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Islamic Medical Ethics Amidst Developing Biotechnologies

Islamic Medical Ethics Amidst Developing Biotechnologies
by Dr. Musa Mohd. Nordin

Dr. Musa Mohd. Nordin FRCP, FAMM
Consultant Paediatrician & Neonatologist
Damansara Specialist Hospital

INTRODUCTION

Heralded by the revelation of the double helical structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, the 21st century is aptly designated the biotechnology century. The 20th century of physics, which saw the transformation of silicon into computing magic, was embraced with enthusiasm by virtually every household. However, unlike her predecessor, the same cannot be said about the advancements in biomedicine.

These revolutionary procedures in biotechnology has probed the outermost boundaries of what is scientifically possible and acceptable. Micro manipulation at the very earliest stages of human development, at the level of the embryo, single cell and genetic structure is undoubtedly a very delicate and sensitive issue with potentially explosive ethical, social, medico-legal and religious ramifications. Hence, the turbulent and not uncommonly hostile controversies that has since evolved.

Some of the issues in biotechnology which are debated contentiously and extensively across all segments of human society, include assisted reproductive technologies, human reproductive cloning, therapeutic cloning, embryo research, genetic engineering, euthanasia, organ transplantation, abortion and contraception.

THE JURISPRUDENCE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

As a complete and comprehensive way of life, the teachings of Islam encompasses all fields of human endeavours, spiritual and material, individual and societal, economics and politics, national and international. This is well understood from the revelation during the occasion of the prophet’s farewell pilgrimage.

“This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion” (5:3)

And the instructions which regulate our everyday activity of life is called Shariah

(Islamic law). The Shariah is the epitome of the Islamic spirit, the most typical manifestation of the Islamic way of life, the kernel of Islam itself (1). Bioethical deliberations is inseparable from the religion itself, hence Islamic bioethics must remain and flourish within the confines of the Shariah.

All Muslim scholars and jurists are agreed that four sources of Islamic law remain in the forefront of all deliberations in Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh), known as the Masadir al Shariah (2). They are :

1. Quran
2. Sunnah (authentic traditions of the prophet)
3. Ijma’ (consensus)
4. Qiyas (analogy)

Others which are not founded on a material source (nass) from the Quran or Sunnah but capturing the spirit of the Shariah and taking into consideration the welfare of the community include :

1. Istihsan – the choice of one of several lawful options
2. Istishab – continuation of an existing ruling until the contrary is proved
3. Urf – customs or precedent which does not contradict nass
4. Maslahah or Istislah – consideration of public interest or welfare
5. Shar’u man qabluna – the laws of our predecessors, either confirmed or abrogated by the primary sources
6. Qawl as-sahabi – the narrative of the companion of the prophet

The purposes of the law (Maqasid al Shariah) arranged in their order of importance are directed towards the preservation of (3) :

1. Deen (religion)
2. Nafs (life)
3. Aql (mind)
4. Nasl (progeny)
5. Maal (property)

This classification which is permanent and immutable defines succinctly and clearly the objectives of the community and gives it balance and a sense of purpose. Three of these priorities are directly related to the preservation of health, namely life, mind and progeny.

And from the outset it must be emphasized that the Shariah is guided by five cardinal principles (Qawaid al Shariah). These are (4) :

1. The principle of intention – intent is all important in actions
2. The principle of certainty – certainty cannot be changed by doubt and all acts are permissible unless there are clear prohibitions
3. The principle of injury – do no harm, injury must be removed or compensated
4. The principle of hardship – hardship calls forth ease and facilitation, need or necessity makes for allowing what is prohibited
5. The principle of custom – custom or precedent is the rule unless contradicted by nass

These cardinal rules lead the scholars and jurists to think of Islamic Fiqh as the subject of five vital conceptions (5) :

1. There are few absolute obligations (takalif)
2. Gradualism in the promulgation of laws
3. Making the burden lighter when making and executing laws
4. Hardship is avoided and necessity is taken into account
5. Justice and equity must always prevail

The Shariah is therefore a living, dynamic and relevant entity. It is for everyone, everywhere and for all times. It also describes itself as a guide, a light and a mercy (6). It is this philosophy of the law which is alive to the contemporary challenges of advancing biotechnologies. I have chosen to illustrate this harmony and the relevance of the law to three areas of cutting edge biotechnology, namely :

1. Reproductive human cloning
2. Therapeutic cloning
3. Genetic technology and human embryo research

HUMAN REPRODUCTIVE CLONING

When man was experimenting with cloning in plants, frogs and small marine animals, the Islamic Organisation of Medical Sciences (IOMS) based in Kuwait, convened a seminar in 1983 in which 2 papers were presented which dealt with the potential of human cloning and the shariah perspective on this possibility. When the cloning of Dolly the sheep by the technique of somatic cell nuclear transfer was announced in February 1997, the IOMS in their 9th Fiqh Medical seminar updated their juristic opinion on this most contentious issue (7)

Like the IOMS, virtually every Islamic seminar, jurisprudence council or individual scholars have concluded that cloning procedures aimed at producing human clones is not permissible. The majority considered it Haram (not permissible) in all its details (8). Whilst a minority opinion considered in Haram as a way to prevent a cause of harm (the necessity to refrain from causing harm to oneself and others). This latter juristic opinion keeps open the option of readdressing the issue should new information become available and approved by Shariah. The use of somatic cell nuclear transfer technology even between husband and wife was also not approved.

The rationale for prohibition were as follows :

The basic concept in reproduction is to abide by the Shariah approved system of legally binding marriage, through the union of the sperm and ovum.
Human cloning is against the natural process (Fitrah) of human relationship of marriage and reproduction
The major harms far exceed the benefits. These include the disruption of lineage, family relationships and social fabric of humanity.
The anticipated social, moral, psychological and legal implications of human copies.
The possibility of interfering with the male-female population dynamics

The ethics aside, the science of human reproductive cloning is not evidence based :

It is an inexact science – there were 277 attempts before Dolly was possible. “Even with mammals the risks are monumental let alone humans, it is criminally irresponsible” says Ian Wilmut, the “creator of Dolly”. Failure rates are in excess of 98%
It is an inefficient technology – Abortion rates are 10x higher, stillbirth rates are 3x higher. Natural reproduction is more efficient and … more fun.
Unproven safety – Dolly suffered from premature rheumatism and early death (she was “a sheep in lamb’s clothings”). Other abnormalities include large offspring syndrome, underdeveloped lungs, reduced immunity, increased congenital anomalies. The list of misadventures increase by the day and which infertility expert or cloner is going to publish their failures!
Besides it compromises the gene pool – it reduces genetic variability and diversity. One virulent pathogen maybe sufficient to wipe out the whole clone population.

The national and international response to the new technologies of human reproductive cloning have suffered a policy lull. Eight years post-Dolly, only a few countries have either drafted or enacted laws to bring human genetic and reproductive technology under responsible societal governance. As of November 2003, 77% of countries have not taken action to ban reproductive human cloning. Malaysia is in the final stages of drafting laws to ban the reproductive cloning of human beings.

Apart from a small minority of “rogue cloners” there is an international consensus against the reproductive cloning of human beings. However the opportunity to elaborate an international convention to ban reproductive human cloning was lost when member countries disagreed on the extent of the ban.

The USA and Costa Rica in the Policy on UN Cloning Treaty 2003, proposed a full ban on both reproductive and therapeutic cloning. Whilst other member countries supported the Belgium proposal for a partial ban, that is to ban reproductive cloning and allow national discretion on therapeutic cloning.

THERAPEUTIC CLONING

Unfortunately, the confusion and disgust at the prospect of cloning and creating babies has been transferred to therapeutic cloning. In therapeutic cloning unlike human reproductive cloning the end point is not cloning a human being. This technology involves the production of human clonal embryos for the purpose of harvesting stem-cells, tissues and organs. This would open the potential of curing a whole host of chronic and debilitating diseases including diabetes mellitus, parkinsonism, myocardial infaction and spinal injuries.

The source of the totipotent stem cells has however been a source of intense controversy. Stem cells found in umbilical cord blood, bone marrow and aborted fetuses are generally acceptable from the ethical and moral point of view. Though less plastic, scarce and sometimes quite inaccessible, there have been some success stories with the use of these non-embryonic stem cells.

The use of embryonic stem cells (ESC) is however fraught with highly charged religio-bio-ethical debate. The source of controversy revolves around the various questions about when life becomes a human life; namely :

Is an ovum and sperm a person?
When do the products of conception become a person?
Does a zygote have a full set of human rights?
Does the foetus have a soul?

This concept of personhood is neither logical nor empirical. It is based on one’s fundamental assumptions about the nature of the world. It is primarily a religious or quasi-religious concept.

The Roman Catholics believe that the soul enters the body at conception and the fertilized ovum is a human person will full human rights. Pope John Paul II, on 29 August 2000 said, “methods that fail to respect the dignity and value of the person must always be avoided. I am thinking in particular of attempts at human cloning with a view to obtaining organs for transplants: these techniques, in so far as they involve the manipulation and destruction of human embryos, are not morally acceptable, even when their proposed goal is good in itself”

The scientific paradigm defines the pre-embryonic stage as the period from fertilization up to the determinant of the primitive streak at the age of 14 days. The pre-embryo is unable to feel pain or pleasure and therefore has no moral status. They may be cryopreserved, discarded or used for research purposes.

Lord May of Oxford, the President of the Royal Society said, “to cut off this research (without clear understanding of the science of therapeutic cloning and its potential to contribute to mankind) would be an act of intellectual vandalism comparable to papal censorship of Galileo and Copernicus.”

