for native Americans under humanitarian slogans.

Furthermore, he stated that some societies have been targeted with what is presented under humanitarian assistance, such as medical tools or food items, which would be contaminated with viruses that transmit deadly epidemics.

“There are military means to spread germs and viruses to a specific community for an epidemic to breakout, resulting in the so-called biological warfare,” he explained. “Some experts in biological warfare have been talking about Americans working for years to take advantage of the Coronavirus and work to spread it in certain societies.” he added.

He further expressed that it is expected of the US to target China as a competing country economically and culturally, not to forget our Islamic nation as societies within or the nation in general. He also stressed that it is important to be aware of the nature of the negative role taken by the forces of evil in order to fight back and confront their subversive actions.

“There is great importance in expressing hostility toward America and holding it accountable as a human community for it to refrain from its criminal practices.” he continued.

As for the preventative measures and health guidelines released by the competent authorities, Sayyed Houthi stressed that it is very important to take them seriously, while at the same time panic and intimidation should not be exaggerated. He assured that this epidemic should not be considered a disaster that cannot be addressed, saying “frustrating people and terrorizing them using danger is a negative and hostile action.

In addition, he pointed out that such danger should not be neglected or ignored, but rather we must make it an opportunity to build a new reality for the nation in which it will meet the challenges. He also expressed that the Yemeni people have been dealing with viruses of another type, “the aggression virus and the betrayal germs” in a raging war.”

“We see ourselves today in an advanced position as we fight the battle of freedom and independence and defend our people, our dignity and pride,” said Sayyed Houthi. “The Corona epidemic has not reached our country, by the grace of God, and cooperation must be considered with the competent authorities in the procedures that it implements,” he added.

He also noted that the arrival of the Coronavirus to Yemen would be considered an American act conducted by its Saudi and UAE tools and would be addressed as a hostile act. He then went on to advise the mercenaries to be cautious since they have sold themselves in battles, they may be relied upon to spread Coronavirus in their areas bringing it to Yemen, adding, “If the mercenaries are not wary of Corona, this would be utter stupidity and a huge loss for them.”

Sayyed Abdulmalik Houthi also mentioned that Yemenis must continue to support the fronts as there are important and strong victories and operations in the arena, and our duty is to continue to confront the aggression.

Regarding Sayyed Hussein Al-Houthi, the founder of the Ansarullah revolution, “we realize that the Sayyed Hussein Al-Houthi is the martyr of the Qur’an and we realize the importance of his revolution as we witness the danger of such phase.”

Sayyed Abdulmalik Houthi added that some of the nation’s people went towards adopting the option of obedience to America and Israel and working to implement its agenda. He indicated that the pro-America people in our nation worked to remove any obstacles facing American hegemony and hindering any anti-America movements.

He stressed that the loyalists of America intent on spreading strife within the nation and targeting all elements of power within it, pointing out that some of the nation’s people were silent and they stopped any action against America and Israel. He concluded that the nation must face such American schemes with what he described as a  “Quranic stance”, resembling faith, responsibility and knowledge.

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كشف حساب في يوم العماد وأربعين القاسم

ناصر قنديل

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خلال أربعين عاماً هي أعوام ما بعد انتصار الثورة الإسلامية في إيران، وهي الأعوام التي أمضى الشهيد القائد عماد مغنية ما تيسّر له من العمر منها منذ البدايات الأولى حتى يوم الرحيل قبل اثنتي عشرة سنة، كان العنوان الذي أعلنه الإمام الخميني وتعاهد عليه مع رفاقه في قيادة الثورة، بناء نموذج ثوريّ جديد يستند إلى الإسلام لا يصيبه التكلّس والفساد من الداخل، ولا يساوم على الاستقلال والتنمية مع الخارج، ويبقي جذوة المواجهة مع المشروع الأميركيّ الإسرائيليّ مشتعلة، وفي ذكرى انتصار الثورة، الحادية والأربعين، ومع مرور أربعين يوماً على استشهاد القائد قاسم سليماني، تحلّ الذكرى الثانية عشرة لرحيل العماد، ويستحق كشف حساب.

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خلافاً لما يظنه الكثيرون من دعاة استنساخ ثنائية الدولة والثورة، ولما يظنه المتحدثون عن نفوذ إيراني في المنطقة، أو عن هلال شيعي، أو عن تصدير الثورة، كان المشروع الذي آمن به عماد مغنية ووهبه عمره، هو بناء مقاومة عالمية للهيمنة الأميركية، ومقاومة عربية إسلامية للمشروع الصهيوني، والإيمان بأن هذين المشروعين يلبّيان حاجات إنسانية وأخلاقية ويعبّران عن النظرة التي انطلقت منها القيادة الإيرانية في فهم الإسلام وجعله مرجعاً لها، وثلاثية هذا المشروع، ربط شرعية ومشروعية الجمهورية الإسلامية، أي الدولة، بالقدرة على بناء قاعدة متينة اقتصادياً وعسكرياً وسياسياً لحماية المشروع وتوفير المقدّرات لتقدّمه ونموّه، وجعل المقاومة من اجل فلسطين مشروعاً عابراً للعقائد والقوميات والديانات، والسعي لجبهة عالمية تناهض الأحادية الأميركية في مشروعها للهيمنة الاقتصادية والعسكرية والسياسية على العالم.

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كان العماد هو عماد مشروع بناء المقاومة العربية لأجل فلسطين، وكان الحاج قاسم سليماني القاسم المشترك بين خطوط تلاقي المقاومتين العربية والعالمية، وجاء الاجتياح الصهيوني للبنان، كما كل إجراء عدوانيّ مشابهاً تبعته في فلسطين، فرصٌ ينتظرها مشروع المقاومة، لينمو ويكبر ويقدم وصفته ويستقطب المزيد من النخب والشباب ويبني المزيد من الاقتدار، ويخوض المزيد من المواجهات. ونجح عماد نجاحاً منقطع النظير في لبنان وفلسطين، وأسس في سورية، وفي العراق وفي اليمن، وكانت تجارب المواجهة أعوام 1996 و2000 و2006، تظهر النجاح وتؤسس لما بعده. فكانت فلسطين حاضرة في انتفاضتها وتحرير غزة مع عماد مغنية، كما كانت سورية شريكاً في أعوام 1996 و2000 و2006 في لبنان، وكان تأسيس المقاومة في العراق وتحضير اليمن ساحة مقاومة من الإنجازات العظيمة، بينما أسس القائد قاسم سليماني في باكستان وأفغانستان، مستنداً إلى ما كان يبنيه ويرعاه في إيران، وامتدّ نحو تأسيس مشابه للعلاقة بسورية بعلاقة مع روسيا، والصين وفنزويلا وسواها.

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منذ رحيل العماد تحمل القائد قاسم سليماني بعضاً من أعباء مهمته، وتحمّل قائد المقاومتين العربية والعالمية السيد حسن نصرالله البعض الآخر، ومع رحيل القائد سليماني صار العبء كله على قائد المقاومتين، لكن أين نحن الآن من المشروع الأصلي؟ والجواب بالانتقال من مرحلة المقاومات المتفرقة إلى جبهة المقاومة الواحدة، تحت شعار واحد يترجم هتاف الموت لأميركا والموت لـ”إسرائيل”، ببرنامج عمل عنوانه، لا بديل عن المقاومة في فلسطين ولأجل فلسطين، بعدما صارت مشاريع التسوية بعضاً من الذكريات، وليس خافياً أن ربط أمن كيان الاحتلال بقبضات المقاومين وليس بتواقيع المهزومين، هو الذي أدّى لليأس الأميركي الإسرائيلي من رهان التسوية للخروج بالتمسك بالجغرافيا طريقاً للأمن بدلاً من مقايضتها بالأمن، الذي لم يعُد يملك منحه للكيان أياً من دعاة التطبيع وجماعات التفاوض والاعتراف. وجاءت صفقة القرن تعبيراً عن هذا التحول، الذي حشد الأمة بمفهومها الواسع والمركّب وراء خيار المقاومة كخيار وحيد. وتلعثم النظام الرسمي وارتبك وفقد الخطاب، واللغة، والدور، وصارت المقاومة سيدة الساحات، وفي المقاومة العالمية صار شعار إخراج الأميركي من المنطقة برنامج عمل للدولة الإيرانية وللمقاومات الموحّدة في محور، وقد أنجزت إيران ما توجب على دولة الاستقلال والتنمية من مقدرات. ومثلما كان رحيل العماد نقطة الانطلاق لتأسيس محور المقاومة وفاء لدوره وقيادته وما أشعل رحيله من مشاعر، جاء تعبيراً عن حاجة موضوعية لتلبية مقتضيات المواجهة، وتوزّع خرائط استثمار المقدرات العسكرية في المواجهات المقبلة، ومثل ذلك شكل رحيل القائد قاسم سليماني نقطة الانطلاق لمشروع عملي بدأ تنفيذه عنوانه تحرير المنطقة من الاحتلال الأميركي، بما هو أبعد من مجرد الوفاء للدماء، إلى طلب جواب يليق بحجم الانتقام عبر جعله الفقرة الرئيسية من برنامج الأهداف التي كانت حياة مغنية وسليماني مرصودة لتحقيقها، وعنوانها طرد المحتل الأميركي من المنطقة، وإنهاء كيان الاحتلال في فلسطين.

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خلال أربعين عاماً بلغت إيران ساحة الاشتباك الكبرى بعدما أكملت عدتها، ولم تعد إيران التي كانت قبل الأربعين، كما لم تعُد أميركا كما كانت وقد شاخت وهرمت وهزمت مراراً، ولا عادت “إسرائيل” كما كانت وقد تضعضت أركانها، واهتزّ كيانها، وفي يوم العماد وأربعين سليماني تبدو الأهداف أقرب مما يتخيّل الكثيرون، وبدلاً من أن يكون الاحتلال أشدّ شعوراً بأمنه برحيل القادة هو في حال ذعر من الآتي. والمقاومون والثوار يشعرون العدو بحضورهم في الغياب أشدّ مما يعيش حضورهم في الحياة، اسألوا قادة الكيان وقادة البنتاغون، هل هم أشدّ أمناً بعد اغتيال العماد والقاسم، أم أشد ذعراً وخوفاً ورعباً؟

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• تركيا في سوريا: مراكمة الخسائر
• أنقرة تفشل في تبديل المعادلات

Sayyed Nasrallah Advising and Graduating: Patience and Piety Come First

When Hezbollah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah returned to Al-Montathar Islamic Seminary [Hawza]

By Latifa al-Husseini

Beirut – In the midst of all the hustle and bustle around us, there are superior things. There is the forgiving religion. Its believers are fully devoted to it, to its values and to its origins. They are not distracted from God’s revelation and knowledge. They are students who took a unique path, choosing to delve deeper into Islamic law and pursue it as a way of life.

After ten years of hard work, eight students from Imam Al-Montathar (PBUH) Islamic Seminary [Hawza] in Baalbek completed their studies in Islamic sciences. It is time to wear the turban of Ahl al-Bayt (PBUH). [the Prophet’s household]. It is the peak of bliss for them, equivalent to dreams, let alone when a Hashemi Muhammadi leader is putting those turbans on their heads, making them preachers of belief and faith.

The coronation took place on December 11, the 14th of Rabi’ al-Thani of the Islamic calendar. Eight graduates from Al-Muntathar Hawza were hosted by the Secretary General of Hezbollah. The religious “edifice” had been informed of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s approval to sponsor the graduation of its students in person and was decided to take place last Wednesday. The hawza and its students were prepared.

The time came. Teachers and students were summoned to one of the halls where the security preparations there allowed Sayyed to attend. The attendees gathered. Both the occasion and the circumstance were exceptional. The sponsor of the ceremony has arrived.

There was confusion as the “Secretary” entered. Moments of amazement quickly turned into excitement. While His Eminence shook hands with the students and teachers and warmly embraced them, the director of the hawza’s administrative affairs Sheikh Bilal Awada was introducing them.

The time allotted for the ceremony was limited, so it soon commenced. Verses from the holy Quran was read by one of the students, Sheikh Mohammad Amhaz. Then, the head of Hezbollah’s Sharia council, Sheikh Mohammad Yazbek, welcomed the attendees and thanked His Eminence for sponsoring the graduation for a third year in a row. Sayyed, then, started his address.

As a former student in this hawza, it is special to Sayyed as it reminds him of his early days of jihad in Baalbek. Sayyed started his speech by recalling one of the most important stages in Hezbollah’s rise religiously and as a resistance, the 80s. 

“The hawza has a special place, and whenever Sheikh Mohammad Yazbek asks me to sponsor such ceremonies, I quickly accept because I cannot refuse it,” Sayyed said.

According to Sheikh Mohammad Amhaz, Sayyed’s speech was divided into two parts: the first was recommendations directed at students of Islamic sciences, in which he stressed that “today we need the insight of the religious clerics, especially among students of Islamic sciences, accompanied with piety in particular”.

Sayyed stressed, “Our goal as religious scholars and students, equally, is to be with all social classes and not one without the other.”

Sayyed recalled his experience when he was a student in the of Najaf Al-Ashraf seminary and his memories with Sheikh Ahmed Al-Sheikh, who was a colleague in Islamic studies and a friend of his. He elaborated extensively on the very difficult living circumstances in Iraq during the days of the Baathist regime, when he was about 18 years old. Students of religious sciences were subject to dangerous circumstances. They faced possible liquidation, being killed or even kidnapped. During that period, the Baathists doubled their targeting of hawza students, and he was one of them. Things reached a dead end. Until he became homeless. So, he had to leave the country and head back to Lebanon. However, several obstacles stood in his way. When he entered Iraq, the officer at the passport control did not stamp his passport. The stamp proves he legally entered the country. But a divine miracle prevented the situation from getting worse. The passport control did not notice the missing stamp, and His Eminence as well as his brothers were able to return to their country safely.

His Eminence told this touching story for a reason, according to Sheikh Mohammad Amhaz. Sayyed wanted to give us an example of the hardship he faced while he sought Islamic studies. He wanted to encourage us as religious scholars to rely on God in adversity before prosperity, to follow the path of guidance until the end and endure hardships, for there is nothing that can stop our scholastic path, be it security or political circumstances.

The second part of Sayyed speech, which spanned for about two continuous hours, tackled the internal Lebanese affairs, especially in light of what it has been witnessing for more than 50 days. Sayyed emphasized that we might go through difficult economic conditions, but this requires patience, farsightedness and endurance.

“We have always been accustomed to being aided by God during difficult circumstances,” Sayyed added. “We depend on God and on everyone shouldering their responsibilities. Our dependence is on God.”

Sitting with Sayyed is captivating. Nothing could distract us during his presence, Sheikh Amhaz points out. The atmosphere of warmth and love took over the occasion, which was far from military and extreme seriousness. However, Sheikh Amhaz adds, “We tried to make use of our time with His Eminence. The meeting holds a deeper meaning to us. There is no place here for superficial matters.”

The time for putting on the turbans neared. The names of the graduates were put on each turban. The scene was preserved and photographed, but Sayyed made sure to organize the filming process himself. He gave instructions and directions on how to take pictures and from which angle. He looked like a real expert, says Sheikh Amhaz.

Sheikh Amhaz pauses well at that moment, describing it as “impressive and beyond all sanctities, but mixed with uneasiness and fear of the responsibilities the newly turbaned clerics will shoulder.”

Sayyed gave the graduates a lot of advice. But he gave one special recommendation to Sheikh Muhammad Amhaz since he recites and memorizes the Quran. His Eminence advised him to always keep reading the Quran. And he specifically told him, “Your turban to me is conditional on you continuing to read the Quran, especially since some clerics ignore this aspect after wearing the turban … We must persevere and work in this direction, so that the focus is not only on Husseini oratory.”

The students of Islamic studies spent three hours of affability with Sayyed Nasrallah. The time spent overflowed with feelings of devotedness and piety. It was also mixed with the values of worship, obedience to the Lord and devotion to the path of his Messenger. According to everyone present, the sponsor of the occasion seemed firm but modest, fortified but ascetic. The verse {Forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves.} applies to him. 

Following are the names of the graduating students:

Sheikh Hassan Al-Nimr

Sheikh Hussein Al-Nimr

Sheikh Hassan Al-Baba

Sheikh Khalil Yassin

Sheikh Abbas Chalhoub

Sheikh Abbas Sadiq

Sheikh Mohammad Amhaz

Sheikh M0hammad Al-Ahmad

وفاة المفكر السوري محمد شحرور The death of the Syrian thinker Muhammad Shahrour

بروكار برس – أبو ظبي

توفي المفكر السوري الدكتور محمد شحرور (80 عاماً) اليوم السبت في  أبو ظبي وسينقل جثمانه إلى دمشق بناءً على وصيته ليدفن في مقبرة العائلة.

أصدر عددا كبيرا من الكتب البحثية منها:

(الكتاب والقرآن – قراءة معاصرة) عام 1990.

(الدولة والمجتمع) عام 1994.

(الإسلام والإيمان – منظومة القيم) عام 1996.

(تجفيف منابع الإرهاب) عام 2008.

(الدين والسلطة – قراءة معاصرة للحاكمية) عام 2014.

(الإسلام والإيمان – منظومة القيم) عام 2014

(فقه المرأة – نحو أصول جديدة للفقه الإسلامي) عام 2015

The Rise and Fall of ISIS صعود وسقوط داعش

August 10, 2019

by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog

A year or two ago, I would have never imagined that I would be writing an article with this title, at least not this soon; but things change.

If anything, my previous articles about ISIS which I wrote back between 2014 and 2017 were very alarming and predicted the worst, but again, things change, and back then there were many reasons to feel alarmed.

I have reiterated in that era of the past that the ISIS ideology had deep roots in fundamentalist Islam, and I still have this view. I have professed many times that this fundamentalist doctrine had been in place long before Christopher Columbus set a foot on American soil and that we cannot blame the CIA, Israel, the UK, or the West in general for the creation of this ideology, and I am not retracting. I have also said that those fundamentalist views do not represent real Islam, and there is no change in heart on this aspect either. So what has changed?

In this context, we are talking about the ideological rise and fall of ISIS. We are not talking about the political aspects and the horde of players who helped create, manipulate and employ ISIS for different reasons and agendas. With all of those players however, ISIS needed the support base, and that support base was the Muslim youth who are disenchanted by world events and the manner the world views Islam. Furthermore, they are disgruntled by the governments of the Muslims World and their links to the West: links they consider as treasonous and shameful. It was this mindset that was the recruitment base for ISIS; not the Pentagon.

So for the benefit of clarification, I must herein emphasize that there has always been a perverted version of Islam that founded itself on violence; in total contradiction to the Quranic teachings that clearly forbid coercion and oppression. This version was finally committed to a written doctrine, written by Ibn Taymiyyah; the founding doctrine of the Wahhabi Saudi sect.

When the West “discovered” this doctrine, it tried to employ it to its advantage, and this was how Al-Qaeda and ISIS were created, with Al-Qaeda’s role to hurt the USSR in Afghanistan, and ISIS to topple the legitimate and secular Syrian Government.

The not so funny thing about ISIS was that when the proclamation of creating the Islamist state back in mid-2014, the Caliphate passion became something easy to grow and self-nurture in the hearts and minds of many Sunni Muslims across the globe; including moderate ones.

Harking back at what happened back then; one honestly cannot blame them much. After all, many of the then Iraqi ISIS commanders and fighters were former Saddam-era Iraqi Army personnel. Many of them have even actually walked away from the “dictator” in the hope that the “regime change” was going to be for the better, only to soon realize the state of mess and mayhem that the American invasion created.

Before ISIS “had the chance” to show its ugly face, may moderate Muslims thought that this new force emerging out of Mesopotamia, one that does not recognize the border lines that Western colonialists have drawn between Sham (Syria) and Iraq, one that wants to unite Muslims, is perhaps “the one” to go for and support.

Ironically, most of those Muslims today look back at those days and either forget or wish to forget that at one stage, at some level, deep down in their hearts they supported ISIS, albeit not fully knowing what it stood for.

It was this subtle and covert support for ISIS by some elements of the global Sunni rank-and-file that gave ISIS a fertile ground for luring in recruits and that was the major cause for concern.

If anyone looks for evidence that supports this statement, then he/she need not go further than looking at the recent history of terror attacks in the EU (especially France) and the UK.

After the horrendous Bastille Day attack in Nice in the summer of 2016, a new direction for terror was established, and the perpetrator proved that one does not need a weapon to kill. His weapon was a truck, and he didn’t even need to buy it. He rented it.

After this infamous attack and what followed it, I among many others, predicted more of such events, and they continued for a while, and then suddenly they stopped. Why? This is the question.

For ISIS to be have been able to keep its momentum and growing support base, it needed to gain the hearts and minds of Muslims. But to do so, it needed to score victories and be able to revive Muslim nostalgia. Both are equally important.

In the beginning, it boasted its victories and the biggest of which was the takeover of Mosul; Iraq’s second largest city. This was how the ears of many Muslims worldwide pricked up and poised themselves to hear more. Some jumped on the band wagon straight away, but the majority braced and waited for more evidence that ISIS in general, and Baghdadi in specific, are the right ones to trust and follow.

What followed the capture of Mosul by ISIS however was nothing short of disgrace for ISIS; one that exposed its true inner ugliness. And instead of being able to capitalize on its initial momentum and promising to achieve more of it by adopting at least some of the virtues of Islam, ISIS turned its inability to achieve further military victories into a blood bath, looting and a sex slave market.

Before too long, even some of the most ardent Muslim supporters of ISIS turned away from it, and then against it, to the degree that they now even forget or deny that they once supported its baby steps.

