31 - July 31st thru August 7th 2000,
Vol X
 
Yemen
Looses A Great Scholar
COMMON SENSE
By: Hassan Al-Haifi
Day by day, we are seeing much of that was good in Yemen slowly disappear
from us, leaving nothing it seems for our children to become attached to.
Surely, Yemen is bound to have a break from this dismal and obvious disregard
for heritage, as we find our links with a long tradition of scholasticism
disappear. What is taking its place is not at all that refreshing and is
not at all anywhere near what the old school of theology produced in Yemen.
The revered Ahmed Mohammed Zabarah was one of the outstanding religious
scholars of our time, if not the top of the line. Yemen used to have plenty
of scholars who were brought up not only to uphold the religious teachings
of the Koran and the Prophet Mohammed (peace of Allah be upon him) in their
original and unadulterated form, but also to ensure that the rulers of
the Nation of Islam kept their end of the bargain of upholding the people's
rights and freedom. Such was the Grand Mufti of the Republic Ahmed Zabarah,
who this observer knew very well as a neighbor and a long time friend of
the family. Anyone who has prayed in the Al-Fulaeihy Mosque in the heart
of the Old City of Sana'a will not have failed to see the charismatic old
sage sitting by the Imam's niche at the front of the Mosque. One would
not have failed to also notice the trickling parade of worshipers coming
to the old man to deliver their questions for an opinion on various matters
of the worshipers' lives that needed some clarification as to their conformity
with religious jurisprudence. This was not so much to ensure adherence
to a law of the state, but more to relieve the conscience of any doubt
as to having abided by the dictates of the Al-Mighty and thus be absolved
of at least one possible wrongdoing that may not necessarily be safeguarded
by mundane or secular laws, but the heart is driven to seek reassurance
that God's will prevails in the way we lead our lives to reach the ultimate
satisfaction of knowing that we are truly on His side, so that He can be
on our side, now and in the hereafter.
The Grand Mufti was a modest man, who never declined any questions
presented to him by any worshiper no matter where he came from or what
class he belonged to. He never took a fee for any questions he answered
and he made sure that the faithful was given a simple untaxing response
that would reflect the tolerant and compassionate wisdom that made Islam
the closest religion to human nature and common sense.
Mr. Zabarah was not the normal religious scholar who studied well,
but found himself unable to ensure that the knowledge the scholar was entrusted
with was to serve the Nation of Islam, not just in Yemen but any place
where Moslems were in need of help in some form or another. Moreover, Mr.
Zabarah saw Islam as being a religion of wide horizons, suitable for all
times and all places. He had no illusions about the troubles that Islam
was facing, not so much from its enemies, but from those who have a token
knowledge of some of its rites and dictates, and have come to claim themselves
to be trustees over the Nation, without so much as having gone deep enough
to truly understand its wide horizons and reliance on logic and reason
to underscore its fundamental precepts.
Like many enlightened Zeidi scholars, Mr. Zabarah saw that there was
only One Islam and One Moslem Nation, with the same strength in belief
as the belief in One God. Thus it was possible that a Zeidi can take up
what real scholars from other sects have come to find in their scholastic
journey into the Koran and the Traditions of the Prophet Mohammed (P),
as long as their convictions were along the same lines as those of the
probing scholar. Mr. Zabarah saw wisdom in much of the institutional developments
in people's lives that many Moslem scholars failed to see, such as legitimizing
bank interest and insurance, which many conservative Moslems thought to
be usurious. Of course, because of his level of scholastic attainment,
Mr. Zabarah has reached the level of knowledge where he is entitled to
make such judgements without having to fear retribution from other scholars,
all of whom respect his right to make such almost rebellious statements.
Mr. Zabarah also knew that with high scholastic maturity must also come
courage to speak out openly and harshly against those who transgress on
the rights of others, no matter how strong these transgressors are. He
is reputed to have openly chastised the Imam Yahya as well as his son the
Imam Ahmed for not opening up the country and for being too repressive
at times, which is beyond the limits of authorities meted out to the Commander
of the Faithful. This observer recalls having seen letters written by the
Old Imam Yahya to Ahmed Zabarah's father asking him to control his son's
outspoken attitude against the Imam's policies and to 'bring him in line'.
Incidentally, Mr. Mohammed Zabarah was also a learned scholar of a high
caliber, who did not of course take the Imam's chastising of his son so
seriously, and may have in fact concurred with his son's opinions, for
after all the son was no less than a carbon copy of the father, in terms
of the level of scholasticism and theological wisdom obtained.
