Showing posts with label Religion and Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religion and Politics. Show all posts

Monday, November 25, 2024

Morocco's Islamist Benkirane: The role of Islamists is not to seek power

    Monday, November 25, 2024   No comments

Morocco is a country of political contradiction, and the interview with a former head of government show how and why.

Former Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane stated in an interview with Aljazeera that he has a philosophy that others do not agree with him on, as he does not believe in the saying that “Islam is the solution.” In this context, he considers that the saying “Islam is the solution” contains a contradiction, and asks, “Why is Islam the solution? People’s problems are related to housing, good education, good health services, and other demands.” Benkirane opposed the idea that Islamists can dispute power and rule according to Islamic law, and this is in his view a “dead end,” adding that “what Islamists say is not what they call for: Islam is the solution.” 

Former Moroccan Prime Minister, who was a guest on the program “Al-Muqabla,” confirmed that he has a philosophy that others do not agree with him on, as he does not believe in the saying that “Islam is the solution.”

Benkirane, who is the Secretary-General of the Justice and Development Party, considers “the conflict between Islamists and the ruling authority a sin,” because it leads Islamists into the labyrinths of seekers of authority throughout history, and whoever seeks authority and rule will either be killed, imprisoned, marginalized, or victorious and ruled. Benkirane believes that the Islamists made another mistake when they interpreted what happened to them in the way of seeking the Sultan as a trial for the sake of God, and he says that this prevented them from paying attention to their mistakes.

The former Moroccan Prime Minister stresses that the role of Islamists is not to seek the Sultan and rule, proving his position by saying, “I did not find in the Holy Quran or in the hadith of the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, anything called seeking the Sultan or rule,” and he noted that he only found the saying of God Almighty: “I only want reform as much as I am able,” meaning that the role of the Muslim is to contribute to reform.

On the other hand, the former Moroccan Prime Minister addresses the issue of normalization between Morocco and the Israeli occupation in his speech on December 10, 2020.

Benkirane responded to a question about the signing of the normalization agreement by an Islamist party (the Justice and Development Party): “We were surprised, as was the whole world, by the signing of Saadeddine El Othmani (the Prime Minister), and none of us had any knowledge, and I personally did not know.”

On the other hand, the Moroccan Islamist described the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation as “a gift from God Almighty,” because “the Palestinian cause was almost over and Al-Aqsa Mosque was almost lost,” and he considered that the lessons of the Al-Aqsa Flood are endless. Benkirane also reviewed his political career that began in the sixties and seventies, where he began this path in the ranks of the left, then joined the “Islamic Youth” organization in 1976, from which he separated in 1981, to establish with others the “Islamic Group,” and among those who were with him were Mohamed Yatim, Saadeddine Othmani, and Abdullah Baha, leading to the establishment of the “Islamic Group Association” in 1983.

Although politicians who participate in the political process in the country perpetuate the myth sharing political power or the power of the people derived from "elections", the reality points to the fact that all power rests with the King. As colloquial language in Morocco shows, the King's palace is the store of power, makhzen, and the power of the king comes from God, which explains why a 10 year old son of the king is more powerful than an elected head of government: Moroccans bow and kiss the hand of the child future king, and that includes the head of the government who also must bow and kiss the hand of the child.

Aware of problem of seeing a child's hand kissed by everyone including elected leaders, but still wanting to benefit from the gesture of obedience at the same time, the King's Palace launched a PR campaign claiming that the prince does not want to have his hand kissed. If that was the case, the Palace could have made it against protocol to even attempt to kiss the hand. But then, that would force the King to give up a source of power. So, instead, they decided on having their cake and eating at the same time... a common strategy that has been used by the monarch in Morocco to continue to rule and force Moroccans to submit to his rule.


Monday, November 04, 2024

Sistani to the UN representative: We regret the international community's inability to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza and Lebanon

    Monday, November 04, 2024   No comments

The highest religious authority in Iraq, Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, stressed today, Monday, the prevention of foreign interventions in all its forms, while expressing his regret for the inability of the international community and its institutions to impose effective solutions to stop the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

Sayyid al-Sistani received the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and head of its mission in Iraq (UNAMI) Mohammed al-Hassan and his accompanying delegation. In a statement issued by Sayyid al-Sistani's office, he said that "Sayyid provided a brief explanation of the tasks of the international mission and the role it seeks to play in the coming period. In return, he welcomed the presence of the United Nations in Iraq and wished its mission success in carrying out its tasks."