The first verse revealed to prophet Muhammad in the cave of Hira’ translates as follows :

“Read! In the name of your Lord, who has created. Has created man from alaqa.” (96:1-2)

This verse embodies two very significant messages. From the outset, the Quran emphasizes the primacy of knowledge and follows this with the first lesson in embryology, the very creation of man himself.

The Quran is a book of guidance to invite mankind to the truth and salvation. But nonetheless it contains many “signs” which invites mankind to reflect upon his creation and the world that surrounds him. In various verses, it illustrates lucidly both the physical and spiritual dimensions of man’s creation. In chapter 23, verses 12-14, the Quran says :

“And indeed We created man from a quintessence of clay. Then we placed him as a small quantity of liquid (nutfa) in a safe lodging firmly established. Then we have fashioned the nutfa into something which hangs (alaqa). Then We made alaqa into a chewed lump of flesh (mudgha). And We made the mudgha into bones, and clothed the bones with flesh. And then We brought it forth as another creation. So blessed be God, the best to create”

The nutfa represents the blastocyst which embeds within the endometrium. The alaqa, much intrigued the distinguished embryologist, Prof. Moore who was puzzled at how 1400 years ago anyone could accurately describe it as something which clings to the inner uterine wall like a leech. The scholars of Quran were similarly unable to explain the concept of mudgha until microsopy revealed that the chewed lump of flesh resembled accurately the appearances of the somites. And note how explicit the verses has been in illustrating that the ossification centres preceded the formation of the myotomes.

In another verse the Quran very clearly revealed another phase of man’s being, the process of ensoulment.

“and breathe into him of His spirit” (32:9)

The soul is a metaphysical concept which is fundamental in Islam and it defines a human individual. The majority opinion in Islam accepts the 120th day of pregnancy as the time of ensoulment. Eventhough ensoulment occurs later, the embryo is respected from the onset of fertilization and acquires consideration as a human foetus after implantation.

And based on these fundamental premises, at least three Islamic Fiqh (Jurisprudence) Councils have given permission for the use of surplus embryos from IVF laboratories for ESC research (9,10,11). However, it is not permissible at this juncture, to consciously generate pre-embryos either by conventional IVF techniques or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) for ESC research.

As at November 2003, 6 (3%) countries have allowed therapeutic cloning whilst 30 (16%) have prohibited it. The 6 countries in favour of allowing therapeutic cloning to proceed within stipulated policy guidelines are China, Singapore, Belgium, UK, Cuba and USA.

The Federal Embryo Protection Law (1990) of Germany prohibits both reproductive and therapeutic cloning. This represents the spectrum of countries with “relatively restrictive” laws related to reproductive technologies. Others include Austria, the Scandinavian countries, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland

The other end of the spectrum is represented by the United Kingdom’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (1990) and Human Reproductive Cloning Act (2001) and Singapore’s Bioethics Advisory Committee (BAC) Report on “Ethical, Legal and Social Issues in Human Stem Cell Research, Reproductive and Therapeutic Cloning” which was approved by the government on 18 July 2002. The UK and Singapore “more permissive” regulations allows the generation of embryos by both IVF and SCNT technologies if there is a demonstrable and exceptional need which cannot be met by the use of surplus embryos.

The “in-between” policies are demonstrated by the Canadian’s new Assisted Human Reproduction Act (2004) and Australia’s Research Involving Embryos Act (2003). They both allow the utilization of surplus IVF embryos for research but prohibit the creation of human embryos for research and SCNT for research and reproduction. The current thinking in our Malaysian National Committee on Human Cloning seems to favour this line of thought and legal framework; which is also resonates well with the fatwa issued by the three jurisprudence councils in Jeddah, USA and Jordan.

Except for Israel, none of the nations in the Middle East have taken legal action to regulate either reproductive or therapeutic cloning. As at 6 November 2003, Bahrain, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE and Yemen voted in favour of Iran’s motion on the UN Cloning Treaty Process, to postpone further discussions for another 2 years. This is illustrated in the table below.

Region
Countries
Reproductive Cloning
Research Cloning
IGM
Prohibited
Prohibited Allowed
Prohibited
#
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Africa
53
1
2%
1
2%
0
0%
1
2%
Middle East
23
1
4%
0
0%
0
0%
1
4%
South Asia / East Asia / Pacific
33
6
18%
3
9%
2
6%
5
15%
Europe – Eastern
24
14
58%
8
33%
0
0%
9
38%
Europe – Western
24
16
67%
13
54%
2
8%
8
33%
Americas & Carribean
35
8
23%
5
14%
2
6%
3
9%
World
192
46
23%
30
16%
6
3%
27
14%

Previously it was thought that it would be extremely difficult to develop comprehensive policies to govern human genetic and reproductive technologies. Despite the earlier skepticism, various countries have now shown that it is possible to break the policy deadlock and draft legislation to regulate these new technologies of human genetic modification. Despite their different political and social experiences, some of the national policies thus available have exhibited a remarkable sharing of core principles; namely :

they affirm technologies with a real chance of preventing or curing disease
they ban technologies which could harm children or open the door to free market eugenics
they ensure research involving embryos is tightly regulated
they establish publicly accountable means to review policies & make new ones
they pose no risk for reproductive rights

Probably one of the most far reaching thoughts on this highly controversial issue of ESC research has been that propounded by Sheikh Dr. Yusuf Al-Qardawi, a highly respected and contemporary Muslim scholar who related in his concluding remarks after a lengthy juristic deliberation the following position (12) :

“If it becomes possible through research to clone organs such as the heart, liver, kidneys or others which may benefit those who are in dire need of them; then this is permitted by religion and the researcher or scientist will receive the reward from Allah. This is because the research will confer benefit on humanity without loss to others or infringing upon them. Therapeutic cloning with this noble research pursuit is permissible and it is encouraged. In fact, in some circumstances, it may become mandatory to enhance this research in accordance with the need and man’s research capability and accountability.”

The following diagram illustrates the extreme potential for therapeutic cloning, with virtually zero risk of graft versus host disease (GVHD), with the option of either de-differentiation of the patients indigenous stem cells or utilizing somatic cell nuclear transfer technology to generate embryonic stem cells.

GENETIC TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN EMBRYO RESEARCH

Two hadiths (authentic traditions) related from the Prophet has helped us to have a better insight into the science of genetics.

“Select your spouses carefully in the interest of your offspring because lineage is a crucial issue”

“Do not marry your close relatives because you will beget weak offsprings”

The second Caliph of Islam, Omar ibn El-Khattab, upon noting that a particular tribe intermarried with increased frequency, remarked to them :

“You have weakened your descendants. You should marry strangers ( people outside your tribe )”.

The spirit of the exhortations of the Prophet SAW and his companion was to secure normal and healthy babies, protection of their early well being, endowed with the benefits of good genes from both parents and the prevention of congenital malformations and its consequent disabilities.

A variety of inherited diseases may now be diagnosed in the pre-embryo stage prior to implantation into the uterus. Highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction ( PCR ) techniques have enabled the rapid amplification of minute amounts of DNA material from the embryonic cells. Fluorescent in situ hybridization ( FISH ) technology with combination chromosomal probes have made possible the genetic analysis of embryonal sex and various aneuploidies (13).

Some of the potentially debilitating diseases which may be screened include Trisomy 13, 17 and 21, cystic fibrosis, haemophilia, Marfan’s syndrome, incontinentia pigmentosa, x-linked immune deficiency, retinitis pigmentosa, fragile X syndrome, muscular dystrophy and Lesch-Nyhan disease. The first preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) was achieved in 1989. Since then, well over 200 diseases or conditions has been further isolated with ongoing PGD research (14).

The First International Conference on Bioethics in the Muslim World held in Cairo from 10-13 Dec 1991 examined very carefully this area of pre-embryo research (15). Collaborating this with the decisions of other scientific cum Islamic jurisprudence seminars, the following practice guidelines may be summarized :

Cryopreserved pre-embryos may be used for research purposes with the free and informed consent of the couple.
Research conducted on pre-embryos is limited only to therapeutic research. Genetic analysis of pre-embryos to detect specific genetic disorders is permissible. Hence diagnostic aids should be provided for couples at high risk for selected inherited diseases. The treated embryo may only be implanted into the uterus of the wife who is the owner of the ova and only during the span of the marriage contract.
Any pre-embryos found to be genetically defective maybe rejected from transfer into the uterus after proper counselling by the physician.
Research aimed at changing the inherited characteristics of pre-embryos ( e.g. hair and eye colour, intelligence, height ) including sex selection is forbidden.
Sex selection is however permitted if a particular sex predisposes to a serious genetic condition. One of the first couple to use the technique of sex selection was hoping to escape a neurologically debilitating disease known as x-linked hydrocephalus, which almost always affected boys. Embryonal sex selection would make possible the weeding out of other serious x-linked disorders including haemophilia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and fragile X syndrome.
The free informed consent of the couple should be obtained prior to conducting any non-therapeutic research on the pre-embryos. These pre-embryos should not be implanted into the uterus of the wife or that of any other woman.
Research of a commercial nature or not related to the health of the mother or child is not allowed.
The research should be undertaken in accredited and reputable research facilities. The medical justification for the research proposal must be sound and scientific and conducted by a skilled and responsible researcher.

The designer baby technology or inheritable genetic modification ( IGM ) has further accentuated the ethical debate often referred to as “slippery slope” issues. The world’s first true designer baby, Nash Brown, was born on 29 August 2000. He was conceived specifically for the sake of his six year old sister, Molly who suffered from Fanconi’s Anaemia. His umbilical cord blood was transfused into Molly, with the hope of curing her condition.

Another landmark case was in the UK in 2001, where a British couple was given the go ahead by the courts to select an IVF baby who is Thalassaemia free and has a tissue make-up which precisely match their son Zain who suffers from Thalassaemia and does not have a compatible donor. Umbilical cord blood from the IVF baby would be transplanted into Zain to cure his Thalassaemia.