Mr. Zabarah had an unfailing memory and even in his nineties, he could
still recall almost every aspect of his life and every journey he has gone
on. He has traveled far and wide. He brought it upon himself to advocate
for the freedom of Moslems in Communist countries, which were the most
oppressed religious groups in the Communist World. He was able to make
landmark achievements that are worthy of historical note. He had convinced
both Communist governments in the former Soviet Union and the hard-line
Communist regime of Mao Tse Tong to allow Moslems to make the pilgrimage
to Mecca after having been banned for over fifty years from even thinking
about facing Mecca for prayers, let alone make the pilgrimage. He convinced
the Soviet leaders that it is sound policy to relieve the Moslems of the
Soviet Union from the excessive oppression, since their best allies were
then in the Moslem World and that Islam, like Communism is the religion
of the oppressed, preaching 'voluntary socialism' and equal justice for
all. The Soviet leaders saw some wisdom in Mr. Zabarah's words and gave
their permission for Moslems to go to Mecca for the pilgrimage. Zabarah
ensured that the first waves of pilgrims from the Soviet Union were given
the fine treatment all along their journey, calling upon his contacts to
facilitate their journey all along the route to Mecca and back. Once the
Soviets were convinced, Mr. Zabarah took advantage of his success, to convince
the Chinese that the Soviets foreign policy was going to make greater inroads
in the Moslem World, unless the Chinese followed suit and allowed the Moslems
of China to also make the pilgrimage and to ease the restrictions on religious
worship by the 60 Million Moslems then living in China (this was all during
the late 60s, early 70s). The Chinese also saw the eminent threat to their
successful foreign policy by the Soviet initiative and therefore had no
choice but to accept the suggestions of Mr. Zabarah.
These were just some of the moments that surely underscore the strong
devotion that Mr. Zabarah had to serving Islam everywhere in the world
and to underline the universal aspect of the religion, with the strong
belief that there should really be no borders between Moslem states and
no conflict among Moslems for any reason. Mr. Zabarah like many enlightened
scholars believes that Islam insists on dialogue as the vehicle for disseminating
the faith. After all, Islam is a relatively easy religion and conforms
very much to common sense and human nature. Islam's doctrines of justice
and equality are its attractive elements and its tolerance is second to
none. There is no reason to shun dialogue, even with heathens. If a proper
forum can be maintained, then surely Islam will prevail and all the other
arguments against it will be trampled by the power of simplicity and down
to earth good sense, by which should always be portrayed. The Grand Mufti
had that power with him until his last dying moment. God bless his soul
and Yemen truly lost one of its most phenomenal and sometimes controversial,
but for all intents and purposes successful dignitaries, at least for the
mission that he set for himself Ð to serve God and the faithful in
whatever way possible, wherever they are. Is not that what Islam is really
all about?
Background
Story of Ethiopia - Eritrea Conflict
Brought by Ethiopian Embassy
The Embassy of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia would like to
appreciate the efforts done by Yemen Times to entertain the interests of
the audiences, taking into account the responsibility to feed readers with
information based on facts and figures. There is also no objection to what
Mr. Hassan Al-Haifi responded to this same issue in July 10th 2000 edition.
The objective of this article to add supplementary information to our
previous response so that the readers can have clear knowledge about the
conflict which emerged between Ethiopia and Eritrea in May, 1998.
It is important, before dealing with the focal point of this article,
to bring to the notion of the readers that never in her history as a statehood,
had Ethiopia exercised expansionism over neighbors.
When Eritrean declared her independence formally in May, 1993, Ethiopia
was the first country in the world to acknowledge the sovereignty of this
young state and since then the relation between the two neighbors was so
close and smooth and even aroused excitement of many outside observers
until it changed to taste sour in the month of May 1998.
If the Government of Ethiopian was expansionist it would have not kept
on demobilizing its defense machinery to a minimal scale and waited until
Eritrea build up herself militarily on reverse scale. Nor could Eritrea
have kept herself silent by accepting only partial independence for almost
eight years if she had yet territories inside Ethiopia. Who is expansionist
in the Horn is vividly clear to the whole world from self-explanatory facts
given hereunder.
When we come to May 1998 crisis, that Eritrea was aggressor was attested
by the facilitators as well as the organization of Africa Unity. Let us
pick some key points from findings and recommendations of the facilitators
and the OAU after the outbreak of the conflict.