Sayyid al-Sistani added that "Iraqis - especially the conscious elites - should learn from the experiences they have gone through and do their utmost to overcome their failures and work hard to achieve a better future for their country in which everyone enjoys security, stability, progress and prosperity."

He also stressed that "this cannot be achieved without preparing scientific and practical plans to manage the country based on the principle of competence and integrity in assuming positions of responsibility, preventing foreign interventions in all their aspects, and enforcing the rule of law."

Regarding the volatile situations in our region, Mr. Sistani expressed his "deep sorrow over the ongoing tragedy in Lebanon and Gaza and his deep regret over the inability of the international community and its institutions to impose effective solutions to stop it or at the very least to neutralize civilians from the tragedies of the fierce aggression practiced by the Israeli entity."

For his part, the United Nations representative in Iraq, Mohammed Al-Hassan, confirmed today, Monday, that any infringement on the status of the supreme religious authority represented by Sayyid Ali al-Sistani cannot be accepted.

Al-Hassan said during a press conference following his meeting with Sayyid al-Sistani in Najaf, Iraq: "I was honored to meet His Eminence Sayyid al-Sistani, and I listened to his wisdom and visions for the region and Iraq."

He added, "You know the status of the Sayyid in the Islamic and international worlds, and I am happy with this meeting, and I agreed with His Eminence to work together to enhance the status of Iraq."

Al-Hassan also noted that "Sayyid al-Sistani asked him to implement priorities in the interests of Iraq," expecting that "Iraq will strengthen its relations with its neighbors."

He also stated that "the United Nations is committed to supporting Iraq's priorities and does not interfere except in consultation."

It is noteworthy that Israeli sources published, last month, pictures of leaders Israel assassinated or plans to assassinate and included Sayyid Ali al-Sistani in the list, which angered the Iraqi government.

   

Monday, April 08, 2024

The Saudi Mufti Prohibits giving money for Iftar charity, legitimizes slavery

    Monday, April 08, 2024   No comments

Saudi Arabia’s highest religious authority, issuing a religious decree concerning the practice of giving Iftar sadaqa in the form of cash (money), provided reference that can be seen as legitimizing slavery despite its abolition all around the world and despite the evidence in the Quran that designated slavery as evil and encouraged Muslims to free slaves when unable to fast, break an oath, or commit other moral or legal infractions. The Fatwa comes in a time when more than 2 million people in Gaza are starved to death and could need cash provided to them through aid organizations who can only receive money from the world community.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom said, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars and Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Fatwa, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Sheikh, issued a ruling that giving Zakat al-Fitr in money is not valid “because that is contrary to the Sunnah of the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him. May God bless him and grant him peace and the Rightly Guided Caliphs who used to remove it from food.”

The Saudi Mufti added that “Zakat al-Fitr has been prescribed for all Muslims, males and females, old and young, free and slaves.”

It should be noted that other Sunni schools of law consider giving iftar charity in the form of cash (or anything of value), to be valid.

The kingdom has been run through an arrangement that granted Wahhabi scholars from Al Sheikh clan, religious power in return for their blessing of the form of governance in the kingdom under the control of the Al Saudi clan. Saudi Arabia’s official religious practices are derived from the Wahhabism, the strictest religious sect in Islamic societies and Wahhabi religious figures use textual evidence irrespective of rational facts and changed circumstances. The same sect is followed by members of al-Qaeda and the “Islamic State”.


Thursday, December 28, 2023

Religion and war: Modern Islamic religious institutions and Gaza War

    Thursday, December 28, 2023   No comments

There are about four centers of traditional religiouscenters of power in the modern Islamic world: Alazhar representing the so-called mainstream Sunni Islam, Saudi Arabia representing the Salafi Islam, the official sect of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Turkey under the Islamist JDP drawing authority from the fact that Turkey represented the last pan-Islamic government, and Shia centers of religious power represented by Qom (Iran), and Najaf (Iraq). The most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia, has not played a role in shaping the religious discourse, rather was a battleground for influence exerted by other centers of Religious power. 

What role and what position have these religious centers of power and authority and other national and regional religious institutions taken?

