Mistaken Views Of Iran: Both Tehran And Hezbollah Have Joined The Bloodletting In Syria
23 May 2013By Dr.
Hamad Al-Majid
My colleague, Fahmi Huwaidi, recently wrote an
interesting article for Asharq Al-Awsat entitled "The
Salafists: Between Those Who Fear Them and Those Who
Fear for Them." In this article, Huwaidi criticized
the position of the Egyptian Salafists on the new
Egyptian government's move towards normalizing
relations with Iran. He pointed out that the Salafists'
warnings against Iranian influence and missionary
activities will only serve to further incite sectarian
tension. Huwaidi also noted that the Salafists—whether
they know it or not—are siding with the US–Israeli
requests to tighten the embargo on Iran aimed at
breaking Tehran's intransigence towards Washington and
Tel Aviv.
If one were to mention these ideas and ask me to guess
who had come up with them, I would not hesitate to
answer that they were put forward by the president of
the Iranian Republic, or by Hassan Nasrallah; without
exaggeration, I might even attribute the ideas to
Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem. These ideas are
the same clichés put forward by Iran and its regional
allies in response to those who warn of Tehran's plans
to extend its influence in the region. The only
difference is the fact that Huwaidi does not use the
term "resistance," which is frequently repeated by the
leaders of Iran, Syria and Hezbollah to justify their
support for the Bashar Al-Assad regime. Despite his
non-use of this term, Huwaidi's discourse has
precisely the same objective as this.
I very much doubt that Huwaidi does not realize that
Shi'ite missionary activities lie at the core of
Iran's strategy to extend its influence. It imitates
Western colonization in which missionaries played a
more significant role than the soldiers in terms of
extending political, military and economic influence.
Egypt, whose Muslim community was until recently
completely Sunni, now has a Shi'ite community tens of
thousands strong. The same can be said about Tunisia,
Algeria and most of the Maghreb countries—if not the
entire Sunni world.
I have frequently said that when we warn—in concert
with the Salafists, the Muslim Brotherhood, Sheikh
Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, Al-Azhar, and the majority of
Muslim scholars and intellectuals—against Shi'ite
missionary activities in the Sunni world, this is not
for sectarian reasons, as Huwaidi and the Iranian
propagandists claim. Rather, it is in order to
contain, as much as possible, the sectarian
confrontation in countries that until recently had no
Shi'ite presence. In addition to this, we are also
seeking to restrict the consequences of Iran's
expanding influence, while the situation unfolding in
Syria is a perfect example of the consequences of
Iranian interference.
We regret that Huwaidi has failed to differentiate
between the natural co-existence that has existed for
centuries between the majority of Sunnis and Shi'ites—to
the point that some people were not even aware of
their neighbors' sectarian identity—and the
ideological activity that the Qom regime is spending
billions of Iranian riyals to promote. Iran's
ideological promotion has covered all of the Sunni
countries, threatening the harmony of the religious
and sectarian blend there. I wish Huwaidi would
inquire about Iran's missionary activities in the
African Sunni countries and in Indonesia. However,
since he is well-informed, he cannot be ignorant of
Iran's conspicuous activities in this regard.
The ball now is in Fahmi Huwaidi's court; he has been
severely critical of the Salafi movements and the
Saudi scholars for their position on the Tehran
regime. This is not to suggest that he should
relinquish the right to criticize; however, he should
ensure a balanced outlook and also direct criticism
towards the Iranian regime and Hezbollah. He must know
that both Tehran and Hezbollah have joined the
bloodletting in Syria and denied its people their
basic rights. We would like Huwaidi to follow in the
footsteps of not just the Salafists, but also of
Egypt's Al-Azhar mosque and Al-Qaradawi, and ask Iran
to refrain from spreading the seeds of dissent through
its missionary activities in the Sunni world. Only
then will we understand Huwaidi.
Dr. Hamad Al-Majid is a journalist and former
member of the official Saudi National Organization for
Human Rights. Al-Majid is a graduate of Imam Muhammad
Bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh and holds an
M.A. from California and a Doctorate from the
University of Hull in the United Kingdom.
©
EsinIslam.Com
Add Comments