Sunday | 6 October 2024 | Reg No- 06
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Sunday | 6 October 2024 | Epaper

Fault Lines in the Faith

Reviewed by Zia us Salam

Published : Saturday, 30 December, 2023 at 12:00 AM  Count : 1057
Iqbal S Hasnain
Saudi Arabias decision to promote rigid Wahhabi Islam in the late 1970s has marginalised other tolerant sects in the religion, says writers, and led to radicalisation. The sectarian fault lines of the Muslim world are constantly churning the politics of West Asia…

The Islamic Revolution of Iran shaped the Muslim world like few incidents in history. The monarchy was removed in Iran not through a military coup but a peoples movement, inspired by the religious fervour of the Shiite sect of Islam. The repercussions were felt far and wide, ranging from Saudi Arabia in the region, all the way to the U.S.

As Dilip Hiro writes in Iran Today, "The 1979 Iranian revolution generated a process that shaped the history of the region to a large extent in the succeeding decades - profoundly affected as it would be by three major wars from 1980-2003 - which in turn impacted directly on the U.S. presidential elections twice, in 1980 and 1992."

It is a point recalled by former Vice President Hamid Ansari too in his book, Challenges to a Liberal Polity where he writes, "The Iranian Revolution of 1979 demonstrated the validity of Trotskys dictum that he masses go into a revolution not with a prepared plan of social reconstruction, but with a deep feeling that they cannot endure the old regime. The Revolution astonished the world because an opposition armed only with slogans, leaflets and audio cassettes overthrew a ruler with formidable national and international resources at his disposal.... Some of the intellectual inspirations came from Sorbonne-trained Islamist Ali Shariati. The leftist groups and trade unions provided the manpower for street demonstrations. The real catalyst, however, was the personality of Ayatollah Khomeini and the network of Shia clergy.... The Iranian Revolution and the foundation of the Islamic Republic provided tremendous impetus to Islamic movements the world over."

Fissures among the faithful
More elaborate is the treatment by noted researcher and Padma Shri awardee Iqbal Syed Hasnain whose latest book, Fault Lines in the Faith, lays bare the fissures in the world of the faithful, the deep crevices between Saudi Arabia and Iran since then, the difference in the practice of Islam between say, Afghanistan and Morocco, and lately, the warmth between Qatar and Russia when it comes to West Asia.

More elaborate is the treatment by noted researcher and Padma Shri awardee Iqbal Syed Hasnain whose latest book, Fault Lines in the Faith, lays bare the fissures in the world of the faithful, the deep crevices between Saudi Arabia and Iran since then, the difference in the practice of Islam between say, Afghanistan and Morocco, and lately, the warmth between Qatar and Russia when it comes to West Asia.

In a painstakingly researched, persuasively argued book, Hasnain writes, "The faultlines in the faith began in 1979 - a defining year with some major events, which became catalysts for change in the Middle East, and in the entire Muslim world. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reaffirmed its loyalty to the fundamentalist ideology of Wahabi Salafism after a radical Islamist group questioned the moral legitimacy of the ruling family, and accused it of economic and moral corruption. The Europeans hailed the Islamic Revolution as a liberation event, while the USA looked the other way. The literal abandonment of Afghanistan by the Americans after the Soviet retreat left hundreds and thousands of young Islamist fighters stranded and ready to become suicide bombers under the leadership of Osama Bin Laden. It was an unintended consequence of the American support to Afghanistan."

The "unintended consequence" Hasnain talks of was actually a devastating one, as the world witnessed on 9/11, followed by the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the consequent headlining of al-Qaeda and later the ISIS. History repeated itself more recently with the U.S. leaving Afghanistan after two decades of occupation with no democratic process in the works, and the nation in the lap of the Taliban.

The change after 1979
The journey from 1979 to 2023 was slow, gradual but painful as the unity of the world of believers took a series of knocks. Even as Iran slipped into a conservative mode soon enough after the 1979 revolution, Saudi Arabia sought to counter the rise of Shiite Islam with a focused promotion of Wahhabi-Salafi Islam. This often translated into a flow of funds into lesser developed Muslim nations and the indoctrination of youngsters there. As Hasnain analyses, "The Wahhabi influence on the Muslim culture and thinking rose phenomenally following the tripling of oil prices during the early 1970s. Since then, the Saudi government has been spending billions of dollars to promote Wahhabism throughout the world by constructing mosques and setting up madrasas that preach stringent Wahhabi doctrine."

It leaves little space for dialogue or even difference of opinion when it comes to interpretation of Islam.
Ansari provides a solution, stating, "The misconceptions are based on an inability to appreciate he difference between absolute (or perfect) iman and limited (or nominal) iman…between major kufr leading to non-Islam and kufr of disobedience."
He sums it up with a Quranic verse wherein the masses are told, "He it is who has sent down to you (Muhammad) the Book; in it are verses of basic or fundamental (meaning); they are the foundation of the Book; others are allegorical. But those in whose hearts are perversity follow the part thereof that is allegorical; seeking discord, and searching for hidden meanings, but no one knows its true meaning except Allah."

Meanwhile, the West continues to paint the Muslim world with the same brush, failing to discern the local niceties, be it is Afghanistan or Palestine, Iran or Sudan.

Back in 2005, Hiro warned, "Since Muslim-majority countries, stretching from Indonesia to Algeria, possess 75 per cent of oil and 45 per cent of natural gas reserves of the world, it is in the interest of the West to see that the attempts being made in Iran to meld political Islam with democracy succeed." One could say it for the Muslim world in general in 2023. Hasnains book could not have been better timed.

Courtesy: THE HINDU



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