the news in arabic

Muslim leaders from 57 countries convened in Dakar for the 11th annual Organization of the Islamic Conference this weekend and the above cartoon from al-Hayat depicts a very common sentiment in the Muslim world regarding the various “summits” and “conferences” that their leaders hold.

The writing on the copy machine reads: Summit of Islamic Countries in Dakar. The word for “summit” in Arabic, al-qima, has dual meanings like in English — it can either mean a conference or the apex of a mountain. In this sense, the “summit” is producing the same decisions year after year, and it just so happens that these decisions are really just Islamic states masturbating to images of themselves, hence the photo-copy of the actual “summit.” That’s just my interpretation.

Shi’i marja Mohammad Husayn Fadlallah shares similar sentiments, though he didn’t quite say it was political masturbation. He said that he regrets that the summit was merely an attempt to fill a political vacuum, but on an Islamic level. He said that the conference, which was launched from the “womb” of the threat of the Palestinian issue has come to accept the Israeli occupation as a settled issue.

Ahmadinejad with Iraqi President Jalal Talibani from al-Jazeera.

Ahamadinejad to visit Najaf and Karbala

Al-Hayat reports that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit the Shi’i holy cities of Najaf and Karbala to visit the shrines of Imams Ali and Husayn, respectively, and pay a visit to Grand Ayatullah Sistani. A representative from Sistani’s office has confirmed the visit, but did not give details on what would be discussed.

Iraqi security forces have taken increased security measures in preparation for his visit and the Electric Ministry announced that electricity will not be cut from Imam Ali’s shrine in Najaf for the next three days. Shaykh Husayn al-Safar, a top religious scholar in the Najaf hawza (or seminary), said that Ahmadinejad’s visit is confirmation that the hawza of Najaf is the principle center for Shi’i studies and that the city’s ‘ulama (or religious scholars) are recognized as spiritual leaders of the Shi’a.

Walayat al-Faqih

Another scholar said that despite Sistani’s Iranian identity, Sistani operates outside of the framework of nationalism and politics and that he has not recognized the authority of the walayat al-faqih. The three other grand ayatullahs living in Najaf — Muhammad Sa’id al-Hakim, Muhammad Ishaq al-Fiyad, and Bashir al-Najafi — also do not recognize the concept of walayat al-faqih and refuse to have it taught in the hawza.

(Photo of the Sayyida Zaynab shrine in Damascus from Novine . . . who was allowed to take photos.)

Cryin’

In the summer of 2007, Ahmadinejad paid a visit to Shi’i shrines in Damascus, including the shrines of Sayyida Ruqayya and Sayyida Zaynab. (Ruqayya is the daughter of Imam Husayn and Zaynab his sister.) The big news at this time was that Ahmadinejad broke into tears at Zaynab’s shrine. Maybe we’ll have a repeat showing.

(Image of Talabani from al-Hayat.)

Al-Hayat reports that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani traveled to Najaf to meet with Ayatullah Sistani. In a press conference, Talabani said that a new government will be formed with PM Maliki at its head which will not succumb to a sectarian quota system. Talabani also denied the presence of movements that seek to replace Maliki with Iraqi Vice-President Adil abd al-Mahdi. Talabani did not give any specific details on his meeting with Sistani.

The article also says that Moqtada al-Sadr’s jaysh al-mehdi will extend its cessation of activities for six more months.

The LA Times published a short profile of Sayyid Fadlallah, the highest-ranking Shi’i cleric in Lebanon. The photo below ran next to the web-version of the story. Everyone knows that the open-mouth photo of a public figure is NEVER flattering, so I question why the LA Times chose to run a photo of Fadlallah where he looks like he’s about to sneeze or yell at somebody.

(AP)

The LA Times article is sympathetic to Fadlallah — or as sympathetic as a Western media outlet will allow — and doesn’t fall back on too many misconceptions, namely, that Fadlallah is the “spiritual leader” of Hezbullah. (Though the author does erroneously say that Fadlallah was “once” the group’s spiritual leader.) In fact, the author portrays Fadlullah’s relationship with Hezbullah as more of a competition. A quote from the article:

“There’s a real rivalry with Nasrallah, [the secretary general of Hezbullah] who has become both a military and religious leader,” Traboulsi said. “Many conservative Hezbollah clerics are reacting against Fadlallah’s rulings.”