I. 'Recommendation from the Facilitators the governments of Rwanda
and the United States'
(2) "So as to reduce current tension and facilitate the process
of resolving the underlying problem, the facilitators recommended that
within 24 hours of the arrival of the observer team, Eritrean forces begin
to redeploy to positions held before may 6,1998 and that, immediately following
the civilian administration in place before may 6,1998 return,
II. 'OAU Proposal for a Framework Agreement for a peaceful settlement
of the dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia, (8-10 June 1998 Burkina Faso,
Ouagadougou)'
(3) "So as to reduce current tension and facilitate the process
of resolving the underlying problem, the facilitators recommended that
within 24 hours of the arrival of the observer team, Eritrean forces begin
to redeploy to positions held before may 6,1998 and that, immediately following
the civilian administration in place before may 6,1998 return,
(4) "In order to determine the origins of the conflict, an investigation
be carried out on the incidents of 6 May 1998 and of any other incident
prior to that date which could have contributed to a misunderstanding between
the two parties regarding their common border, including the incidents
of July-August 1997,"
III.'Report on the Efforts of the OAU High Level Delegation on the
Dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea (17-18 December 1998, Burkina Faso,
Ouagadougou)'
(5) "In our reflection we have drawn the conclusion that the events
which took place between 6 and 12 May 1998 were fundamental element of
the crisis that evolved between the two countries. Those were the events
which revealed the crisis to the international community and with which
the OAU was seized. It, therefore, appears fundamental that any search
for a peaceful solution should take into due account this elements."
IV. 'Modalities for the Implementation of the OAU Framework Agreement
on a Peaceful Settlement of the Dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea'
(1) "The Eritrean Government Commits itself to redeploy its forces
outside the territories they occupied after 6 May 1998."
(2) "The Ethiopian Government commits itself to redeploy, there
after, its force from positions taken after 6 February 1999 and which were
not under Ethiopian administration between May 6, 1998."The aforementioned
documents (I, II, III, IV) are basic to the findings and recommendations
of the OAU as far as the root cause of the conflict were concerned and
the documents had been fully endorsed in Ouagadougou and the subsequent
35th ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government
in Algiers in 1999 July 12-15. In addition, it is after the OAU had taken
into account to the appeals from both parties and undertaken thorough investigation,
including pre-May 6, 1998 incident that the organ produced these documents
and endorsed them.
Each time these documents prepared and presented to the parties by
the mediators, Ethiopia reiterated her acceptance of the documents while
the Eritrean side kept on rejecting until they succumb to the mediators
terms for peaceful agreement after experiencing humiliating defeat in the
latest confrontation with Ethiopian forces in the battle field.
Important is it here to bring to the readers cognition that investigation
by the third party unequivocally realized who the aggressor was. The above
documents are the living witnesses to this, The crisis is, therefore, the
outcome of the police of expansionism designed by the leadership of Asmara.
The government and people of Ethiopia, at this time are happy not because
they fought a war with the Eritrean forces and stood victorious but because
they restored their sovereignty, they proved to the EFLF government that
they can not give up their national security to force of rifles of the
foe.
While this shortly being the background to the unfortunate conflict,
the government and people of Ethiopia always wish that peace and stability
be restored in this region. It is only when peace is sustained in the Horn
as a whole that the people of the region can prosper for the better future.
Concerns
and Worries
Imad Al-Saqqaf
Taiz Bureau Chief
The issue of transformation in the world is the focus of our attention
in this article. No nation has reached its goals and attained everything
without hard work, diligence, conscientiousness, strong will and determination.
Transformation comes through human awareness to build a new and modernized
society. To build a perfect and ideal society, we should ensure growth
of the individual from the early stages. The focus of our attention is
the individual himself, for he is the cornerstone of all transformations
in the society. All those civilized and developed nations have reached
the climax at all the levels through hard work and accountability. Their
priorities have been imparting education for all, from kindergarten to
higher education. In the ultimate analysis, what matters is accountability,
a sound approach and sincerity in the whole process of transformation.
Some academicians and intellectuals may be passive in their approach and
efforts to do something for this homeland. Some may even be reluctant to
shoulder any responsibility for achieving the goal of pushing the society
forward. Others might pursue the easiest way to gain authority or economic
interests. So their contributions in transformation process are very marginal.
Such kind of people are an impediment to progress and, as a result, are
involved in the circle of chaos, disorder and corruption. The bulk of academic
researches and studies should aim at setting up practical strategies that
can be put into force. What we require is faith in ourselves, accountability,
and love for our country. What really annoys us is that ironically some
of the educated are those who practice corruption. It is everybody's the
responsibility, whether educated or whosoever to shoulder the responsibility
of rebuilding the country. We are in need of concerted effort of all those
academicians and the intelligentsia to work it out and play a substantial
role in ensuring the growth and development of the society.
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