By A. Imran
All of Pakistan’s troubles have been written off rather
simplistically by the western media, think tanks and governmental bodies as an
increasing chasm of sectarianism. The reality is that Pakistan is badly caught
between Modernist Islamist Saudi influence and Western Secularism. The irony if
it all, is that Pakistan is neither. Thus in a tug of war between the two,
Pakistanis are being asked to pay the price in terms of loss of sovereignty, an
anemic GDP, a degenerating law and order situation, and the penultimate and infuriating
- loss of lives.
Wahabi
Primer
Without delving into long history and philosophy, it must
suffice to say that Wahabism(1) may be deemed as new interpretation of Islam.
This interpretation is synonymous with Modern Christian Fundamentalist movements
in the West. It must also be understood, that the Wahabis came to power by
sheer violence at the consternation and annihilation of the previous Sunni
order. In a Hanafi majority state as Pakistan, the Wahabis stick out like soar
thumbs. The best defenders of Wahabism are found in the West. And sadly, the
best allies the West has are also House of Saud in Arabia. We are reminded by
westerners that the political and clerical apparatus in Saudi Arabia are
separated as had been the practice throughout Muslim history in the Classical
times as far as the Sunni world was concerned, meaning that the political rule
is of the House of Saud, while the alleged Islamized legislation becomes the
burden of the Wahabi elite. In Classical Islam (3) there always had been a healthy tussle
between the ruler and the Ulemas (clerics), however, in Saudi Arabia there
exists a perfect Theological-Political Collusion. It may have illusions of being structurally
sound but its utterly ignorant, un-intellectual, literal, misogynistic in its
world view which may have more in common to archaic Levitical Law than Islamic
epistemology.
Saudi Arabia : The Trusted Ally
On the surface the historical alliance between the two
nations is time tested. Both nations were allies of the US during the Cold War
and effectively worked tirelessly to ward off Soviet Communism. This aversion
to Communism made them friends of the US and the West. Post Soviet withdrawal
from Afghanistan, the alliance of the three seemed to have degenerated a
degree, in that US trotted off angrily, as Secular forces were subdued
effectively by Pakistan’s famed ISI ( Inter Services Intelligence) in favor of
ultra-orthodox misogynistic un-intellectual Saudi educated clerical theocrats -
The Talibans, who were needed to keep the Iranian expansionist Shia
revolutionaries at bay. Saudi Arabia allegedly paid for Pakistani US made
F-16s. Pakistan even collected a $ 2 billion oil subsidy from the Kingdom. In
return, Saudi Arabia is supposed to have purchased six nuclear tipped missiles from Pakistan,
however, the veracity of the claim is at best, a conjecture (4). Pakistan
reciprocated by stationing battalion of Pakistani army units on Saudi soil.
Saudi intelligence may have been helping Pakistan in its pseudo-Taliban
insurgency. There is talk of Pakistan insuring Saudi security in case Iran goes
nuclear etc.
However, there is a dismal facet to the relationship
between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Its not so much that the likes of members of
Saudi royalty that visit frequently on hunting trips to Pakistan where the they
are given State protocol, or that Pakistanis living and working in Saudi Arabia
are treated lowly like many others national groups, but that Pakistanis being a
majority Hanafi sect of Sunni Islam, are
being marginalized in their own nation by the Modernist (Jadidi) upstarts like
Saudi Wahabis with the tacit approval of Pakistani State, is oppression by
Wahabi totalitarianism in which Pakistani leaders are complicit.. This would be Theological
Cannibalization by the Wahabis of fellow
Muslims, if the Wahabis can be labeled as such. It must be understood that
Wahabis are deemed Sunni, perhaps simply, due to the fact that they are not Shi’a.
Thus Wahabi domineering takes the forms of seemingly unlimited funds pouring
into Pakistan to stage Wahabi madrassahs, both makeshift in homes and organized
ones as well, publishing of Wahabi books and pamphlets that are beginning to
crowd out the mainstream Hanafi Islam. Hanafi Islam is steeped in tradition of
rational thought, is spiritual, and intellectual, whereas the Wahabi thought is
rigid, reactionary, extreme and definitively lacks wisdom. This would be yet
another example of how certain aspects of Modernity do not suit us Muslims. If
Wahabism is Modern (Jadidi) then Muslims are better off without it. Reactionary
Pakistanis must come to terms with the foolish adage “ but that’s how they do
it in Saudi Arabia” as deeply flawed. There was a time the Pakistani state
struggled to curb the revolutionary zeal of the Iranian Shi’a revolution, but
that is no longer the case. The threat
now is the petro-dollar enabled renegade Khawarijism of Wahabi/Salafist
domineering and it is eating up theological, moral foundations of Classical
Islam.