I think it is a little hasty and probably inaccurate to portray the situation as a “rivalry” between Fadlallah and Nasrallah. Both figures occupy totally different roles in Lebanon — and I doubt that many people would argue that Nasrallah fashions himself as a religious leader. Fadlallah’s position as a widely-respected and followed marja has been solidified and there is nothing that either camp could gain by engaging in a competition.

But still, A.R. Norton’s book on Hezbullah actually states that the majority of Lebanese Shi’a follow Sistani, as opposed to Fadlallah, but this does not lessen Fadlallah’s impact.

Aswat al-Iraq reports (via the Shi’a news network al-Tariq ila Karbala) that two Sistani representatives were kidnapped by unknown gunmen in Basra. Their kidnappers have demanded $100, 000 for their release. British troops withdrew from Basra in September 2007.

Al-Hayat reports on a gathering of Shi’i and Sunni religious figures in Baghdad organized by the Union of Muslim ‘Ulama. A wide range of representatives came, including Sadrists. Those who attended stressed the unity of Iraq and called for an end to the violence between religious sects. Several ‘ulama who were interviewed said that they wished to end terrorism and stop all takfiri fatwas, meaning fatwas that label another sect a “kafir” or infidel.

Shaykh Samada’i said, “Today, there is no difference between Omar or Ali or between this sect or that sect…”

Shaykh Mahmoud al-Aysaawi, Imam at the Abd al-Qadir mosque, said that he held, “American forces and regional countries responsible for the sectarian strife (fitna) that Iraq has witnessed.” Many echoed similar sentiments.

(Image from the Baghdad Conference of Shi’is and Sunnis praying side by side, from al-Jazeera)

The conference resulted in more than 13 orders (tawsiyya), including:

• Islam is a religion of life, and its roots and principles are one between the Sunni and Shi’i schools of thought.
• Freedom and justice are the primary rights of all peoples.

(Photo of Fadlallah in shades from bayynat.org)

January 25, 2008

Fadlallah starts his sermon with a discussion of women and their rights in Islam. He discusses the “four witnesses” clause in the Quran — that if a woman is accused of adultery, then four witnesses must be produced who witnessed the actual sex act in order to issue a punishment. Fadlallah uses this to say that it is impermissible to go around accusing women of adultery and that if someone wants to make accusations, then they better have some damn good proof. Fadlallah alludes that is essentially impossible to prove that a woman is adulterous. He also uses this time to denounce “honor crimes.”

The English translation of his sermon says:

Similarly, a brother or a husband might accuse his sister or wife with adultery and kill her in what is known as crimes of honor. These people, as we have mentioned several times, are criminals and they should be sentenced to death, like any other murderers.

The Prophet is said to have been told by someone: If I find my wife with someone in bed, should I kill her. They Messenger (p.) asked him. Where are the four witnesses? Meaning that, the legal punishment should not be resorted to unless there are four witnesses.

In the second half of Fadlallah’s sermon, where he addresses political issues, he focuses on the crisis in Gaza — criticizing the Israeli occupation, the Western countries that support it, and the Arab countries who sit by and watch silently. He said:

Due to all these circumstances, the question is still: Is there an Arab world that hold its responsibilities towards the Arab situation? Or do these rulers continue to run after the American cowboy, who visits their countries to conclude arms deals that do not give the Arabs any strength but rather support the American economy and the American arms industry?

The first time I read the name of Iraqi Ayatullah al-Sayyid al-Hasni was during the clashes between the Shi’i fringe group Jund al-Samaa and Iraqi security forces in Basra and al-Nasiriyya. Al-Hasni denied having any role in the clashes or of supporting Jund al-Samaa. But I was curious why al-Hasni would even be implicated in the clashes. English-language sources detailing his life are slim to none, so I’ve compiled some information on his political stances in an attempt to better understand his role in Iraq. (In the future, I hope to give a biographical and doctrinal overview of al-Hasni.)