The table shows that only 27 (14%) countries have taken action to ban the creation of designer babies.

CONCLUSIONS

Islamic medical bioethics is firmly grounded on the fundamental tenets of the Islamic Shariah. The close collaboration between the scholars of jurisprudence and the scientific and medical fraternity has enabled her to keep abreast of the plethora of advancing biotechnologies.

Despite the wide ranging bio-religio-ethical problems and dilemmas posed by these emerging biotechnologies, Islamic medical bioethics, has provided a “middle of the road” approach moderating between the extremes of conservatism and liberalism. This it does without impeding the genuine and responsible quest for new knowledge and breakthroughs in new research frontiers.

It has provided a legal framework for responsible societal governance of human genetic and reproductive technologies and banned all forms of free market eugenics.

Allah says in Chapter 2, verse 143 :

“Thus we have appointed you a middle nation, that you may be witness against mankind, and that the messenger maybe witness against you”.

REFERENCES

Schacht, Joseph. An introduction to Islamic Law. Reprinted 1966, 1971:1
Ash-Shafi’I; al-Umm, 1993, vol. 7:492-494; Ramadan, Islamic Law, 1970:33; Madkour, al-Madkhal, 1966:90,196
Ash-Shatibi, al-Muwafaqat, 1975, vol. 2:10
Borno, al-Wajiz, 1998, pp8,63
Madkour, al-Madkhal, 1966:12-20
Al-Quran 5:44-46
Recommendations of the 9th Fiqh-Medical Seminar; Islamic Organisation of Medical Sciences
Aly A. Mishal. Cloning and advances in molecular biotechnology. FIMA Year Book 2002, pp 38.
The Council of Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Muslim World League. 2003; 17th session in Makkah, 13-17 December.
Fiqh Council of North America, International Institute of Islamic Thought, Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences, Islamic Institute news release August 27, 2001.
Aly A. Mishal. Stem cells : Controversies and ethical issues. Jordan Medical Journal. May 2001; 35(1) pp 80-82
Yusuf Al-Qardawi. Hadyul Islam Fatawi Mu’athirah. Darul Qalam Kuwait 2001. Translated Gema Insani Press, October 2002.
Grifo JA,et al. Update in preimplantation diagnosis. Advances and problems. Current Opinions Obstet Gynae 8:135-138
Fact Sheet : Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis. American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Dec 1996
Serour GI. Proceeding to the 1st international congress on bioethics in human reproduction research in the Muslim world. IICPSR 1992 Vol II

The Islamic Debate over the Human Bomb

The Islamic Debate over the Human Bomb
by Dr. Azzam Tamimi

Martyrdom – a Question of Faith

According to Tunisian Islamic thinker Rachid Ghannouchi, one of the basic features of the Islamic faith is that it generates within the believer a passion for freedom. Algerian thinker Malik Bennabi had earlier asserted that the Islamic faith accomplishes two objectives: first, it liberates man from servitude and renders him un-slaveable; and secondly, it prohibits him from enslaving others. Many contemporary Islamic thinkers agree with him and explain that this is exactly what the concept of jihad is about.

One of the meanings of Jihad is given as the constant endeavour to struggle against all forms of political or economic tyranny. Despite its sacredness, life has no value in the shade of despotism. Islamic text, both in the Qur’an and the Hadith (sayings of the Prophet) exhort Muslims to resist despotism and struggle against it by means of al-amr bilma`ruf wan-nahyu `anil-munkar (enjoining the good and forbidding the evil). On the basis of a hadith, Muslim scholars have articulated three levels of resistance or struggle. The minimum level is struggle by the heart. This is a psychological process whereby a Muslim prepares himself for the higher level up by means of boycotting evil and disliking it. The higher level of resistance entails condemning evil through the use of various means of non-violent means, such as speaking up, writing or demonstrating, or mobilising public opinion against evil. The highest level of all is resistance through the use of force. What really matters is that oppression should never be given a chance to establish itself in society. A Muslim is supposed to be a conscientious individual responding with appropriate action to whatever injustice that may be perpetrated in society provided the chosen action does not produce a greater evil that the one targeted with resistance. A Muslim is thus a force of positive change, a citizen whose faith reinforces within him a sense of responsibility.

It is in this way, according to Ghannouchi and Bennabi, that faith plays an important role in promoting civility and bolstering civil society. Not only does the Islamic faith permit a Muslim to resist despotism and rebel against it, but it makes it incumbent upon him or her to do so with whatever means available to him or her. It is understandable that a Muslim may lose his/her life struggling against oppression and for this he or she is promised a great reward in the life after death. In other words the effort made is not wasted and the sacrifice is not in vain.

The Prophet is quoted as saying: “The noblest of jihad is speaking out in defiance of an unjust ruler;” and “Hamza (Prophet’s uncle and one of the earlier martyrs in Islam) is the master of martyrs, and so is a man who stands up to an unjust ruler enjoining him and forbidding him, and gets killed for it.”

It would only be accurate to draw from this Prophetic tradition that martyrdom in the Islamic standard is not failure; a martyr is not a loser but a hopeful one who offers his life for what is much more valuable and, at the same time, eternal. For this reason martyrs are elevated to the highest of all ranks. A Muslim recites at least seventeen times a day in his salat (prayer):

Show us the straight way, the way of those on whom you have bestowed your Grace (1: 6-7)

Those on whom God has bestowed his grace belong to one of the categories listed in another Qur’anic verse which says:

All who obey Allah and the Messenger are in the company of those on whom is the Grace of Allah, of the Prophets, the sincere (lovers of truth), the martyrs, and the righteous (who do good). How beautiful is their Company. (4: 69)

By offering his life in the Cause of God, a martyr enters into a transaction with the Lord.

Allah has purchased of the believers their persons and their wealth; for theirs in return is the Garden (of Paradise): They fight in His Cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in Truth, through the Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur’an. And who is more faithful to his Covenant than Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded: that is the achievement supreme. (9: 111)

O you who believe! Shall I lead you to a bargain that will save you from a grievous Chastisement? That you believe in Allah and His Messenger, and that you strive (your utmost) in the Cause of Allah, with your wealth and your persons: that will be best for you if you only knew. (61:10-11)

Martyrdom or Suicide?

However, martyrdom today is not as straightforward as what it used to be. In the old days Muslims went to war in a jihad wishing either for victory or for martyrdom. Today, many of those that go on a jihad are almost certain it is the latter but not the former. This is so because they strap themselves in dynamite and predetermine their fate when they press the button. Their wars are not conventional ones. They know they cannot inflict damage on their enemy without exploding in his face.

The ‘suicide-bombing’ or what Muslims call ‘martyrdom operation’ was not invented by the Muslims. However, it is today identified with them and with their religion. Precursors of these operations in the Middle East were first introduced by Arab secular leftists who seemed to import the idea from elsewhere in the world. During those days such operations did not usually involve strapping oneself with dynamite; mostly, they involved daring attacks from which the attacker had almost no chance of escaping alive. The attack by members of the Japanese Red Army in 1972 at Lod Airport in Israel is considered one of the earlier such attacks in the Middle East. However, it was at the hands of the Lebanese Hezbollah, founded in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, that this modus operandi was refined throughout the 1980s. The most daring of such attacks was the suicide bombing attack that killed 241 US marines in Beirut in 1983.

Elsewhere in the world, the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers, who struggled for an independent Tamil state, began carrying out suicide bombings in 1987. It is estimated that they have since perpetrated over 200 such attacks. It was through this type of attacks that they assassinated former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and President Premadassa of Sri Lanka in 1993. In 1999, the Tigers attempted to assassinate Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga using a female suicide bomber.

In the latter half of the nineties, it was the Palestinians organizations Hamas (the Islamic Resistance Movement) and Islamic Jihad that captured the attention of the world for what they described as ‘martyrdom operations’. The two organizations, which did not approve of the Oslo peace accords between the PLO and Israel, were undoubtedly aware of the tactic of the human bomb resorted to by Hizbollah and the Tamil Tigers. However, they did not consider employing the tactic until after more than six years of the eruption of the first Intifada and well into the second year of the era of the Palestinian Authority. It is widely believed that what triggered a change in tactic was the massacre perpetrated on 25 February 1994 by an American-born Jewish settler. Baruch Goldstein is believed to have secured the assistance of Israeli troops to sneak into Al-Haram al-Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron opening fire and throwing hand grenades at worshippers as they kneeled half way through the early morning Fajr (dawn) prayers killing twenty nine of them and wounding scores more. On 6 April 1994, a Hamas bomber blew himself up near a bus in Afula, killing eight Israelis. Hamas claimed responsibility saying it carried out the attack in response to the massacre of Palestinian worshippers by Baruch Goldstein less than two months earlier.

Although Palestinians were generally appreciative of such a sacrificial mission at a time when they felt more vulnerable than ever, with no means of self-defence or deterrence, the human bomb attacks triggered a debate that is far from over. The debate, which soon crossed the borders and stretched across the Muslim world, centres on a number of themes.

– The first and most crucial theme relates to a jurisprudential problem: assessing the nature of the operation itself; is it suicide or sacrifice?

– The second relates to a practicality: the viability of the tactic in deterring the Israelis from their oppression and persecution of the Palestinians.

– The third relates to the consequences of such attacks to the Palestinians themselves since the Israelis were bound, as has always been the case, to respond; their response has invariably involved imposing collective punishment on the Palestinians whenever an attack of this kind is launched.

– The fourth relates to the impact on peace making; the attacks are an embarrassment to the Palestinian Authority which is supposed to prevent any attacks on Israel or Israelis in fulfilment of its commitments to the Oslo Accords signed with Israel in September 1993.

