An Apology…And A Call For Ablutions
25 December 2010By Tariq Alhomayed
Here we have an Arab paradox: Watban al-Tikriti, half
brother of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein,
stands apologizing to the Iraqi people for the abuses
and violations committed by the Baath Party against
Iraq and its people. Meanwhile the Sudanese President
stands in front of citizens protesting against the
brutal whipping of a Sudanese woman, and demands that
they perform ablutions, pray to God, and return to
Islam!
Ironically, Watban stood apologizing for the actions
of the Baath Party after Baghdad had already been
destroyed, thus rendering his apology useless, as the
country has now entered a dark tunnel of terror, fear,
and sectarianism. Iraq is under hidden Iranian
occupation. While the Americans have announced the
beginning of their withdrawal from Baghdad, we do not
know when the Iranian withdrawal will be announced.
Meanwhile, as Sudan prepares for separation, or
division, its President stands in front of his
citizens and says: "If south Sudan secedes, we will
change the constitution and then there will be no time
to speak of diversity of culture and ethnicity.
Shariaa and Islam will be the main source for the
constitution". However, he went on to say "Some people
are talking about the girl who was lashed in
accordance with God's punishment. Those who say they
are ashamed by this should perform ablutions, pray to
God, and return to Islam".
Sudan is on the verge of separation, and the
government continues to sell its citizens the same
slogan it championed when it first seized power,
namely that Islam is the solution, and one can do
nothing but repeat the following verse of poetry:
O you who worships in the vicinity of the Two Holy
Mosques! If you but see us, you will realize that you
are only jesting in worship.
The country is under the threat of sanctions,
international prosecutions, and division is just
around the corner. The government is busy justifying
its brutal whipping of a woman, and has promised its
citizens that Islamic Shariaa law will be enforce more
strictly if the south secedes from the north. It is
like someone threatening to gouge out their left eye,
once their right eye has already been gouged out!
My intention here is not to object to the application
of Shariaa law, but to say that Sudan today is not
suffering from moral decay, or the spread of vice.
Rather, it is suffering from widespread unemployment,
a national brain drain, and a decline in its
production capacity. It is also suffering from
international isolation and internal fragmentation.
Sudan to this day is still flying on the wings of
misguided slogans. Sudan is suffering from internal
conflicts caused by wars and ill judged policies, not
a lack of religious commitment. Justice is the
foundation of governance, and the value of a human
being, his blood and his dignity, surpasses all else,
regardless of its value; for wouldn't the end of the
world by easier on God than the [shedding] of the
blood of a believer?
It is a puzzling matter indeed, and it burns at one's
conscience. Will we wait every thirty years for
someone to stand up and apologize, after it is too
late? Today we see Hassan al-Turabi speaking in the
name of human rights, yet he is the godfather of
Sudan's present destruction. What if Nimeiri also
returned to stand and apologize for what he did in
Sudan, when he applied Islamic Shariaa law in the
final years of his rule, which was practically akin to
lashing the entire country!
This story cannot be likened to any other, but I will
say this: Why do the Arabs not benefit from history in
order not to make the same mistakes? This is what
really puzzles us, for unfortunately all of our
mistakes are similar and repeated; from Lebanon to
Iraq to Yemen to Sudan, and also including some of the
Gulf States as well!
Tariq Alhomayed is the Editor-in-Chief of Asharq Al-Awsat, the youngest
person to be appointed that position. He holds a BA degree in Media studies from
King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, and has also completed his Introductory
courses towards a Master's degree from George Washington University in
Washington D.C. He is based in London.
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EsinIslam.Com
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