Focus (Opinion) Of the Week - Issue 9

9 - Feb 25 thru Mar 3 2002, Vol XI

The misguided puritans of Islam

COMMON SENSE
Hassan Al-Haifi
Even when the Moslem Empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Walls of China and even when Islam expanded throughout the civilized world, one of the most important things to take note of was that Islam obtained its adherents by voluntary conversion. Perhaps Islam is the only religion that can rightly claim to have gained its adherents by its convincing logic and the example shown by its adherents. Islam, by virtue of not having a clergy or an ecclesial order, did not have an institutionalized missionary activity until recently.
When the Islamic puritanical movement surfaced in some parts of the Arabian Peninsula, this movement made strong efforts to assert itself over all the other individual and small-organized efforts to advocate for Islam. This puritanical movement was enhanced by gaining ground in some of the oil rich states and thus was given access to substantial funding resources. Unfortunately, these resources were not used to help spread Islam in new territories as much as they were used to challenge the other sectarian versions and to place its organizers at the top of all Islamic activities within Islamic societies. Not only that, these puritans sought to become the sole trustees for all religious activities in the Islamic world by alienating any other established sects that disagreed with the puritanical version they insisted upon as being the only acceptable form of Islam, while others are considered as infidels!
Of course this religious monopoly was alien to the Moslem world until these puritans appeared and seldom did you have any violent sectarian strife in Islam. These puritans armed with petrodollars were able to recruit sizable constituencies in several Moslem countries, especially poor and underdeveloped Moslem societies that were easily swayed to send many of their children to the religious institutes, which were covertly run by these puritan movements. On the other hand they were able to take advantage of the Cold War, by taking on an anti Communist platform on the basis of religious beliefs. In these Moslem “Scholastic” institutes they were able to breed a sizable following that they were able to mold into only accepting the “fundamentalist” views of these puritans and to reject all other Moslems outside their constituencies as infidels or untouchables.
The reason for this was that in the beginning the movements took on an innocent well-intentioned image, where their primary goal was to serve Islam, which seemed convincing to most people, even this observer. Further probing into the past of these movements, however eventually showed them to be a peculiar lot, with unclear goals and non – transparent approaches.
Furthermore, the leaders of these movements often had access to considerable resources from which they were able to amass substantial fortunes, which is unusual for missionary work or religious advocacy, especially in Islam, as Moslem advocates in Islam usually are pious and reject the mundane world. Furthermore these so called fundamentalists developed paramilitary units among their constituencies and began to use this new muscle by forcing themselves into communities were they had no foothold in and threatening any protagonists by the use of terror and other means. In the meantime, they also obtained footholds among Moslem communities that developed in the non-Moslem West and East instigating friction with those who did not agree with their methods or their philosophy.
By now, these “puritanical” movements have proven to be not only a menace to Islam but the whole world as well. But in the end only the Truth will prevail, for that is the will of God!

Pakistan and India faithfulness loyalty to America

BY: Nashwan M. Dabwan
Taiz
India has wanted, in it's last crisis with Pakistan, running the conflict from it's point of view. India has also wanted dictating it's conditions on Pakistani side : it exploits the conflict in Afghanistan, regional and international circumstances. India must not forget that Pakistan is a nuclear country,it has a nuclear and strategic weapon that was a point of weakness to Pakistan. Pakistani fight was suffering of strategic weapons at it's historical struggle with India. India must also not forget that Pakistani people as well as all islamic people will not stop tied the hands in front of these blackmails and conditions Hindus and doing on Pakistan if the conflict reaches the top.
India has also wanted exploiting international pressures on Pakistan and strategic all alliance with Zionists. So it 's stance reached threatening with doing blow to Pakistani nuclear energies, and it has done pressures on it [Pakistan] to closing file of Kashmir forever. Pakistan has presented several steps to avoiding the war, but India tries to aggravate the position towards the war, and all will pay cost extremely. All indications point out that tension between India and Pakistan may not take matters to transport war; Hindus want achieving military and political victory and exploiting what is called the war against Terrorism; thy want transporting the conflict from Afghanistan to Pakistan and closing file to kashmir to interest of India Hindus.India wants gathering fruit of America war as Israel does in Pakistan; the matter do not stop at this level, Hindus do not want free Kashmir only but they want dividing Islamic Pakistan into little regions. They also want getting ride of nuclear energy of Pakistan; this is what India wants. But Pakistan does not stop tied up the hands in front of this Hindu arrogance; it has force and war material that it [Pakistan] does a strong blow against India. India, can't put an end to operations of fighters at occupied Kashmir during the last decade; how it passes the matter into free Kashmir. If India ventures carrying out one of the plans or crosses the red lines, the explosion will prevail in the region wholly.If the fourth war breaks out, it will pay price extremely; not to mention ghost of division India suffers from it; India also suffers from separatist movements in some regions in in it. America as a leader of war against terrorism lets down its alliance Pakistan that presented many things for the sake of it. But we find that America stops as viewer on standing tension between Pakistan and India. So western deception is not new but it is very old on muslims and Arabs. But we unfortunately are a nation that the time does not have come to it to learn from it's history.
America sees its interests and Israel at eye, and the rest of world at other eye; it exploites others and then, throws out. America also does not have any principle to treating with others expert it's interests. Pakistan was a strong alliance to US during the war against Afghanistan. when tension and conflict have started between Pakistan and India, America appears as it does not listen, see and does not speak. But Israel has met some danger by children of stones; America appears to declare it's statement' the armless children are terrorists, but Israelis are victims of terrorism and violence. So new international system is unjust and unbalanced; ti is materialist and utilitarian.