– The fifth relates a legal aspect: the legitimacy of a discriminate attack that may, as is the case in many instances, result in killing innocent civilians, particularly children.

As the dividends of peace turned to be bitter fruits, and as more Palestinians were becoming convinced that they had been cheated, many of these issues were resolved. It soon became obvious to the Palestinians that whether such operations existed or not the Israelis were determined to confiscate more land and build more settlements. The largest proportion of confiscation of land happened actually during days of peace making between 1993 and 1999. The peace promised turned to be nothing but a security arrangement between Israel and the PLO leadership whereby the latter takes care of the task of providing Israel with security in exchange for recognition and VIP treatment. As for the bulk of the Palestinian population their economic conditions continued to deteriorate and the six million who live as refugees or in exile were told their right to return had to be sacrificed in exchange for such a humiliating peace. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad managed to convince the majority of the Palestinians that their martyrdom operations served as the only deterrent in order to make the Israelis think twice before they attacked Palestinians villages, camps or towns. As regards the target, both organizations insisted that they never intend targeting children. They insist that they primarily target army personnel and that any attacks on civilians are either unintended or inevitable so long as Israel continues to target Palestinian civilians.

From a theological, or jurisprudential, point view, the assessing the nature of the operation had to be the most important issue to address so as to determine the legitimacy or illegitimacy of the ‘human bomb’. Since the Islamic religion has no one spokesperson or authority to refer to, it is not unusual in such turbulent times for politics to have a great bearing on the opinion of the religious scholars. Initially, supporters of the operations insisted they were acts of sacrifice while opponents claimed they were nothing but suicide. In the former case the perpetrator would be a martyr, a person who offers himself (or herself) for the sake of a noble cause and who will end up in the highest ranks of Paradise. From this perspective not only is the act permissible but it is highly commendable and greatly appreciated. There is no shortage of Qur’anic evidence to support this position. Take for instance Verse 111 of Chapter 9: “Allah has purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the Garden (of Paradise): they fight in His Cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in Truth, through the Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur’an: and who is more faithful to his Covenant than Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded: that is the achievement supreme.”

Those who oppose the operations on religious grounds argue that they involve suicide, an act that is strictly forbidden in Islam. Consequently, the perpetrator is a sinner who will end up in the Fire of Hell. However, no Muslim scholars inside Palestine today subscribe to this opinion. Even the official Mufti of the Palestinian Authority Sheikh Ikrima Sabri has not only considered these operations a noble act of sacrifice for the sake of God but also harshly criticized some Egyptian and Saudi scholars for denouncing them as suicide accusing them of failing to understand the context and therefore failing to apply the appropriate text.

As far as the Palestinians under occupation are concerned the overwhelming majority support these operations; they even demand that more of them are planned. However, some continue to argue against them on the grounds that they have caused more harm to the Palestinians than good and that they, even if inadvertently, result in killing innocent civilians. The Palestinian Authority is opposed to them on the grounds of its commitment to the peace process.

The attitude of scholars and religious institutions outside Palestine has been varied. Division seems to be prompted by political considerations. Official (governmental) religious institutions or scholars have maintained that these operations are illegitimate for two reasons:

1. They are suicide, and that is a major sin in Islam. An attacker cannot decide to take his own life, and if he does he will permanently be in the Hell-Fire.

2. These operations are indiscriminate and innocent people get killed, including children, and that contravenes the Islamic code of war ethics.

However, it is widely believed that these institutions or scholars are requested by their governments to adopt that position. These governments come under enormous pressure from the United States of America in order to denounce ‘suicide operations’ and stop all support for organizations engaged in them. The most outspoken scholars against these operations have been the Mufti of Saudi Arabia, who is appointed by a Royal Decree and is opposed in his position by hundreds of Saudi scholars; and the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, who is appointed by the President of Egypt, is under obligation to tow the official line in his fatwas and is opposed in his position by the bulk of Al-Azhar scholars represented by Al-Azhar Scholars Front. Whereas the Saudi Mufti office has been consistent in its position, Sheikh Al-Azhar Sayyid Tantawi has contradicted himself repeatedly on this issue, seemingly reflecting the political mood each time. His first fatwa was one of outright prohibition. Then he came out in full support considering the attackers to be martyrs of the highest degree. Speaking at conference on terrorism last year in Kuala Lumpur her reverted to his original position of outright condemnation.

In the meantime, independent scholars or institutions have opted for the position of considering these attacks inside Palestine to be ‘martyrdom operations’ of the noblest forms of Jihad. Prominent and renowned scholars in Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and many other Muslim countries have come out with their public endorsements and even encouragements. They base their arguments on the following principles:

1. These operations are not suicide by sacrifice of the highest quality

2. Israel is a military outpost and there are no civilians within it to spare apart from children. All men and women in Israel serve in the army. As long as attackers try their best to avoid children every other target is legitimate and if children are inadvertently hit it is because it is unavoidable.

3. The Palestinians have been left with no other choice since their enemy is armed to the teeth while they are deprived of the basic means of self-defence. So long as this situation continues the Palestinians cannot be blamed for engaging in these attacks.

4. If the Israelis want an end to these operations they should accept the offers of truce made to them repeatedly by Hamas and other Palestinian factions. However, to expect the Palestinians to unilaterally stop all resistance in the hope that the Israelis will stop attacking them is unfair and does not work.

However, as these types of operations started being carried out by Muslims elsewhere in the world, the debate became more intense and the divisions grew wider than ever. Few scholars provide a blanket support for any ‘martyrdom attack’ no matter where and when. Interestingly, a leading number of the scholars who support ‘martyrdom operations, in Palestine were among the first to condemn the attacks on 11 September and did also similarly condemn the bombings that were carried out later on in Bali, Riyadh, Rabat, Istnabul and Madrid. Here it is not a question of suicide or martyrdom but rather a question of the legitimacy or illegitimacy of the target. These scholars do not see that attacking New York or Bali or Madrid was justified from an Islamic perspective and therefore they deemed those bombings to be acts of criminality rather than acts of jihad.

There are those who maintain the odd position of considering the perpetrators of all ‘suicide bombings’ as martyrs and their actions as legitimate. However, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi leads a group of scholars that disagrees. They consider the case of Palestine a unique one and therefore only in Palestine are such operations legitimate at the present time. When asked about ‘suicide bombings’ in Iraq during his recent visit to London, Qaradawi explained that although he supported the right of the Iraqi people to resist the US led invasion of Iraq and to fight to liberate their country from foreign occupation he did not believe that the use of human bombs was justified because, in his judgment, the Iraqis have an abundance of the conventional means of resistance and have not been forced to resort to such ‘desperate’ weapon as have the Palestinians.

Human Bombs: Tactic or Desperate Act

In the case of Palestine, debate has also raged over whether these ‘human bombs’ are prompted by dire economic conditions or are simply part of a strategy aimed at achieving certain political objectives. It would be wrong to suggest that it has to be an ‘either/or’ case. Many visitors to the occupied territories have privately or publicly expressed an understanding as to why the Palestinians resort to these operations. While it is true that the majority of ‘martyrs’ do not come from poor desperate backgrounds, and that many of them are well-educated and well-positioned inside the community, the general condition of despair and frustration contributes to the motivation. However, from the organizational point of view these operations are not simply reactions, though they are occasionally presented as such, to the dire economic crisis caused by occupation. More so, they are seen as the only means of pressuring the Israelis, both state and society, to recognize the rights of the Palestinians and to agree to a cease-fire deal that would at least spare the civilians. Hamas is explicit in its objectives. In a document written upon the request of a European government that was until recently in communication with the movement, the movement states that “these operations are in principle directed against military targets.” It explains that “targeting civilians is considered an aberration from Hamas’ fundamental position of hitting only military targets; they represent an exception necessitated by the Israeli insistence on targeting Palestinian civilians and by Israel’s refusal to agree to an understanding prohibiting the killing of civilians on both sides; an understanding comparable to the one reached between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.” This is a reference to the agreement signed between Hezbollah and Israel in the aftermath of the Qana massacre in the mid-90s.

Indeed, the former leader of the movement in Gaza, Sheikh Yassin, repeatedly offered the Israelis a truce only to be rejected by the Israelis. He is quoted in this same document as saying: “Hamas does not endorse the killing of civilians, but that it is sometimes the only option it has if it is to respond to the murdering of Palestinian civilians and the cold-blooded assassination of Palestinian activists. He himself was assassinated by Israel last March.

Hamas believes that such tactic, or other new ones for that matter, will force the Israelis to negotiate an honorable and acceptable deal. Since the movement does not recognize the right of the State of Israel to exist in Palestine as a matter of principle, its medium term objective is a cease-fire agreement. In exchange for a cessation of all hostilities, Israel would have to agree to the following:

the withdrawal of Israeli occupation troops from the West Bank and Gaza Strip;
the evacuation of all Jewish settlements in both the West Bank and Gaza; and
releasing all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Groups that struggle for the liberation of Chechnya from Russian occupation or Kashmir from Indian occupation may resort to the same tactic with some political objective in mind. Similarly those that employ the same methods in Iraq would easily claim they aspire for the end of occupation. However, the same cannot be said of clandestine and indefinable groups that carry out attacks such as the ones that took place on 11 September or subsequently in Bali, Riyadh, Rabat, Istanbul and Madrid. These attacks may be an expression of anger against the United States of America and its allies. However, there are so far no specified negotiable demands let alone, in many cases, a credible claim of responsibility. It is suspected that at least some of these attacks are carried by different groups that are not linked organizationally but have in common an anti-American (or anti-Western) sentiment provoked by local, regional or international politics.