What is interesting to note is that the move from secularism to Islam has not changed in the Muslim world. An increasing number of Muslim girls are wearing the Hijab with or without ISIS, but ISIS itself has lost its sway with the general Sunni Muslim populace.

What is interesting to see is that the definition of what is a “real Muslim” is changing, and changing quickly. And whilst the move towards Hijab and all what comes with it is still going full steam ahead, there seems to be a growing trend in the Muslim World towards moderation.

The ISIS fundamentals of black and white doctrine seem to be becoming increasingly tolerant of certain shades of grey. Even some personal Facebook friends and friends of friends who have brandished their photos performing Pilgrimage at Mecca don’t seem to be at dis-ease posting other photos brandishing a Heineken. To someone outside the Muslim Faith this may not sound like a big deal, but in reality, it is.

This all sounds good, but what has happened here really?

ISIS has definitely lost the plot. Fortunately for the world, irrespective of who are/were the people “behind” ISIS, its recruitment base had to come from Muslims; especially the youth. Having lost the ability to draw more recruits and enthusiasts who pledge their actions and lives to Baghdadi without even having to be formal ISIS members, ISIS as an organization and a name is now a spent force, and dare I say a figment of the past.

This however does not mean that the Muslim community has “immunized” itself against potential new ISIS-like organizations and agendas.

The initial rise of ISIS could have well been the result of a nostalgic remnant of a certain belief system that many Muslims did not even want to investigate and study properly to see if it really and truly conforms with the Teachings of Islam and all other religions. The fall of ISIS however heralds a new unprecedented era in the Muslim mind, and this calls for great optimism.

Perhaps for the first time in the history of Islam ever since its inception, Muslims are now beginning to examine some teachings they inherited. Even Saudi Arabia and its infamous Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman (MBS) seem to be sick and tired of the old rules and dogmas that allow this and prohibit that; based on no foundation at all. I have never been a fan of MBS, but having lived in Saudi Arabia for a while, I had always thought that this country would never allow women to drive, never ever. The fact that he changed this is a great step in the right direction. This does not take away from MBS’s genocidal activities in Yemen of course, but on the dogmatic side of things, this is a huge step towards reform. In Saudi Arabia there is also a call to have a second take on the Hadith (the spoken word of Prophet Mohamed) in an attempt to identify certain teachings that promote violence and that are incompatible with Islam. The rationale behind this is that they were never the words of the Prophet to begin with and that they might have been injected into the huge discourse by others with political agendas. Such an initiative was totally unfathomable only up till a few years ago.

Does this mean that we are seeing the end of Muslim fundamentalist-based violence? Hopefully we are, but the real answer to this question is for the whole Muslim community to answer.

The truth is that ISIS may be done and dusted, but the ideology behind lives on.

It is hoped for that the actions of ISIS will be remembered for eternity. It is hoped that Muslims realize that if they truly want to pursue the fundamentalist dreams of conquest and world dominion, then they cannot distance themselves from the legacy of ISIS. It is hoped that they look forward to a new world that is open to all religions and doctrines.

I am a firm believer that God created man in His own image, and part of this image is goodness and love of goodness; and Muslims are part of this creation. After all, Muslims, all Muslims believe in the Hadith that says: “The best people are those who most benefit to other people”. Russia and Syria might have won the military war on ISIS, but it is Muslims who have won the spiritual fight. Muslims: 1, ISIS: 0.

ِArabic Translation 

By UP

صعود وسقوط داعش

غسان كادي

 ، لم أكن أتخيل منذ عام أو عامين أبداً أنني سأكتب مقالًا بهذا العنوان؛

في ذلك الوقت كانت هناك أسباب كثيرة للشعور بالقلق، لكن الأمور تتغير.

في مقالاتي السابقة حول داعش التي كتبت في الفترة ما بين 2014 و 2017 كانت مقلقة للغاية وتوقعت الأسوأ ،  لكن الأمور تغيرت .

في تلك الحقبة الماضية كررت أن أيديولوجية داعش لها جذور عميقة في الإسلام الأصولي ،وقلت أيضًا أن تلك الآراء الأصولية لا تمثل الإسلام الحقيقي ولا يزال لدي هذا الرأي. فالعقيدة الأصولية كانت موجودة قبل فترة طويلة من اكتشاف الأرض الأمريكية وعليه لا يمكننا اتهام وكالة الاستخبارات المركزية أو إسرائيل أو المملكة المتحدة أو الغرب عمومًا بإنشاء هذه الأيديولوجية، وأنا هنا لا أتراجع. إذن ما الذي تغير؟

 في هذا السياق، نتحدث عن الصعود ولسقوط الأيديولوجي لداعش، ولا نتحدث عن الجوانب السياسية واللاعبين الذين ساعدوا في إنشاء وتوظيفها لأسباب وجداول أعمال مختلفة. لأنه مع توفر كل هؤلاء اللاعبين، كانت داعش بحاجه إلى بيئة حاضنة وقاعدة الدعم، وكانت البيئة الحاضنة وقاعدة الدعم هي الشباب المسلم المحبط بالأحداث العالمية والطريقة التي ينظر بها العالم إلى الإسلام والاستياء من حكومات العالم الإسلامي وروابطهم الخائنة والمخزية بالغرب. هذا الاحباط والاستياء مكن البنتاغون من التوظيف السياسي لداعش.

لذلك لا بد أن أشدد هنا على الوجود الدائمً لنسخة منحرفة من الإسلام تأسست على العنف ؛ في تناقض تام مع التعاليم القرآنية التي تمنع بوضوح الإكراه والقمع. نسخة كتبها ابن تيمية ؛ العقيدة المؤسسة للطائفة الوهابية السعودية.

عندما “اكتشف” الغرب هذه العقيدة المنحرفة، حاول أن يوظفها لصالحه ، وهكذا تم إنشاء القاعدة وداعش، القاعدة لإلحاق الأذى بالاتحاد السوفيتي في أفغانستان، وداعش لإسقاط الشرعية والعلمانية الحكومة السورية.

 لا شك ان إعلان داعش عن إنشاء الدولة الإسلامية في منتصف عام 2014 ، أيقظ الحنين والأمل بعودة الخلافة في  قلوب وعقول العديد من المسلمين السنة في جميع أنحاء العالم ؛ بما في ذلك المعتدلين. وبصراحة لا يمكن إلقاء اللوم عليهم كثيرا. بعد كل شيء ، فإن العديد من قادة ومقاتلي داعش العراقيين كانوا في السابق من أفراد الجيش العراقي في عهد صدام. لقد ابتعد كثير منهم عن “الديكتاتور” على أمل أن يتم “تغيير النظام” للأفضل ، لكنهم انضموا لداعش يسبب حالة الفوضى التي أحدثها الغزو الأمريكي.

قبل أن تظهر داعش وجهها القبيح ، ربما اعتقد المسلمون المعتدلون أن هذه القوة الجديدة الخارجة من بلاد ما بين النهرين ، والتي لا تعترف بالحدود التي رسمها المستعمرون الغربيون بين الشام (سوريا) والعراق ، هي القوة التي تستطيع توحيد المسلمين، والتي يجب دعمها .

ومن المفارقات، أن معظم هؤلاء المسلمين عندما ينظرون اليوم إلى الوراء، إما ينسون أو يودون أن ينسوا أنهم في مرحلة ما، في أعماق قلوبهم، أيدوا داعش ، وإن كانوا لا يعرفون تمامًا معنى ذلك.

هذا الدعم الخفي والسري لداعش من قبل بعض التيار السني العالمي هو الذي أعطى داعش أرضية خصبة لجذب المجندين وكان ذلك هو السبب الرئيسي للقلق.

إذا كان أي شخص يبحث عن أدلة تدعم هذه المقولة، فلن يحتاج الا إلى أبعد النظر في الهجمات الإرهابية في الاتحاد الأوروبي (وخاصة فرنسا) والمملكة المتحدة.

في الهجوم المروع الذي وقع يوم الباستيل في نيس في صيف عام 2016 ، أثبت مرتكب الجريمة أنه لا يحتاج إلى سلاح ليقتل. كان سلاحه شاحنة ، ولم يكن بحاجة لشرائها. فقد استأجرها.

وبعد هذا الهجوم المشين وما تلاه ، توقعت من بين أشياء كثيرة أخرى حدوث المزيد من هذه الأحداث ، التي استمرت لفترة، ثم توقفت فجأة.

لماذا ا؟ هذا هو السؤال.

لتتمكن داعش من الحفاظ على دعم بيئتها الحاضنة المتنامية ، كانت تحتاج إلى كسب قلوب وعقول المسلمين. وللقيام بذلك ، كان من الضروري تسجيل الانتصارات لإحياء حنين المسلمين للخلافة.

في البداية ، تفاخرت داعش بانتصاراتها وكان أكبرها الاستيلاء على الموصل. ثاني أكبر مدن العراق. وهكذا أصبحت آذان العديد من المسلمين في جميع أنحاء العالم تستعد وتهيئ نفسها لسماع المزيد. قفز البعض على عربة داعش مباشرة ، لكن الغالبية استعدت وانتظرت للحصول على مزيد من الأدلة على أن داعش بشكل عام ، والبغدادي على وجه الخصوص ، هما الشخصان المناسبان للثقة والمتابعة.

لكن ما أعقب استيلاء داعش على الموصل لم يكن أقل من وصمة عار كشفت عن قبحها الداخلي الحقيقي. وبدلاً من أن تتمكن داعش من الاستفادة من زخم انتصارها الأول ووعدها بتحقيق المزيد من ذلك من خلال ابراز من فضائل الإسلام على الأقل ، حوّلت داعش عجزها عن تحقيق المزيد من الانتصارات العسكرية إلى حمام دم ونهب وسوق للاسعباد الجنسي.

قبل مضي وقت طويل ، حتى ابتعد بعض أكثر المؤيدين الإسلاميين المتحمسين لداعش عنها ، ثم تحولوا  ضدها ، لدرجة أنهم الآن نسوا أو أنكروا أنهم أيدوا ذات مرة خطواتها الاولى .

 ما يثير الاهتمام هو ان فقدان داعش سيطرتها على عامة المسلمين السنة لم ينعكس على عملية الانتقال من  العلمانية إلى الإسلام لم يتغير في العالم الإسلامي. فعدد يرتدي عدد الفتيات المسلمات المحجبات يزداد

وما يثير الاهتمام هو أن تعريف “المسلم الحقيقي” يتغير ويتغير بسرعة. وبينما لا يزال ارتداء الحجاب وكل ما يأتي معه في تزايد ، يبدو أن هناك اتجاهًا متزايدًا في العالم الإسلامي نحو الاعتدال.

يبدو أن أساسيات مذهب داعش الأسود والأبيض أصبحت أكثر تسامحًا مع بعض ظلال الرمادي. حتى بعض الأصدقاء الشخصيين على وأصدقاء الأصدقاء قاموا بتلوين صورهم وهم يؤدون رحلة الحج في مكة المكرمة ،و لا يبدو أنهم لا يرغبون في نشر صور أخرى تحمل علامة هاينكن. بالنسبة لشخص من خارج الديانة الإسلامية ، قد لا يبدو هذا أمرًا كبيرًا ، لكنه في الواقع كذلك.

كل هذا يبدو جيدا ، ولكن ما حدث هنا حقا؟

بالتأكيد فقد فشلت مؤامرة داعش لحسن الحظ بالنسبة للعالم ، وبغض النظر عمن يكون / كان “وراء” تنظيم “داعش” ، كان المسلمين خاصة الشباب قاعدة التجنيد؛ فقدت داعش القدرة على جذب المزيد من المجندين والمتحمسين الذين نذروا أفعالهم وحياتهم للبغدادي دون الحاجة حتى إلى أن يكونوا أعضاء رسميين ، وأصبحت  داعش كمنظمة واسم الآن قوة مستهلكة ، وأتجرأ على القول، صورة من الماضي

لكن هذا لا يعني أن المجتمع المسلم “قام بتحصين” نفسه ضد المنظمات وجداول الأعمال المحتملة الجديدة المشابهة لداعش.

كان من الممكن أن يكون الصعود الأول لداعش هو  بقايا حنين لنظام معتقد معين لم يرغب الكثير من المسلمين حتى في دراسته بشكل صحيح لمعرفة ما إذا كان يتوافق حقًا مع تعاليم الإسلام وجميع الأديان الأخرى. لكن سقوط داعش يبشر بعهد جديد لم يسبق له مثيل في العقل الإسلامي ، وهذا يستدعي تفاؤلًا كبيرًا.

ربما لأول مرة في تاريخ الإسلام منذ نشأته ، بدأ المسلمون الآن في دراسة بعض التعاليم التي ورثوها. حتى في المملكة العربية السعودية وولي العهد السعودي الأمير محمد بن سلمان  يبدو أنهما سئموا من القواعد والعقائد القديمة التي تسمح بهذا وتحظر ذلك ؛ بدون أي أساس على الإطلاق.

لم أكن من عشاق محمد بن سلمان، ولكني كنت أعيش في المملكة العربية السعودية لفترة من الوقت ، وكنت أظن دائمًا أن هذا البلد لن يسمح أبدًا للنساء بقيادة السيارات، لكن هذا حدث وهو خطوة كبيرة في الاتجاه الصحيح و خطوة كبيرة نحو الإصلاح يجب ان لا تنسينا الإبادة الجماعية التي تقوم بها السعودية في اليمن بالطبع.

في المملكة العربية السعودية ، هناك أيضًا دعوة لإعادة النظر في الحديث (الكلمة المنطوقة للنبي محمد) في محاولة لتحديد التعاليم المنسوبة للنبي التي تروج للعنف والتي تتعارض مع االقرآن واعتبارها احاديث منحولة تم حقنها من قبل الآخرين لتبرير اجندات سياسية. مثل هذه المبادرة لم تكن ممكنة على الإطلاق قبل بضع سنوات.

هل هذا يعني أننا نشهد نهاية للعنف الإسلامي القائم على الأصولية؟ نأمل أن نكون ، لكن الإجابة الحقيقية على هذا السؤال هي برسم المجتمع المسلم بأسره.

والحقيقة هي أن داعش يقد هزمت ولكن الأيديولوجية الكامنة ورائها ما زالت مستمرة.

من المأمول أن يتذكر  المسلمون أفعال داعش إلى الأبد وأن يلفظوا إرث تنظيم الدولة الإسلامية وأحلامها الأصولية المتمثلة في الفتح والسيطرة على العالم ، من المأمول أن يتطلعوا إلى عالم جديد مفتوح لجميع الأديان والمذاهب.

أنا من أشد المؤمنين أن الله خلق الإنسان على صورته ، وجزء من هذه الصورة هو الخير ومحبة الخير ؛ والمسلمون جزء من هذا الخلق. بعد كل شيء ، المسلمون ، جميع المسلمين يؤمنون بالحديث الذي يقول:  “خير ا النَّاس انفعهم ” للنَّاس

ربما تكون روسيا وسوريا قد ربحت الحرب العسكرية على داعش ، ولكن المسلمين هم الذين فازوا في المعركة الروحية. المسلمون: 1 ، داعش: 0.

“Global Coalition of the Willing,” Ordinary Iranians’ Style: Resistance multiplied by Ethics plus Justice minus Oppression divided by Aggression

August 02, 2019

“Global Coalition of the Willing,” Ordinary Iranians’ Style: Resistance multiplied by Ethics plusJustice minus Oppression divided by Aggression

by Mansoureh Tajik for The Saker Blog

For a brief moment in human history, or what feels like only a fraction of a second now, the United States of America experienced a mirage of a position, dubbed a “superpower,” self-appointed¹. Those who lacked ethical and moral imagination went along with that coronation². Or, perhaps they were just humoring it until a better replacement came along³.

Internally and externally, the United States maintained its illusion of superpower status through the application of diverse tools, some hard and harsh, some soft, and some gray in nature. On the economic front, it mass produced an industrial-scale fiat currency⁴ as a trading tool and adopted games of chance, fundamentals of speculation⁵ and gambling as its “genius” economic principles. It manufactured large bubbles of debt⁶, mimicking a toddler’s birthday party, then divided and sold the airs within as investment bonds. The illusion of trust in an untrustworthy entity was the collateral. No worries though. Whenever the time got ripe and the bubbles burst, sophisticated air-capturing devices and adjustment tools were customized, nicely packaged, and were readied for retail. The hamster on the wheel of finance kept on running but never arriving; alas, the chicanery of economic progress was kept alive.

On the military front, the United States dropped two atomic bombs killing and genetically maiming hundreds of thousands of people for generations to come. In the Eyewitness Account of Hiroshima, August 6th, 1945, Father John A. Siemes, then a professor of modern philosophy at Tokyo’s Catholic University, concluded his remarks by saying:

“We have discussed among ourselves the ethics of the use of the bomb. Some consider it in the same category as poison gas and were against its use on a civil population. Others were of the view that in total war, as carried on in Japan, there was no difference between civilians and soldiers, and that the bomb itself was an effective force tending to end the bloodshed, warning Japan to surrender and thus to avoid total destruction. It seems logical to me that he who supports total war in principle cannot complain of war against civilians. The crux of the matter is whether total war in its present form is justifiable, even when it serves a just purpose. Does it not have material and spiritual evil as its consequences which far exceed whatever good that might result? When will our moralists give us a clear answer to this question?”⁷

While the “moralists” on whom Father Siemes pinned his hopes seventy four years ago were too busy theorizing about their own slumber, the United States of America stockpiled thousands of ready-to-be-deployed nuclear bombs, as fear-inducing threat tools. It deviated enormous amounts of world’s precious resources into the development of military hardware and software gadgets, using “defense” and “American interest” as its rationale⁸. It then created chaos and mayhem all over the planet⁹ as its pressure lever to sell death toys to teeny-weeny boys¹⁰—expensive batteries not included and costly -900- numbers for instructions on operations and maintenance¹¹.

On the public relations and propaganda front, it used industrial-scale colorful media forms¹² as its tool to lie, to cheat, and to fool. It is useful to remember that the United States of America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, freely burnt alive and made melted charcoals¹³ of tens of its own defenseless and unarmed mothers, fathers, and children in Mt. Carmel, Waco, Texas¹⁴. It bravely broadcasted, live, the entire event on several television networks for days to nip it in the bud for its own agitated population exactly how low it is capable of sinking to maintain its clutch and subdue dissent. For sure, that trick alone silenced many for a few years, Timothy McVeigh¹⁵ and his disloyal company excluded, while it worked on another script for another terror-inducing spectacular performance. Too many tricks to remember and too many tools to recount in this short essay; but at last, the jig is up.

Internally, the house has fallen on moral, ethical, justice, and economic grounds, but has forgotten to collapse. Those who cannot see this need corrective lenses or the right standards to evaluate and measure things. Externally, and more relevant to our topic here, the structure of the world’s power relations and alignments are changing rapidly in a tangible and measureable way away from the United States’¹⁶ autocratic clutch. While the self-absorbed and the infatuated speak of dangers of a power vacuum, others are quite busy realigning themselves. Let us remind ourselves of Saxon White Kissinger’s poem about delusions of indispensability,

“Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions
And see how they humble your soul;

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining
Is a measure of how you’ll be missed.”¹⁷

Coalitions, partnerships, and algebraically aligned groups of countries around the globe, some with hybrid letter-number titles of “this plus that minus the other,” are emerging left, right, and center. Even multi-billioners, themselves cheerleaders and enablers of the Empire of Illusions, are busy, like rats, circling the globe door to door to release their poisonous capital in the hope of infesting another Titanic, another morality-free sinking ship into making. There is a buzz that George Soros is trying to establish his own anti-war ‘Code Pink’ group (should name it Code Navy Blue, perhaps). No doubt, the irony would not have been lost to George Orwell had he lived to see it.

Enough eulogizing. What do all these mean, or should mean, to ordinary people and local community groups around the world? That is, for what, where, when, why, and how should the very people who often shoulder the brunt of all the dregs that roll downhill prepare themselves? For the rest of us, too, no matter what positions we hold and what relationships we have with the rest of the world, the same questions apply. I and the local community groups with and within which I work are grappling with these questions on a daily basis. We are doing what we can to ensure that our short and borrowed lives on this earth is worth the breaths we take. Many of us find ourselves feeling increasingly fortunate to live in Iran where doing so many things in so many ways is possible. More fortunately for us, the general frameworks within which we ask questions, analyze situations, design solutions, and implement them are all intertwined and enmeshed in our culture and belief system: Quran, Our Prophet’s and Imams’ teachings, and an important element called “Al-Hekmah” or the Wisdom. So, how do we evaluate the current transformations in the world around us and how do we try to choose the correct position and make a difference? Here, I present a brief and simple snapshot of our local-universal eye-view.

Firstly, Quran’s ethical teachings, as exemplified through the words and deeds of our Prophet, Imams, and pious scholars, tell us that there is no separation of religion and politics in Islam. As Allammeh Seyyed Hassan Modarres (1249 – 1316 HS, parallel in date with 1870-1937 AD), a religious sage and one of the champions of Iranian Constitutional movement, said in one of his most famous speeches, and Imam Khomeini, the Founder of the Revolution, quoted, “Siasat-e ma eyn_e dianat_e ma, va Dianat_e ma eyn_e Sia’sat_e mast.” (“Our politics is exactly our religion and our religion is exactly our politics.”) The paragraph from which the line is borrowed reads,

“The source of our politics is our religion. We are on friendly terms with the entire world so long as they have not aggressed against us. But, if anyone aggresses against us, we will respond. Our politics is exactly our religion and our religion is exactly our politics.”¹⁸

Notwithstanding a particular religious belief and appealing simply to human logic, how would it even be possible for someone to have an authentic personal and private ethical and religious belief about, for instance, “thou shall not kill the innocent,” and live, work, and play within the rules and regulations of countries and political systems that kill innocent people to generate revenues and to maintain their national economic lifestyles of choice? Or, appealing to a more rudimentary level of human thought, how could we possibly afford not to be political, when the concentration of the very oxygen in the air we breathe, the amount of poisons with which our waters and foods are laced, the diseases we suffer, the so-called cures we are allowed to access, our fertility, our sexuality, our freedom to move from point A to point B are all determined by politics? Are we living with our heads buried in the sand?