United States: A primer
We are all familiar with the reasons why the Mayflower
came to sail towards the New World. The Founding fathers vision of a future
distinctly different from its European confines specially in matters of governance and freedom of religion. Not only is the United States, of the West,
from the West, but a stark contradiction to the Europe’s ancien regime. United
States, specially after the WWII became the leader of a Western centric Modern
world. Thus, the United States represented freedom from oppressive religious
totalitarianism as was practiced in Europe in the Dark Ages. And it celebrated
a spirit of creativity driven prosperity of the Free Markets system. Like the
Virginia Slims commercial , it must be said about the United States, “ you’ve
come a long ways baby”. Its one thing to
mature, but another to degenerate from a republican form of government.
Pakistan’s relationship to the US has been tenuous at
best in the best of times. United States utter smothering of Pakistani politics
has largely contributed to rather fine mess that Pakistan finds itself in at
the moment. There was a reason why the Pakistanis were burning US Embassy when
Ka’aba was run over by the scourge of Juhayman the ultra-orthodox rabid Wahabi.
The memory of a popular Pakistani Prime
Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto being
hanged behest a Pro-US dictator must have been fresh in the minds of liberal
and young Pakistanis.
The US and Pakistan remained
allies due to a shared perception of the threat of Soviet interventionism in
the region. Other common held perceptions in Pakistan that US was a unreliable
partner, that failed them in their dire times of need, are actually a failure
of full disclosure on part of Pakistani leadership to their own populace of
their treatise with the West. Pakistan’s wars with India had its roots in the
collective shared animosity and history of the bloody partition as the British
were departing. The US would have been directly involved only if the Soviets
themselves had attacked Pakistan. The US shied away back then, and to this day
still shies away from Pakistan confronting India. In fact, US found its allies within the
domestic Pakistani political front of the Islamist parties not necessarily
moderate secular PPP Bhutto types.
The US follows a milder version of Western Secularism, in
that its not as hard edged as that practiced in some European nations. The US
being a leader of the West wishes to install US Grand Narratives like Freedom,
Democracy and Equality. However, the ground reality in both Afghanistan and
Iraq clearly betray the broader narrative under US occupation. In America’s War on Terror, Pakistan is crucial.
Afpak - the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is a fault line between the
futuristic visions of two different competing and clashing interests, one
Western Secular, the other Modernist Islamist.
Modernity is a common denominator to both. The only thing Pakistan
shares with Modernity is its origin - its status as a Post Colonial independent
Nation State. Otherwise, Pakistan is home to majority Sunni populations who are
adherents of Sunni sect of the Hanafi Fiqh of Classical Islam.
Pakistan : The road ahead.
It would be in the interests of the people of
Pakistan to pursue their interests by
giving in to legitimate interests of the US as in trade, security, and a
committed pursuit of Al-Qaeda elements from a law enforcement perspective. The
US should be made to stop drone attacks immediately. If the drone attacks
continue, the United States may have
another Iran in the making in Pakistan which could have dire consequences for
US interests in the region. The United States in return needs to stop
alienating Pakistanis by halting the drone attacks.
As noted above, Western Secularism, that is the non-theocratic nature of governance
and the Free Markets are ideas not alien to Pakistanis. Temptation
should be avoided to see a society deeply steeped in religious piety as being
theocratic. Pakistan, on the other hand, needs to challenge the Wahabist Saudi
Arabian trained and educated fundamentalists to protect the very foundations of
the State. The distinction needs to made to protect the Islamic nature of
Pakistan without falling prey to Khawariji doctrine. Khawarijism of Saudi Arabia in the form of Salafist Wahabis
is an existential threat, not just to Pakistan, but threat to Islam as well.
Pakistan must not fight a Khawariji fight. The US must be coerced and seduced
into a negotiated settlement for a post US Afghanistan and a broader
comprehensive trade, commercial and security policy for the region. Pakistanis
can work with the United States, in that they know the difference between
religion, culture, and geography vis a vis the United States. However, the
nefarious and pernicious modern ideology of Wahabism poses a clear and present
danger to Islam from within.
(1) Regardless of who defines Wahabism, it must be noted
that it is not a “reform” movement. The Wahabis’ excessive use of “tauheed” the
singularity of God( SWT) is obfuscated crutch to seek legitimacy.
(2) The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State by Noah Feldman
(3) Classical
Islam or Traditional Islam here being defined as the interpretation deemed
mutually agreed upon between Muslims based on the five pillars of Islam- (a)
Shahada , declaration of creed, (b)daily prayers, (c ) fasting, (d)
almsgiving(e) pilgrimage , Hadith , Sunnah, Ijtihad ( Independent reasoning),
Qiyas (Analogical reasoning), Aql (Intellect) , ijma (consensus)
(4) Deception
: Adrian Levy & Catherine Scott Clark. Walker & Company NY 2007
PS. The article was written prior to the “Davis Affair” , the author now has reservation about Afpak and Pak-US relations.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the SPY EYES Analysis and or its affiliates. The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). SPY EYES Analysis and or its affiliates will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements and or information contained in this article.
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