Future of ‘suicide bombings’

While there is no shortage of recruits for this type of operations, they are becoming increasingly difficult to execute. With the heightened states of emergency, enhanced international cooperation to exchange information and suspects, and the introduction of more stringent and sophisticated security measures – and in the case of Israel the construction of an eight-meter high wall to cut off completely the Palestinian territories from Israel, the human bomb may become less frequent and eventually disappear altogether. In Palestine, where ‘martyrdom operations’ have not been seen for several months now, the Palestinians are already developing new tactics. We have seen in recent days a higher frequency of the launching of Qassam missiles against Israeli targets by Hamas fighters. The missiles have clearly been developed further, have become more accurate and have been causing casualties. Another tactic developed by Hamas is the ‘long tunnel’ which renders the wall useless.

Similarly, those bent on putting up a resistance to strong and well-established powers will not fail to discover or innovate new ways and new methods. Perhaps the only way to guarantee a safer world is to sincerely and seriously seek to resolve problems fairly. Most of the groups that fight the status quo today do so because it is an unjust status quo, one that violates the basic human rights of individuals and communities alike. If only the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were respected by the strong as they are demanded by the week, the world would be a much more comfortable, even more enjoyable, place to be in. Perhaps then, less and less people will consider killing themselves or killing others.

Azzam Tamimi

Visiting Professor, Kyoto University, Japan

Director of the Institute of Islamic Political Thought, London

Getting to understand Lebanon – its politics and its soul

Getting to understand Lebanon – its politics and its soul
by Dr. Mazeni Alwi

I have long harboured the wish to visit Lebanon but have always had some misgivings about safety. Most people associate Lebanon with civil war, which after 15 years of sectarian violence, ended in 1990. There was also low level fighting between the Hizbollah and the Israeli occupying army in Southern Lebanon, and who could forget the massacre of Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatila camps just outside Beirut. I was pleasantly surprised that I found it very safe travelling alone recently to most parts of that small country which has an amazingly rich history and beautiful, varied landscape. The only place that I dared not venture was Southern Lebanon, until recently under Israeli occupation before the Hizbollah guerillas drove them out after nearly 20 years. I have always been keen to understand Lebanon, which I thought is the most enigmatic among Arab countries. I was especially curious about the Cedars and Mount Lebanon, two mystical symbols of the Lebanese nation. However I could not get satisfactory answers from Lebanese immigrant families that I befriended when I was studying in Australia in the early 80’s. Now I could understand why – my Lebanese friends in Brisbane and Sydney were simple, sunni muslims who had migrated to Australia to escape the ravages of civil war, whereas the Cedars and Mount Lebanon are exclusive symbols revered by the Maronite Christians for whom the Lebanese nation was carved out from Greater Syria by the French Mandate authority. The French were the guardians of the Maronite Christians and their special relationship stretched back to the Crusades. When the first Crusade arrived in the region of Tripoli in 1099, they were welcomed by the Maronites, who advised them as to the safest route to Jerusalem. The French played a leading role in forcing the Ottomans in 1860 to create the Special Province of Mount Lebanon under european protection for the Maronites. In 1920 the Maronites pressured the French to enlarge Mount Lebanon administrative region to include the major coastal plain, where the major cities are, to carve out for themselves a sufficiently large territory to be able to survive as an independent state separate from muslim Syria. It happened that the major coastal cities of Sidon, Tripoli and Beirut are predominantly muslim. It is this peculiar social mix of Lebanon, which also include the Greek Orthodox Christians, Druze and Shia muslims and later Palestinian fighters and refugees that led to the difficulties and volatility of her sectarian politics until a decade ago.

Travelling in many parts of Lebanon feeling secure and comfortable among its friendly people, and while in Beirut staying at the swanking new Movenpick Hotel built onto the side of a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean where every night there was a glittering party or wedding reception of upper class families, and on top of that the frenetic phase of reconstruction in Beirut, it was hard to imagine that until a few years ago there was a bitter and bloody civil war between Maronite Christians and Muslims, plus a host of permutations of side conflicts – Syrian troops vs. Maronites (in defense of Palestinians), Maronites vs. Palestinians, Syrians vs. the PLO and back to the Maronites, Israeli bombardment of Beirut in pursuit of the PLO, the Hizbollah vs. Israelis, Hizbollah vs. Amal, Druzes vs. Christians, and not least, fighting between Christian militias.. Near the site of the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps now stand a new football stadium that one can see as one heads south out of Beirut towards Sidon. But one need not look very hard for the scars of violence past. A doctor friend took me around his hometown of Sidon, an Islamic city where there are still many buildings with pock marks and mosque minarets partly damaged by Israeli shells as they marched north to Beirut. In Tripoli, an Islamic city in the north of Lebanon where Arafat and a core of PLO fighters were entrenched for a period, there were similar reminders of attacks by rival Palestinian factions supported by the Syrians. Downtown Beirut (Beirut Central District) was the site of the bloodiest fighting during the civil war. One can see testimony of this in a few buildings still left with pock marks from snipers’ shells on their walls which become more concentrated around windows frames. Happily today much of Downtown Beirut has undergone massive redevelopment, restoring many of the Ottoman and French Mandate era buildings. The area around Place d’Étoile is especially beautiful, its layout and buildings modeled along Paris Right Bank’s. In the vicinity, within walking distance from one to another are many, very beautiful old churches and mosques. The magnificent Omari Mosque (Grand Mosque), now under renovation, was originally built in the 12th century by the Crusaders as the Church of St. John the Baptist, and later converted to a mosque when the Mamelukes finally drove them out of Beirut for the last time. Nearby are Amir Munzir Mosque built in 1620 and Amir Assaf Mosque built in the 1570’s. And yet there is a huge modern mosque being constructed just nearby. Sharing the same area are the many churches and cathedrals like the Maronite Cathedral of St. George, completely restored after the civil war, the Greek orthodox cathedral of St. George, the St. Louis Capucin Church, among others, all exquisitely beautiful buildings.

The seeds of the civil war was Lebanon’s uneasy mix of confessional groups, with the Maronite Christians given an edge of supremacy over the others by the French at the birth of the nation. Accordingly to its constitution, the President is always a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of Parliament, a Shia Muslim, and Lebanese politics has always had a heavy sectarian bent, its political parties largely organized around these confession groups. Things came to a boil with the first civil war in 1958 between sunni muslims who were largely pro Pan Arabism of Nasser and the pro west Christians. Apart from that sectarian bent, their politics was also intensely clannish. Suleiman Franjieh, elected to the Presidency in 1970 was fiercely militant in his championing of Maronite supremacy and equally fiercely tribal. A commentator said of him, “His only previous claim to fame had been his involvement in the machine gunning inside a church of 22 members of a competing Christian Lebanese clan”. The second civil war, still fresh in many people’s memory today, broke out in 1975 as a result of a heavy Palestinian presence in Lebanon, both as refugees and as PLO fighters after the events of Black September of 1970 in Jordan. The civil war erupted when a bus load of Palestinians were massacred as revenge killings by Maronite Phalange militias. The Militias flourished around political groupings, the most well known of them was the Maronite phalangistes, which had close ties with Israel, and on the muslim side, a loose grouping called the National Movement.

But pure religious motives were probably not the real inspiration for the civil war. The Christian militias at times worked together against the National Movement and the Palestinians, and at other times were engaged in vicious infighting amongst themselves. It is really baffling for an observer from outside the region to grasp that a people who share many things in common – language, ethnicity, Arabic script (even in churches), and almost all having muslim sounding Arabic names, could be at each others’ throat for so long.

But today such a bitter civil war would probably not recur. The memory of death and destruction surely is still painful for the orphan, widows relatives of those who died, and the scars are still evident that many Lebanese would probably be inclined to think that what took place was sheer stupidity. But more so perhaps the influence of religion in people’s lives is much diminished today and increasingly private. With the secular materialist culture which globalization has wrought everywhere especially in the less conservative arab countries like Lebanon, people are more preoccupied with keeping up with the latest things and the most fashionable in popular culture, and few would want to fight and die for a cause. At least that was what I could discern in Beirut. I was there during the height of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, yet it was hard to notice any outrage among Beirutis, and my Arab friends did not talk about it, and even less so Lebanese television with its endless entertainment, talk and games shows. In a way, the much-attenuated influence of religion in daily life and as a social bond may mean less likelihood of a religiously motivated war, but the fast erosion of local culture, both Arab Christian and Arab Muslim, each with their rich traditions and history, and in their place, a secular, western consumerist culture is very disconcerting.

Going back to my earlier curiousity about the mystical Cedars and Mount Lebanon, the most satisfying aspect of my visit to Lebanon was making that long trip up the Qadisha valley, high up in the northern part of the Lebanese mountains. Mount Lebanon, I found out, is not one solitary mountain, but the range of mountains which make up much of Lebanon’s territory. Rising abruptly from the narrow coastal strip, it is a totally different world from the swirl and congestion of Beirut. The Qadisha valley is the spiritual home of the Maronite Christians. They were driven out of Syria by the Eastern orthodox Christians and took refuge in the isolated valleys of Mount Lebanon. This is another world of beautiful mountain scenery and cool alpine climate, with many villages hugging the steep sides of the valley, the houses typically clustered around a church. At the head the valley near the top of the mountains, is B’Charré, the seat of the Maronite patriarchs. Two large churches stand out clearly from a distance, the Mar Saba Church and the Virgin Mary Church. The deep gorge of the Qadisha valley at B’Charré combines spectacularly beautiful natural scenery with some of the most important religious centres of the Maronite faith. On the steep sides of the gorge and valley floor are numerous isolated grottoes, hermitages, chapels and monasteries. For those who had been mesmerized by Kahlil Gibran’s “the Prophet” at some point in their life, B’Charré is the poet-artist’s birth place. The Gibran museum is one of those monasteries, carved out from a rocky promontory overlooking the valley. His body was brought back from New York and the monastery/museum is his final resting place as well as a gallery for his paintings, books and memorabilia.