Given these realities, for our people and local community groups here, being political is not a matter of choice but a religious obligation, a human necessity, and a critical survival instinct. Since we cannot avoid this, we do our utmost and take great deal of care to be well informed in order to be able to choose the right (as in correct) politics. People here take the trouble of going that extra kilometer so that, God forbids, they do not end up assuming they are on the right side and the followers of Imam Ali (the first Imam of Shi’a belief) and Imam Hussein (the third Imam of Shi’a belief) but, in fact, do things that are tantamount to carrying water for the turbines of Mo’avieh and Yazeed (Father and Son corrupt tyrants in Ummayyad dynasty against whose policies the Shi’a imams stood, resisted, and eventually got martyred).

Secondly, our religion and our pious religious scholars teach us that we should neither oppress others nor submit to oppression by others. So, our resistance has at least three dimensions: one, we must resist our own urges to oppress others, while at the same time, resist being sucked into siding with oppressors. Two, we must resist oppression against ourselves by anyone. Three, whenever and wherever we hear the cry for help of the oppressed people (Muslim and/or non-Muslim), we are obligated to respond and help, within our means and capacity to do so, and in a sound and appropriate way. Standing silently on the sideline and keeping quiet out of fear or greed is not an option for us. People here commemorate Imam Ali as the epitome of excellence in justice and in “qist” (particular form of justice). They commemorate Imam Hussein as the epitome of resistance against oppression and injustice. When you hear the chants of “Kullu Yau’men Ashura, Kullu Arzen Karbala” -Every day is Ashura, Every place is Karbala, it is useful to remember that today’s Karbala extends from Afghanistan to Yemen to Syria to Palestine to Nigeria to Sudan to Caracas and to any other place on the globe that people are fighting injustice, resisting oppression, and asking for help.

This stance is not just an isolated religious belief of some uninformed local community groups. It is written clearly into our constitution, the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran¹⁹. In Article 2, Section 6.c, and in Article 3, Section 5,6,15, and 16, it reads:

2:6.c – the negation of all kinds of oppression, authoritarianism, or the acceptance of domination, which secures justice, political and economic, social, and cultural independence and national unity.

3:5 – the complete rejection of colonialism and the prevention of foreign influence.

3:6 – the eradication of all kinds of tyranny, autocracy, and monopolization of power.

3:15 – the cultivation and strengthening of Islamic brotherhood and general cooperation among the people.

3:16 – the organization of the nation’s foreign policy based on Islamic criteria, fraternal commitment to all Muslims, and unrestrained support for the impoverished people of the world.

Any of our elected and/or appointed officials who would tell you otherwise, is either ignorant of the very law he must uphold (in which case, shame on him) or he has gotten to his position by lying, cheating, and swearing to uphold the very laws he is deliberately breaking (in which case, he is a hypocrite and double shame on him). On a bright note though, the ordinary people in the trenches feel extremely blessed that the most senior person in their land, the Leader, is also the most steadfast champion and the flag bearer of the constitution. To put him on a sanction list means to put the Iranian constitution and millions of ordinary people in local communities on a sanction list. Of course, had the US done differently, we would have questioned our own authenticity.

More generally though, as the current situation in the world unfolds, it is useful to remember some basic facts. No imperialist, no arrogant power, no superpower wannabe operates in a vacuum. There are always cheerleaders, enablers, junior and senior accomplices, profiteers, and conspirators. Regardless of what their mouth says, their action speaks louder. Let’s consider a simple example. The Unites States was able to spend trillions in military adventures killing millions of innocent people around the world and expropriating their resources in two fundamental ways: 1) It shortchanged its own tax-paying population, the young, the retired, and even the unborn in all sorts of social and public rights and amenities. 2) It kept on issuing treasury bonds on its accumulated debt, currently about 22.5 trillion dollars²⁰, with People’s Bank of China, Central Bank of Japan, and naïve citizens²¹ as its most devoted purchasers.

To speak inside a parenthesis and to be totally candid, the ordinary people here find Japan’s “I’ve-fallen-and-I-can’t-get-up!” attitude which has lasted nearly 74 years quite puzzling. Once upon a time, they lost a war. Who doesn’t at one point or another? Now that it happened, shouldn’t they stand up, dust off, and shake off this subdued and subservient house servant role and assume an independent position with dignity and self-respect? I am told. As Imam Hussein said, “If you do not have any religion and are not fearful of the Day of Judgment, at least be protective of your liberty and autonomy in your life in this world.”²² People hope and pray to God that hardworking and noble people of Japan will rise up and will one day free themselves of the US occupation. Again, regular, ordinary people here are genuinely willing to provide support, if the Japanese themselves are willing to fight for their independence.

We will assume being under occupation by the US is Japan’s excuse. But, what has been China’s excuse? China has been buying the US debt as an export-led strategy to ensure its economic growth²³. Therefore, to the extent that China, out of self-interest, has acted as an enabler of the United States aggressions and wars, it, too, is responsible. Its development, too, is contaminated with the crime and injustice against, and the blood of innocent people proportionate to the amount of advantage it had gained through its indirect support of those acts. We will not even address its voting record, until just a couple of years ago, as the UN’s Security Council permanent member. Now that it, too, is a target, its change in behavior is not trustworthy enough because it does not appear to be based on ethical and moral principles. It would not be illogical to assume that the moment the direction of winds changes, it is likely that China’s current stance would change, too.

Therefore, for ordinary people in local communities here, that is, the very same people who are active, and who willingly volunteer their own lives and their children and spouses to go and fight alongside those who resist oppressions and hegemony by the US and the West, these and other critical points and lessons will not go unchallenged and unlearned. Only those who have a proven record of being honest and trustworthy, of acting on principles, and steadfast in their resolve fighting against oppression are worthy of trust and long-term partnership, regardless of their race, nationality, and religious affiliation. Others must work much harder, regardless of what they profess to be.

As the entire world is moving on, and as partnerships and coalitions are constantly dissolving and forming, and as the nuclear strike buzzes & hypes are being heard again, I would like link back to the beginning of the essay and re-insert, again, the quoted parts of Father Siemes’ remark, but this time, I complement the segment with a new twist in interpretation and prediction. He recounted,

“We have discussed among ourselves the ethics of the use of the bomb. Some consider it in the same category as poison gas and were against its use on a civil population. Others were of the view that in total war, as carried on in Japan, there was no difference between civilians and soldiers, and that the bomb itself was an effective force tending to end the bloodshed, warning Japan to surrender and thus to avoid total destruction. It seems logical to me that he who supports total war in principle cannot complain of war against civilians. The crux of the matter is whether total war in its present form is justifiable, even when it serves a just purpose. Does it not have material and spiritual evil as its consequences which far exceed whatever good that might result? When will our moralists give us a clear answer to this question?”⁷

I can guarantee anyone who reads these lines that ordinary people in local communities here in Iran are fully aware that what is currently going on is, in fact, a total war against their very existence. They also know there is no difference between civilians, soldiers, and [they add] our Commander in Chief (Seyyed Ali Khamenei). Should one, two, or more nuclear bombs be added to the United States’ repertoire of its pressure levers in its ongoing total war against Iran, unlike the Japanese, the ordinary devout Shi’as in Iran (who are quite significant in number), from all levels of the society, are not going to be sitting around philosophizing, musing, and theorizing about whether or not the total war against them was justified, where all the moralists have gone, or play the role of an obedient house servant. Furthermore, they are not going to enter into a shock & awe state, not knowing what to do. Bihawl’lallah wa Quwwatah (By God’s Power and Might), they will, however, make sure that will not end the bloodshed; rather, it will begin a very effective and exact bloodshed. From my reading of the population here, I can bet my life on that. Can the US, holding tight and fast to its nuclear Trump card, be equally sure of its own bet? If yes, Bismillah.

Mansoureh Tajik lives in Alborz Province in Iran. She has a background in teaching and research in the areas of community and environmental health, environmental justice, and media literacy. She collaborates with various local community members, groups, and organizations to provide support in addressing health and environmental problems, sustainable agriculture, and in design, implementation, and evaluation of relevant improvement projects.

References

1. Thomas Donnelly, Donald Kagan, and Gary Schmitt (2000). “Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategy, Forces, and Resources for a New American Century,” A Report of The Project for the New American Century, September 2000. Accessed on 7/9/2019; Available online at: https://archive.org/details/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.

2. Fotios Moustakis & Rudra Chaudhuri (2006). “Counting the Cost of an American Unilateralist Policy: a Superpower at Risk?” Published By: Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Conflict Studies Research Centre, Special Series, 06/43. ISBN 1-905058-88-8, August 2006, UK.

3. Jan Nijman (1992). “The Limits of Superpower: The United States and the Soviet Union since World War II.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 82, No. 4 (Dec., 1992), Pages 681-695. Published by Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Association of American Geographers.

4. Steven Russell (1991). “The US Currency System: A Historical Perspective.” Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, September/October 1991. Accessed on 7/9/2019; Available Online at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c909/a844511a78720c5d2800170c06109d797fde.pdf

5. Ricardo J. Caballero, Emmanuel Farhi, and Mohamad L. Hammour (2006). “Speculative Growth: Hints from the U.S. Economy.” The American Economic Review,” Vol. 96, No. 4, Pages 1159-1192.

6. Nathan Perry (2014). Debt and Deficits: Economic and Political Issues. A GDAE Teaching Module on Social and Environmental Issues in Economics. Global Development and Environment Institute, Tufts University, Medford, MA.

7. The Manhattan Engineer District Report (1946). The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Manhattan Engineer District of the United States Army under the direction of Major General Leslie R. Groves on June 29, 1946. Accessed on 7/25/2019; Available Online at: https://www.abomb1.org/hiroshim/hiro_med.pdf

8. Office of Undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller) Chief Financial Officer (Feb. 2018). Defense Budget Overview, Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Request. Generated on 2018Feb02. Ref. ID: A-6E677F4. Accessed on 7/25/2019; Available Online at: https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/FY2019-Budget-Request-Overview-Book.pdf

9. Sarah N Pedigo (2016). “United States Interventions: Power Vacuums and the Rise of Extremist Groups.” Master of Arts (MA) Thesis, Sociology/Criminal Justice, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/86pc-ex82 Available Online at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/sociology_criminaljustice_etds/6

10. Zahra Aghamohammadi1 and Ali Omidi (2018). The Prospect of the United States and Saudi Arabia’s Relations In Light of the Khashoggi Murder. Journal of World Sociopolitical Studies, Vol. 2, No. 4, October 2018, Pages 605-632.

11. Congressional Research Service (2019). “The U.S. Export Control System and the Export Control Reform Initiative,” Updated April 5, 2019. R41916· VERSION 49.

12. Sebastian Kaempf (2019). “A relationship of mutual exploitation’: the evolving ties between the Pentagon, Hollywood, and the commercial gaming sector.” Journal of Social Identities, Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture, 25:4, 542-558, DOI: 10.1080/13504630.2018.1514151.

13. Official Death Reports, Autopsies and Other Reports of the Davidian Dead. Accessed on 7/26/2019; Available Online at: http://www.holocausts.org/waco/death/reports/county-list.html

14. Timoty Lynch (2001). “No Confidence: An Unofficial Account of the Waco Incident”. Policy Analysis, No. 395, April 9, 2001, Pages 1-18.

15. Linder, Douglas (2007). The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Trial of Timothy McVeigh, University of Missouri at Kansas City – School of Law, Posted on Nov. 17, 2007. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1030565 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1030565.

16. Robbert Kappel (2015). “Global Power Shifts and Challenges for the Global Order.” German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, Policy Paper 2/2015.

17. Saxon White Kessinger (1959). “Indispensable Man.” Available Online at: http://www.appleseeds.org/indispen-man_saxon.htm.

18. Hossein Razmjoo (1366 H.S.). “Modarres and His Principle Non-Equilibrium in Politics.” Meshkaat, The Center for Computerized Research in Islamic Sciences, Dr. Shariati College of Literature and Humanities. Original in Farsi, Translated by the author.

19. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (English Version). Available Online at: https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/ir/ir001en.pdf

20. US Debt Clock. Accessed on 7/26/2019; Available Online at: https://www.usdebtclock.org/

21. Kimberly Amadeo (2019). “Who Owns the US National Debt? The Biggest Owner is You!” The Balance. Accessed 7/26/2019; Available Online at: https://www.thebalance.com/who-owns-the-u-s-national-debt-3306124

22. Muhammad Baqer Majlisi (1403 HQ). Translation, by the author, of a portion of Narration (Hadith):

ان لَم یَکُن لَکُم دینٌ و کُنتُم لاتَخافونَ المَعادَ فَکونوا اَحراراً فِی دُنیاکُم

from Bihar ul-Anwar, 2^nd Edition, Vol. 45, Page 51.

23. Ingvild Borgen Gjerde, DNB Markets (2019). “Why China will not sell its US Treasuries.” The Note, Market Matters, 15.05.2019. DNB Markets, a division of DNB Bank ASA. DNB Bank ASA is a part of the DNB Group.

Some of the Tales of Patience & Victory

By His Eminence Sheikh Dr. Akram Barakat *

During the brutal Zionist aggression against Lebanon in July 2006, His Eminence Sheikh Akram Barakat was on a special mission to Syria.

The mission covered more than one dossier, including following up on the issue of the displaced. He was keen on looking after the people of resistance in the home of the resistance. His Eminence took honorable stances that must be recorded, remembered and used as a lesson. He chose to talk to Al-Ahed news about some of those. They begin with the following:

They will triumph, not the Ummah

In the middle of the July 2006 war, the decision was made to meet His Eminence Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Said al-Bouti.

Sheikh al-Bouti’s home in Damascus was not on the ground floor. It was a few stories higher. So it was necessary to climb an old staircase in a small building. We didn’t have to take the stairs because there was no electricity. There was no power outage – the sort we are used to in Lebanon. But we took the stairs because there was no elevator in that building.

Sheikh al-Bouti and one other gentleman received me in his small, modest reception room, welcoming me with his usual smile. One of his sons was with him. He had inherited his father’s kind features and calmness.

I began by thanking him for his supportive attitude towards the resistance, which stems from the purity of the heart and foresight. I made a distinction between him and the Saudi Sheikh Ibn al- Uthaymeen, who at that time forbade prayers for the resistance. The sheikh told me about his position on Shia Muslims as a Sunni scholar who was committed to what he believes.

He surprised me when he asked:

Do Shiites have a special project contrary to what they declare, as many claim, and therefore their motive does not stem from loyalty to Allah Almighty?

Suddenly the voice of the sheikh shuddered. His facial features changed, and as if talking to himself aloud, he said:

I wonder where Sayed Hassan is now?

Is it possible that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is unfaithful?

Is it right for me – a person sitting comfortably on this couch – to be wondering about his sincerity, while he is now on the battlefield?

I wonder where Sayed Hassan is now?

The old sheikh started crying, shedding tears. His son had to intervene to calm him down from that sincere, innate and emotional outburst.

But the Sheikh continued his speech. Shedding tears, with the hoarseness in his voice and the trembling of his slim body, he said,

“Oh, how I wish I was one of Sayyed Hassan’s fingers!”

I do not know! Perhaps during his speech, he remembered Sayyed’s finger that gave the latter power while moving it during the Takbeer of Ihram [the utterance of Allahu akbar in prayer]. This power made the enemy tremble when he [Sayyed Nasrallah] waves his finger during his speeches. This finger is the Finger of Tawheed, the finger of threat, the finger of Tawalli and the finger of Tabbari. It is the finger of eminence and beauty.

The old scholar was not satisfied with mere words, but expressed his wish to meet Sayyed in a special meeting to kiss the grip of power, which is purified by the ablution of the knowledgeable, and the hand holding the sword that is defending the nation.

“Since the beginning of this war, I have traveled to Homs to meet one of the righteous awliya. I asked him to pray for the resistance in Lebanon. He replied: O Sheikh Said, since the beginning of this war, I have been repeating a special prayer for the victory of the resistance. Rejoice Sheikh Said. They will triumph, and not the Ummah,” Sheikh al-Bouti continued saying while shedding sincere tears.

After that, we bid the old Sheikh farewell. He made us feel ashamed because he refused to bid us farewell from his home. He walked us to the car despite his old age and his great stature, not to mention the added difficulty of going up and down the stairs without an elevator.

This was the degree of his morality. This is his love for Sayyed. The latter was deeply affected when I told him what happened in Damascus.

When I heard about the martyrdom of Sheikh al-Bouti while giving a religious lesson in a mosque, I was not surprised. After all, martyrdom suits him.

From Sayyed Hassan to Sayyed Hassan

A Syrian woman in her 70s went to a center for the Islamic Resistance Support Association. She opened her bag and took out a large swath of money in Syrian currency. She gave it to the representative of the Association, saying: “This is a donation for the Islamic Resistance.”

The representative was surprised by this amount of money, as the woman did not look rich. He could not help himself and asked her the reason behind her donation. She replied confidently and calmly:

“Today I received my full pension, and I came to donate it to the resistance. It deserves it more than me.”

The representative of the association was surprised by what she said. That act made him emotional as he listened to her near the blessed Sayyeda Zainab shrine. Holding his pen, he asked the honorable lady:

“Would you kindly tell me your name so I can write it down on the receipt of the donation?”

She replied with pride:

“Write, From Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.”

Our women are in the service of your women

I was contacted by a Syrian deputy from the People’s Council. He asked me to come to one of the buildings in al-Sham. He mentioned that these buildings were allocated for the families of the Mujahideen in the Islamic Resistance.

I arrived with the deputy and toured a new building, which was equipped with modern furniture. To my surprise, a cinema was set up, a cafeteria filled with things children love, and a prayer room equipped with clay tablets [Turbah] for prostration [sajda].

The ‘Sunni’ deputy carried the sajda tablet towards me and asked: Are these good?

What surprised me more is what I saw next-door to that building. There was a small playground for children. Alongside it was a Shawarma restaurant.

As we left the building, I noticed a few buses. The deputy told me that they were in the service of the Mujahideen’s families whenever they wished to travel to Damascus.

I thanked the deputy, asking him to convey my thanks to the person who came up with this idea and kind initiative. His answer was: This initiative is the least we can do for the families of the Mujahideen who are fighting the “Israeli” enemy in Lebanon and defend the whole nation. We hope to make the children of the Mujahideen and their wives comfortable, including in matters related to services. We do not want the wives of the Mujahideen to tire themselves, so “our women will serve the women of the men of God.”

I am one of those women

Hours after the resounding victory of the July war, the Iranian ambassador to Damascus called me to ask me to attend a political celebration in the Syrian capital on the occasion of this divine victory. I arrived to the hall and found that it was filled with diverse political figures from more than one Arab and Islamic country.

His Eminence Sheikh al-Akhtari, the veteran Iranian Ambassador, informed me of the program of the celebration. The program included a speech by the Minister of Awqaf in Syria and another by the General Mufti. He asked me to speak on behalf of the Islamic Resistance and the Islamic Republic of Iran. I thought quickly about what was appropriate to say in this forum, and I thought that the speech should be about the culture of the resistance, which is what made this great divine victory possible. During my speech, I recalled some of the moments I experience in al-Sham with the beloved Syrian people during the war. One of the things I mentioned was my aforementioned exchange with the Syrian deputy who told me: “We do not want the wives of the Mujahideen to tire themselves, so our women will serve the wives of the resistance fighters.”

When the ceremony ended, many of the attendees came to congratulate me. One of the attendees was a middle-aged woman. She told me with tears in her eyes: “I am a deputy in the Syrian People’s Council. And I was one of those women you spoke about. I had the honor of serving the wives of the resistance fighters.”

* Cultural Assistant to Hezbollah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah

Related Articles

• Hezbollah Moves from Obstructing the Goals of the 2006 Aggression to Putting “Israeli” Entity on the Brink of Demise
• Duraid Lahham On July 2006: This is How I Met Sayyed Nasrallah
• Recorded Moments of War, Suffering, Resistance and Victroy
• Paramedics without ’Helmets’: The Islamic Health Society Soothes the Wounds of the July 2006 War
• The Post-war Generations’ Heritage, A Picture Can Tell it All

بعضٌ من حكايا الصبر والنصر

بقلم سماحة الشيخ الدكتور أكرم بركات*

خلال العدوان الصهيوني الغاشم على لبنان في تموز 2006، كان سماحة الشيخ أكرم بركات حاضرًا في سوريا على مدار الأيام، في مهمّة غاية في التميّز، ترتبط بأكثر من ملف، بينها متابعة شؤون النازحين هناك، فكان حريصًا على أهل المقاومة في ديار المقاومة. وكانت لسماحة الشيخ مشاهدات مشرِّفة، لا بد من تدوينها، واستذكارها، لتكون درسًا وعِبرة، خص موقع “العهد” الإخباري بها، ومن هنا تبدأ:

* هم سينتصرون وليس الأمّة

في منتصف حرب تموز/ يوليو من العام 2006 كان القرار بلقاء سماحة العلامة الشيخ د. محمد سعيد البوطي.

لم يكن المنزل الدمشقي للشيخ البوطيّ متاخمًا للأرض، بل كان يرتفع عنها بضعة طوابق، لذا كان لا بدّ من الصعود على الدّرجات القديمة لذلك المبنى الصّغير، لا لانقطاع التيّار الكهربائيّ، كما اعتدنا في لبنان، بل لعدم وجود مصعد في تلك البناية.

