12/31/2015, 00.00
ISLAM
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For Muslim scholar, political and economic interests are behind the violence in God's name

by Mohamed Nokkari
Mohmmad Nokkari is a law professor and a former director of Dar El Fatwa. He explains that one can find important interests, "behind the fanatic religious discourse”. He slams the “great manipulators” who turn a “merciful and compassionate God” into a one of mystery. Delving into the roots of Islam, he looks at extremist movements, from the Kharijites to the Islamic state.

Beirut (AsiaNews) – Sheikh Mohmmad Nokkari is a prominent Sunni scholar, and a leading figure in the Islamic-Christian Research Group (Groupe de recherché islamo-chrétien, GRIC). A judge and professor of law in Beirut, Dubai and Strasbourg, he is also a former director of Dar El Fatwa, Lebanon’s foremost Sunni authority.

In a recent article published in the French Lebanese daily L'Orient-Le Jour, he writes, “instead of religious wars, we should speak of political, economic and geostrategic wars.” For him, “behind the fanatic religious discourse lies a real struggle for world domination.” Indeed, “The great manipulators of the world” will do anything to defend their interests, going so far as to “turn the merciful and compassionate God into a destructive, oppressive and avenging God.”

In his article below, the Muslim scholar looks at Islam’s main historic sects and analyses today’s political messianism. Translation from the French by AsiaNews: 

By looking into modern history in the late 20th century on the place of God in politics, we see that Jews, Christians and Muslims are great masters in the art of using God in politics. Since the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, the list of leaders who refer to God, when they talk about politics has been growing. The list includes names like Richard Nixon, who fortuitously met God through the famous Televangelist Billy Graham. George Bush’s messianic vision of the world and eschatological future falls in the same category. Lest we forget, most Arab and Israeli leaders frequently appeal to their own God against the "evil enemy" as well.

Direct appeals to “God” in today’s conflicts is even worse. George Bush’s statement in the wake of the attack of 2001 (“This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while.”) illustrates this trend. Going one step further, some Israeli leaders backed by extremist rabbis speak of an imminent war against the Arabs, inspired by a distorted interpretation of excerpts from the Talmud in order to provoke the coming of their Messiah. They support a thesis whose main points can be taken from an article written by Ron Chay for Sukkat David published on 5 January 2009 entitled “Vu par la Torah : le conflit final ”(Seen from the Torah: the Final Conflict):

“. . . none of these great men of Israel says these things (the impending war) publicly and explicitly. We are entitled only to rumours, from people to whom these great men of Israel say these things in private. Nevertheless, G (God) gave us reason, which allows us to analyse and draw conclusions."

For him, the clearest signs of the coming Messianic era are:

- The global rise of fundamentalist Islam appears very clearly in Ḥazal (Chazal) texts, falling within the "plan" of pre-messianic events:

- Yalkhout Shimoni (collection of Midrashim dating back more than a millennium) Pārāšâ leḵ-ləḵā 14: "The Messiah ‘grows’ on Yishma'el (here Yishma'el means the Arabs)." That is to say, Yishma'el is the ‘vehicle’ who, despite himself, prepares and hastens the coming of the Messiah. The Ba'al ha-Turim (14th century) ends the Pārāšâ Chayei Sarah with “When Yishma'el will fall in the end of days, [and] Mashiach ben David (Messiah son of David) will flourish."

- Rabbi Chaim Vital (who studied under Arizal, author of the most important Kabalistic texts in the 16th century), in his book Eitz Hadaas Tov, chap. 124: ". . . after the 4 kingdoms who oppressed the people of Israel (Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and by extension, the West), a fifth kingdom will come before the coming of the Messiah: Yishma'el." The oldest Midrash, Pirkê of Rabbi Eliezer (1st century), chap. 32, says, “Why is his name called Yishma’el? Because G-d will hear the sound of the [Israel’s] groan from what Bnei Yishma’el are destined to do in the Land in the end of days. Therefore, his name is called Yishma’el, as it says, ‘Yishma E-l ve’yaanem’ – “G-d will hear and answer them (tehilim 55).”

- The conflict that is supposed to break out at Hanukkah is supposed to lead us to a generalisation of the conflict around the world. In the tractate Yoma, page 10a, it is written that there will be a war between Persia and the West. Today, nothing seems more likely.