The Cedars, as a place, is a plateau surrounded by an amphitheatre of snow-capped mountains a few kms up from B’Charré. I had expected to see an extensive forest of Cedars like those of the Moroccan Cedars in the Middle Atlas Mountains, whose wood is extensively used for the beautiful woodwork in mosques all over Morocco. But today all that remains of the once extensive forests is a small stand of Cedars in an otherwise barren landscape. This was it – Al Arz Ar Rabb (the Cedars of the Lord), the soul of the Lebanese nation and source of great pride among Lebanese Christians. This stand contains some of the oldest (1000 – 1500 years old) and largest Cedar trees in Lebanon. The forests were steadily depleted over thousands of years and it was only by the mid 19th Century that the local people became aware of the threat of its extinction. The Maronite patriarchs of B’Charré placed them under their personal protection, building a small chapel in the midst of the stand in 1843 and forbidding any further felling of the trees. There is also a small army camp beside the stand of trees, ostensibly to protect them too one presumes. The Cedars area, quite desolate in May, is actually a large snowfield and an excellent ski resort in winter. From the Cedars the road crosses the highest ridges of the mountains and descend onto the Bekaa valley, and heading south and one can take the much longer way back to Beirut, which I intended to do. But already just above the Cedars the road was still blocked by heavy snow and I had to go back down the Qadisha Valley to Tripoli.

I was very pleased to have finally made that trip to Lebanon, one that I would certainly recommend to others. For such a small nation, Lebanon packs it in terms of outstanding natural beauty and historical monuments – Roman ruins, Crusaders castles and churches, Mameluke and Ottoman mosques, palaces and civil buildings and French Mandate buildings. From another aspect, Lebanon’s recent history like that of Yugoslavia, and to a certain Malaysia too, where people of different cultures and confessions are forced to live together in a nation-state by accidents of history, provides sobering lessons on how to turn such pluralism into a constructive and vibrant force rather than a destructive one.

Looking at suicide bombing/martyrdom operation – beyond political correctness

Looking at suicide bombing/martyrdom operation – beyond political correctness
by Dr. Mazeni Alwi

In the concluding chapter of Ziauddin Sardar’s just recently published memoir, “Desperately seeking paradise – journeys of a sceptical muslim” (Granta Books, London 2004), a friend lamented at the intellectual and moral paralysis gripping the muslim world. In anger and despair, muslims are reduced to meeting the challenges of the modern world by summoning people to die for Islam. Ziauddin remarked “its time some of us demanded to live for Islam, unfashionable as that may sound. Martyrdom has its uses, but right now living for Islam takes more courage and more effort. You don’t have to think to offer yourself for death… But to live, you’re got to think all the unthinkables and face all the slings, arrows brickbats and siren songs of the entire gamut from the West to the Rest, from without and within, and then come up with a way forward worth traveling…”.

If there is anyone who has suffered the most vulgar of abuses and vicious denunciations in the media and in public, it is Sheikh Yusuf al Qaradawi, a scholarly figure widely regarded as the world’s chief proponent of moderate Islam. At a time when the confused and despairing muslims cheered the Al Qaeda suicide bombing of the Twin Towers, Qaradawi condemned the act as heinous crime. When the Taliban leader Mullah Omar decreed that the Buddha statues of Bamiyan be destroyed, Qaradawi was among a delegation of scholars who went to Afghanistan and counseled them against that decree, suggesting that they should instead “focus on fighting poverty, diseases, unemployment and bloodshed on their soil”. During his recent visit to London for a series of conferences, the influential and well connected zionist lobby and right-wing Islamophobes lobbied the government to bar his entry into Britain using over the top smear campaigns and media vilification, citing his endorsement of terrorism for his stand on Palestine. Sheikh Qaradawi has of course visited London on numerous occasions in the course of the past decades. His 3 daughters completed doctorates at British Universities and he is a trustee of the Oxford University Centre for Islamic Studies. The zionist lobby and friends of Israel, seeing that the muslims are at their lowest ebb, with the popular perception among westerners that Islam equates terrorism, anti-west and incompatible with modernity, pounced on the affable and gentle old man to make sure that muslims in Britain (and Europe) are prevented from integrating into and contributing meaningfully to mainstream society. The zionists cannot afford to have muslims integrate into the mainstream. They must be kept alienated at the margins, trapped in the ghettos with no possibility of good education and social mobility for their children. The zionists would try hard that the western public only hears their version of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. An alternative narrative of palestinians as victims of the victims, having their land stolen and expelled from their towns and villages to languish in abject misery in refugee camps for more than half-century and subjected to brutal, colonial policies of the Israeli occupation must not reach the ears of the western public at all cost. When he arrived in Britain the Sun called Qaradawi a “devil” and its headline read “The Evil Has Landed”. Some newspapers and parliamentarians from all parties have urged the government to deport Qaradawi, claiming that he supports terrorism and preaches race hate and intolerance. Labour MP for Liverpool, Louise Ellman, known for her staunch support for Israel, wrote a letter to Home Secretary Davie Blunkett urging the government to deny access to Qaradawi. During Prime Minister’s question time in the parliament, the Conservative leader, Michael Howard said that Qaradawi should have been prevented from entering the country. Even if muslims found themselves on the ropes, it was heartening to see that common sense prevailed in an atmosphere of openness and freedom of expression, unheard of in muslim nations, even if those who wield influence, money and connections with the powerful media and politicians exerted their weight in a vulgar manner. Credit most be given to Qaradawi’s hosts, the Muslim Association of Britain, whose leadership ranks consist of articulate and educated professionals, for its mature vision and balanced, moderate stance on many issues relating to Islam and Muslims especially after September 11. Furthermore, the zionist lobby cannot have the monopoly of the Israeli-Palestine conflict narrative forever. At the opening of a conference for Muslims in Europe at the Greater London Authority’s building, he shared a platform with the London Mayor, Ken Livingstone. Interestingly, apart from the Mayor, American Rabbi Yisroel David Weiss also defended Qaradawi against the attacks by the media, condemning the Zionist state as a perversion of true Judaism.

The London episode, discomforting and unpleasant as it was, served an object lesion for muslims. Prejudice against Islam is still very strong, even among mainstream politicians, and this is despite official calls for bridging the gap between muslims and the West, and for integrating ethnic minorities. The zionist lobby and islamophobes will take every opportunity to exploit the western public’s ignorance of Islam to perpetuate this prejudice so that Israel can do anything she wants. But the answer to that is more efforts towards engagement and integration with mainstream society, something that muslims are beginning to appreciate, rather than retreating into the ghettos in anger and frustration, into the arms of Al Qaeda recruiting agents.

And the zionists never sleep – they will scrutinize every statement and gesture to pin us down onto that catch-all, convenient label of “supporter of terrorism”. For all of Qaradawi’s positive pronouncements on the need for dialogue and interaction with the west and non muslims, his categorical condemnation of the September 11 attack, Bali bombing and those in Riyadh and Casablanca, his detractors managed to get the mud to stick on 1 issue – the Palestine suicide bomber. Indeed, this is an issue that muslims must examine thoroughly, yet find it difficult to debate especially when a scholar of Sheikh Qaradawi’s stature has issued a fatwa (religious edict) that “suicide attack” against Israel are licit and that they should be called “martyrdom operation”. In defence of Qaradawi, Sohaib Saeed argued that “A question such as that over the rights and wrongs of suicide-bombing in Palestine can legitimately be approached from different angles. A jurist like Mr. Qaradawi is required to draw conclusions about its status within Islamic law – his comments are made in the context of a debate about the interpretative of Islamic texts” (If Qaradawi is an extremist, who is left? – the Guardian, July 9, 2004). Still, with all the respect for Sheikh Qaradawi as an eminent scholar, there is an element of human fallibility, as in all matters of interpretation, especially when the modern context of Israeli-Palestine conflict has no precedence in the classical texts. Have all angles and the role of reason been exhausted, and what is the impact on the wider picture of the Palestinian struggle for justice? While Sheikh Qaradawi and the mainstream, traditional Islamic scholars are unanimous in condemning acts of terrorism on unarmed, innocent civilians are heinous crimes in Islam, the case of suicide attacks against Israel are different. In an interview by Gilles Keppel, Sheikh Qaradawi’s argument was that Israel is a Muslim land (Dar al Islam) taken over by the zionists. It was therefore legitimate to wage jihad to reclaim it. Moreover, Israelis are not civilians, because all citizens are drafted into the army, even if they are in civilian clothes (Tightrope walks and chessboards : an interview with Gilles Keppel, Open Democracy 14 April 2003). The rules of engagement during war with regards to women, children, the old and infirm (non-combattants), religious sanctuaries, plants, animals and water sources have been clearly spelled in Islam, based on the prophetic traditions. The argument that the entire Israeli society is militarized and that they are colonizers, and therefore fair target for “martyrdom operations” is problematic. The most obvious thing concerns Israeli children. Even if they have been indoctrinated to hate arabs and consider them subhuman, they cannot choose where they want to be born, have no capacity to be conscientious objects and have no means of leaving Israel. In fact the same goes for adult Israelis who become its citizens by accident of birth, yet deplore the colonial policies of Israel and sympathize with the arabs, however small may be their number.

