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| Hizballah or Hizb al-Shaytan? Jihadi-Salafi Attacks against the Shiites |
| 2004-03-23 |
| An article by an Israeli who focuses on Salfist Jihadi thought emanating from Saudi Arabia. EFL and the link goes to a .pdf file The exchange of prisoners between Israel and Hizballah on 29 January 2004, and the resulting victorious image of the Lebanese movement and its leader Hasan Nasrallah, created much resentment in parts of the Arab world, in particular among Palestinian circles. The most severe verbal attacks against Hizballah since completion of the first part of the deal, however, originated in Saudi Jihadi-Salafi elements that support Qaidat al-Jihad. The Lebanese Shiite group has never been popular among the Salafi adherents of Global Jihad, given their fundamental hatred towards the Shi`ah. The collapse of the Ba`athist regime of Saddam Hussein and the conflict between the Shiite majority and the Sunni minority in Iraq, added additional fuel to the fire of traditional Salafi enmity towards the Shi`ah. Since the start of the attempts at establishing a new government in Iraq, Salafi web sites and forums on the Internet have stepped up their attacks against the Shi`is, Iran, and Shi`i doctrines with every possible arsenal of verbal arms. Accompanying the growing phenomenon of severe verbal attacks against the Iraqi Shiites and the Lebanese Hizballah are condemnations of Iran prevalent on several web sites, and initiated primarily by Saudi supporters of Global Jihad. Furthermore, in the past year there was a growing attempt by Saudi Salafi scholars and laymen to link the Shiites to Jews, both in history, and in present times. Hizballah and Nasrallah in Salafi eyes As mentioned earlier, the recent prisoners swap between Israel and Hizballah led to an animosity towards the Shiite group and its leader that has been rare in its extent. One of the leading Salafi web sites and forums against the non-Sunnis, primarily the Shi`is Al-Difa` `an al-Sunnah (Defense of the Sunnah) spearheaded the attacks with numerous writings, several of them by serious Islamic scholars. This web site includes sections such as: âThe actions of the murderer so-called Shiite Mahdi;â âThe crimes and betrayals of the Shi`is throughout history;â and a new section âMeetings between Shiite clerics and Jews and Christians.â Other parts of the web site sectors are dedicated to âthe scandals of Shiite clerics and religious authorities,â among whom are contemporary figures such as Khomeini, Khamenei, Khoei, Sistani, and Hizballah. Reading the âHizballah Fileâ of such writings reveals one of the main reasons for the Salafi attacks against Hizballah and Hasan Nasrallah: The secretary general of Hizballah is sketching himself and sketched by others as the âNew Salah al-Din al-Ayubi,â and a superior commander at the forefront of the struggle against Israel. Furthermore, as phrased by the Egyptian Islamist, Dr. Muhammad Moro: âThe Lebanese resistance managed to become the Avant-garde of all the Arab liberating elements⊠It managed to post an ideology for all the oppressed on earth, confronting the Western civilization, which threatens the whole world.â Hizballah is taking on the role that Qa`idat al-Jihad was hoping to play as the global vanguard of Islam. The prisoners exchange deal On 3 February 2004, another attack was published by the Global Islamic Media, an offshoot of Qa`idat al-Jihad, through an unsigned article titled âWe are not that simple-minded to celebrate the âachievementâ of Hizballah.â The article severely criticized the deal with the âZionist entity,â but attempted, despite its sarcastic language, to present a reasonable and respectable criticism rather than a poisonous attack. âThe illusory âachievementâ of the party, whose celebratory echoes have resounded throughout all the capitals of the Arab âbeltâ states and Tehran, the international political Qiblah of the Shi`is, raises a lot of question marks, and have not received any reasonable answers from the illusionists of Hizballah.â Among the more important points of criticism and question marks over Hizballah are: ⢠The strategic Israeli interest to grant Hizballah and its leader such popularity in the Arab world.The anonymous author attempts to answer these questions. His main motif is the historic alliance between the Jews and the Shi`is, which began with the Persian king Koresh II, about 2500 years ago, and thus long predated the arrival of Islam, and until the Shiite support for Israel against the Palestinians during the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon in 1982. The approach between the Shi`is and the Jews is not just political, but also religious, and includes a reference to the link between the 12 Jewish tribes and the 12 Imams (sic!). The Germans also receive their share of sarcastic criticism, as German Protestants such as Martin Luther and Karl Marx (sic!) are added to the Shiite-Jewish alliance. The loquacity of such nonsense repeats itself in the rest of the article. The author cannot ignore the heavy Israeli losses by Hizballah. These operations, however, were carried out âfor the party, not for Allah.