Salafism and the Gaza war


Since the start of Western colonialism, Islam has played some public role, even through silence. Saudi edition of Islam played a prominent role in the West’s war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. It created the interpretative foundation that allowed Salafists to fund and recruit fighters in support of what they called, “Islamic Jihad”. That religious propaganda resulted in the production of groups like al-Qaeda, which launched its direct attack on the US in 2001 and justified it by US support for Israel. 23 years later, with Israel carrying its most destructive and deadly attack on Palestinians, and the Saudi religious institutions, especially the office of the Mufti, went totally silent. Perhaps worried about revisiting the connection between Salafism and terrorism, the Muftis now limiting his role to addressing the Islamic rulings about personal hygiene and family relations, and leaving all other matters to the crown prince, who just visited him to check on his health.

 

Al-Azhar balancing act: support political leadership and make public statements

 

The Council of Senior Scholars at Al-Azhar Al-Sharif confirmed today, Thursday, that the massacres committed by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip are “a disgrace to all those who support it with money or weapons.”

 

The Commission, headed by the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, said that these massacres will be a disgrace to all those who are silent about the crimes of the occupation, pointing out that the position of the Council of Senior Scholars is clear regarding this aggression against the Palestinian people.

 

The Commission announced its rejection of displacing Palestinians “from their homeland to any other place,” noting that the occupation has gone too far in its aggression, killing children and women, and striking mosques, churches, hospitals, schools, and homes, in and around Gaza.

 

The Commission also condemned the "shameful positions of the countries and governments that support the occupation" in its aggression against the Palestinian people, calling on them to listen to the voice of their people defending this issue.

 

Lebanon’s Sunni Shia divide
 

Dar Al-Fatwa suppresses sheikhs: Criticism of Geagea is forbidden!

With Shia Hezbollah direct support to Hamas in Gaza, the rest of the Sunni community is more interested in appeasing regional powers and preserving the political balance in the country than taking position on the war.

The Grand Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian, came to the thoughts of Maarab and Al-Saifi, who were disturbed by the tweets of the Assistant Inspector General of Dar Al-Fatwa, Sheikh Hassan Merheb, so he decided to muzzle the mouths of the sheikhs and prevent them from expressing their opinions and political positions.

 The message delivered by the head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, to Dar al-Fatwa, in protest against the positions of the Assistant Inspector General of Dar al-Fatwa, Sheikh Hassan Merheb, on his party and the Phalange Party, against the backdrop of their positions on the war on Gaza and the resistance against the Israeli enemy in Palestine and Lebanon, did not go unnoticed. The message woke up the Grand Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian, from his stupor. Although “His Eminence” did not move in the face of the poor living conditions of the imams of the mosques and Sharia judges, and in the face of the repercussions of the crisis on the institutions affiliated with Dar al-Fatwa and its endowments, and he was not moved by the deteriorating living and political conditions of the Sunni community, he rose up to silence the sheikhs and “hold their breath” for the sake of Samir Geagea. And Sami Al-Jamil. As a reminder, the first was convicted of killing a Sunni prime minister, and the second declared a week ago that Israel does not attack Lebanon except in self-defense! Geagea’s “outrage” did not insult the Mufti, so he issued a decision to suppress the sheikhs and confiscate their opinions, in a statement distributed by the media office last Friday, in which he said: “Based on the directives of the Mufti of the Lebanese Republic, Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, it is strictly forbidden to make political statements, positions or opinions for all employees of the religious apparatus and institutions affiliated with Dar al-Fatwa without first obtaining written permission from the General Directorate of Islamic Endowments and the relevant relevant departments,” he pointed out. “Dar Al-Fatwa does not adopt any political opinion that does not come directly from it and rejects any position that leads to strife or disagreement among the Lebanese.”

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Türkiye Elections: Candidate Muharrem Ince withdraws; Erdogan bribes voters with wage increase 3 days before the presidential elections

    Thursday, May 11, 2023   No comments

The candidate of the "Balad" party for the Turkish presidency, Muharram Ince, announced his withdrawal from the presidential race, after meeting yesterday evening with some officials in his party to discuss the latest developments in his election campaign.

Three candidates are running in the Turkish presidential elections, after the withdrawal of Ince, namely Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kamal Kilicdaroglu and Sinan Ogan.

Ince, 58, is a politician and former physics teacher, the son of an immigrant from the Greek city of Thessaloniki. He has challenged Erdogan in his speeches in Parliament for 16 years and was the main opposition presidential candidate in 2018.