مع أحد السّادة الأجلاء استقبلني الشيخ البوطيّ في صالونه الصّغير المتواضع مرحِّبًا بابتسامته المعهودة وإلى جانبه أحد أبنائه، وقد ورث من أبيه ملامح الطّيبة، وهدوء النفس.

الشيخ البوطي رحمه الله:

هل من الصحيح أن أتساءلَ ـ أنا الجالس المرتاح على هذه الكنبة ـ عن إخلاصه، بينما هو الآن في ساحة الحرب؟

ابتدأتُ الكلام بشكره على موقفه الداعم للمقاومة، المنطلق من طهارة قلب، وبصيرة عقل، مميّزًا بينه وبين الشيخ ابن عثيمين السعودي الذي حرّم في ذلك الوقت الدعاء للمقاومة.

بادرني الشيخ بالحديث عن موقفه من المسلمين الشيعة، بوصفه عالماً سُنّياً متمسّكًا بما يعتقده، وفاجأني بطرحه لتساؤل لديه:

هل للشيعة مشروع خاصّ، خلاف ما يُعلنون، كما يُروِّج لذلك الكثيرون، وبالتالي، لا ينطلقون من دافع الاخلاص لله عزّ وجلّ؟

فجأة تلجلج صوت الشيخ، وتغيَّرت معالم وجهه، وأخذ يقول، كمن يتحدث مع نفسه بصوت عال:

هل يعقل أن يكون السيّد حسن نصر الله غير مُخْلِص؟

هل من الصحيح أن أتساءلَ ـ أنا الجالس المرتاح على هذه الكنبة ـ عن إخلاصه، بينما هو الآن في ساحة الحرب؟

ترى أين يكون الآن السيد حسن؟

وأخذ الشيخ العجوز يبكي ذارفاً دموعاً كثيرة، ما استدعى نجله لأن يتدخَّل لتهدئته من نوبة تلك العاطفة الفطريّة الصادقة.

لكن الشيخ أكمل حديثه، مع ذرف الدموع، وبحة الصوت، وارتجاف الجسم النحيف:

“يا ليتني إصبعٌ من جسد السيّد حسن”.

لا أدري، لعلّه كان يتذكّر أثناء كلامه اصبع السيد الذي منحته حركته في تكبيرة الإحرام قوةً أصبح العدوّ يرتجف منه حينما يلوِّح به في خطبه، فهو إصبع التوحيد، وإصبع التهديد، هو إصبع التولي، وإصبع التبري، هو إصبع الجمال، وإصبع الجلال.

لم يكتف العالم المسنّ بتلك الكلمة، بل أردف معبِّرًا عن أمنيته في مقابلة السيِّد بلقاء خاص ليلثم قبضة القوّة، المطهَّرة بوضوء العارف، القابضة على زند السيف المدافع عن الأمّة.

وأكمل الشيخ البوطيّ حديثه، اللابس هذه المرّة معطف الصوفيّ، غير منقطع عن ذرف الدموع الصادقة التي اغتسلت بها روح هذا العالم السنّي، حتى أضحى صفوان أملس، لم تستطع أمطار المذهبيّة أن تستقرّ فيه، فقال:

“أنا، منذ بداية هذه الحرب، سافرت إلى حمص قاصداً أحد الأولياء الصالحين، وطلبت منه أن يدعو للمقاومة في لبنان، فإذا به يجيبني: يا شيخ سعيد، منذ بداية هذه الحرب أردّد وردًا خاصّاً لأجل انتصار المقاومة، أبشر يا شيخ سعيد، إنّهم سينتصرون وليس الأمّة”.

بعدها ودّعنا الشيخ بما أخجلنا، فهو لم يرتضِ إلا بتشييعنا من طابقه العلويّ إلى السيارة التي أقلّتنا، رغم سنّه الكبيرة، ومقامه الجليل، وصعوبة النزول والصعود بلا مصعد كهربائيّ.

إنها أخلاقه، إنها محبّته للسيّد الذي تأثّر أيّمَا تأثّر حينما رويت له ما جرى في هذا المشهد الشاميّ.

حينما سمعتُ بخبر شهادة الشيخ البوطيّ وهو يلقي درسه في بيت الله لم أتفاجأ؛ فمن كانت تلك مواقفه، تليق به هذه الخاتمة.

 

*من السيد حسن إلى السيد حسن

أقبلت امرأة سوريّة في العقد السابع من العمر إلى مركز هيئة دعم المقاومة الإسلامية، فتحت حقيبتها التي كانت تحملها، وأخرجت منها كميةً كبيرةً من المال بالعملة السوريّة، وأعطتها لمندوب الهيئة، قائلة:

“هذا تبرّع للمقاومة”.

اكتب: “من السيّد حسن نصر الله، إلى السيّد حسن نصر الله”

تفاجأ الأخ المندوب من تلك الكميّة من المال، في حين أنّ المرأة لا يبدو عليها الثّراء، ولم يستطع صبراً على حديث نفسه، فسألها عن سرّ ذلك، فأجابت بثقة وهدوء: “اليوم قبضت كامل راتبي التقاعدي، وقد جئت أتبرّع به للمقاومة، فهي أحقّ به مني”. اندهش مندوب الهيئة من كلامها، وكادت العبرة أن تخنقه، وهو يستمع إليها قرب المشهد الزينبيّ المبارك. سألها وهو يحمل قلمه ليكتب على إيصال هيئة الدعم اسم تلك المرأة الشريفة، قال لها: هل تتفضّلين عليّ بذكر الاسم الكريم لأكتبه على ايصال التبرّع، فأجابته بعزّة وشموخ:

اكتب: “من السيّد حسن نصر الله، إلى السيّد حسن نصر الله”.

* نساؤنا بخدمة نسائكم

اتصل بي نائب سوريّ في مجلس الشعب يطلب منّي الحضور إلى أحد المباني الشاميّة التي ذكر لي أنّها خُصّصت لإقامة عوائل المجاهدين في المقاومة الإسلاميّة.

وصلت إلى هناك، وقمت مع النائب بجولة في ذلك المبنى الجديد الذي جُهِّز بأثاث حديث، وما فاجأني فيه تخصيص قاعدة سينما، وكافيتيريا مملوءة بما يحبّه الأطفال، ومصلّىً وضعت فيه أقراص ترابية للسّجود عليها.

حمل النائب “السنّي” قرص سجدة، وأدناه مني سائلاً: هل هذه “السجدات” جيّدة؟!

وما زاد مفاجأتي ما رأيته إلى جانب المبنى من ساحة تشكّل مدينة صغيرة لألعاب الأطفال، وإلى جانبها أدوات مطعم مخصّصة للطعام المعروف بـ “الشّاورما”.

قمنا بتنظيم وترتيب كل ما يوفِّر الرّاحة لأطفال المجاهدين وزوجاتهم، حتى الأمور المتعلقة بالخدمة، لا نريد لزوجات المجاهدين أن يرهقن أنفسهنّ

وعند خروجنا من ذلك المبنى التفتُّ إلى وجود بضعة “باصات” أخبرني النائب أنّها بخدمة عوائل المجاهدين حينما يريدون التنقّل داخل دمشق.

شكرتُ سعادة النائب طالباً منه أن ينقل شكري إلى صاحب الفكرة والرعاية لهذه المبادرة الطيّبة، فكان جوابه:

إنّ هذه المبادرة هي أقلّ واجب نقوم به مع عوائل المجاهدين الذين يقاتلون هذه الأيّام العدوّ الإسرائيلي في لبنان، ويدافعون عن الأمّة جمعاء، وقد قمنا بتنظيم وترتيب كل ما يوفِّر الرّاحة لأطفال المجاهدين وزوجاتهم، حتى الأمور المتعلقة بالخدمة، لا نريد لزوجات المجاهدين أن يرهقن أنفسهنّ، لذا فـ “نساؤنا سيخدِمْنَ نساء رجال المقاومة”.

* أنا من هؤلاء النساء

بعد النّصر المدوّي في حرب تمّوز بساعات اتّصل بي سفير الجمهورية الإسلاميّة الإيرانيّة في دمشق طالباً منّي الحضور إلى احتفال سياسيّ في دمشق بمناسبة هذا النصر الإلهيّ. وصلت إلى القاعة فوجدتُها ممتلئة بحضور سياسيّ متنوّع من أكثر من بلد عربي وإسلاميّ.

أطلعني سماحة الشيخ الأختريّ، السّفير الإيرانيّ المخضرم، على برنامج الاحتفال، وأن فيه كلمة لوزير الأوقاف في سوريا، وكلمة للمفتي العام فيها، طالباً أن يكون لي كلمة باسم المقاومة الإسلاميّة والجمهوريّة الإسلاميّة الإيرانيّة معاً. فكّرتُ سريعاً بما هو مناسب للحديث في هذا المحفل، فخطر في بالي أن تكون الكلمة حول ثقافة المقاومة التي صنعت هذا الانتصار الربّاني الكبير. وأثناء كلمتي استحضرتُ بعضاً من المشاهد الشاميّة التي عايشتها مع الشعب السوري الحبيب أثناء الحرب، وذكرتُ من بين تلك المشاهد ما تقدّم ذكره من قول ذلك النائب السوريّ لي:

“لا نريد لزوجات المجاهدين أن يرهقن أنفسهنّ، لذا فنساؤنا سيخدمن نساء رجال المقاومة”.

وحينما انتهى الاحتفال أقبل العديد من الحاضرين لتهنئتي، ومن جملتهم أقبلت امرأة متوسّطة في العمر، وقالت لي، والدموع تُذرف من عينيها:”

أنا نائب في مجلس الشعب السوري، وأنا كنت من أولئك النساء اللواتي تحدّثت عنهن، كان لي شرف أن أكون في خدمة نساء رجال المقاومة”.

* المعاون الثقافي لرئيس المجلس التنفيذي في حزب الله

UK Saker Community members: Sheikh Imran Hosein will be lecturing in the UK in Aug/Sept!

August 17, 2018

Dear friends,

My dear friend Sheikh Imran Hosein will be lecturing in various cities across the UK (including Scotland!) in August and September.  If at all possible, I highly recommend that you do you best to try to attend one of his lectures and, if given the opportunity, speak with him.  This is especially true if you consider yourself a Christian and, even more so, an Orthodox Christian.  Don’t miss the opportunity to listen and speak to a truly exceptional man.

 

The Saker

I apologize for mixing the announcement of the 7th event by calling it the 6th.

August 25th Quran the Great War and the west – 6pm start. Registration : https://sheikhimranhoseintickets.even...
Khalid: 07494897485
BIRMINGHAM

August 26th – Closed event. ‘The Conquest of Constantinople in Islamic Eschatology’. Lecture and dialogue with the Greek Orthodox Community of Leeds
Recording will be uploaded.
LEEDS

Monday August 27th – The Quran, Pakistan’s Economic & Monetary Predicament and the New Imran Khan Government. 6:30pm Andalus Center, 211 New City rd, G4 9PA
SCOTLAND GLASGOW

Tuesday 28th August – The Prohibition of Riba in the Quran & Sunnah – 7pm Sizzlers Hall, 7 Guthrie St, DD1 5DR
Email: fahadshery@yahoo.com
SCOTLAND DUNDEE

August 31st – Imam Al-Mahdi and the return of the khilafa State – 6:30pm – Ilford Central mosque – 50-58 Albert Rd, IG1 1HW
LONDON ILFORD

September 2nd – An Introduction to Islamic Eschatology – All day seminar 9am-6pm, Registration required at Eventbrite. Coombe Farm oaks rd, CR0 5HL
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/all-da...
LONDON CROYDON

September 7th – The Prohibition of Riba in the Quran & Sunnah – 8pm – Ha Meem Foundation, Simpson Lane, West Drayton, UB7 0JG
info@hameem.org
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-pr...
LONDON WEST DRAYTON

September 9th – Methodology For The study of the Quran – 6pm – Seven sisters Masjid, Suffield Rd, N15 5JX
sevensistersislamiccentre@gmail.com
LONDON SEVEN SISTERS

September 15th – The Quran, Pakistan’s Economic & Monetary predicament and the new Imran Khan government – email: info@hameem.org
LONDON

The Essential Saker II: Civilizational Choices and Geopolitics / The Russian challenge to the hegemony of the AngloZionist Empire

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‘Martyrdom and Martyrdom’ & martyrdom: understanding Iran

August 09, 2018

by Ramin Mazaheri for the Saker Blog

“We are the nation of martyrdom, we are the nation of Imam Hossain, you better ask.” – Iranian Major General and Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani, July 27, 2018

That injunction for education was in response to US President Donald Trump’s threatening “all-caps tweet” to Iran. The exchange provides a rather timely news peg for this article, and it also confirms its necessity; this article relates the importance of Imam Hossain in modern Iranian society.

Despite the good advice, I doubt Trump will ask anyone about Imam Hossain, and it appears certain he lacks the intellectual stamina for “such a long” article.

The previous part of this series – ‘Cultural’ & ‘Permanent Revolution’ in Iranian Revolutionary Shi’ism – is rather necessary reading in order to understand this part…unless one is already familiar with the life and death of Imam Ali, is aware of the foundation of the Sunni-Shia intellectual schism, and also has (at least) an areligious historical perspective on the political situation of the early Islamic era immediately following the death of Prophet Mohammad. Hossain immediately followed Ali, his father, so such background knowledge will help one to fully grasp the historical-cultural-political-religious links presented here.

In this previous segments of this 11-part series I have mainly discussed facts: Why the World Socialist Web Site’s 3-part series claiming that “Islamic Socialism is a sham” is false and blind; how the centrally-planned economy of the Shahs paved the way for the socialist-inspired economy of the Islamic Republic of Iran; why “privatisation” in Iran is a misleading misnomer; and a 4-part sub-series on the Basij, a much-misunderstood institution which actually reflects the attempt of revolutionary Shi’ism to redistribute wealth and power to the poorer classes & to solidify support for Iran’s unique structure and culture.

While the goal of this series is to show how Iran is the ignored success story of socialism, it is also to shed light on the Western blackout of honest, accurate & balanced discussion on modern Iran. Therefore, I thought that discussions of Imams Ali and Hossain should have gone first, as they are the major motivating force of modern Iran…but that would have immediately turned off the receptivity towards learning new perspectives on Iran among the often anti-religion Western leftists. Therefore, I have saved these two religious-philosophical & cultural discussions for the end, because I wanted my discussion of Iran’s unique creations to be factual & structural and not philosophical. We can’t argue the clear facts which prove Iran’s socialism – not anymore.

But Iran’s (now totally-clear) socialist policies cannot be explained or understood solely by an intellectual lens of “socialism” – “socialism” does not fully explain the unique creation of the Basij, the unique creation of the post of Supreme Leader, the unique creation of the bonyads or state charity cooperatives to help run 10-15% of the economy, etc. For full comprehension, religious-cultural knowledge must be added.

Because Iran is a unique (revolutionary) country, this means they have implemented policies which truly have no parallel. It also means the reasons for such policies are often not accepted by others, and even more rarely understood. The WSWS refuses to add in this component of “religion” – thus, their series could only falsely claim that Iran’s revolution was seemingly totally inspired by the Iranian Communist Tudeh Party, in a rather selective rewriting of history which aimed to marginalise the role of religion in Iran.

All of these unique (revolutionary) polices, structures and ideas can indeed be explained by socialism because they are socialist…but something crucial will still be lacking; one cannot fully understand them without clarifying additional philosophical, cultural and religious tenets which run deeper in Iran than the obviously vitally nourishing economic-democratic ideas of 19th-21st century socialism.

Is this more new scholarship linking Iran and socialism? Possibly, but links have already been made for many decades

The previous part drew the parallel – and quite likely for the first time ever – between Imam Ali’s failed “Cultural Revolution”, after the original political Revolution of Islam, and the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

Similarly, I cannot report finding internet links between Imam Hossain and the Trotskyist theory of “Permanent Revolution”, either.

However, I am not here to take credit. While I feel that Ali / China link was perhaps not able to be made in the heyday of the Iranian Revolution – as it is quite possible the true aims / goals / results of the Chinese Cultural Revolution were not known – the link between Hossain and “Permanent Revolution” was quite clearly obvious.

I contend that if I can’t find a record of this historical parallel being explicitly made there are clear reasons why:

The internet does not include the the cassette tapes, mosque lectures and fragile mimeographs which were the method of political communication in 1970s Iran.

Perhaps most Iranian thinkers wanted to give more credit to Islamic revolutionary figures, who were more relatable to the average Iranian.

The Revolution of 1979 was intensely patriotic: A repeated claim was that Iran already contained all it needed to have a modern, revolutionary, just society – holding up non-Iranian figures hurts that claim. And it’s not as if Trotsky, Mao or other foreigners were going to sue Iranians for using their ideas without attribution….

Iranian socialists were discredited-by-association in the 1980s by the horrific, detested, traitorous, totally illegitimate, most definitely NOT socialist cult known as the Mujahideen Khalq Organisation (known as the MKO or MEK, or People’s Mujahideen in English). Their unthinkable actions – stealing corpses to inflate body counts for propaganda purposes, fighting alongside Saddam, massacring Kurds, assassinating Iranian scientists, thousands of other terrorist acts, etc. – likely caused many to step away from proudly espousing the socialist intellectual lens which was so prevalent in the 1970s. It is mind-boggling to me that intelligent Western leftists ask me about the MKO as if they are some sort of viable leftist option in Iran…but it’s a big world, filled with too many insane cults – on the left, right and centre – to keep track of. The unforgivable MKO has also been gallingly whitewashed in the West by hundreds of millions of dollars from the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia and France (where they are now headquartered). Support for the MKO on the part of West repeatedly sends the Iranian government into an absolute tizzy, and rightly so – it is proof of the West’s appalling and murderous intentions against Iran (as if more proof was needed….).

I will quote extensively, as in the previous part, from seminal Iranian Islamic revolutionary thinker Ali Shariati – I think readers will see for themselves how very clearly he adapted some key Trotskyist ideals in his modern portrayal of Imam Hossain. Whether Shariati admitted it or not, “Permanent Revolution” is all over his ideas, slogans, analyses, etc.

I can verify from personal discussions with older, politically active that (duh!) Trotsky was indeed one of the key figures on their minds in the 1970s and beyond.

But I am only a journalist reporting what I have found: the explicit link is not found, but I am both a poor journalist and poor researcher. I do not seriously expect Iranians to tell me that Imam Ali-Mao links were widely made, but I do expect them to tell me Imam Hossain – Trotsky links were.

Regardless, credit for linking Ali / China & Hossain / Trotsky – plus another $0.50 – will only get me a cup of coffee, as the saying goes (at least it did prior to inflation); the main thing is to understand modern Iran in order to promote human brotherhood.

The huge misunderstanding on ‘martyrdom’ between Iran and the West

It is often said that “self-sacrifice” and “martyrdom” are the main principles of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and Iranian society today…but this fact is of almost of no value to Westerners, because in 2018 there is a fundamental misunderstanding between the West and Iran on what “martyrdom” means and is.

Two parties cannot create mutual understanding if definitions of words are totally different. This article aims to rectify that.

But to do that, it is necessary for non-Muslims to learn about Imam Hossain, the grandson of Mohammad, the son of Imam Ali, and the 3rd Shia Caliph but who was not a Caliph for Sunni because Hossain was cheated out of it by Muawiyah, founder of the Umayyad dynasty and the 6th Sunni Caliph (this last statement is a universal historical consensus and not solely a Shia one – this was all explained in the previous part of this series).

In short: in 680 AD Imam Hossain (spelled Husayn or Hussein or Hossain in Arabic) marched off to certain death at Karbala, Iraq, rather than sanction the government of the Umayyad dynasty, which Imam Hossain and his father perceived as insufficiently Islamic and insufficiently revolutionary. This martyrdom has inspired a feeling of “Permanent Revolution” within Shia Iranians.

Many anti-religion leftists falsely assume this martyrdom was solely the result of a dispute on religious doctrine – I suppose it was, but I am 100% certain it was an intensely political act as well. Nobody is forcing anyone to accept the religious aspect – Islam can never be forced – and this means that non-Muslims can view Ali and Hossain in a purely political, areligious, historical context. But the widespread failure to do this has had huge consequences in modern political analysis.

The yearly pilgrimages to Karbala, Iraq, to commemorate Hossain are among the largest peaceful gatherings in human history. Even though 10-20 million people attend, they are totally ignored by Western media. That’s a pity, because even though “God is dead” to Western culture, the Arba’een pilgrimages shows how very, very, very living it is to Shia. Like that or not – this galvanising power cannot be ignored. As Soleimani said to Trump: “you better ask” about Hossain.

As I explained in the previous article, the Revolution of Islam was a sweeping & immediate political revolution as well as a revolution in religious thought and practice. This duality cannot be argued in the slightest, nor is there a single reason why they should be contradictory. Therefore, socio-cultural-historical parallels abound with other the great political revolutions in human history.

Non-Muslims and Westerners have much to glean politically from the Revolution of Islam, if they can only set aside their anti-religion bigotry. Again: one can examine the early Islamic age from an areligious perspective because it was a political & social revolution, unlike Christianity after the life or the death of Jesus son of Mary.

Regardless, the political structures and daily life in the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2018 cannot be understood without grasping the importance of Imam Hossain in our collective unconscious. Unlike Jesus in the secular West, Hossain is a constant, universal presence in Iran (and for the many non-Shia, as well), and a perpetual reminder of the need for moral political action.

The second, failed generation of Islamic revolutionaries

As the previous article described, to many Iranian thinkers like Ali Shariati, after Prophet Mohammad’s death Islam was literally hijacked by slackening revolutionaries who forgot the socio-political message of Mohammad in order to create the imperialist Umayyad empire.

