17 August 2012 By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed The Eid celebrations were not enough to put an end
to the continuing Sunni – Shiite – Alawite sectarian
strife that is currently playing out in the region.
Today, we are witnessing the peak cultural and
sectarian conflict in the modern era of Islam; this is
being fuelled by the numerous political conflicts that
have spread over a vast geographic area. Two Lebanese Shiite leaders— Hani Fahs and Mohammed
Hassan al-Amin — announced their opposition to the
Bashar al-Assad regime, and this represented a
courageous move in the midst of the Sunni-Shiite
divide that has emerged over the situation in Syria.
In addition to this, a number of Iraqi religious and
cultural figures have come out to warn against the
return of sectarian strife following the assassination
of three key Sunni leaders. Away from the Arab region,
the killing of 20 Pakistani Shiites shook the country,
whilst many Sunnis have called for the arrest of the
killers, as well as for those who incite sectarian
attacks to be held accountable for this. The most important step in this context was the
announcement made by the Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz at the recent
Islamic Solidarity Summit in Mecca. The Saudi monarch
called for the establishment of a center for dialogue
between Islamic sects in order to put an end to the
sectarian strife that has plagued the Muslim world. As
for how to end the scourge of sectarianism, views
differ between those who want to criminalize sectarian
incitement and those calling for the promotion of a
culture of co-existence. However, there are still loud
voices strongly promoting sectarian sentiments and
viewing this as a form of jihad in defence of their
religious convictions. The majority of the disagreements between the
Sunnis and Shiites started with political debate that
moved into religious and historical terrain and
developed into outright sectarian conflict. This
reflects a state of tension and political rivalry that
results in the proselytization of the followers of
other sects, as has been the case in the Gulf region.
This is something that we have never seen before. In
Kuwait, like elsewhere, the sectarian debate is part
of a dangerous game. One of the Kuwaiti MPs said "I
have credible information that parties linked to a
sectarian reserve army in Kuwait are buying weapons
from the black market in preparation for zero hour."
Whether this is true or not, talking about arming is
dangerous and exceeds all the limits of political
debate that should exist between MPs. The first step that must be taken in the fight
against sectarianism is to convince all activists
working in the political arena, not to mention the
media, that sectarianism poses the greatest threat to
the fabric of our society and states. The on-going
conflict in Syria should not be categorized as one
being launched by the Sunnis against the Alawites –
the sect of President Bashar al-Assad. Many Sunnis
have collaborated closely with the Syrian regime,
fighting at its side and taking part in its heinous
crimes over numerous decades. This is a regime that
represents itself, nothing more, and it has been keen
to turn the revolution into a sectarian war, something
that it has been attempting for the better part of a
year. War against sectarianism is primarily a cultural
effort and that is why Saudi Arabia has called for the
establishment of a center for dialogue between Islamic
sects to assess the problem. This center will,
hopefully, return the situation back to normal.
Throughout the majority of Islamic history, Muslims of
different sects have been able to live together in a
state of peaceful co-existence and mutual respect.
Debate advocates may say that we are in a period that
warrants criminalizing sectarian incitement, because
it is behind numerous instances of killings, sabotage
and destruction. The danger represented by
sectarianism is no less than the threat of terrorism,
which manipulates religion to justify its acts. All
members of our community only moved to confront
extremist ideology after they became convinced that it
posed a genuine danger and needed to be eliminated, by
culture and arms.
Al Rashed is the general manager of Al -Arabiya
television. He is also the former editor-in-chief of
Asharq Al- Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly
magazine, Al Majalla. He is also a senior Columnist in
the daily newspapers of Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is
a US post-graduate degree in mass communications. He
has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs.
He is currently based in Dubai. Comments 💬 التعليقات |