Many sympathizers of the Palestinian cause can readily understand why arab teenagers are driven to blowing themselves up in buses and restaurants – chiefly the unspeakable despair, frustration, and desperation of life under Israeli occupation and an uncomphending, indifferent world, coupled with religious notions of sacrifice. Understanding the phenomenon is one thing but giving it moral legitimacy is another, let alone accord it religious sanction. In a post September 11 world where “terrorism” has becomes the catch-all phrase to conveniently isolate and denounce the slightest challenge or grievance against the US hegemony, to whose coat tails Israel tightly clings, it demands Muslims to be extremely careful in our stand on issue like this – an over cautions political correctness if we like. But I think its worth the trouble. Unfair in the extreme we may complain, but the world’s judgement on the legitimacy or otherwise of the Palestinian struggle today appears to hinge only on one thing – the suicide bombers, the Archilles heel of the Palestinian struggle. Everything that is legitimate about the struggle – the quest for dignity and respect as a people, a truly sovereign state, right of return/compensation for what happened in 1948, the rights to Jerusalem etc, are wiped out by these acts of desperation, and it has to be admitted that targeting children in buses is revolting to the civilized world. Conversely, Israeli’s oppressive colonial policies, state terrorism, and destruction of Palestinian society are given tacit approval or grudgingly accepted as justifiable on the basis of tit for tat moral equivalency. For the few Israelis killed by suicide bombers, the reprisals and repression visited on the Palestinians are many times over in terms of loss of life and property, and worse, the rapid depletion of its leadership ranks. Maxime Rodinson, the distinguished French orientalist and long time supporter the Palestinian struggle who died just recently (May 2004) once wrote that Israel more or less tells the arab world in a clear and simple language, “We are here because we are the strongest. We will remain here because we will remain the strongest, wether you like it or not. And we will always remain the strongest, thanks to our friends in the developed world. It is up to you to draw your conclusions, to recognize your defeat and weakness, and to accept us as we are on the land that we have taken” (from “Vivre avec les Arabes”, written by Rodinson for the Le Monde in June 1967 just before the 6 day war, republished in the July 2004 issue of Le Monde Diplomatique).

Clearly, suicide bombing/martyrdom operation is too feeble to confront the Israeli military might, and the backlash against it too costly to be a viable strategy for the Palestinian struggle for justice, regardless that eminent scholars have given it a religious sanction, although I feel it still deserves further debate within the muslim ummah.

Beyond political correctness, today’s climate demands exceptional moral scrupulousness on the part of muslims if we need the solidarity of the world’s public on the issue of Palestine, which at present remains stifled by the revulsion towards suicide bombings. Sustaining its moral legitimacy seems to be the only way out, no matter how slow and painful the process may take.

Returning to Ziauddin Sardar, perhaps it is time that we ask muslims live for Islam, a much more difficult thing to do than its opposite.

Darfur Issue #1 – Dr. Mazeni Alwi

Darfur Issue #1
by Dr. Mazeni Alwi

I have to say that I am very disturbed by what is happening in Darfur.I have been trying to get an alternative narrative to challenge the mainstream bbc world/cnn reporting on the issue but so far nothing substantial has emerged.The response by the Sudanese general that I saw on bbcworld last weekend and on this posting the claim by gen Omar bashir that darfur is an excuse to target islam are not convincing. Other than saying that the west is targetting islam,they made no attempt to answer the charges of complicity in genocide.Has anyone got a more reliable alternative report to rely on?If not,then we should call a changkul a changkul,that what is happening is genocide on a black civilian population by arab militias backed by the govt.The footage I saw sometime back of militias on camel-backs looting and burning African huts did not seem irrefutable.So are the accounts of survivors(all civilians) which so far have remained unchallenged.Genocide and systematic expulsion of a people from their homeland come under crimes against humanity in international law.I hope the Sudanese muslims did not commit this, but if they do,we should not cover up their crimes in the name of Islamic brotherhood.

By the way,some of those black African refugees do look like muslims by the way they dress.Is this a racist crime arabs against blacks? I hope not.

It is true that western govts and Christian NGOs have been supporting the SPLA rebels in the south,and bill Clinton bombed a pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum,but in matters of justice muslims have to be very objective even if it is not in favour of our brethren.

Just being a spoilsport.
mazeni

Darfur Issue #2 – Dr. Fauzi

Darfur Issue #2
by Dr. Fauzi

“you will not find the jews as well as the christians being completely at ease with you the muslims, untill you become the followers of their paganistic beliefs” the meaning of a verse of the Quran, this thing about the non muslims (jews and christians) against us is not a fantasy, there are views that the muslims’ overreactions are partly to blame, our ways in dealing with the non muslims, the over zealotness of the muslims, failure to comprehend the changing circumstances, the western sensibility is a potent force, well these half truths are there but the story of darfor yet again illustrates that muslims are the targets of the western machinations especially if they choose to profess the rules of Allah SWT as supreme,

“do you think that you will left at ease after you have professed to the truth of Allah SWT, have you not seen what have been afflicted to those who believed before you untill HE discerned ……..”

interesting read:

Darfur an excuse to ‘target Islam’
By AFP and AP correspondents in London
July 26, 2004

SUDANESE President Omar al-Beshir has brushed off mounting international concern over the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, accusing the West of using the issue to “target Islam”.

As Australia joined Britain in considering a possible troop commitment to Sudan, and the US and European Union warned of economic sanctions, Mr Beshir said the “real aim” of such moves was to stop the spread of Islam in the northeast African nation.

Pro-government newspaper Al-Anbaa reported that Mr Beshir made the remarks to supporters in the central region of Gezira following evening prayers on Friday. “The international concern about the Darfur issue is targeting the status of Islam in Sudan,” the paper quoted him as saying.

He said his national “salvation” Government, as its supporters refer to it, would continue to adhere to Islamic law, “set an example for social cohesion and bring humanity out of darkness to the light of Islam”.

Sudan, the largest country in Africa, is 70 per cent Muslim. Mr Beshir seized power in a bloodless Islamist coup in 1989.

The UN estimates that 50,000 people have died in Darfur and about 1.2 million have been driven from their homes since a revolt against Mr Beshir’s Arab-dominated Government broke out among indigenous black African ethnic minorities in February 2003.

In response, an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed, widely believed to be backed by Mr Beshir’s regime, launched a campaign of violence against black African villagers that the US Congress has declared to be attempted genocide.

The US has presented a draft UN Security Council resolution authorising sanctions against Sudan should it fail to prosecute leaders of the Janjaweed.

“They must stop Janjaweed violence, they must provide access to humanitarian relief for the people who suffer,” US President George W.Bush said last week.

Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot warned yesterday that “if the situation doesn’t improve quickly, sanctions by the international community will inevitably follow”. The Netherlands currently holds the EU presidency.

However, the chairman of the Sudanese parliament’s foreign relations committee, Al-Tigani Mustafa, warned yesterday that sanctions would “escalate and complicate, rather than solve, the Darfur crisis”. He won support from Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, who said Sudan should be given time to implement its commitments to the UN and the US.

Arguing that the Darfur situation was complex, Mr Abul Gheit said the Sudanese Government, with the support of the African Union, had begun taking steps to address it. “We cannot tell Sudanese officials … ‘Tomorrow you should immediately achieve complete calm’,” he said.

Britain has said it could send thousands of troops to the region if required. British army chief General Sir Michael Jackson told the BBC that “we could put a brigade together very quickly indeed”. Asked how many troops that would entail, he replied: “Five thousand.”

Darfur Issue #3 – Dr. Musa

Darfur Issue #3
by Dr. Musa

asm
Like most of you i am disturbed by the crisis in darfur. I am however similarly disturbed by the responses of some of us towards the issues. Whilst admitting naivety at most of the ovewhelming issues at play there, we’ve made insinuations or displayed nuances which are in my mind lacking at the very lowest level of ukhuwah islamiah. And this my dear bros/sis is the adab/culture of husnuzzan (harbouring good thoughts of your fellow muslim bros/sis). And this concept as alluded to by al-Ghazali (may Allah bless his soul) is the least that a bro can expect of another ; especially so in the midst of uncertainty, vagueness and raging disinformation which is waged by the forces of disbelief.

I make no pretense of my unflinching and deep fraternity with the muslim bros in the Sudanese govt since the early 70s becos many of them were my teachers and friends during our formative years in the UK. Let there be no 2 ways about this – this is a govt which is committed to the upholding of the shariah. Her shortfalls in this holy endeavour is for another deliberation. It bleeds my heart reading Mazeni’s mail ( the hurt is more so following his alternative view of the syahid bombers and the Malaysiakini caption says it all ). Despite all that has been written and the various argumentations the other equally pivotal concept of “almautufisabilillah hi asma amanina – allahu akbar walillahil hamd” (and to die in the path of jihad fisabilillah is our greatest ambition) is inadvertently thrashed ; and thrown out of the window by the likes of malaysiakini.

My first intro to maqasid as shariah was by the likes of Zubair Taha, a minister in the Sudanese Islamic govt ( our father Prof. Malik Badri will testify personally that this psychology student of his has never been part of this savage, irreprehensibe and inhumane treatment of their citizenry) Despite being a minister; he personally travelled south and took up arms to lead the charge of the Sudanese soldiers against the treacherous SPLM (Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement) led by the American Proxy, John Garang. He was in the twilight of near death in one of the battles having been severely injured but a “dream” woke him up and he survived to fight the next battle.

The foreign minister, Dr. Mustafa was once my colleague in the FOSIS (Fed of Student Islamic Societies in the UK & Eire) executive committee. He remains one of the most articulate in the cabinet and is most able to counter the barrage of diplomatic animosity.

Dr. Hasan Turabi (in the late 70s with a few friends/reporters we had a close session with him on the Sudanese experience) who I much admired in the early days of the Sudanese Islamic Project; has unfortunately changed his Islamic ways – yes even prominent islamist do change hence the celebrated dua. Considered one of the most versatile and progressive Muslim leaders his fatwa of late has been “quetsionable” and in some instances “wayward”. His alienation from mainstream islamic politics was evidenced from his collusion with the American sponsored rebels; SPLM when his party PNC (Popular National Congress) signed the MOU with Garang in feb 2001.