In 656 Imam Ali became Caliph and tried to stop this ideological and religious slackening, and thus represents, in modern terms, the Cultural Revolution in the Revolution of Islam, just as China had a Cultural Revolution years after their Chinese Communist Revolution (or quite similar to how Iran had the world’s only other official Cultural Revolution, from 1980-83).

But, in 661 Ali is assassinated. Ali’s son Imam Hassan becomes the Caliph (the 5th to Sunnis, the 2nd to Shia) but he has inherited a shattered administration. He is forced to abdicate to the politically & militarily powerful governor of largely Christian Damascus, Muawiyah, who is declared Caliph. The wishes of Mohammad are denied, the bloodline of Mohammad is broken, and the officially-secular & imperialist Umayyad dynasty is founded.

Imam Hassan, daughter of Mohammad’s daughter Fatima and Imam Ali, retires to Medina and dies in 670. After Ali’s death Umayyad clerics spent 60+ years making state-ordered ritual curses of Ali during public prayers, so Hassan was clearly in a very weak position. When he dies he is even denied burial next to his grandfather, Prophet Mohammad, and his relatives in Medina. I quote from Ali Shariati’s Martyrdom and Martyrdom:

“Imam Hassan, the manifestation of loneliness and isolation in Islamic Society, even in the Medina of the Prophet, clearly shows how the Truth-seeking party in Islam is utterly shattered. The new force of revolution completely overwhelms everyone and everything and conquers in every domain. Now it is Hossain’s turn.”

That “new force” is those who split off to create Sunni Islam, which is why the Shia Shariati continues, unequivocally:

“Hossain inherits the Islamic movement. He is the inheritor of a movement which Mohammed has launched, Ali has continued and in whose defence Hassan makes the last defence. Now there is nothing left for Hossain to inherit: no army, no weapons, no wealth, no power, no force, not even an organized following. Nothing at all. ”

Not only does the first two sentences of that paragraph name nearly all the males in my family, but it should emphatically make clear the historical-ideological view of Shia Islam, and how it obviously sharply differs from Sunnis.

The post-Mohammad era: When Shi’ism was truly an underground & political movement

Just as I wondered if Mao had any idea of Imam Ali’s message of Cultural Revolution, I wonder if Lenin had any idea of what Hossain stood for? I rather doubt it, but I’m certain the he, too, would have approved.

To paraphrase Shariati, who is paraphrasing Lenin: Hossain and the very few true revolutionaries are aware that the revolution is being compromised, and are asking – “What should be done?”

Certainly, there were no lack of ideas of appeasement being flung at Hossain: fatalism (God wishes it this way), are you so innocent that you can rectify the whole community, jihad is not the only path to God, asceticism is so personally pleasing, don’t oppose a Damascus which is spreading Islam, people judge by what they see so Islam must show a rich face to the Byzantine Romans and Persians to win them over, many temples and churches have been replaced by mosques, Islam is gaining in importance, Muslims are getting the top jobs, don’t cause trouble when there is Holy War against Christians in Europe and Zoroastrians in Iran, opposing those aristocrats is unrealistic and combative, we must win over our own aristocrats, do not mix earthly matters with heavenly ones, etc.

It all adds up to a call of: support the ruling system, and end your idealistic, permanent revolution.

This is something rejected by revolutionary Shi’ism, because the results of such a choice are clear:

“Sixty years have passed since the migration of the Prophet. Everything earned by the Revolution has been destroyed. All of the successes earned a century before have been abolished. The Book brought by the Prophet is placed on the spears of the Umayyad (literally, during their first war against Imam Ali). The culture and ideas which Islam had developed through jihad, struggle and efforts in the hearts and minds of the people became a means for explaining the Umayyads rule.

…

“Yes. In these black times the ignorance of aristocracy is being revived. Power is being dressed in piety and sacredness. The desires for liberty and equality created by Islam in the hearts of those sacrificed for power or policy are breaking down. Tribal (sectarian) ignorance has replaced the humanitarian revolution.

…

Jihad has become the means for massacre. Religious taxes are a means of public plunder. Prayer is a means of deceiving the public. Unity has been covered with the mass of profanity. Islam has become a chain of surrendering.

…

Nations are being taken into slavery as before.”

Obviously, Marxist- and socialist-inspired condemnations abound, as is the desire for modern revolution.

It is perhaps natural that when the Iranian Shia Shariati focuses on the 50-year period between the death Mohammad until the martyrdom of Hossain – from 632 until 680 – he is intensely critical of the lack of political revolutionary commitment on the part of the entire second revolutionary generation except for what is a very real “Shiite Resistance Movement”, which is truly an underground political phenomenon.

Imam Hossain answers Lenin’s question

In 680 the Caliph Muawiyah dies. Muawiyah’s betrayal of the House of Mohammad culminated in the handing of the caliphate to his son, Yazid. This ended the consultative and democratic caliphate and inaugurated monarchy and the Umayyad dynasty.

Yazid would go on to commit terrible atrocities at the Battle of Al-Harrah, which led to the looting of Medina by the Syrian army in 683, and then even an unthinkable siege of Mecca, leading to the burning of the Kabaa. The siege only ended when Yazid died from falling off his horse. These acts obviously damaged Umayyad authority among the People and strengthened the argument of the early Shia.

By 750 the Iranian-Iraqi Abbasid Revolution would kick the Umayyads out of the entire Middle East, while the Great Berber Revolt had kicked them out of the Maghreb just a few years prior. West and East Africa were not yet Muslim at this time.

The ethnic (Arab) elitists but religiously-tolerant Umayyads only found fertile soil in Europe, ruling Spain for several centuries. The Abbasid Caliphate would rule Islam for five centuries, replacing the feudal Arab Caliphate with a multi-ethnic, religiously tolerant Islamic Golden Age that lasted until the Mongol Invasion in 1258. The Mamluks of Egypt fought off the Mongols, thus sparing not just the Maghreb but all of Africa, and also allowing the Abbasids to re-center the Caliphate (religiously, but not politically) until the Ottoman conquest in 1517.

Thus a truly “Muslim World” – one in which unity is based only on Islam and not Arab ethnicity & Islam – does not begin until after the Umayyads. Shia obviously feel that Imam Ali and Imam Hossain perceived this sooner than anyone.

Shariati describes the view of Hossain back in 680: Hossain surely foresaw the crumbling of the Umayyad’s legitimacy – due to an obvious slackening of revolutionary integrity, the corruption of revolutionary ideals and culture, and the renunciation of political & social involvement;

“Imam Hossain, as a responsible leader, sees that if he remains silent, Islam will change into a religion of the government. Islam will be changed into a military-economic power and nothing more. Islam will become as other regimes and powers.

…

He is alone, unarmed. Opposing him is one of the most savage empires of the world which is being covered over by the fairest and most deceiving cover of piety, sacredness and unity which the ruling power possesses. He is alone. He is a lonely man who is responsible to this school of thought.

…

Whoever is more aware is more responsible, and who is more aware than Imam Hossain? What is his responsibility? He is responsible to fight against the elimination of the truth, the destruction of the rights of the people, annihilation of all of the values, abolition of all of the memories of the Revolution, destruction of the message of the Revolution, and to protect the most beloved of cultures and the faith of the people, for their destruction is the aim of the most filthy enemies of the people. They want to once again create the unknown, mysterious deaths, exiles, putting people in chains; the worshipping of pleasure, discriminations, the gathering of wealth; the selling of human values, faith, honor, creating new religious foolishness, racism, new aristocracy, new ignorance and a new polytheism.”

It’s a powerful historical analysis, and one which combines modern, socialist-inspired political thought with Abrahamic morality. The Shah had obviously re-created these evils, but it’s clear that just toppling a tyrant is no guarantee of revolution.

It should thus be clear how Iranian Revolutionary Shi’ism was created, how it was shaped by the lenses of socialism, and why it galvanised mullahs and masses far more than the Tudeh Party ever did.

But Hossain was totally weakened and could not depose the powers in Damascus. Therefore, he used his one weapon – his certain, aware death at Karbala.

The death of Imam Hossain – the birth of ‘living artists’ in the future

Hossain, then in Mecca, was invited by the people of Kufa, Iraq, (the future first seat of the Abbasid Caliphate 70 years later, showing they maintained their revolutionary zeal & culture ) to be their leader. Kufans had come around after 20 years of rule by Muawiyah. Hossain accepts.

However, Hossain gets word that Yazid’s troops were killing his sympathisers and blocking the gates – going to Kufa thus means certain death, given Hossain’s lack of power and resources.

Imam Hossain had two choices: go to Medina and swear allegiance to the new Umayyad dynasty, or march to the certain death at Kufa. Sanctioning imperialism is never Islamic, nor a modern revolution. Seventy kilometres from the Kufa gate Hossain’s band of family and loyal companions, 72 people, chose to fight the Battle of Karbala.

“He leaves Mecca to reply to the question, ‘How?’… (to) all those who can see, feel, understand and thus suffered and felt themselves responsible, who are thus looking for a revolution, (and) are then asking “What should be done?”

Clearly, the aware death of Hossain was selected by revolutionary Shi’ism as a direct answer to the title of Lenin’s famous pamphlet, which he took from a Russian book from 1863 which called for socialist self-sacrifice (martyrdom, to Iranians).

I quote Shariati at some length, because I cannot decide what should be omitted, and also because Western readers must drastically re-orient their conception of the word “martyrdom” if they want to understand the Shia and Iranian version (and the version very close to Sunni Muslims, as well.)

“The great teacher of martyrdom has now arisen in order to teach those who consider jihad to relate only to those who have the ability, and victory to be only in conquering. Martyrdom is not a loss, it is a choice. A choice where by the warrior sacrifices himself on the threshold of the temple of freedom and the altar of love, and is victorious.

Hossain, the heir of Adam, who gives life to the children of mankind, and the successor of the great prophets, who taught mankind ‘how to live’, has now come to teach mankind ‘how to die’.

Hossain teaches that ‘black death’ is the miserable fate of a humbled people who accept scorn in order to remain alive. For death chooses those who are not brave enough to choose martyrdom. Death chooses them!

The word shahid, martyr, contains the highest form of what I am saying. It means being present; bearing witness; one who bears witness. It also means that which is sensible and perceptible; the one whom all turn towards. Finally it means model, pattern, example.

Martyrdom: to arise and bear witness in our culture and in our religion is not a bloody and accidental happening. In other religions and tribal histories, martyrdom is the sacrificing of the heroes who are killed in the battles of the enemy. It is considered to be a sorrowful accident, full of misery. Those who are killed in this way are called martyrs and their death is called martyrdom.

But in our culture, martyrdom is not a death which is imposed by an enemy upon our warriors. It is a death which is desired by our warrior, selected with all of the awareness, logic, reasoning, intelligence, understanding, consciousness and alertness that a human being has.

Look at Hossain. He releases his life, leaves his town and arises in order to die because he has no other means for his struggle to condemn and disgrace his enemy. He selects this in order to render aside the deceiving curtains which covered the ugly faces of the ruling power. If he cannot defeat the enemy in this way, at least he can disgrace them. If he cannot conquer the ruling power, he can at least condemn it by injecting new blood and the belief of jihad into the dead bodies of the second-generation of the Revolution revealed to the Prophet.

Quite a passage – far from being a tragedy or a screaming kamikaze pilot hopped up on speed, Iranian martyrdom is based on intelligent and sensitive awareness. It is obviously highly political, and contains an urgent and progressive (anti-reactionary) political message.

In summary, in our culture – contrary to other schools where it is considered to be an accident, an involvement, a death imposed upon a hero, a tragedy – (it) is a grade, a level, a rank. It is not a means but is a goal itself. It is originality. It is a completion. It is a lift. It itself is midway to the highest peak of humanity and it is a culture.”

This is the “martyrdom” which is imbued in Iranian culture. How imbued is it? Iranians hear the word multiple times daily in the common greeting between two friends or even two strangers: “Gorban-e-shoma” (“I will be your martyr”). Many Iranians will say that I am over-exaggerating the literal importance of this phrase, but that IS the literal translation. To me, commonplace linguistic phrases reveal a culture’s true soul; but it is true that nobody is really promising immediate martyrdom on the other’s behalf.

(I always thought this Farsi phrase grew out of Koran 4:86 – “Answer a greeting in kinder words than those said to you in their greeting, or at least as kind. God keeps account of all things.” What could be a kinder greeting to a total stranger than promising to die for them?)

However, only the thick-headed would imagine Iranian martyrdom to be only concerned with death – such a society would quickly empty itself of inhabitants.

Martyrdom is also the constant little sacrifices of one’s individual well-being for the sake of society, and in much, much less drastic forms than death. Martyrdom essentially exists in order to activate the “living artist” who improves society by moving beyond mere individualism.

Martyrdom and Martyrdom and ANOTHER Martyrdom

“In European countries the word ‘martyr’ stems from ‘mortal’ which means ‘death’ or ‘to die’. One of the basic principles in Islam and in particular in Shiite culture, however, is ‘sacrifice and bear witness’. So instead of martrydom, i.e. death, it essentially means ‘life’, ‘evidence’, ‘testify’, ‘certify’.”

Martyrdom is, of course, one of the central messages of Jesus to Christians…but not as significantly to Muslims, however: the Koran explicitly rejects the idea that God could allow a messenger and prophet of God to be killed in such a way. Indeed, for Islam Jesus was not killed on the cross – it was only made to appear that way by God. In Islam faith always wins over evil, therefore the death of Jesus on the cross is illogical – how could Jesus’ executioners have won?

That is a complicated issue, but bringing it up helps us clarify the roots of the difference in the meaning of “martyrdom” to Muslims and Westerners. It also helps illuminate why the martyrdom of Imam Hossain is so important in Islam – he is essentially the primary Abrahamic martyr to Muslims.

But I think Shariati rather significantly misunderstands “martyrdom” as defined in the West. Although he is correct that they view it in a far more negative fashion than in Islam, I think Shariati’s view is wrong by failing to include two key points:

Firstly, Shariati does not acknowledge that – for Christians themselves – there is also a positive message of Jesus’ martyrdom: which is, that the key is to emulate Jesus when it comes to his martyrdom.

However, I believe that West European Christians (not East European) have proven incapable of grasping this positive message. Therefore, the point is moot for the Western half of the continent.

Secondly, Shariati did not grasp that many West Europeans mistakenly appear to think that because Jesus died for our sins, Jesus thus ended the need for more martyrdom. This quite significantly compounds the disagreeableness of “martyrdom” to Westerners.

Indeed, “martyr” is a term used only to disparage in Western European cultures. The only time one hears it in English is in the phrase “Don’t be a martyr”. The word and concept are similarly totally absent in French.

The word “martyr” is never even used to describe who has died unjustly (the primary view in Sunni cultures) – not for a Palestinian protester killed by Zionists, nor a Jew killed in the Holocaust.

For the West, I believe that martyrdom has evolved to mean “an unnecessary exaggeration of suffering” – as though you are pretentiously claiming that you are doing something on the level of Jesus Christ. When it comes to martyrdom in the West the message is unambiguous: don’t do it at any time. As I am aware of the Iranian version and its elevation of martyrdom, I always found this cultural difference quite, quite surprising.

I think the negative Western view reveals two flaws, as martyrdom is clearly a positive thing: a fundamental cultural indifference to unjust suffering, at least when compared with Muslim and Iranian culture, and also a distaste for suffering on behalf of any cause. The latter observation is caused by the rampant individualism of the capitalist West: anyone suffering for a cause necessarily and annoyingly reminds them of their fundamentally self-centred lives – thus their society discourages it.

There is also rampant nihilism in the West, which is not at all the same as religious fatalism, and which is yet another cause of their distaste for martyrdom: if all is pointless, why die for anything? Martyrdom is thus negatively associated with a needless death, when for Sunni Muslims martyrdom is associated with an unjust death, and for Shia it is associated with a selfless death.

Thus Westerners view “martyrdom” as both a needless death as well as a negative, self-aggrandising act, while Sunnis view it positively but primarily as an act of injustice, whereas Shia & Iranians view martyrdom as a necessary, positive way to effectuate social change. Therefore, we really are talking about “Martyrdom and Martyrdom and Martyrdom”.

Martyrdom to Iranians is thus actually the equivalent of English “altruism”.

But, just like martyrdom, altruism conflicts with Western capitalist-imperialist ideology, as it is the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.

We should thus not be surprised that “altruism” is a word which almost never heard in Western daily discourse, nor in their political discourse.

Therefore, even prior to Basij teenagers being forced into wartime self-sacrifice by Western aggression, “martyr” was something with negative connotations for Westerners and positive connotations for Iranians.

The Western denigration of martyrdom forces the denigration of Iranian revolutionary Shi’ism

This Iranian conception of “martyrdom” should explain much in the first 8 parts of this series, no?

Why wage revolution against the Shah for decades? Why sit in opposition to East and West? Why be so uncaring of Western public opinion? Why be so stridently revolutionary? Why condemn Israel when it only reaps trouble? Why give 15% of the economy to charity foundations? Why create the Basij? Why refuse to participate in the dominant neoliberal ideology of global imperialist capitalism?

“I cannot see the Iranians agreeing to continue to suffer while Tehran continues to finance foreign movements like Hezbollah in Lebanon or the Houthis in Yemen,” Jean-François Seznec, professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University, told France24 media just yesterday. You can’t see it, really, Mr. Hotshot professor? I can, because I understand the Iranian conception of “martyrdom” – you clearly are another clueless academic.

(And I know that polls show that all of these non-Iranian revolutionary movements – as well as in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere – are massively supported in a democratic majority in Iran).

Martyrdom – in the unique Iranian definition, of course – is a large part of the answer to all those questions I just posed. Whatever the West wants to hide, forget or put a smiling capitalist-imperialist face on – Iran chooses martyrdom, or would like to.

So we must relearn what Iran means by “martyrdom” – they are talking about “Iranian Shia martyrdom”. The right terms in English are really: self-sacrifice, altruism, social justice.

These desires explain why 10-25 million Iranians have joined the Basij – for the overwhelmingly majority it is essentially just a social hobby which encourages (moderate, dull) self-sacrifice for societal betterment. You do get some social and monetary benefits, which are especially of importance to the lower class, but for many Basiji it also fills this emotional need that “I need to martyr some of myself and my time for others”. This emotional need exists exactly the same in the West, but it does not exist in the same intensity, nor does it exist in a government-supported form.

The West, with their different definition of “martyrdom”, and in combination with their hatred of socialism & Islamic democracy, wants people to believe that Iranian “martrydom” is all wild-eyed death when it it is 99.9% the mere provision of some rather mundane civil service / community improvement instead of watching TV. Iranian are not THAT great at being martyrs!

Yet the West hears “martyr” and assumes the worst about those who support Iranian revolutionary Shi’ism,

For an example, I return to the book on the Basij I reviewed in this series, Captive Society, by Saied Golkar. It is the only book ever written about the Basij in the West, but it is clearly a book which is against the Basij.

Golkar is discussing the WSBO – the Women’s Society Basij Organization, which is the main Basij group for women.

“The ideal family, which is promoted by the WSBO, is called the Islamic Revolutionary family or ‘family of holy defense’. The Islamic revolutionary family has specific features, according to WSBO head Minoo Aslani. The family is the place of modesty and chastity, where women take moral care of their family members. It is a place where women encourage charitable and spiritual affairs among their children and husbands, and where women should speak about religion and the Islamic Revolution.”

To many this is a happy, typical, politically-modern home concerned with moral social conduct. For Westerners and those who oppose modern Iran – this is some sort of horror, because the government should never get involved with these types of values, as they are purely personal (and thus should vary extremely wildly, apparently).

Golkar thus descends into fear-mongering, and surely finds plenty of receptive minds in the West: Golkar refers to a scholar which labelled this kind of family a “martyropath family”. He believes that Basij women are being brainwashed into training a “martyropath,” or a person who is enchanted by death and wants to die to preserve Iran.

To me the only “-path” of any sort here is Golkar, for so obviously trying to portray Basij families as fascist psychopaths. It is incredible that this supposedly-objective scholar is trying to portray a “martyropath” as a credible description of an average Basiji.

But this is what people always do with Iran – they portray them as insane, death-loving, religious fundamentalists instead of human beings.

No Iranian woman (who does not belong in a mental institution) trains their child for martyrdom – they only train their children to be altruistic and selfless. There should be no doubt that in probably every single case of martyrdom known to man, it was ultimately done against the mother’s wishes (and a father’s). I am not a parent myself, but I think any parent would immediately agree with that.

As has been reported for the case of martyrs in Iran during the Iraq war: to choose a martyr’s death is a lonely and individual decision, and families did their best to stop it. However, this does not mean that – after the deed was done – families did not also see the glory in the death of defending their community, family, nation; this is no different than in any other nation with any of their soldiers.

The reality is this: Basiji women are merely being encouraged to be modern revolutionaries, and that is what is frightening to the counter-revolutionary West.

Just as there is a downside to the West’s “never martyrdom” approach, there is a downside to Shia Iran’s “martyrdom please” approach as well. For example, missing a couple meals during Ramadan does not make one the world’s greatest Muslim martyr. It is quite easy for Iranians to puff themselves up as great Muslims and revolutionaries because they have mentally accumulated 10 million insignificant instances of where they put the needs of someone else first, i.e., simply done the right thing. If any culture could break their own arms from patting themselves on their own backs, it is Iran.

However, a society full of martyrs is certainly far, far more desirable than a society full of self-serving individualists, no? This is essentially the point to take away from this article, I think.