Rabbi Malbin’s comment (on verse 45, chap 2 in Daniel) also explains that before the Messiah (mashiaẖ) is revealed, the West will attack Iraq and Iran. It seems that we are really in the middle of these events. "What should we learn from the study of all this?" he goes on to ask. "Israel may be saved only by teshuvah." As mentioned above, the purpose for which G-d created Yishma’el is that we weep to Him. So let us start to weep!

Let us also listen to the reassuring words He communicates to us through the Midrash, "My children, do not be afraid. Everything I have done, I have done for you. Why are you afraid? Do not fear; the time of your Geulah (Redemption) has arrived.”

Among Muslims, similar arguments exist, based on the expectation that Imam al-Mahdi and Jesus Christ will return, preceded by regional and global wars, but in a way that will play in their favour and destroy their opponents, the children of Isaac. What is new and unexpected in their case is the appearance of extremist Muslim groups who, instead of starting a war against the "children of Isaac," engage in fratricidal wars of rare violence. Their doctrine is strangely reminiscent of two extremist sects that emerged in early and medieval Islam, namely the Kharijites and the Assassins.

1. The Kharijites

The Kharijites (Khāriji), Islam’s first sect, are thought to have invented excommunication in the Muslim world. They developed their ideology under the banner ‘No rule but God’s’ (lā hukma illā lillāh) to assert their fiercest opposition to any deviant ideas outside those accepted by God. They left the ranks of the army of Imam Ali (literally ‘those who went out’) around the year 658 AD because they blame him for accepting arbitration after the Battle of Siffin when for them it was God Himself who took action; thus they murdered Imam Ali.

Bitter opponents of both Sunnis and Shias, the memory of them is still marked by their formidable fanaticism, which manifested itself in particular in extremist proclamations and terrorist actions. They consider all those who do not share their views and all those who commit major sins from a religious point of view as disbelievers. Hence, they must be killed and stripped of their possessions. Throughout history, they committed countless murders of Muslims in God’s name, not even sparing women, the elderly and children.

What is perplexing about them is the fact that the Kharijites, although terrorists in Islam’s earliest era, were also its most fervent believers. In a collection of the sayings of the Prophet Mohammad, one can read, “There will arise a people from my nation, those who will recite the Qurʼān; your recitation is nothing (insignificant) compared to theirs, your prayer is nothing compared to theirs, and your fasting is nothing compared to theirs. They recite the Qurʼān believing it is evidence in support of them yet it is actually against them. Their prayers will not even go beyond their throats. They will pass through and out of Islam just as an arrow passes through a target.” On other occasions, it is suggested to those who meet them not to appear to them as Muslims, but rather act as a pagan or a non-Muslim wishing to know their dogmas, and thus he will save his life.

The emergence of groups like al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and Daesh reflect recent developments among some Muslim extremists along the lines of Kharijism. They feel invested with divine power to force people to embrace Islam, but at the same time, they excommunicate Muslims who do not share their ideas. In several of his speeches, the former mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, alluded to the words of Imam Ali (AS), on the peculiarities of the terrorist group Daesh, which he compares to the Kharijites. The former mufti of Egypt quoted the words of Imam Ali bin Abi Taleb who said, “When you see the black flags, remain where you are and do not move your hands or your feet. Thereafter there shall appear a feeble insignificant folk (young people). Their hearts will be like hardened iron (Islamic State militants). They will fulfil neither covenant nor agreement. They will call to the truth, but they will not be people of the truth. Their names, surnames and affiliations will be the names of towns (like al-Baghdadi, al-Basri, al-Masri, al-Libi, and al-Zarqaoui). Their hair will be long like that of women. This situation will remain until they differ among themselves. Their religious education comes from books that have no authority. They kill with all their might in God’s name and have no serious knowledge of religion."

2. The assassins 

The assassins (Ḥashshāshīn) are an offshoot of Shiism, especially Ismailism. Active in the Middle Ages, their followers were at home in Iraq, Syria, and especially Iran. By their uncompromising acts of terror, for three centuries they put the fear of God in Crusaders and Mongols alike. The dogmas of this Ismaili movement, also called Nizārī, were marked by tensions between several contradictory poles: between the respect due to the Qurʼānic text in its apparent meaning, and the will to find its hidden meaning; between the need to stay in the shadows, and the temptation to appear publicly; between obedience to the Prophet of Islam and its legal work, and the submission to the authority of a sovereign recognised as their infallible imam, vested with a mission by God himself.