The Balad Party ran in the Turkish general elections without being involved in any alliance, as Muharrem Ince's candidate for the presidency. And the country party belongs to the "kemalist thought", relative to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and tends to the national right.

The party calls for the rule of law, separation of powers, equality and prosperity, fair distribution of wealth, sustainable economic development, and reaching the level of contemporary civilization.


The party sees it as a third current between the ruling current, represented by the Justice and Development Party, and the traditional opposition represented by the Republican People's Party. Country Party leader Muharrem Ince has vowed to rid Turkey of both the government and the opposition.


Saturday, March 25, 2023

Zelenskiy uses Islam for war purposes

    Saturday, March 25, 2023   No comments

Zelenskiy uses “Ramadan” and uses the power of “prayer” to help him “cleanse Ukraine” of the evil of the “Russian atheist.” An attempt to evoke the literature of “jihad” and incitement with the weapon of religion.

The Russian-Ukrainian war takes on a religious character in addition to its political, economic, and social dimensions, and this is evident when the Ukrainian president tried to use the month of Ramadan to serve him and his regime, and to tarnish the image of his Russian opponent.

Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on his Twitter account, a controversial tweet, taking advantage of the month of Ramadan, saying:

May the power of prayer in this holy month of Ramadan help us cleanse Ukraine of Russian godless evil, of those who truly believe in nothing, and that is why they are capable of such terror. Let the next Ramadan begin in peace and on the entire Ukrainian land free from Russia.


Zelensky is addressing the Ukrainian Muslim community, which is mainly represented by the Tatars residing in Crimea, which Russia has controlled since 2014, but according to commentators at the same time, he does not explain to the Muslims the reasons why his soldiers set out to burn the Qur’an, nor does he offer an apology or justification for them.

In his use of the description of the “Russian atheist,” Zelensky goes back to the inflammatory literature and descriptions that were used against the “atheist” Soviet Union in Afghanistan and the “jihad” against it, trying to incite Muslims against the current Russian regime, which no longer adopts atheism and communism as an approach, and embraces Muslims and their mosques. (Moscow's Grand Mosque was personally inaugurated by Putin), and he shares their religious events with them. Even the most prominent ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin is the "bearded Muslim" Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

Zelensky said in his tweet, which he published with a video clip: “A large part of Ukrainian society are Muslims, and we have the Crimean Tatars who are spending this blessed month in conditions of Russian persecution, and some of them are under other bombings on the fronts,” adding: “Let the month of Ramadan begin in peace and on peace... The entire Ukrainian land free of Russia.”

Activists and tweeters interacted with the Ukrainian president’s “religious” tweet, and some of them considered that the exploitation of religion in wars is no longer as effective as it was, while others found that the Kiev regime is far from caring and caring for Muslims, and a third said that the weapon of religion is imposed, regardless of the party we support.


Meanwhile, Kadyrov, visited with his troops, many of whom just returned from the frontlines in Ukraine, some will be going there soon. Here is his most recent release, a video, showing one of his elite units.

  


The following statement by Ramzan Kadyrov accompanied the video:

I took part in the ceremonial formation of the personnel of the 94th operational regiment of the 46th OBron of the North Caucasus Oblast of the VNG of Russia. The event was held on the occasion of the appointment of dear BROTHER Khasmagomed Magomadov to the post of unit commander. The corresponding order was signed by the Director of the Russian Guard, General of the Army, respected by us Viktor Zolotov.

I have known Khasmagomed Adikovich for many years. He showed himself excellently both while serving in the law enforcement agencies of the Chechen Republic, and in the zone of the special military operation in Ukraine. Khasmagomed has long proved in practice that he is a true warrior and patriot, for whom the interests of the Motherland are above all else.

Now, I am sure that under his competent and effective leadership, the 94th regiment will become one of the most combat-ready units of the National Guard. We will render full assistance to Khasmagomed in this task.

Being not only the head of the republic, but also the Colonel-General of the Russian Guard, I personally control the supply issues. I know perfectly well how much attention the director of the Federal Service for the National Guard Viktor Vasilyevich Zolotov pays to the issues of providing for the Russian Guards. We are deeply grateful to him for the comprehensive support of the units stationed in the Chechen Republic.


I sincerely congratulate Khasmagomed Magomadov on his appointment to the post of commander of the 94th operational regiment of the 46th OBron SKO VNG of Russia! I wish him good luck in his future service for the benefit of our great Motherland - Russia!



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