So bros, Sudanese politics which you only just heard over the past week or so is webbed in a complexity of sorts. The other regions seeing the “gains” acquired by Garang are toying with cessionist ideas – like penang getting ideas of the succesful s’pore project in 1969! The least our bros expect from us is husnuzzan – is that too much to ask …

wallahualam

musa

Darfur Issue #4 – Dr. Azhar

Darfur Issue #4
by Dr. Azhar

ASM and greetings from the Gulf,

I have had the opportunity to speak to a representative of a national relief organization who just got back from Darfur 2 days ago. I have also taken the liberty to speak to a number of Sudanese doctors, who are aplenty in our hospital, to get some more inside views of the real situation in Sudan. In brief, this is my summary:

What is happening in Darfur is not a new and isolated event, and not divorced from the country’s recent history of the past couple of decades. Sudan’s vastness coupled with poverty and low living standards make uprising by villages / rebel groups a no surprise by international standards. The media-painted accounts of Govt-backed arab Janjawids killing the African Sudanese are too complicated for even the locals to conclude, and we are in no better position to judge. What is apparent, if not obvious, is a series of events one cannot ignore.the troubles with western-backed Christian, John Garang, making the South of Sudan almost separated, if not independent from the main state; resurfacing of previous conflicts in the East, bordering Eriteria; and now the current problems in the Western province of Darfur. One can only guess that the North and Central are ‘left to be dealt with’ by forces interested to interfere with affairs in this strongly Muslim-ruled African civilization. A Sudanese physician whom I’ve just spoken to minutes ago, described this simply as the west’s plan to invade, akin to what happened in Iraq.

I found it also interesting to note accounts of my contact and that of a number of Egyptian doctors who spent a stint in Darfur. Accordingly, there is but an ongoing problem there, but nowhere near the hyper inflated reports by the western media. Yes, there were skirmishes and killings (mind you, by all sides) but a magnitude of “genocide” or “the worst humanitarian crisis of this century” as reported by the west is simply a bull.. by local standards and foreign humanitarian workers and observers. There is reportedly ample policing by non-military security forces and even foreign women workers are almost guaranteed safety, hence MERCY Malaysia’s decision to send out a female non-Muslim. What’s also interesting is that UN and many western NGOs were found to prevent the many thousands of Internally Displaced People (IDPs; unlike refugees, they’re still within the borders of their own country) from returning to their villages, as though trying to maintain status quo of a very volatile and insecure crisis situation. This, unless due to security or valid reasons, is very much against the spirit of humanitarian relief where you assist and get people back to their independent live styles in their respective kampungs. Hasten to add their usual uncooperative behaviour especially towards Muslim NGOs (reminding me of the snobbish attitudes of some European NGOs and intimidatingly-arrogant Canadian military personnel, we bumped into in the Dreniza villages of Kosova in 1999). In the weekly humanitarian NGOs’ meet in Khartoum, these UN and western NGOs are now being criticized by the Sudanese Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs for their lack of relief achievements, despite being allocated and given various tasks and assistance. Reports from independent sources and observers also confirmed the safe and secure return of many IDPs back to their villages (100,000 in North Darfur, hundreds daily in South Darfur, but no info on West Darfur), and government assistance, though inadequate (hence required + + + from all of us) by way of food, maize, oil, plastic shelters etc.

While we rely heavily on news channels like the CNN, BBC and others, I remind myself and all of our obligatory duty to vet reports, especially of such nature. Allah’s reminder in Al-Hujurat 49:6 in the verification of news brought by the faasiqun should apply even with a heavier weightage when dealing with those from the kaafirun. Our MERCY experience in the Moluccas Islands of Indonesia was an unforgettable lesson. ‘Religious’ conflicts, which started on Eid ul Fitri in Jan 2000 (when numerous Muslims were killed by the Christians in the streets of Ambon, followed by clashes in the villages of Ternate and elsewhere), were only reported by the BBC in Mar 2001 as a recently Muslim-initiated war. The heavily biased BBC & CNN footages, interviews and video clips that we saw in our Jakarta hotel, showed nothing but some victims from Christian villages and few damaged Churches. Absolutely nothing about the charred remains of men, women and children in a burnt-out masjid in Galela, the literally butchered bodies of many other villages in Northern Maluku, the seriously injured that we met and spoke to (one abdominal gun shot who later succumbed in Ternate, a few fractured tib-fibs and explosion-burnt patients in a maternity-turned-trauma center) in Ambon city.

While MERCY remains apolitical and neutral on humanitarian grounds, I feel duty bound as a responsible Muslim physician to relate these findings to the rest. Agreeably, we need alternatives to mainstream media and Al-Jazeera may be a promising potential. When Washington officially protested to the Qatar government against this Doha-based news station for being biased, anti-US and detrimental to the liberation of Iraq, one only needs to be reminded yet again by the Almighty’s declaration of their sinister agendas in Al-Baqarah 2:120.

On a more personal note, a number of key people in the Sudanese government were notable Muslim scholars during our UK days in the 70s & 80s. Old guards of Newcastle (in the early 80s) will remember a Sudanese brother called Al-Haj Adam Yusuf, now a governor/wakil rakyat back home, not only as an Imam and Khatib but also as an exemplary Muslim scholar to whom, many in Geordieland and throughout the UK turned to for opinion and advice.

In short, it’s a real world out there, maybe cruel to some, for us Muslims to face. And in these trying days of continuous fitnah on the ummah, returning to basic guidelines and consolidating our efforts are but a demand on every believing brother/sister. To those who feel that they should see and hear for themselves, on top of physically contributing to assist, a mission out with MERCY Malaysia, or perhaps Islamic Relief UK, to Darfur would insya allah prove beneficial, in this world and the hereafter. Allahu a’lam.

Azhar Abdul Aziz
Hamad General Hospital
Doha, Qatar

Darfur Issue #5 – Dr. Fauzi

Darfur Issue #5
by Dr. Fauzi

news that filter thru with regards darfur are sketchy to say the least, i have heard many excerpts both from the christian missionaries (oxfam, aid watch so forth) and the main stream british and world news (bbc, cnn afp so on) and also from official sudanese gov positions, the uk sudanese ambassador, the latter would disagree all western assertions few facts, the war has been going on for at least 10 years yet they require settlement and remedial actions in weeks and days, reports of genocides, totures and rapes (same has been labelled to mugabe, the actual situation in zimbabwe is actually not that bad) are based on a few human accounts of refugees these are not to be taken as truths, at best suspicions or just mere accusations, they must be tested before they can become facts, ministers, aid workers so forth go to one camp and make massive infalted claims on sudanese governments as collaborators to janjaweed, these people have been beligerent for years!! comments that i have heard in the news make your blood boils as they are half truths and accusations, there is no chance that these assertions can be substantiated. lets not make qualms that people do commit excesses, but there is a huge difference in saying sudanese government coconspire to genocides, totures and rapes!! there is a question of faith here, when a muslim comes to you with a piece of news, you must believe the muslim (especially when they profess to withold syariah) and mistrust should be given to news form the west, this is not a question of being a spoilsport!

Darfur Issue #6 – Dr. Mazeni Alwi

Darfur Issue #6
by Dr. Mazeni Alwi

Thank you Musa and fauzi for your responses.I think none of us need to be reminded that many people don’t like islam and muslims. Wether or not this translates into conspiracy theories,opinions differ.

If you read my posting carefully,I do still have husnul-zann towards the Sudanese muslims.However I would not allow that to cloud my objectivity – as the prophetic tradition that says ‘help your brother wether he is the oppressed or oppressor’.In a situation as grave as this,I think objectivity is paramount.

The responses to my posting so far have failed to answer my queries and assuage my anxieties,much like the official statements from the govt.All I want is a credible alternative account to challenge those of the bbc & cnn to help me make an independent judgement.Also,Fauzi, we cannot simply brush aside accounts of survivors as unreliable without offering a credible rebuttal.Maybe they lied to embarrass the govt, but maybe they spoke the truth.

Well, back to husnul-zann and objectivity.I can recall 2 specific situations in the past.Many muslim students hailed the Islamic revolution in iran,and thought that this is the model for the Islamic world to follow.Not long after, it was odd that the Islamic republic was very supportive of hafez assad,who was at that time killing the muslim brotherhood supporters in Aleppo and hamas.I asked the more knowledgable brothers – the answer given was something along the line of husnul-zann.

Then the revolution started turning on its own children – bani sadr, mehdi bazargan,ibrahim yazdi… again the same answer.Maybe the shia have their way of doing things.

Then Afghanistan.We were all happy that mujahideen drove the soviets out.At last the sunni world can do it too.The most well known among Malaysians was hizbi islami led by gulbuddin hekmatyar because of its close association with jamaat islami. But not long after, they started to turn on each other,very brutal ,so much so that more afghan civilians died under them than under the russians,and later the Taliban stepped in to restore order(and the rest is history).Again I asked the knowledgable brothers,and the answer given was similar.Too many people have died because we dared not be objective and make criticisms where they are due.

Back to sudan,I never had the same privilege as musa of personally knowing important Sudanese Islamic activists.Even if Hassan turabi has gone wayward, there was no need for physically assaulting him at a Canadian airport.Again the charges of govt complicity have not been satisfactorily answered.

Shariah at all costs as state laws- too many politicians/govt have used it to maintain polpularity and remain in power among muslims – one day they were stauch secularists, the next day strictly applying the shariah.jaafar numeiri of sudan was one example,then the state govts in northern Nigeria, Pakistan. In its present state, shariah only applies to the poor and uneducated.The corrupt and power abusing elite of Saudi Arabia,Pakistan,Nigeria etc escape them.I don’t know enough about sudan but I hope it is not like that.What is really the priority for muslims?

mazeni