My first impression of al-Hasni is that he is a younger marja’ and that he is somewhat arrogant. On his own site, his name is not mentioned without a praise afterward. For example, there will be a reference to his name and then immediately after, it will say Dam Dhillu al-Aali or May his Shadow Remain. I interpret this as arrogant because Sayyid Fadlallah, who is undoubtedly more accomplished, refrains from such self-praising on his website, demonstrating a more humble and confident attitude.

I came to the following conclusions based on an interview he did with the newspaper al-Ilaf which was then re-published (and probably re-edited) on al-Hasni’s personal website:

• Based in Karbala
• Opposes US occupation in all its forms — economic, land, political. Claims that he would refuse a Muslim or Kafir (non-believer) occupation; foreign countries or neighboring countries
• Relationship with Sistani is somewhat rocky
• Opposes the division of Iraq
• Definitely not in an alliance with Iran since his followers occupied and burned the Iranian consulate in Basra
• Does not express support for the government of Nuri al-Maliki
• Seemingly not affiliated with the group Jund al-Samaa since in the interview he says he does not give their beliefs much “credibility” or saha
• Many of his followers have been arrested and kidnapped in southern Iraq
• Calls for the end of US occupation by way of exposing its corrupt implementors and politicians. People should do this by supporting the Resistance. Note: He calls the Resistance “al-quwa al-wataniyya al-munahidda” or the national resistance forces.

(Sistani and Sleepy Bear.)

I can sum up the Western media portrayal (or more accurately, stereotype) of Grand Ayatullah Ali al-Sistani with one sentence: He’s just so quiet! I think many journalists have confused the characteristic of being “quiet” with the actual philosophical and religious trend of “quietism”– which actually doesn’t mean someone who doesn’t talk a lot. Sistani didn’t become the most widely followed marja’ because he had nothing to say, but because he had a lot to say about things that are relevant to his followers. So, yeah, Sistani is a quietist (as are many top Shi’i religious figures) in terms of his religious philosophy. This means that he does not involve himself too deeply in worldy, political issues.

In their coverage of Sistani, the press is also building on another common stereotype of Shi’i Islam propagated in the West — that all Shi’i clerics are politically volatile, spew hateful rhetoric, and are antagonists to the system. Not every single Shi’i leader is another Khomeini looking to establish a religious state. In fact, there is much disagreement within the marji’iyya on the role that Shi’i religious figures should have in affecting change on a political level. Sistani, obviously, is committed to a text-based study of Islam as opposed to becoming a figure for people to rally around for political change.

This brings us back to the paradigm of “Good Muslim” vs. “Bad Muslim.” Sistani is quiet, keeps to himself, and doesn’t incite folks to action therefore he is Good. Folks like Fadlallah who are outspoken politically (yet not actually involved) and criticize US policy in the region are bad.

(Muqtada al-Sadr and Angry Bear.)

Fadlallah started his website in 1997 and most of the content is translated into four languages: Arabic, English, Farsi, and French. In comparison to the rest of the mari’iyya, his site contains the most information and is the easiest to access. Grand Ayatullah Ali al-Sistani who is based in Najaf, Iraq is the most widely followed marja’ among the Shi’a, but I would be comfortable saying that Fadlallah is not too far behind. I believe that Fadlallah’s efforts to widen his reach through his website reflect his influence in a more “educated” population, and most likely increases his influence in Shi’i communities abroad in places like the United States.

The site has an extensive archive of transcriptions and audio recordings of his Friday sermons. For my purposes, I’ll be using the English translation to get a general overview of content, but I will use the Arabic transcriptions and audio to understand detail and nuance. Fadlallah’s speeches are divided into two parts: religious and political. I will briefly look at both.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Since it is the second day of Muharram, Fadlallah pays special attention to Imam Husayn and his legacy. He stresses that one must seek to know Husayn as a whole instead of focusing solely on his role in Karbala. He notes a saying of the Prophet Mohammad: Husayn is from me; and I am from Husayn. Husayn minee wa ana min Husayn — حسين منّي وأنا من حسين

The second part of his khutbat al-jumu’a addresses political issues. Bush’s trip to the Middle East has been a failure and he did not deliver on his promises to bring the Palestinians closer to statehood, nor did he make progress on the issue of the illegal settlements. Furthermore, Bush attempted to portray the problem as one of the Resistance (al-muqawama) launching rockets, as opposed to the actual problem, which is the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. Another goal of Bush’s trip was to intimidate Iran.