The message of Imam Hossain remains a political beacon

The willful ignorance of the revolutionary, unique and socialist-inspired structures of revolutionary Shi’ism which created Iranian Islamic Socialism is only dangerous for Westerners: they are the ones who are misled about the nature of modern Iran; they are the ones who have such a terrified, “Muslim martyropaths will get me” worldview; they are the ones who are deluded by the paranoia that it is Iran which is targeting them and not the other way around; and they are the ones whose societies are worsened by the failure to transplant some of Iran’s unique solutions to modern problems in their own country; I could go on and on listing such problems.

It should be now quite clear that Iranians have re-intepreted the martyrdom of Imam Hossain to coincide with something quite similar to the Trotskyist socialist concept of “permanent revolution”.

We should see how something like the Basij – whether one approves of them or not, and I am officially neutral on their value – clearly was originally created to try and incarnate this idea of Perpetual Revolution for which Trotsky (and Lenin and other socialists) had different yet very similar notions. By constantly recruiting new members, training them in modern revolutionary Shi’ism and granting them affirmative action spots in the universities and government, it is clear that they are an effort to constantly refresh the Islamic Revolution and to constantly reshape Iranian culture in favor of Iranian Islamic Socialism. Again, I merely condense here the objective conclusions proven in my 4-part sub-series on the Basij and do not judge nor promote.

Obviously, revolutionary Shi’ism did not sprout overnight, nor did it need a war to make its values widespread; it has all existed in Iran for some time, yet it was the Islamic Republic of Iran which made these the officially-sanctioned values of the government for the first time ever.

Hopefully people will realize that Iranian “martyrdom” and its “permanent revolution” is something which is based both on ancient sources of unimpeachable morality as well as the unimpeachable modern political ideas of democratic progress and economic equality. The slogans of 1979 – “Every place is Karbala!” and “The martyr is the heart of human history! – reflect this reality.

“Every place is Petrograd” and “The revolutionary is the heart of human history” could have been taken from Trotsky.

Agree with Iranians or not, modern Iran is indeed revolutionary, and thus quite in keeping with its ideological heroes – Prophet Mohammad, Imam Ali, Imam Hossain, Lenin, Mao, Trotsky, Castro, Algeria and others. It is clear who deserves top billing; it’s amazing that Western leftists still do not even know the cast of main characters…but that is out of ignorance or willful blindness.

I hope these articles have also shown that one need not be an Iranian nor a Muslim to accept that the Iranian Revolution is proof that Islam can be a progressive revolutionary force once again. One also does not have to be a Muslim to see that socialism will not advance globally without first accepting those facts.

***********************************

This is the 9th article in an 11-part series which explains the economics, history, religion and culture of Iran’s Revolutionary Shi’ism, which produced modern Iranian Islamic Socialism.

Here is the list of articles slated to be published, and I hope you will find them useful in your leftist struggle!

The WSWS, Iran’s economy, the Basij & Revolutionary Shi’ism: an 11-part series

How Iran Got Economically Socialist, and then Islamic Socialist

What privatisation in Iran? or Definitely not THAT privatisation

Parallels between Iran’s Basij and the Chinese Communist Party

Iran’s Basij: The reason why land or civil war inside Iran is impossible

A leftist analysis of Iran’s Basij – likely the first ever in the West

Iran’s Basij: Restructuring society and/or class warfare

‘Cultural’ & ‘Permanent Revolution’ in Iranian Revolutionary Shi’ism

‘Martyrdom and Martyrdom’ & martyrdom: understanding Iran

‘The Death of Yazdgerd’: The greatest political movie ever explains Iran’s revolution (available with English subtitles for free on Youtube here)

Iran détente after Trump’s JCPOA pull out? We can wait 2 more years, or 6, or…

Ramin Mazaheri is the chief correspondent in Paris for PressTV and has lived in France since 2009. He has been a daily newspaper reporter in the US, and has reported from Iran, Cuba, Egypt, Tunisia, South Korea and elsewhere. His work has appeared in various journals, magazines and websites, as well as on radio and television. He can be reached on Facebook.

The Essential Saker II: Civilizational Choices and Geopolitics / The Russian challenge to the hegemony of the AngloZionist Empire

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The Essential Saker: from the trenches of the emerging multipolar world

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هل يُحاكَم قابيل بتهمة قتل هابيل؟

مارس 10, 2018

د. عصام نعمان

نشرت صحيفة «القدس العربي» قبل أيام أنّ نقابة المحامين في النجف أجرت محاكمة للخليفة الأموي هشام بن عبد الملك انتهت بالحكم عليه بالإعدام بتهمة قتل زيد بن علي بن الحسين.

الخبر طريف ومخيف في آن. طريفٌ لوجود ناس في كوكبنا الأرضي ما زالوا يجدون رغبة ومتعة في الاقتصاص من شخص لارتكابه جرماً قبل نحو 1400 سنة. مخيفٌ لاحتمال أن تتفشّى هذه التقليعة في أوساط البشرية المعاصرة، فينبري أشخاص أو جماعات من فرط ولعهم بإحقاق الحق ونشدان العدالة إلى إجراء محاكمة لقابيل بتهمة قتل أخيه هابيل!

تصوّروا لو تحوّلت هذه التقليعة الى نزعةٍ أو تقليد جارفٍ عابرٍ للأمم والشعوب، فينبري بعض المسيحيين إلى إجراء محاكمة لكلّ مَن يثبت التحقيق قيامه أو اشتراكه أو تدخله في جريمة صَلب السيد المسيح. ثم تصوّروا لو أنّ بعض المسلمين انبرى إلى إجراء محاكمة لكلّ من يثبت التحقيق قيامه أو اشتراكه أو تدخّله في جرائم اغتيال كلّ من الخلفاء الراشدين: عمر بن الخطاب وعثمان بن عفان وعلي بن أبي طالب والخليفة الأموي عمر بن عبد العزيز الذي يعتبره الفقهاء خليفةً راشدياً بالتقوى والفتوى والممارسة وسيّد الشهداء الحسين بن علي وغيرهم كثيرون من القادة والأعلام والأفذاذ المظلومين. تخوّفي أنه إذا ما جرت هذه المحاكمات ومثيلاتها، فتكون البشرية قد استحضرت ماضيها وأعادت اجتراره في الحاضر وربما في المستقبل إلى نهاية التاريخ.

هل مِن مسوّغ لتخوّفي هذا؟

نعم، لأنّ بعض العرب والمسلمين ما زال يعيش في الماضي ويقوم، بشكلٍ أو بآخر، باستحضار بعض واقعاته وحكاياته وأحداثه وحوادثه ويُعيد اجترارها أو محاكاتها في الحاضر.

نعم، الماضي يحتلّ قسماً كبيراً من حاضرنا. ونحن نعيشه يومياً ونعيد إنتاجه، بوعي أو بغير وعي، في شتى مناحي حياتنا. كلّ ذلك لأنّ الماضي في ثقافتنا ما زال المثل والمثال والقدوة والأسوة. فنحن لا نتذكّر واقعاته وأحداثه لأخذ العبرة والاتعاظ بل للاجترار والمحاكاة.

ما سبب هذه الظاهرة المرَضية؟

إنني من القائلين إنّ الإنسان في قوله وفعله هو إبن ثقافته. كما تكون ثقافته يكون. صحيح لأنّ جملة عوامل وحاجات وتطلّعات تكوّن ثقافة الإنسان، وقد يكون لبعضها دور في تكوينها أكثر من غيره، ومع ذلك فإنّ حضورها في عقل الإنسان وقلبه وأعصابه يبقى حضوراً متكاملاً ومؤثراً.

من الواضح أنّ للماضي حضوراً واسعاً وفاعلاً في ثقافة معظمنا التي هي ثقافة ماضوية، إنْ صحّ التعبير. معظمنا يفكّر بلغة الماضي وصِيَغه وقيمه وحتى مصطلحاته، ويستسيغ استحضاره وإعادة تجسيده في الحاضر. نحن، بهذا المعنى، ماضويون. أجل، ماضويون في التفكير والتدبير ونجد، غالباً، ضالتنا وفخرنا في ماضينا التليد، ونصبو إلى محاكاته في حاضرنا.

لكن، هل ماضينا كله تليد؟ هل كله صحيح، وصحي وحقيقي ومتألّق وجدير، تالياً، بأن يُحاكى ويقلّد؟

لا شك في وجود جوانب بهيّة وباهرة في ماضينا، لكن ثمّة جوانب أخرى مظلمة وبائسة. لذا لا يجوز قبول أو تقبّل الماضي كله بعجره وبجره. من الممكن، بل من الضروري، اكتناه قيمَه وجوانبه الحيّة، لكن من الضروري أيضاً اطّراح قيَمه الشائخة وجوانبه المظلمة.

بعض الماضويين، وربما السلفيين أيضاً، موغل في التعلّق بالماضي حتى حدود الشغف. الماضي كله أفضل من الحاضر. الماضي كله جدير بأن يُعاد فرضُه على الحاضر والمستقبل. الماضي، في مفهوم هؤلاء، هو المقدّس بالمقارنة مع الحاضر المدنّس.

لعلّ السبب الرئيس لسطوة الماضي على الحاضر هو اقتران الحاضر في معظم مراحل تاريخنا بسطوة الغير المعادي أو المختلف ونزوعه إلى فرض نفسه، وبالتالي ثقافته علينا. رفض الجديد والحديث كان جرّاء مجيئه أو اقترانه مع الآخر المستعمِر أو العدو أو، أقلّه، المختلف.

هكذا كانت، في الغالب الأعمّ، ردة فعل عامة الناس من ذوي الثقافة الماضوية. غير أنّ قلّة فينا، على مرّ التاريخ، تجاوزت أطر ثقافتها الماضوية وتطلّعت إلى ما هو خارجها واستطاعت، تالياً، أن تقف موقفاً نقدياً من الثقافة الماضوية السائدة ومن التراث عموماً.

سببٌ آخر فاعل لتمسّك عامة الناس بالماضي وتقديمه على الحاضر. إنه الدين من حيث هو مصدر الإيمان. الدين موجود ونابع من الكتب الدينية المقدّسة التي تعود بتاريخها الى الماضي ما يجعل المؤمن متمسّكاً بالماضي لكونه مصدر الإيمان العزيز على قلبه ومشاعره ووجدانه.

قلائل من الناس، مفكّرون عقلانيون ومصلحون شجعان، تمكّنوا عبر التاريخ من الخروج من الماضي نحو الحاضر والمستقبل من دون أن يسيئوا إلى تمسك المؤمنين، ولا سيما الماضويين منهم، بقيَم الماضي التي يعتبرونها مقدّسة. هؤلاء لاحظوا أنّ الإيمان بالله ورسله لا يتناقض مع ثقافة الانفتاح العقلاني على الحاضر والتشوّف المتوازن الى المستقبل. بل إنهم لاحظوا ظاهرة مدمّرة هي أنّ عبادة السلطة التي يمارسها معظم الحكّام تتعارض مع عبادة الله. لذا دعوا إلى فصل السلطة عن الدين. هذا الفصل بين الاثنين لا يسيء إلى الدين بل يحصّنه ضدّ أخطاء أصحاب السلطة وخطاياهم. كما أنه يجنّب أهل السلطة سلوكيات بعض أهل الدين المتزمّتة وأحياناً المتعارضة مع مصالح الناس عامةً.

كيف الخروج من الماضي وثقافته المغلقة إلى الحاضر وثقافته المنفتحة والمستقبل وثقافته المغايرة؟

ثمّة مسالك وطرائق عدّة، لعلّ أفعلها في زماننا وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي التي قرّبت بين الأفراد والجماعات، وأتاحت للفرد فرصاً كثيرة لإطلاق قدراته وإيصالها الى الملأ، وجعلت الانشغال بقضايا الحاضر ومتطلّباته متقدّمة على قضايا الماضي وأحداثه الدموية وأَوْلى بالاهتمام من محاكمة قاتلي الناس في أرواحهم وأرزاقهم وطموحاتهم، وأوْلى بالتحقيق من محاكمة قابيل قاتل أخيه هابيل وأمثاله من قَتَلة العظماء على مرّ التاريخ!

Recommended  for Muslim readers

Video No 2 will follow and so on

 

Quranic view on Russia and The Eastern Orthodox Christianity

November 30, 2017

لُعِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِن بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَىٰ لِسَانِ دَاوُودَ وَعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوا وَّكَانُوا يَعْتَدُونَ (78) كَانُوا لَا يَتَنَاهَوْنَ عَن مُّنكَرٍ فَعَلُوهُ ۚ لَبِئْسَ مَا كَانُوا يَفْعَلُونَ (79) تَرَىٰ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُمْ يَتَوَلَّوْنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ۚ لَبِئْسَ مَا قَدَّمَتْ لَهُمْ أَنفُسُهُمْ أَن سَخِطَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَفِي الْعَذَابِ هُمْ خَالِدُونَ (80) وَلَوْ كَانُوا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالنَّبِيِّ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مَا اتَّخَذُوهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ وَلَٰكِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ (81) ۞ لَتَجِدَنَّ أَشَدَّ النَّاسِ عَدَاوَةً لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الْيَهُودَ وَالَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا ۖ وَلَتَجِدَنَّ أَقْرَبَهُم مَّوَدَّةً لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّا نَصَارَىٰ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ مِنْهُمْ قِسِّيسِينَ وَرُهْبَانًا وَأَنَّهُمْ لَا يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ (82) وَإِذَا سَمِعُوا مَا أُنزِلَ إِلَى الرَّسُولِ تَرَىٰ أَعْيُنَهُمْ تَفِيضُ مِنَ الدَّمْعِ مِمَّا عَرَفُوا مِنَ الْحَقِّ ۖ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا آمَنَّا فَاكْتُبْنَا مَعَ الشَّاهِدِينَ (83)

“O ye who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians as guardians, some of whom are the guardians of some”.

Note: Finally HAMAS got it

The best interpretation of the Verse

Al Saud / The Great Trick

Why Russia support’s Syria

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Gulf states and Israel where to

نارام سرجون:بعد النصر .. استعدوا لخوض الحرب الأصعب والأقسى؟؟ .. اللحم سيقاتل العظم

“لانعرف حتى اللحظة كيف سيمكننا اجراء عملية فصل الاسلام عن التراث وفصل المسلم عن التراث دون أن نفصل المسلم عن الاسلام …… انها عملية تشبه فصل اللحم عن العظم .. فالتراث المنقول هو لحم الاسلام الذي يحمله هيكل عظمي هو فكر الاسلام .. ولحم التراث مليء بالاسرائيليات والمتناقضات ومليء بالطفيليات وبالعداء للتفكير والمنطق والفلسفة والعقل ..”

تعليق المحرر على المقالة

اتفق مع الكاتب بان الحرب مع مع داعش واخواتها من الحركات الاسلاموية (الوهابية واخوان الشياطين وحزب التحرير الاسلاموي…… الخ الخ) ، تنتهي بانتصار ناجز لا لبس فية، بدون “فصل المسلم عن الثراث المنقول لكني  لا اتفق مع مقولته عن “لحم الاسلام الذي يحمله هيكل عظمي هو فكر الاسلام” لأني ازعم ان الهياكل العظمي التي حملت لنا التراث المنقول ( العنعنة، وتابعه علم الرجال وعلم الناسخ والمنسوخ والاصول والمعلوم من الدين …..) هم  “علماء” و”فقهاء ” السلطان الاموي والعباسي و… و  والعثماني، والازهر وأم القرى وحميع حركات الاسلام السياسي الذين هجروا القران واعتبروا التراث المنقول وحيا ثانيا لا يمكن ان نفهم التنزبل الحكيم بدونه

وهنا لا بد من لفت انتباه الكاتب بان المشكلة لا تقتصر على العقل العربي المسلم فقط وانما العقل العربي “الداعشي” المسلم المسيحي والعلماني والملحد وكل عقل يدعي امتلاك الحقيقة المطلقة ويكفر الآخر

قال تعالى

وَقَالَ الرَّسُولُ يَا رَبِّ إِنَّ قَوْمِي اتَّخَذُوا هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنَ مَهْجُورًا 

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّبِعُوا مَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ قَالُوا بَلْ نَتَّبِعُ مَا أَلْفَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ آبَاءَنَا ۗ أَوَلَوْ كَانَ آبَاؤُهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَهْتَدُونَ

قال تعالى:

قُلْ مَن يَرْزُقُكُم مِّنَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۖ قُلِ اللَّهُ ۖ وَإِنَّا أَوْ إِيَّاكُمْ لَعَلَىٰ هُدًى أَوْ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ

 [الجزء: ٢٢ | سبأ ٣٤ | الآية: ٢٤]

 في الآية يخبر الله رسوله أن الرزق للمؤمن والمشرك  من الله

وويقول له ان الحقيقة الآنسانية نسبية ولا احد يمتلك الحقيقة المطلقة سوى الله

 : قل يا محمد:  “….. ۖ وَإِنَّا أَوْ إِيَّاكُمْ لَعَلَىٰ هُدًى أَوْ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ

اي : وانا (محمد) او اياكم (المشركين )

قال (او)  ولم يقل (و)

اي انا او انتم علي هدى

او انا أو انتم على ضلال مبين

هذه رسالة امر الله عزوجل رسوله الاعظم ان يبلغها ليس للمشركين فقط وانما للناس وخصوصا للذين نصبوا انفسهم ناطقين باسمه وباسم نبيه فحددوا من يدخل النار واختصروا الطريق الى الجنة بتلاوة كذا او كذا ووزعوا صكوك الغفران وبوالص التامين النبوي:

الدعوة الى سبيل الله

قال تعالى

ادْعُ إِلَىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ ۖ وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَن ضَلَّ عَن سَبِيلِهِ ۖ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ

 [الجزء: ١٤ | النحل ١٦ | الآية: ١٢٥]

قال: بالحكمة ولم يقل بالحكمة الحسنه لنفهم ان الحكمه حسنة بالضرورة ولا وجود لحكمة سيئة

وقال: بالموعظة الحسنة لنفهم ان الموعظة قد تكون حسنة وقد تكون سيئة

كلمة (الحسنة) ليست زائدة وليست حشوا

اذا هناك موعظة سيية

والدليل الحاسم هو فضائيات التكفير على اختلاف تلاوينها

وقال: وجادلهم بالتي هي احسن

اي لا تجادلهم بالتي هي اسوأ

اي  الجدال قد يكون سيء وقد يكون حسن وقد يكون احسن

والمطلوب هو الجدال الاحسن

وهل هناك احسن من يتواضع نبي ورسول ومبلغ رسالة لا تنطق عن الهوى فيقول للمشركين:

وانا او اياكم على هدى او في  ضلال مبين؟

وقال

وَلَا تَسْتَوِي الْحَسَنَةُ وَلَا السَّيِّئَةُ ۚ ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ فَإِذَا الَّذِي بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُ وَلِيٌّ حَمِيمٌ

 [الجزء: ٢٤ | فصلت ٤١ | الآية: ٣٤]

قال ادفع ولم يقل ادفش والدفع هنا لا يعني تسديد الدين

بل يعني الدفاع عن حرية الرأي والتعبير ليس بالسيف والتكفير والاتهام بالنفاق  واقامة الحجة بالتي هي أحسن وأخير ماهو سبيل الله وما هي كلمة الله التي سبقت

قال تعالى

وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ النَّاسَ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً ۖ وَلَا يَزَالُونَ مُخْتَلِفِينَ – إِلَّا مَن رَّحِمَ رَبُّكَ ۚ وَلِذَٰلِكَ خَلَقَهُمْ ۗ وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ لَأَمْلَأَنَّ جَهَنَّمَ مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ (119)

 صدق الله العظيم انظر حولك فالناس مختلفين كما اخبرنا الله في تنزيلة الحكيم باستثاء من رحم ربي وهم الانبياء   ،  والرسل، وهو يخبرنا انه خلق الناس أحرار ليختلفوا بارادتهم الحرة، وباختلافهم تمت كلمته التي سبقت. وعلية فحيث يكون النسان حرا تكون كلمة الله هي العليا

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عن ازمة العقل العربي انصح الكاتب والقراء بقراءة كتب المفكر الاسلامي الدكتور مهندس محمد شحرور ومشاهدة سلسلة المقابلات الرمضانية التالية  – 30 حلقة – حول قرائته المعاصرة للتنزيل الحكيم

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نارام سرجون:بعد النصر .. استعدوا لخوض الحرب الأصعب والأقسى؟؟ .. اللحم سيقاتل العظم

وكالة أوقات الشام الإخبار ية

دعونا نتوقف الآن لالتقاط الانفاس ونقول ان هذه الحرب مع التيارات الاسلامية في المنطقة ستنتهي سريعا بانتصار ناجز لالبس فيه .. ولكن على هونكم ياسادة .. فلا تستعجلوا قرع الكؤوس والأنخاب وتبادل التهاني .. ولاتسترخوا .. لأنها فقط احدى جولاتها وهي الجولة الاطول والاقسى والاعنف وستتلوها هدنة طويلة الامد ولكن الحرب سجال ويجب على المنتصر الأن ان لايرقد مسترخيا بل أن يبدأ في الاعداد للحرب القادمة .. وهي الأقسى والأصعب ..

