By Arshad Alam, New Age Islam
28 September 2021
Establishment of Cinema Halls in Medina Is Riling the
Conservatives
Main Points:
1.
Indian and Pakistani
clerics have started a campaign to paint the current Saudi government as
anti-Islamic and as agents of Jews and Christians.
2.
The Deobandis,
Nadwis and Barelwis, despite their internal differences are united in this
opposition to the current Saudi regime.
3.
These Ulama have
always prioritized issues which have ultimately harmed not just the Muslims but
also the country at large.
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As part of its Vision 2030, the Saudi government has
announced plans to boost tourism and infrastructure in the Kingdom. The
long-term objective is to reduce its dependence on oil revenues and emerge as a
financial hub. Many cities, including Mecca and Medina, are being re-developed
with a view to attract tourists which would require recreational facilities as
well.
Mecca and Medina are considered two of the holiest cities
across the Muslim world for their association with Prophet Muhammad as well as
early history of Islam. Muhammad bin Salman, the crown prince, seems to have
overlooked the effect of his modernizing blitzkrieg on the Muslim clergy across
the world. Already, the Ulama in India and Pakistan have started a campaign
which paints the current Saudi government as anti-Islamic and as agents of Jews
and Christians. Some of them have been close to the Saudi establishment
earlier. Their anger is directed against one particular project: the
establishment of nearly 10 cinema halls in Medina, the final resting place of
Prophet Muhammad. Although the Saudi government has clarified that the proposed
mall which will house the cinema halls are outside the non-permissible limits (Hudood
e Haram), the Indian and Pakistani Ulama are in no mood to relent.
Expressing regret over
the report of building of 10 cinemas in Medina, one of the holiest cities of
Islam, Shaykh al-Hadith and Darul Uloom Karachi Vice President Mufti Muhammed
Taqi Usmani said Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un, (Verily we belong to
Allah and verily to Him do we return).
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The first to raise the banner of revolt was Muhamad Taqi
Usmani, a senior Deobandi cleric of Pakistan. Usmani is notorious for his role
in casting out the Ahmadi Muslims from the fold of Islam. He was also an
important contributor to the inhuman Hudood ordinance which was enacted
during the Zia ul Haq regime. It is unbelievable but true that this man
received the Sitara e Imtiaz, the third highest civilian award, for
public service, in Pakistan. In this
tweet earlier this month, he insinuated the death of the ‘Islamic republic
of Saudi Arabia’ and quoted part of the verse 11:78 of the Quran, “is there not
among you even one right-minded man?”
اب مدينه منوره ميں بھی دس سنیما ہال قائم کرنے کا منصوبہ !!!انا للّٰہ واناالیہ راجعون الفاظ اس پر صدمے کے اظہار سے عاجز ہیں الیس منکم رجل رشید؟ https://t.co/451ERD1xOf
— Muhammad Taqi Usmani (@muftitaqiusmani) September 3, 2021
Not to be left behind, the Indian Ulama, have started their
own campaigns against the proposed mall complex in Medina. Salman Nadwi,
associated with the famous Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow, made this impassioned video
in which he denounced the Saudi monarchy as dancing to the tunes of the wicked
Zionists (Sahyuni) and immoral cross bearers (Salibi). Apart from
taking potshots at other Ulama who are ‘silent’ on the issue, an important
purpose of video is to prove to the Muslim world that the Saudi monarchy should
no longer be treated as the custodian of Islam. Egging on the ambition of
Turkish president Erdogan, he goes on to say that it is time that the Turks
reclaim the holy cities of Mecca and Medina as they had done once.
Salman Nadwi is a curious character. He is the same person
who wrote to Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi, the deceased ISIS chief, congratulating him
and pledging his loyalty. In the same letter, he promised to raise a force of
50 thousand Indian Muslims who would be ready to sacrifice for the sake of the
Islamic caliphate. It is very strange that when people were being arrested for
random tweets in India, this man was allowed to go scot-free. His proximity to
the state can be gauged from the fact that he was later roped in by the
government to find an out of court solution to the Babri dispute, along with
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Nadwi comes from a family which was instrumental in
establishing the Muslim World League in 1962, a Saudi government arm through
which it exported its Wahhabism to the wider Muslim world. As such they have
traditionally been the loyalists of the Saud family. How should one then
understand Nadwi’s acerbic assault on the Saudi government?
Partly the reason seems to be the changing geo-politics of
the region. With Iran and Turkey jostling to become new religious authorities
within the Muslim world, the Saudis have increasingly become reliant on Israel
which has drawn criticism from the Ulama. It seems that Nadwi is plugging
himself in this new equation. Since the Iranians are Shia, he seems to have
pinned his hopes on getting some recognition from the Turkish establishment.
Not to be left behind, the Mumbai based Barelwi platform,
Raza Academy, held a demonstration against the Saudi government. Traditionally
the Barelwis have never been enamored by the glitz of Saudis. They have accused
the Saudis of exporting Wahhabism, an interpretation of Islam, which according
to the Barelwis, is un-Islamic. They are elated that whatever they were saying
about the Wahhabis has now come true!
The Nadwis, Deobandis and the Barelwis, despite their
differences are united on this issue. They are united in protesting over an
issue which normally should be the concern of Saudi Arabia. In the Indian
context, one of the accusations levelled against Muslims by the Hindu right is
that their identification is more with the Islamic world rather than their own
country. It is as if these Ulama are hell bent are proving such right wingers
right by putting out videos and holding demonstrations against the Saudis.
Saudi Arabia (KSA)
opened its first new cinema – the 620-seat, single-screen AMC cinema in Riyadh
– on 18 April 2018.
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One can even concede that there is nothing wrong in
protesting against a foreign country. But to make it a life and death issue for
all Muslims is a bit too much. Certainly, the establishment of cinema halls
cannot pose a danger to centuries of Islamic tradition. And if indeed it is the
case, then what is point of having such a frail religion? There are multiple
problems that the Indian Muslim is beset with. Why is it that these custodians
of Muslims do not utter a word about it?
It is fair to say that the subcontinental Ulama have never
quite appreciated any form of modernization, unless of course, it is beneficial
to them. The opposition to Muhammad bin Salman is therefore not just because of
pragmatic considerations but also due to deeper ideological reasons.
The subcontinental Ulama have been the bane of Muslims in
this part of the world. They have prioritized issues which have ultimately
harmed not just Muslims but also the country at large. From banning books to
shutting down cinema houses in Srinagar, there actions have painted the Muslims
as a community which is inherently hostile to any signs of modernity.
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Arshad Alam is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-society/ulema-subcontinent-saudis-cinema/d/125457