A black legend developed around them. Their determination to execute their imam’s orders suggests that they were the "suicide bombers" of their time, who stopped at nothing, choosing to die rather than fail. They used poisoned golden knives with which they struck at those whom they were ordered to kill. Many Abbasid caliphs perished at their hands; sultans, officers, and Muslim generals were murdered by them. The king of Jerusalem, Conrad of Montferrat, also fell under their blows.

What is important to know is the indoctrination methodology used to recruit their supporters. According to legends relayed by Arnold of Lübeck and Marco Polo, their leader, known as the Old Man of the Mountain, drugged his followers with hashish and put them in a heavenly garden dug into the mountain. After a night of luxury and lust, the young recruits would wake up in their cells where they were informed that the paradise experienced would be theirs for eternity if they perished in attempting to eliminate their victim.

Whether real or imaginary, such a method of indoctrination has proven useful to extremist groups when it comes to beheading hostages in cold blood or turning militants into human bombs. Some explain such acts by attributing it to the use of an amphetamine: Captagon. An article in Paris Match citing a Reuters report confirms this practice. The militants of these groups are heavily drugged with Captagon, which makes them forget their pain and others. It is "as if people did not exist," said a young activist of 19. Recently, a young Lebanese man, Bilal Mikati, involved with these terrorist groups, told a military investigator that he cut the throat of Sayyed Ali, a Lebanese army soldier, under the effect of Captagon. This fits with their notion that when they become suicide bombers, and throw themselves against innocent people, they do so in order to be killed and be quickly welcomed into the heavenly garden.

What about the Wahhabis?

Besides the two historical groups of "Kharijites" and "assassins", some scholars cite a third more contemporary trend, born in the late 18th century in the Arabian Peninsula, "Wahhabism".

This doctrine has inspired many a radical Islamist movement, pushing other Islamist movements to greater militant and dogmatic radicalisation in Africa, Asia and Europe. At the root of Wahhabism is Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab, a theologian who said he was Sunni and moved to Arabia in 1739, where he was known for his particularly puritan and radical preaching based on a literal and extremist interpretation of the Qurʼān.

The foundations of his doctrine centred on the rejection of Sufi spiritual practices and Sunni dogmas professed by Hanafi Maturidis and Shafi'i Ash'arites, whom he deemed to be infidels. He strongly opposed any compromise with modernity and new ideas, designated as "blameworthy or misplaced innovation." His hostility to any idea of ​​intercession with God gave him a taste for destroying all shrines and places of worship dedicated to the historical prophets and Muslim saints, to the extent that he did not even spare the Prophet Muhammad’s own home. Following his example, Daesh-like movements systematically destroy all historical monuments, mausoleums, mosques and churches dedicated to saints in the territories under their control.

Historically, the rebellions by Wahhabi movements against the Ottomans after their alliance with the Saud of Arabia, led them to sack Karbala, the holy city of Shiism, in 1801. Two years later, they seized Makkah, Ta’if and Madinah. In their fight, which saw the slaughter of untold numbers of Arabs and Turks, they emphasised that their opponents were worshippers of false gods, and that all they wanted to do was to ensure the triumph of the true religion.

The question that arises now is why is it that since the fall of the Soviet empire, we no longer speak of the "cold war" but rather of a "clash of civilisations"? The end of the two blocks, the free and democratic world and Communist totalitarian world, did not give birth to a unified world, but has led to a new break based on religious concepts in which wars are fought in the name of God. Who revived ancient extremist Islamic sects to justify meddling in the countries of the Middle East, something that is increasingly resented?

In reality, instead of religious wars, we should speak of political, economic and geostrategic wars. We must know that behind the fanatic religious discourse lies a real struggle for world domination. The great manipulators of the world are to blame because in order to defend their political, economic and geostrategic interests, with great skill they do not hesitate to turn the merciful and compassionate God into a destructive, oppressive and avenging God.

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