In Lebanon, there is still no president, yet the central problem is that the Lebanese youth have lost hope that they have the opportunity to live a life of dignity. Fadlallah believes that religious authorities are being corrupted and taking political positions. He does not believe that the Arab League solution will lead to an end in the Lebanese presidential crisis. He believes the same problems will arise as a result of continuing disagreements.

Image from Fadlallah’s website which is also translated into English.

I’m going to start providing summaries and analysis of the Friday sermons of prominent Shi’i clerics in the Arab world. But before I launch that feature, I’ll attempt to give an accurate ideological and personal portrait of many of these figures.

I’ll begin with Sayyid Mohammad Husayn Fadlallah (pron: Faahd-dul-luh). I hope to explain why Fadlallah’s views are relevant to popular Shi’i thought and how his views can help individuals gain a better understanding of wider thought trends in the Middle East as a whole and in Lebanon in particular.

Fadlallah is the highest ranking Shi’i religious figure in Lebanon. His official title in Arabic is: Samaahat al-’Alaama al-Marja’ al-Sayyid Mohammad Husayn Fadlallah.

• Samaahat connotes respected
• al-’Alaama means learned
• al-Marja’ is trickier, but essentially means source of emulation
• al-Sayyid means a descendant of the Prophet Mohammad.

Fadlallah descends from the Hasanid line, meaning he is a descendant of Hasan, the Prophet’s grandson, Imam Ali’s son, and the second in the line of the Shi’i Imams. Fadlallah could also be labeled Grand Ayatullah or al-Ayatullah al-udhma. The process by which one ascends to the Shi’i marji’iyya, or the highest earthly level of religious authority, is a life-long process marked with periods of intensive study in a prominent city such as Najaf, Iraq or Qom, Iran and the student must attain a certain level of popularity and support from the wider Shi’i community.

Many Western news sources erroneously label Fadlallah as “Hezbullah’s Spiritual Leader.” Fadlallah’s mosque and charity work is centered in al-Dahiyya, or the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbullah runs many social services and enjoys a tremendous amount of support. With that in mind, many supporters of Hezbullah attend Fadlallah’s sermons and view him as their marja’, or source of religious emulation. Fadlallah supports Hezbullah as a Resistance force in Lebanon, but to say that Fadlallah is the “spiritual leader” of Hezbullah would ignore the traditionally independent role that Shi’i religious leaders play in their respective countries and the mutual denial of both Hezbullah and Fadlallah of any connection between the two. Furthermore, Hezbullah officially looks to the Iranian marja’ Ali al-Khamenei as their spiritual leader.

(Image of Khamenei with Hezbullah fighters in the background from wa3ad.org, an organization affiliated with Hezbullah.)

Fadlallah often makes headlines because of his relatively progressive views on the role of women in Islam. Of course, Fadlallah interprets the role of women through an Islamic framework and uses the Quran and Sunna as justification for all of his beliefs. He is a very outspoken supporter of equal rights from women and men and he continually pushes the idea that women are equal to men in their ability to reason. One of Fadlallah’s books Dunya al-Mara’ or the World of Women puts all of his positions in a very accessible and easy-to-read format for his followers.

Members of the mari’iyya all offer their own tafsir, or analysis, of the Quran and the Sunna. Individuals who are muqallad, or loyal, to a specific marja’ will seek out the marja‘’s views on specific issues and incorporate those into their daily routines. The views of individual marja’s are disseminated in a variety of ways. The internet is one method by which a marja’ may transmit his rulings. Since I’m not able to directly communicate with many marja’s then I will be looking at their messages as they convey them through the internet because this is the source of information most accessible to me.