ان منتهى الخيال أن نعتقد أننا خضنا المعركة الأخيرة مع الاسلام السياسي الذي انطلق مع غياب آخر الخلافات وهي الخلافة العثمانية .. وظل الشغل الشاغل للأجيال منذ ذلك اليوم هو اعادة الخلافة أو شبه الخلافة .. لأن العقل الشرقي الاسلامي لايزال مقتنعا أن المؤامرة التي أسقطت الخلافة ستبقى في وجهه لمنع اعادتها وقيامها مجددا .. وعقب كل هزيمة عسكرية وانتهاء جيل من الاسلاميين يقر الجيل اللاحق بأن من سبقوهم أخطأوا التخطيط والتسديد .. ومايجب على الجيل القادم هو تلافي هذه الأخطاء وتطوير التجربة لأن الله سينصر عباده المؤمنين في نهاية المطاف !! .. وهم على موعد مع نصر حتمي قدره الله .. بدليل تعدد نسخ التجارب الجهادية في معظم بلدان المنطقة وكلها تعيد انتاج نفسها وبطرق عنف مختلفة تدل على أنها ليست مأزومة فقط بل مقتنعة تماما ان العنف الداخلي (الذي يسمى جهادا) هو السبيل الوحيد لاعادة الخلافة لأن ماسقط بالحرب لن يعود الا بالحرب .. وليس بالحب .. ولعل أكثر عبارة تدل على أن المعركة انتهت فقط مع هذا الجيل من الاسلاميين وان الجيل اللاحق يستعد هو عبارة يرددها الكثيرون ببراءة وسذاجة مفادها: (هذا الذي رأيناه ليس الاسلام الحقيقي) .. ولكن هذه العبارة هي التي ستشكل الحامل والرافعة للمشروع القادم الذي سيخترع أصحابه نسخة أخرى “حقيقية” جاءت كما ياتي المخلّص .. ويعتبرون ماحدث من هزائم حتى الآن هو جولات وعملية حقن الاسلام بلقاحات متنوعة يتعرض لها الجسم العسكري الاسلامي في سيرته الجهادية الطويلة .. ولذلك فانه من الطبيعي أن يتعرض لطفرات جديدة أو لعملية لقاح بالهزيمة تكسبه مزيدا من المناعة ..

وهنا لاأريد أن يفهم من كلامي انني ارى ان مافعله داعش هو الاسلام الحقيقي لأنني انا فعلا مقتنع أن ماقدمه داعش والنصرة هو برنامج اسلام من قماش تلمودي موسادي ووهابي التطريز .. ولكن العبارة (هذا ليس الاسلام الحقيقي) بحد ذاتها رغم دلالتها الكبيرة على أنها عملية القبول والاعتراف والتسليم بهزيمة المشروع الاسلامي مرحليا فان فكرة الهزيمة النهائية لاتزال غير مقبولة في نظر الاسلاميين بل ينظر اليها لى أن ماحدث مجرد معركة .. مثل معركة (أحد) مثلا لابد ان يتلوها نصر وفتح مبين ..

أبني كلامي واستنتاجي على قاعدة

أن جميع التنظيمات الجهادية اليوم مشتقة من بعضها وهي رغم تفاوتاتها وخلافاتها الفقهية فانها تملك ذات الجذر وذات المراجع الفقهية والرؤية التاريخية والفلسفية فالفرق بين الاخوان المسلمين وداعش يبدو شاسعا في السطح ولكنه في العمق متماه كثيرا من حيث فكرة التكفير والعلاقة مع الأغيار من غير المسلمين أو حتى من المذاهب المنشقة عن مذهب أهل السنة أو حتى المدارس السنية التي تخالفهم الرأي والاجتهاد .. بدليل أن الاخوان المسلمين لايمكن مثلا أن يصدروا بيانا يقولون فيه رأيا يخالف داعش من حيث تكفير الشيعة والدروز والعلويين والمسيحيين وغيرهم .. لأن هؤلاء جميعا كفار في نظر داعش والاخوان المسلمين وجبهة النصرة .. ومافعله داعش فقط أنه وسع دائرة الكفار حتى شملت أهل السنة والجماعة الذين يختلفون عنه .. ولو انه اكتفى بدائرة التكفير الاخوانية التقليدية لما تلعثم الاخوان المسلمون في تأييدهم لخلافة على منهاج النبوة تشبههم ولم يتأتئوا في تعبيرهم عن الانسجام مع أفكارها وبقيت الخلافات الفقهية الأخرى اجتهادات أخطأ فيها الدواعش ولهم فيها أجر واحد فقط لا أجران !!! .. هو ثواب المجتهد ..

وسنكون واقعيين جدا في الاعتراف بأن عملية نزع فتيل الصاعق من القنبلة “الاسلامية” لن تنجح بهذه البساطة لأنهم ببساطة ذخيرة للغرب ورصاص يوجهه الى صدورنا في أية لحظة لأن مفهوم الوطن مغيب لدى الاسلاميين أمام سطوة فكرة الخلافة التي تبتلع الأوطان جميعا وتضعها تحت عباءة خليفة .. فالاسلاميون الوهابيون احتلوا الحجاز ونجد وعطلوا فريضة الجهاد المكي ضد الغرب واسرائيل مما أوقف مليار مسلم عن عملية التطوع لنصرة فلسطين “الا بالدعاء” .. ولكن الغرب أيضا أطلق الاسلام الجهادي ضد الروس والسوفيت وضد الايرانيين وضد البعثيين القوميين العروبيين أيضا في سورية والعراق وضد المقاومة في لبنان ..

أما الاخوان المسلمون فهم النسخة الأخرى للوهابية وهما من ذات فصيلة الزواحف .. والفوارق هي في التكوين والبيئة .. فالوهابيون يشبهون في قسوتهم التماسيح التي تنهش فريستها بوحشية .. أما الاخوان فهم زواحف الدم البارد والأفاعي ذات الجلود الناعمة والتي تحقنك بالسم .. ثم تبتلعك بهدوء .. ولكن كلها زواحف ..

مسؤول “الاخوان” سعيد رمضان مع الرئيس الأمريكي إيزنهاور في البيت الأبيض عام 1953.

وقد جاء الربيع العربي ليثبت أن الاسلاميين على اختلاف مشاربهم ذخيرة عظيمة للغرب لن يساعدنا الغرب على التخلص منها بل سيعيدها الى الحظائر مؤقتا لاجراء صيانة وتزويد خطاباتها بقطع الغيار والملونات والمذاقات التي تخفي خطاب الكراهية ..

ويجب هنا الانتباه الى أن أي محاولة بريئة لاطلاق تيارات اسلامية موازية لامتصاص قوة هذه التيارات وانتزاع الجيل من الانتماء اليها بحجة أن اطلاق الاعتدال سيخفف من التطرف فاننا سنكون واهمين لأن أي خلل في الميزان سيجعل عملية الهجرة الى معسكر التطرف سهلة طالما أن المشتركات الفقهية كثيرة وعملية الانزياح في الاتجاهين واردة جدا وتتبع عوامل متحولة ..

ومانكون قد فعلناه هو اننا هيأنا جيشا رديفا للتطرف سينضم اليه عند أول تلاعب في الخطاب الديني كما حدث اليوم في حرب السنوات السبع عندما كانت المنطقة كلها معتدلة ومضبوطة بفعل العامل القومي الذي ما ان تراجع حتى تسلمت التيارات المتطرفة قيادة جزء من الجماهير المعتدلة بل والجماهير القومية والعلمانية .. لان عملية الانزياح هنا ليست بين دين ودين .. وليست بين مذهبين .. وبين سنة وشيعة .. بل تماه بين اتجاهين في نفس المذهب وعناصر في نفس الاناء ..
وهنا تكمن المعضلة .. لأننا لانريد أن نحاصر الاسلام ولكن في حصارنا للتيارات الفكرية الاسلامية سنجد أننا نبدو وكأننا في مواجهة مع الاسلام وفكر الاسلام وتبدو عملية الفرز والتمييز والفصل مستحيلة بين فكر الاسلام وبين أسلمة الفكر ..
ولذلك فان القطيعة مع الاسلاميين دون التأثير على الاسلام كعنصر هوية للمنطقة وموروث حضاري لايمكن أن تنجح الا بمشروع شامل يبدأ تأثيره من لحظة نزول الوحي في القرن السابع الميلادي وحتى هذه اللحظة .. والحقيقة أننا نقف جميعا حائرين أمام هذه المعضلة في عملية تقطير الاسلام ونزعه من مخالب الحزبية السياسية وتحويله الى كينونة ثقافية مندمجة في مشاريع التطوير الحضاري المتنوعة .. ورغم أن الاسلام الشيعي يعاني من نفس المعضلة الا أنه يبقى في تأثيره محصورا في جزء صغير من الأمة لأن العالم الاسلامي هو عالم سني في غالبيته .. فمهما حدث في الساحة الشيعية فان الهزات الارتدادية التي تصل الى العالم السني ضعيفة نسبيا وتبقى محصورة ..

لاأحد يملك جوابا عن مرحلة مابعد الربيع الاسلامي الأخير .. وكيف سيتم التعامل مع مفرزات هذه المرحلة وأنقاضها الخطيرة ودروسها .. ولانعرف حتى اللحظة كيف سيمكننا اجراء عملية فصل الاسلام عن التراث وفصل المسلم عن التراث دون أن نفصل المسلم عن الاسلام .. انها عملية تشبه فصل اللحم عن العظم .. فالتراث المنقول هو لحم الاسلام الذي يحمله هيكل عظمي هو فكر الاسلام .. ولحم التراث مليء بالاسرائيليات والمتناقضات ومليء بالطفيليات وبالعداء للتفكير والمنطق والفلسفة والعقل ..

اننا أمام عملية هي أصعب من مرحلة الحرب .. وهي استخلاص دروس الحرب التي تقاتل فيها اللحم مع العظم .. لأن الاستنتاجات الخاطئة أخطر مما نتوقع وهي تشبه الهزيمة .. اي خضنا حربا وانتصرنا ولكننا حصلنا على نتائج الهزيمة عندما لم نحول التجربة الى نتيجة وخلاصة .. لذلك يجب اطلاق هجوم معاكس في الحال بالضوء على الظلام .. يبدأ برنامجه في سطور التراث ومن رفوف الكتب وفي عملية التعليم .. ويعمل في قلب المساجد وحلقات الذكر وليس في التلفزيون من بعيد .. ويعتكف المفكرون والتنويريون لايجاد افضل طريقة لتحويل مسار الموجة الاسلامية القادمة على ابنائنا لتكون بردا وسلاما ..

ويجب أن نقوم بتدريس هذه المرحلة من الحرب على سورية بدقة وأمانة في المناهج والاعتراف بكل الأخطاء التي وقعت فيها جميع الأطراف .. ولكن ماهو مهم جدا هو أن يتم تخصيص جهد تأريخي واعلامي متواصل طوال العقدين القادمين لرواية الرواية السورية الوطنية دون انقطاع والاستفادة من جو الهزيمة العسكرية للاسلاميين التكفيريين ومن اعادة اعلام العرب وكلابه الى حظائره .. وأن يكون شرط اعادة العلاقات مع اي دولة عربية ان تعيد تقديم الرواية السورية على حقيقتها في اعلامها وافساح المجال للرواية السورية أن تقدم نفسها لأول مرة من دون تزوير .. لأن الجمهور العربي المغفل لايزال هو ماأنتجته الجزيرة .. فهو باختصار “ضحية” الجزيرة التي أرضعته طوال سبع سنوات ولايزال حليب ثدييها في فمه وفي عروقه .. ويجب أن تغسل أمعاؤه ودماؤه بالماء الصابون ..

ومع هذا فان أفضل علاج برأيي سيكون هو محاصرة و تدمير نموذج الدولة الدينية اليهودية في المنطقة التي قدمت نفسها على أنها الدولة الدينية الأولى ونموذج ملهم للاسلاميين وينظر لها من قبلهم على أنها ثمرة من ثمار سقوط الخلافة .. وأنها مشروع ديني ناجح يمكن تكراره بنسخة اسلامية حتى بطريقة تكوينها العنيفة .. وان اسقاط هذه الثمرة اليهودية لن يكون الا باعادة الخلافة الاسلامية التي أسقطت من أجل تسهيل قيام اسرائيل .. فيعود الاسلاميون كل مرة الى عاصمة عربية يرفعون فيها شعار أن الطريق الى القدس يمر من هنا .ولذلك لاأظن أنه يمكن ايقاف المد الاسلامي الا بايقاف المد اليهودي .. فكلاهما يتلاقحان وبتفاعلان ويتبادلان الخبرات والوجود .. بدليل تكرار تجربة الدولة اليهودية ونموذجها العنيف الارهابي بالتطهير العرقي في تجربة داعش التي كانت نسخة اسلامية عن اسرائيل ..

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ISIS Sex Slave Survivor Exposes US Ally for Running Global Sex Trafficking Ring (Video)

 

 

Slavery and sexual violence is not permitted and never been a part of Islam.  

Allah says:

فَإِذَا لَقِيتُمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَضَرْبَ الرِّقَابِ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَثْخَنتُمُوهُمْ فَشُدُّوا الْوَثَاقَ فَإِمَّا مَنًّا بَعْدُ وَإِمَّا فِدَاءً حَتَّىٰ تَضَعَ الْحَرْبُ أَوْزَارَهَا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ وَلَوْ يَشَاءُ اللَّهُ لَانتَصَرَ مِنْهُمْ وَلَٰكِن لِّيَبْلُوَ بَعْضَكُم بِبَعْضٍ ۗ وَالَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَلَن يُضِلَّ أَعْمَالَهُمْ

 [الجزء: ٢٦ | محمد ٤٧ | الآية: ٤]

TRANSLATION

So, when you meet -in fight – your enimies, smite their necks till when you have killed and

wounded many of them, then take them as captives. Thereafter, either free them without ransom, or take ransom , until the war lays down its burden. Thus, you are ordered by Allâh, if it had been Allâh’s Will, He Himself could certainly have punished them But He lets you fight in order to test some of you with others. Those who are killed in the Way of Allâh, He will never let their deeds be lost.

 [Juz 26 | Muhammad (47) | Aya: 4]

Comment

The verses ia about prisoners of war, not about their wives and daughters. Muslims are not allowed to keep Prisoners of war as slaves, they heve two options, either to free them without ransome or with ransom.

Slavery was already occurring at the time the Quran came to end of slavery inherited from pre-Islamic cultures, that needed to be gradually weeded out of society through manumission, “which was highly encouraged (Chapters 24:32-33 & 16:71). Islamic texts list a plethora of avenues to free slaves, as it was seen as a highly virtuous act. It’s difficult to find any references on how to make slaves out of people; rather the focus is always on ending slavery”.

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ISIS Sex Slave Survivor Exposes US Ally for Running Global Sex Trafficking Ring (Video)

Source

An escaped sex slave, once held captive by ISIS, noted that the country Donald Trump just promised billions, is facilitating a massive sex trafficking ring. Conveniently absent from the mainstream media as well as the white house is the Saudi role in modern day slavery.

by Jack Burns, The Free Thought Project: 

Few Americans could hardly have imagined the devastation, destruction, and horror experienced by the Iraqi people when the decision to invade Iraq was made in 2003. And no people, arguably, have endured more suffering than the Yazidi people, an Iraqi minority group.

Nadia Murad knows. The Iraqi Yazidi woman was kidnapped in 2014 and used as a sex slave by the Islamic State (ISIS). Murad has just exposed Europeans, Tunisians and US ally — Saudi Arabia — for their role in this horrific sex slave trade.

Murad eventually escaped her hell on earth and returned to her home village of Sinjar Thursday to the welcoming arms of her people. While sobbing, and standing on the roof of her old school, she addressed those gathered and those around the world who dare to listen to what she has to say.

After just three months of rape and torture, Murad escaped her Sunni Muslim captors, eventually finding refuge in a refugee camp, and later found saftey in Germany. But she didn’t stay there for long, and she’s not staying silent about what she experienced.

Reuters reported she’s now become the Yazidi ambassador to the world;

Murad has taken to the world stage to appeal for support for the Yazidi religious minority, in the United Nations Security Council in 2015 and to all governments globally, earning her a Nobel Peace Prize nomination and U.N. Goodwill Ambassador role.

She was one of nearly 7,000 girls who were taken as sex slaves and traded like used cars to soldiers who’d come to wage Jihad against anyone other than Sunni Muslims. She watched as the men were separated from the women and children. They were later killed and buried in mass graves. The young boys were sent off to ISIS training camps, while the women and girls were used for the sexual gratification of Sunni fighters.

She told Reuters at the time she wanted to die. “We hoped that our destiny would be like the men and be killed, but instead Europeans, Saudis and Tunisians and other fighters came and raped us and sold us,” she said.

Last year, Saudi Arabia, a country President Donald Trump just signed a $300 billion dollar arms deal with, was exposed for not only facilitating the ISIS sex slave trade — but participating in it.

According to eyewitness reports, ISIS sex slaves are being sold in Saudi Arabia.
Jihad Watch reported:

“It isn’t news that the Islamic State has long been abusing and trafficking sex slaves – especially Yazidi girls – but it has been now discovered that the sex slaves of IS are being “sold in horrifying auctions to UK (and US) ally Saudi Arabia.”

An eyewitness reported:

Dozens of women were being held in a large room, and it was not only Iraqis and Syrians trading women but also Saudis and Westerners, whose actual nationality was not clear.

Western women have also been reported to be among the victims in keeping with the Islamic State’s practice of enslaving kafir women:

The Islamic State’s human trafficking operation includes enslaving women who they consider to be ‘kafir’, non-Muslim people like Yazidis and Christians, before selling them for money.  The depraved thugs are also involved in the radicalisation of young women all over the world and try to tempt them to come to their caliphate with false promises of wealth, marriage and forgiveness of sin.

The misdeeds and human rights violations by Saudi Arabia are astonishing, yet Trump had no problem striking a deal with the terrorist regime as well as bowing down to them.

With tears in her eyes, Murad told her village, “I am a daughter of this village.” She then called on the United Nations to, “Open a case for those that lost everything, their parents, people who can not go back to their villages.” She continued, “exhume their loved ones buried around their villages.”

Murad then had harsh words for the world that looked away, including the United States under the direction of Barack H. Obama and now Trump. Reuters said she stated the international community has failed to help free the Yazidi women and children held captive by hoards of rapists. “The international community has not delivered on its responsibility,” she said adding, “I tell anyone that you are being unjust for not supporting a minority like the Yazidis.”

She’s calling for the Yazidi genocide to be officially recognized as such and not treated as a global conflict. Ironically, it wasn’t NATO who liberated the Yazidis, it was the Shia Muslim country of Iran who, alongside Iraqi soldiers pushed all the way to the Syrian border, liberating Yazidis along the way.

The American narrative coming from Washington is that the Iranians aren’t to be trusted. They’re accused of planning to develop nuclear weapons with which to threaten the U.S. The Iranians rule with an iron fist, oppressively stifling dissent. The ancient Persian people are subjected to strict adherence to Islam, but their government’s actions, at least in this instance, demonstrate their desire to stop the Islamic State.

If Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) are to be believed, the U.S. government has purposefully been funding Islamic militants and supplying arms to terrorist organizations, arms which have made their way into ISIS hands. If their accusations are true, the U.S. is de facto responsible for the Yazidi genocide by not reigning in those factions.

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ناجية من عبودية داعش: السعودية تدير شبكات دعارة ورقيق أبيض

الجمل- بقلم: Jack Burns-

ترجمة: وصال صالح:

هاربة من الاستعباد الجنسي، فتاة كانت ذات يوم أسيرة لدى تنظيم داعش تفضح السعودية- البلد الذي عقد معه ترامب صفقات بمئات مليارات الدولارات- يعمل على إدارة حلقة ضخمة للاتجار بالجنس، وسط تكتم وسائل الإعلام الرئيسية كما البيت الأبيض على الدور السعودي في عبودية ونخاسة العصر الحديث.

قلة من الأميركيين بالكاد يمكن أن يتصوروا حجم الدمار والخراب والرعب الذي يعيشه الشعب العراقي نتيجة اتخاذ الإدارة الأميركية قرار الغزو عام 2003، ويمكن القول، أنه ليس هناك شعب على الإطلاق تحمل المعاناة التي عاناها الإيزيديون، وهم أقلية عراقية.
نادية مراد المرأة الإيزيدية المعروفة، التي اختطفت عام 2014 وتم معاملتها كرقيقة جنس من قبل داعش. كشفت للتو، عن دور الأوروبيين، التونسيين، والسعودية –حليفة الولايات المتحدة- في تجارة الجنس المروعة هذه.

وكانت مراد هربت في النهاية من جحيمها على الأرض وعادت إلى قريتها ومسقط رأسها في قرية كوجو قضاء سنجار، يوم الخميس استقبلها أهالي قريتها مرحبين بها بالأحضان. واقفة فوق سطح مدرستها القديمة والدموع تنهمر من عينيها، خاطبت مراد المجتمعين من أبناء قريتها، ووجهت رسالة إلى جميع أنحاء العالم ممن يجرؤون الاستماع إلى ما ستقوله.

بعد ثلاثة أشهر فقط من الاغتصاب والتعذيب، هربت مراد من خاطفيها الإرهابيين، وفي نهاية المطاف وجدت لها مأوى في مخيم للاجئين، ولاحقاً وجدت الأمان في ألمانيا، لكنها لم تبق هناك لفترة طويلة، وهي لم تصمت إزاء ما عاشته وما عانته.
رويترز ذكرت أنها صارت سفيرة الإيزيديين إلى العالم؛

وهكذا حملت مراد مطالب الأقلية الديية الإيزيدية إلى مجلس الأمن التابع للأمم المتحدة في عام 2015 ولجميع الحكومات على الصعيد العالمي، وحصلت على الترشيح لجائزة نوبل للسلام ودور سفيرة للنوايا الحسنة للأمم المتحدة.

كانت نادية مراد واحدة من بين ما يقرب من 7000 فتاة ممن استخدمهن تنظيم داعش كعبيدات جنس وتم التعامل معهن كسيارات مستعملة لمقاتلي داعش الذين كانوا يخوضون الجهاد. شاهدت مراد كيف كان يتم فصل الرجال عن النساء والأطفال، ليُقتلوا لاحقاً ويدفنوا في مقابر جماعية. بينما يتم إرسال الأولاد إلى مخيمات تدريب داعش، و تؤخذ النساء إلى مقاتلي داعش لاغتصابهن.