â The position of the Salafi scholars The most important positions against Hizballah are those of the Salafi-Jihadi scholars. Recently, one of the most influential among them is Abd al-Mun`im Mustafa Halimah âAbu Basir,â of Syrian origin (he stems from the Syrian city of Tartus, and is hence sometimes referred to as âAl-Suriâ or âAl-Tartusi.â) As a result of the long arrest of the two Palestinians Abu Muhammad al-Maqdesi in Jordan and Abu Qutadah in London, the arrest of several radical Saudi clerics since the explosions in Riyadh in May 2003, and his age, Abu Basir became a leading figure of the Jihadists in Arabia. He is known for his courage in criticizing colleagues and other Islamist movements, as well as for his attacks against every secular national Arab government. Two years ago, in January 2002, he sharply criticized Hamas and the Qassam Brigades for defending Yaser Arafat while he was besieged by Israel in Ramallah. A recent article by Abu Basir published in 2 February 2004, titled âThe Lebanese Hizballah and the Export of the Shiâite Rejectionist School,â is a sort of affidavit against the movement and its leader. The article was circulated in most Jihadi forums on the Internet, and by Global Islamic Media, an offshoot of Qa`idat al-Jihad. Hizballah in Abu Basirâs eyes, is âthe large gate of the global Shi`I movement, and for the export of Shi`ism in the entire Muslim world. The way for Hizballah to do so is by using the Palestinian issue and playing on the Palestinian string.....His conclusion is that if Hizballah were the party for justice and the right path, then the United States would have never let it act freely, without oppressing its leaders. âThey would live on the ground, in the caves, and in prisons, rather than luxury beds, driving fancy cars.â Abu Basirâs article, unlike other writings against the Shi`is in general or Hizballah in particular, is practical and reasonable. There are no historical claims, real or made up, and it is done with a logical political reasoning. The article leads to the conclusion that in the eyes of the Salafi Jihadi movements of Global Jihad there is no room for Hizballah. The Lebanese Shi`i group is disqualified not for being simply Rafidhah or anti-Sunni, but for being national, serving either local interests or being a tool in the hands of Syria and Iran, each for its different interests. Conclusion The severe attacks against Iran and Hizballah, and the fervent hatred expressed towards the Shi`is, both in Iran and Iraq, raise an important question: To what extent might there be a real cooperation between Qa`idat al-Jihad and its affiliated Salafi-Jihadi groups, primarily in the Arab world. In the history of modern terrorism, there have been some odd collaborations between groups of different ideologies. In the 1970s, Western terrorist groups enjoyed assistance of various factions within the PLO in Lebanon. The Mujahidin in Afghanistan, a part of whom formed al-Qaeda, had been allies of the United States in the 1980s, when they shared a common enemy, the Soviet Union. Theoretically then, the Salafi-Jihadi school of Global Jihad, whose roots lie in the puritanism of orthodox Wahhabism, could find itself in an alliance with Shiâite Iran if and when it will suit its interests. Yet, given the background of the present direction of the strategy of Qa`idat al-Jihad, namely to focus on the Arab world and create affiliated groups in the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq, this eventuality seems unlikely. The article by Abu Basir, the most serious of all the attacks against Hizballah, could also indicate that in the field of the fight against Arab governments, and the attempt of Qa`idat al-Jihad and similar groups to infiltrate into the Sunni Iraqi population, an alliance with Hizballah, Syria, and above all Iran, is unlikely to happen. For the enthusiastic Islamist youngsters participating in Islamist forums on the Internet, the main superficial battlefield is over the prestige of the modern âsuccessorâ of Salah al-Din: Bin Laden or Nasrallah. In the writings of serious scholars and clerics like Abu Basir, however, who give ideological backing to Global Jihad, there is a deep gap between the political worldview of the two sides. Therein lies the struggle between Global Jihad and Iran. As long as Iraq and Saudi Arabia become the front lines of Qa`idat al-Jihad, we can expect that this gap will not be bridged, even if the âworstâ enemies the United States and Israel remain âgreat Satan.â |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |