Understanding The Political Ideology Of Salafism And Its Theology Of Supremacism, Exclusivism And Violence - Part 1
By
Grace Mubashir, New Age Islam
24 April
2022
Salafi Movements
(Often Referred To As Wahhabism) Represent A Diverse Community
Main
Points:
1. Salafism is
a branch of Sunnite tradition.
2. Efforts of
Salafi movements to institutionalize the new creed got materialized with the
Establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.
3. Salafis are
united by a common creed which provides guidelines for applying religious
teachings to contemporary issues.
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Salafism is
a branch of Sunnite tradition. Salafi movements (often referred to as Wahhabism)
represent a diverse community. All Salafi sects propound a puritanical approach
to the religion intended to eschew innovation by strictly emulating the model
of Prophet Mohamed and the first generation of Muslims. It is an
ultra-conservative fundamentalist movement started with Ahmed ibn Hanbal
(780-855). Later ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328) popularized the movement through his
reform activities and put the postulates for the future evolutions. With
the advent of Mohamed ibn Abdul Wahhab
(1703-1792) in Najd (in present day Saudi Arabia) Salafism was transformed from
passive theological discourses into active political activism with diverse
strategies. Efforts of Salafi movements to institutionalize the new creed got
materialized with the Establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932
under the theological aegis of Salafi scholars and helped Salafism gaining
ascendancy in the Muslim world. Imperial forces exploited the radical movement
to fight against the soviet ambitions in the region. Osama bin Laden was an
American protégé dispatched to expel the Red Bears from Afghanistan with the
support of America, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Abundance of petro dollars of
the Saudi Kingdom generously imported this hate ideology into various parts of
Muslim world making serious fissures in the religious peaceful status quo.
Salafis are
united by a common creed which provides guidelines for applying religious
teachings to contemporary issues. This creed concentrates on the stern
adherence to the concept of pristine Tawhid (oneness of God) and emphatic
rejection of human subjectivity in the jurisprudence, human reason and logic to
interpret the religion. From this Salafi perspective there is only one true
religion in the world and only one legitimate religious interpretation in
Islam; Islamic pluralism does not exist. In terms of political participation
and social engagements Salafi movements could be classified into three; namely
·
Purists: As the name suggests, “purists” are primarily concerned with
maintaining the purity of Islam as outlined in the Qur’an, Sunna, and consensus
of the Companions (Ijma). They believe that the primary emphasis of the
movement should be on promoting the Salafi creed and combatting deviant
practices, just as the Prophet fought polytheism, human desire, and human
reason. Until the religion is purified, any political action will likely lead
to corruption and injustice because society does not yet understand the tenets
of faith. The proper method for implementing the creed is therefore propagation
(Da’wa), purification (Tazkiyya), and religious education or cultivation (Tarbiya).
·
Politicos: Older scholars dominate the purist faction and attempt to
monopolize religious authority by arguing that they alone have the depth of
religious training, knowledge, and experience to render judgments about complex
issues. Because the purists control the state religious establishment in Saudi
Arabia, including the Council of Senior Ulama (Scholars), they enjoy
considerable influence over government policy and have used their positions to
promote purist interpretations of Islam. Their authority, however, was challenged
during the 1980s and 1990s by a group of young, more politically minded Salafi
scholars, here referred to as “the politicos.” The politicos argued that they
have a better understanding of contemporary issues and are therefore better
situated to apply the Salafi creed to the modern context. They generally stop
short of declaring revolution, unlike the Jihadis, but are highly critical of
incumbent regimes. Although the politicos control fewer resources and assets,
they have clearly shaken the purist grip over Islamic interpretation and put
the older generation of scholars on the defensive.
·
Jihadis: The jihadi faction, those supporting the use of violence to
establish Islamic states, emerged during the war in Afghanistan against the
Soviet Union. This conflict functioned as a dangerous incubator by exposing
Saudi Salafis (and others) to the radical and politicized teachings of the
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and related splinter groups (the Islamic Group,
Islamic Jihad, etc.) in a context of military training and warfare. Unlike the
politico exposure to Ikhwani analysis at the universities, the Jihadis received
their political training on the battlefield. As a result, their introduction
was imbued with an emphasis on politics as warfare, something they later
brought back to their own countries.
To sum up,
Split in Salafi movements is not in thought but it is in strategy while
applying inherently subjective human interpretation to new issues and problems.
Stubbornness of Salafi creed on monolithic manifestation of ultimate truth
makes the Salafi movement good recipe for violence and hatred stunting national
growth. As solution, Salafism needs to be reconstructed in order to complete is
historical reform mission opposing many blind superstitions crept into the
religion while neutralizing the radical elements posing threat to harmony and
peace.
Genealogy
Of Salafi Movements: A History Of Religious Intolerance And Violence
Is Islam
compatible with the new global initiatives for peace and does Islam offer
solution to the followers are well discussed. Islam which advocates peace has
been falsely construed by radical elements to incite war and social antagonism.
It is to be sadly admitted that Islamic sharia’ is abused to sanction physical
annihilation of diversity, a requirement that God stipulated to work each other
for mutual prosperity and to destabilize the democratic secular governments. As
noted by Majid Khadduri, mass emotional appeal of fanatical scholars causes the
occasional invoking of selective sharia’ laws to prop up the terrorism and
spiritual aggression. Islam is rooted in universal peace and brotherhood, but
historical Islam is abundant with incidents that demonstrate the theological
support for pluralism and coexistence. Sufism, peaceful and assimilative
spiritual stream of Muslims, enlivened the great pluralistic ideals of Islam
wherever it is found. The great dilemma of Muslim world caused by Salafi
distortion is about the nature of Islam, whether it is monolithic or
pluralistic. According to mainstream Muslims, Islam is both universal in belief
and local in practice. Islam suggests uniform and universal laws like belief in
one God and Messenger but the practical manifestations are different in various
parts to suit the legitimate concerns of the people. Thus, Islam allows for a
great deal of integration into local culture and formation of indigenous
traditions compatible with the universal teachings of Islam, a key reason
behind the spontaneous spread of Islam.
Negation of
local cultural traditions preached by Sufis as bid’a (religious innovation) and
perceiving imagined global communities faithful makes the core of Salafism.
This approach disproving pluralism, compounded with other characteristics of
radical revolutionary movements renders Salafism a great challenge to intra and
interreligious dialogues and harmony, placing the religious chauvinism above
national interests and peoples welfare. Salafi belief in exclusive religious
truth leads the adherents to stamp tags of apostasy and heresy upon others
making the opponents legitimate targets of violence. Doctrinal intransigence
rid the Salafi movements of the religious responsibility of national
integration and civilizational dialogues making them highly susceptible to
elimination drive of perceived non-believers. Abdurrahman Wahid, former
president of Indonesia, ascribed lack of development to the Salafi puritanical
missions in Muslim world.
Salafism
has made inroads in all countries especially in places where Muslims are a minority or oppressed community. Through
migration from Asia and Africa Salafism reached Europe in seventies.
Fundamentalist Salafi scholars funded by Saudi Arabia were dispatched to all
parts of world to preach the hate ideology of Salafism. Book by David Commins
titled The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia has minutely tracked the trails of
Wahhabi expansion in various parts of world. Physical violence, jihad, was
widely exercised by Salafism to confront disbelief breaking away from the
tradition of Islam engaging in intellectual discourses.
Assaf
Moghadam argues that violence and jihad are intrinsic to the puritanical
teachings of Salafism as it believes non-believers deserve either submission or
death. Salafi history began with the bloody warfare against Arabian tribal people
being accused of innovative religious practices like Milad, celebration of
prophet’s birthday and venerating the saints and holy graves. Salafi dogma of
keeping a safe distance from the unbelievers in order to keep the faith
unadulterated has triggered conflicts with Christians in Nigeria and Sudan and
in many European countries. Al Qaeda, Lashkar e Taiba, Shabab ul Muslimeen,
ISIS and other radical fundamentalists that constitute the new global jihadi
movement are not theological outliers of Salafism. Detailed analysis of Salafi
radical movements form political abstinence to violence has been deeply studied
by Quintan Wiktorowicz in his study titled ‘A Genealogy of Radical Islam’.
India has
and will fall victim to the venomous ideology of Salafism. Lashkar e Taiba,
Indian Mujahideen, student’s Islamic Movements of India (SIMI) are few
organizations that occasionally cripple the peaceful life of Indians. This
context solicits candid appreciation for various Salafi movements in Kerala
which carried out many reform activities while developing moderate social
approach to religious harmony. Strategies should be made to empower the
moderate Salafism. Even Separatists movements in the Kashmir valley are linked
to the growth of radical Islamism. Suicide bombings and civilian killings are
allowed in jihadi Salafi ideology in conflicts against the infidels. Antique
structures of global heritage are not exempt from the Salafi fury against the
polytheism and shirk (association of partners with God) like ancient city of
Timbuktu of Male, Palmyra buildings of Syria and Bamiyan Buddhist statue of
Afghanistan. Intra religious conflicts caused by Salafi anti-Shiism and
anti-Islamist movements still wreak havoc in the Middle East. A fortified
invisible apartheid wall has been erected by Salafism as the region was
bifurcated on the lines of two sects. Yemen and Syria bears the grave brunt of
Salafi ideology as it produced trails of destruction. Salafism inculcates an
ideology of religious hatred and antipathy that prevents successful religious
engagements.
Dogmatic
Salafism And Religious Discords
Salafi
ideology rooted in ultra-conservatism exhorts religious divisions and
pluralistic engagements are met with strong legal inhibitions. All Salafi
factions hold same belief but are different in practical severity. It is highly
imperative to understand these discourses in the Salafi Manhaj (method)
to help concerned authorities to establish more accommodative moderate path
based on intellectual engagements. To neutralize the people affected with
radical Salafi ideology contextual reading of texts need to be enhanced.
Contextualization of Islamic politics against the imitation of Prophet and
disciples in letter and spirit is very critical due to the reason that Islamic
violence is often ascribed to strict textual reading without regarding the
social evolution. As nations after nations fall victim to Salafi outrages it is
incumbent upon world communities to defuse the violent identity and transform
into more moderate versions. Such a movement to soften the ideological
vehemence of Salafism through an interfaith dialogue initiative was started by
Saudi king Abdulla in 2008 but it failed to harmonize the Salafi adherents due
to the staunchest criticisms by Salafi scholars accusing the Kingdom of
deviating from the true monotheism.
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An
occasional New Age Islam columnist, Grace Mubashir is a journalism student at
Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi
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