في حديث لرويترز، قالت مراد أنها كانت تتمنى الموت، في ذلك الوقت، ” كنا نأمل لو كان مصيرنا مثل مصير الرجال وأن نُقتل، لكن بدلاً من ذلك –جاء المقاتلون الأوروبيون والسعوديون والتونسيون وغيرهم واغتصبونا ثم باعونا”.

العام الماضي، فضح دور السعودية -البلد التي وقع الرئيس دونالد ترامب معها صفقة بمليارات الدولارات- حيث لم تقم فقط بتقديم التسهيلات لداعش في تجارة النخاسة والعبيد –وإنما شاركت وتورطت في ذلك.

وفقاً لتقارير شهود عيان، تنظيم داعش يبيع العبدات في السعودية، وذكر موقع مراقبة أنشطة الجهاد: “إنها ليست أخباراً جديدة، داعش يقوم منذ فترة طويل بالاستغلال و الاتجار بعبيدات الجنس –خصوصاً الفتيات الإيزيديات- لكن الآن تم اكتشاف أنه يجري بيع عبيدات جنس داعش في مزادات مرعبة للسعودية –حليفة الولايات المتحدة وبريطانيا”.

أحد شهود العيان قال:

يتم احتجاز عشرات النساء في غرفة كبيرة، وليست العراقيات والسوريات فقط من يتم الاتجار بهن، وإنما أيضاً سعوديات وغربيات، ممن لم تعرف جنسياتهن الحقيقية. مصادر تحدثت أن نساء غربيات كن أيضاً من بين الضحايا تماشياً مع ممارسات داعش في استعباد نساء “الكفار”:
تجدر الإشارة إلى أن عملية اتجار داعش بالبشر تتضمن استعباد النساء ممن يعتبرن “كافرات”، أي الناس غير المسلمين مثل الإيزيديات والمسيحيات، قبل بيعهن مقابل المال. السفاحون السفلة أيضاً متورطون في تطرف الشابات في جميع أنحاء العالم ويحاولون إغوائهن وإغرائهن للقدوم إلى الخلافة مع وعود كاذبة بالثروة والزواج ومغفرة الخطايا.

الأعمال الشريرة والآثام وانتهاكات حقوق الإنسان من قبل السعودية مثيرة للدهشة. الآن لا مشكلة لدى ترامب في عقد صفقة مع النظام الإرهابي وكذلك بالركوع أمامهم.

بالعودة إلى نادية مراد والدموع تفيض من عينيها، قالت لأهل قريتها ” أنا ابنة هذه القرية” ثم ناشدت الأمم المتحدة “لفتح قضية أولئك الذين فقدوا كل شيء، أهاليهم الناس الذين لا يستطيعون العودة إلى قراهم” .

ثم توجهت مراد بكلمات قاسية للعالم الذي بدا بعيداً، بما في ذلك الولايات المتحدة تحت قيادة باراك حسين أوباما والآن دونالد ترامب. رويترز قالت بأنها أعلنت عن فشل المجتمع الدولي في المساعدة على تحرير النساء الإيزيديات والأطفال المحتجزين و المغتصبين “المجتمع الدولي لم يتحمل مسؤولياته” قالت، مضيفة “أنا أقول أنكم لستم عادلون لأنكم لم تدعموا أقلية مثل الإيزيديين”. ودعت مراد المجتمع الدولي إلى الاعتراف رسمياً بالإبادة الجماعية للإيزيديين والتعامل معها على هذا الأساس وليس كصراع عالمي. من المفارقات، أنه لم يكن حلف شمال الأطلسي –ناتو- من حرر الإيزيديين، إنها إيران، جنباً إلى جنب مع الجنود العراقيين ليدفعوا داعش على طول الحدود مع سورية.

الرواية الأميركية القادمة في واشنطن أنه لا يمكن الوثوق بالإيرانيين. هم يتهمونهم بالتخطيط لتطوير الأسلحة النووية التي تشكل تهديداً للولايات المتحدة، لكنهم الإيرانيون من يظهرون رغبتهم في القضاء على تنظيم داعش.

إذا ما صدقت تولسي غابارد السيناتور الجمهوري عن ولاية هاواي والسيناتور الجمهوري عن ولاية كنتاكي راند بول ، فإن الحكومة الأميركية تمول عن قصد المتطرفين الإسلاميين وتعمل على تزويد المنظمات الإرهابية بالأسلحة. و إذا ما صحت اتهامات السيناتور فإن هذه الأسلحة تقع في أيدي داعش، ما يعني أن الولايات المتحدة هي في الواقع مسؤولة عن الإبادة الجماعية للإيزيديين بسبب عدم سيطرتها وتحكمها في هذه الفصائل.

عن:The Free Thought

 

 

Sheikh Imran Hosein Shares his Vision of Contemporary World

STEPHEN KARGANOVIC | 01.06.2017 | WORLD

Sheikh Imran Hosein is a distinguished Islamic scholar, author of many books, expert in Islamic eschatology, international politics and finance, and contemporary socio-economic and political issues. In his work, the sheikh emphasizes Islamic spirituality, ihsan, in the absence of which all knowledge would be confined to the mere perception of worldly reality. The principal themes upon which he discourses are the nature of being, relationship to God and the interrelationship of the three major monotheistic faiths, the Messenger Muhammed (s.a.v.s.) and his teaching, and the nature of contemporary Western society with its deleterious impact on other civilizations and cultures.

Sheikh Imran Hosein has pioneered revolutionary interpretations of the Kuran and the hadises, paving the way for generations of Islamic scholars to come. With all the instruments at his disposal he attempts to educate not just Muslims and Christians, but everyone, as far and as wide as his voice reaches.

His success is based on the application of the correct methodology that he has received from his teacher, Maulana al-Asnari, which he has developed and applied further to the issues of major concern for the contemporary world.

The focal point of sheikh Imran Hosein’s study is eschatology, the religious teaching about the end-times and the ultimate fulfillment of the respective visions of each of the three great monotheistic faiths, with regard to the conclusion of mundane history. Judaism and Christianity have well-developed and even sophisticated eschatological teachings, but until recently Islam in that regard has been lagging behind. Under the inspiration of his revered teacher Maulana Al-Asnari, sheikh Imran Hosein has laid the foundations of an Islamic eschatological philosophy based, naturally, on the precepts of the Kuran and the relevant hadises. Surprising as it may appear, no Islamic scholar before him had ever approached this important and delicate subject in a systematic manner. Taking into account the sheikh’s numerous books and lectures on this subject, it is accurate to say that he has elevated Islamic Eschatology to the rank of a new branch of knowledge within the broad system of Islamic theology. It would not be extravagant to also add that he is now the world’s leading authority on this fascinating subject.

As a teacher of true, traditional Sunni Islamic doctrine, ennobled with the mystic aura of Sufism, sheikh Imran Hosein has acquired a wide following throughout the world of Islam, and beyond. Islam is an exception among the great monotheistic religions in that it has five vibrant major schools, but no central teaching authority or arbiter in matters of religious doctrine. For that reason, and in order to safeguard his co-religionists from the malevolent enticements of erroneous interpretations of their faith, which are often manipulated to serve purposes opposite to its original inspiration and intent, sheikh Imran Hosein places particular emphasis on the development of a proper methodology of doctrinal interpretation. Methodology may therefore be said to constitute the heart of his approach, as he quite correctly maintains that without proper guidelines, grounded in an intellectually rigorous scrutiny of religious texts, no consistent and viable doctrine can possibly emerge.

Confronting head-on the clash of civilizations narrative and boldly disputing the legitimacy of intolerant and extremist schools of thought within the world of Islam, sheikh Imran Hosein is a strong advocate of solidarity between the followers of the three monotheistic religions, Islam, Christianity, and Torah Judaism.

Based on his reading of the Kuran and certain hadises, sheikh Imran Hosein is, in particular, a champion of «friendship and alliance» between Muslims and Orthodox Christians. Over the centuries, and during the preceding decades with particular brutality, these two religious groups have been victims of the plundering and conquering ambitions of that portion of mankind that is most frequently referred to as the West. The latter’s main tools of oppression, in the sheikh’s mind, are the world banking and monetary system and NATO. He perceives in that part of mankind the operation of the evil forces of Gog and Magog (Yajuj and Majuj), familiar from the Islamic and other monotheistic eschatologies. By contrast, it is in the form of Eastern Christianity, with its historic roots in Byzantium (to which almost certainly reference is made in the thirtieth Sura of the Kuran, Ar-Rum), which is presently established in Russia, that sheikh Imran Hosein perceives the Empire of Ar-Rum. He regards it as a force for the good, with respect to which the Messenger Muhammed prophesied to his followers thus: «You will conclude an alliance with Ar-Rum».

As a student of geopolitics with a keen eschatological perspective, sheikh Imran Hosein is an attentive and approving observer of Russia’s dynamic and increasingly assertive role in international affairs.

Advocacy of friendly relations and alliance between Muslims and Orthodox Christians by an Islamic scholar of such renown and depth of knowledge as sheikh Imran Hosein, and the interest that he has also displayed in the conditions that prevail in Serbia and the Balkans, should have the beneficial effect of facilitating improved relations between Muslims and Orthodox Christians in that volatile part of the world.

The sheikh’s stance as a reconciler and peacemaker – while earning him affection and respect in many quarters – has made him also a figure of controversy elsewhere. Paradoxically, the latter seems to include some segments of the Islamic community because on many points the sheikh’s insistence on unadulterated traditional Islam clashes with key contemporary political agendas.

I had the honor and the pleasure of conducting this conversation with sheikh Imran Hosein at his retreat on the island of Tobago, in March of 2017.

Looking to the Past, not ISIS, for the True Meaning of Islam

Posted on May 28, 2017

by Richard Edmondson

Emir Abdelkader, 19th century Muslim humanist and sheikh

[Ed. note – British journalist Robert Fisk has published an interesting historical retrospect on Abdelkader ibn Muhieddine, or Emir Abdelkader, an Algerian Muslim leader of the 19th century who fought against French imperialism and was a great champion of human rights–of all people. Abdelkader intervened at one point to save a community of Christians in Damascus, Syria, where he spent a portion of his life, and while Fisk doesn’t bother to point it out, his act of saving Syrian Christians is something he shares in common with the present-day leader of Syria, Bashar Assad.

I thought it timely to post such an article since we’ve just seen a deranged individual arrested in Portland, Oregon after allegedly stabbing three people, killing two of them, while spouting hatred for Muslims–a man whose last name is “Christian” no less. So you’ll see a lengthy excerpt from Fisk’s essay on Abdelkader, along with a link to the original article, and just below that I’m also tossing in a video of a group of Syrians, including about 3,000 students, taking a walking tour of Aleppo’s recently-liberated historic areas. A Syrian woman you’ll see interviewed in the video, Anushka Arakelyan, says she hopes that the city will one day be “the same as it was before the war.”

“There are no nationalities here. All people love each other; all live together, rejoice together, cry together and wait together,” she added.

“Aleppo will be the same as it was before the war. We hope and wait,” Arakelyan said.

“As one Russian song says, we hope and wait, and we will wait and hope,” she added.

“We love Aleppo very much. Aleppo is a very good city, very hospitable city. I’m very happy to live here. Here, there are no nationalities. All people love each other; all live together, rejoice together, cry together and wait together,” she concluded. (Uprooted Palestinians )

It would seem, from this lady’s remarkable words, that there are plenty of Muslims who today carry on in the spirit of Abdelkader, and that therefore we don’t have to look to the past to find “the true meaning of Islam”–plenty of examples we can point to in the present. ]

***

We must look to the past, not Isis, for the true meaning of Islam

By Robert Fisk

After the Manchester massacre… yes, and after Nice and Paris, Mosul and Abu Ghraib and 7/7 and the Haditha massacre – remember those 28 civilians, including children, killed by US Marines, four more than Manchester but no minute’s silence for them? And of course 9/11…

Counterbalancing cruelty is no response, of course. Just a reminder. As long as we bomb the Middle East instead of seeking justice there, we too will be attacked. But what we must concentrate upon, according to the monstrous Trump, is terror, terror, terror, terror, terror. And fear. And security. Which we will not have while we are promoting death in the Muslim world and selling weapons to its dictators. Believe in “terror” and Isis wins. Believe in justice and Isis is defeated.

So I suspect it’s time to raise the ghost of a man known as the Emir Abdelkader – Muslim, Sufi, sheikh, ferocious warrior, humanist, mystic, protector of his people against Western barbarism, protector of Christians against Muslim barbarism, so brave that the Algerian state insisted his bones were brought home from his beloved Damascus, so noble that Abe Lincoln sent him a pair of Colt pistols and the French gave him the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour. He loved education, he admired the Greek philosophers, he forbade his fighters to destroy books, he worshipped a religion which believed – so he thought – in human rights. But hands up all readers who know the name of Abdelkader.

We should think of him now more than ever.

He was not a “moderate” because he fought back savagely against the French occupation of his land. He was not an extremist because, in his imprisonment at the Chateau d’Amboise, he talked of Christians and Muslims as brothers. He was supported by Victor Hugo and Lord Londonderry and earned the respect of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (later Napoleon III) and the French state paid him a pension of 100,000 francs. He deserved it.

When the French invaded Algeria, Abdelkader Ibn Muhiedin al-Juzairi (Abdelkader, son of Muhiedin, the Algerian,1808-1883, for those who like obituaries) embarked on a successful guerrilla war against one of the best equipped armies in the Western world – and won. He set up his own state in western Algeria – Muslim but employing Christian and Jewish advisors – and created separate departments (defence, education, etc), which stretched as far as the Moroccan border. It even had its own currency, the “muhamediya”. He made peace with the French – a truce which the French broke by invading his lands yet again. Abdelkader demanded a priest to minister for his French prisoners, even giving them back their freedom when he had no food for them. The French sacked the Algerian towns they captured, a hundred Hadithas to suppress Abdelkader’s resistance. When at last he was defeated, he surrendered in honour – handing over his horse as a warrior – on the promise of exile in Alexandria or Acre. Again the French betrayed him, packing him off to prison in Toulon and then to the interior of France.

Yet in his French exile, he preached peace and brotherhood and studied French and spoke of the wisdom of Plato and Socrates, Aristotle and Ptolemy and Averoes and later wrote a book, Call to the Intelligent, which should be available on every social media platform. He also, by the way, wrote a book on horses which proves he was ever an Arab in the saddle. But his courage was demonstrated yet again in Damascus in 1860 where he lived as an honoured exile. The Christian-Druze civil war in Lebanon had spread to Damascus where the Christian population found themselves surrounded by the Muslim Druze who arrived with Isis-like cruelty, brandishing swords and knives to slaughter their adversaries.

Abdelkader sent his Algerian Muslim guards – his personal militia – to bash their way through the mob and escort more than 10,000 Christians to his estate. And when the crowds with their knives arrived at his door, he greeted them with a speech which is still recited in the Middle East (though utterly ignored these days in the West).

“You pitiful creatures!” he shouted. “Is this the way you honour the Prophet? God punish you! Shame on you, shame! The day will come when you will pay for this … I will not hand over a single Christian. They are my brothers. Get out of here or I’ll set my guards on you.”

Muslim historians claim Abdelkader saved 15,000 Christians, which may be a bit of an exaggeration. But here was a man for Muslims to emulate and Westerners to admire.

His fury was expressed in words which would surely have been used today against the cult-like caliphate executioners of Isis. Of course, the “Christian” West would honour him at the time (although, interestingly, he received a letter of praise from the Muslim leader of wildly independent Chechnya). He was an “interfaith dialogue” man to please Pope Francis.

Abdelkader was invited to Paris. An American town was named after him – Elkader in Clayton County, Iowa, and it’s still there, population 1,273. Founded in the mid-19th century, it was natural to call your home after a man who was, was he not, honouring the Rights of Man of American Independence and the French Revolution? Abdelkader flirted with Freemasonry – most scholars believe he was not taken in – and loved science to such an extent that he accepted an invitation to the opening of the Suez Canal, which was surely an imperial rather than a primarily scientific project. Abdelkader met De Lesseps. He saw himself, one suspects, as Islam’s renaissance man, a man for all seasons, the Muslim for all people, an example rather than a saint, a philosopher rather than a priest.

But of course, Abdelkader’s native Algeria is a neighbour of Libya from where Salman Abedi’s family came, and Abdelkader died in Syria, whose assault by US aircraft – according to Abedi’s sister – was the reason he slaughtered the innocent of Manchester. And so geography contracts and history fades, and Abedi’s crime is, for now, more important than all of Abdelkader’s life and teaching and example. So for Mancunians, whether they tattoo bees onto themselves or merely buy flowers, why not pop into Manchester’s central library in St Peter’s Square and ask for Elsa Marsten’s The Compassionate Warrior or John Kiser’s Commander of the Faithful or, published just a few months ago, Mustapha Sherif’s L’Emir Abdelkader: Apotre de la fraternite?

They are no antidotes for sorrow or mourning. But they prove that Isis does not represent Islam and that a Muslim can earn the honour of the world.

***

Ave Maria

Posted on May 7, 2017

by Richard Edmondson

The music is by Franz Schubert, sung by Dolores O’Riordan, while the images are from the film The Passion of the Christ.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Maria, gratia plena Maria, gratia plena Ave Ave Dominus Dominus tecum, Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus et benedictus fructus ventris ventris tui, Iesus. Ave Maria.

Ave Maria, full of thanksgiving Maria, full of thanksgiving Maria, full of thanksgiving Ave Ave God Your God Be blessed among the women And blessed And blessed be the product of your womb Your womb, Jesus. Ave Maria.

The Passion of the Christ came out in 2004 and was immediately labeled as “anti-Semitic” by its detractors. Though it never won an Academy Award, it holds the all time box office record for an R-rated film, having grossed $370,782,930 in the US and a whopping $611,899,420 worldwide. To the surprise of many, it became a major hit among audiences in the Arab world:

Mel Gibson’s controversial movie “The Passion of the Christ,” is breaking box office records across the Middle East. With the approach of Easter, Arab Christians identify primarily with the religious message. But it’s the film’s popularity among Muslims – even though it flouts Islamic taboos – that’s turning it into a phenomenon.

Islam forbids the depiction of a prophet, and Koranic verses deny the crucifixion ever occurred. For those reasons, the film is banned in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain. It’s also banned in Israel – but for other reasons.

“Banned in Israel–but for other reasons.” The above is from an article about The Passion that was published in the Christian Science Monitor on April 9, 2004. You’ll notice that the countries which banned the film–Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain–are today all allied with each other in the support of terrorists in Syria…where the film was not banned.

But to get back to the Christian Science Monitor piece. The article includes a quote from an Israeli Jew, who damns the film as anti-Semitic “both in intent and effect.”

“I have no doubt that the film is anti-Semitic both in intent and effect, but I’m very wary of some Jewish organizations’ reactions to it,” said Yossi Klein Halevi, who is identified as being affiliated with the Shalem Center in Jerusalem.

“It needs to be more nuanced,” Halevi complained. “When an evangelical in Colorado Springs sees it, he doesn’t see anti-Semitism. But when Yasser Arafat sees it and calls it an important historic event, he’s responding to that anti-Semitism. And the fact that it’s becoming a major hit in the Arab world, that has consequences… ‘The Passion’ is where Mel Gibson and Yasser Arafat meet, and it isn’t bound by a love of Jesus.”

As alluded to in Halevi’s quote, The Passion was commented upon by former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who is said to have attended a screening of the film along with Christian leaders. After the screening, an aide to Arafat remarked, “The Palestinians are still daily being exposed to the kind of pain Jesus was exposed to during his crucifixion.”

Here again, the passage of history is deeply significant. In October of 2004, Arafat came down with a severe illness, and on November 11 he died at a hospital in Paris. There was suspicion the death was not due to natural causes, but it wasn’t until 2013 that a team of Swiss scientists released the results of a months-long investigation showing Arafat most likely had died of polonium poisoning. Many today speculate that Israel was behind the assassination.

Ariel Sharon, who himself came to a bad end, was the leader of Israel at the time Arafat was poisoned. The former Israeli prime minister suffered from obesity and weighed 254 pounds, and on January 4, 2006, he was overcome by a hemorrhagic stroke. The last eight years of his life were spent in a coma.

“The Palestinians are still daily being exposed to the kind of pain Jesus was exposed to during his crucifixion.” When we recall what the people of Gaza in particularly have endured over the years, the analogy has validity. While I am not comparing Yasser Arafat to Jesus, the latter’s words from the Gospel of John, chapter 15, are worth recalling:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.  You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

Jesus was sent by God to teach humanity how to live in peace. He was born among the Jews not because Jews are “chosen” by God, but because Jews especially were in need of hearing this message. Jesus was the long-awaited Jewish messiah, but because he preached a message of peace rather than war and conquest, the Jews rejected him. Here are the words of Mary in the first chapter of Luke–a passage that is often referred to as the “song of Mary.”

My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.

Ave Maria, gratia. And if you think about it, you’ll notice another deeply significant sequence of events. Mary’s words that God “helped his servant Israel,” is of course an allusion to the Old Testament narrative. But then came the birth of Jesus; his rejection and the calls for his crucifixion in 30 A.D.; followed by a stupendously stunning Jewish downfall just 40 years later–in 70 A.D.–when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. One wonders if a somewhat similar type downfall may await the modern Jewish state.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. Here is another rendition of Ave Maria sung by Dolores O’Riordan, this time accompanied by Luciano Pavarotti:

Ave Maria, gratia. Gratia.