Where Are We Going?

A Muslim Perspective on The Saudi-Iran Turmoil

The current tension between two major oil exporters, Iran and Saudi Arabia today does not simply emerge out of vacuum. In fact in general, no event ever occurs out of the blue because each and every single event has its own significant historical background and context. In the light of the previous execution of the influential Shiite cleric, Shaykh Ayatullah Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, which led to the outrage in the office of the Saudi embassy in Tehran, resulted in the Saudi government to severe it diplomatic ties with Iran.

On the other hands, Muslims today are facing various of challenges; shortage of clean water in supply in most African regions, persecution of the Rohingyas by the Burmese regime, fascists oppression in Gaza and the West Bank, bombing and massacre here and there in Kashmir, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and other places signify that the world we live in is no more a safe place and something must be done to solve this. Many scholars have stepped to the front, attempting to theorise the underlying factors behind this knots and backwardness. Among them are Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad Abduh, Muhammad Rashid Rida,

[i] Amir Shakib Arslan,[ii] ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi,[iii] Malik Bennabi,[iv] Muhammad Iqbal,[v] Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas,[vi] Muhammad al-Ghazzali al-Saqqa[vii] and others. They came to the conclusion that the interpretations of all of the events, including the current escalating tension between Riyadh and Tehran which we will be focusing here, are paramount in order to understand the direction of where we are going.

Minority Rights

The issue of deprived minority rights was not a new one in the history of mankind. Today, Israel stood as one of the most aggressive nation to abuse the human rights so far as the UN concerns.[viii] It was not only Muslims, but most domestic and international human rights organisations would criticise Israel heavily for their abuses and oppression on the Muslim population in Palestine. Despite the fact that Muslims defy the heinous act of Israel’s regime against our fellow Muslim brothers and sisters in Gaza and the West Bank, we tend to forget and perform muḥāsabah on our deeds and relations towards others. In reality, in certain Muslim majority countries, the rights of other communities were ignored too. The same fate faced by Muslims in Palestine was faced by other religious groups under the Muslim governments as well. Since two wrongs do not make a right, we have to seek forgiveness from Allah, and initiate something to stop this oppression against other communities.

As a close example and related to this topic, we will take Saudi Arabia. Everybody knew that the Saudi government[ix] does not provide the equal rights to the Shiite Muslims in the East Peninsula, despite their Arab nationality. The right to assembly, the freedom of conscience is less respected by the government. In fact in the courts of Saudi Arabia, a Shiite’s testimony is not accepted. Rasulullah SAW as the leader during his era in Madinah has granted everybody including the minority groups their equal rights. He even acknowledged each religious group with their name respectively, and it was clearly stated in the Charter of Madinah. He respected the rights of others and honoured their existence to strengthen the spirit of solidarity among the citizens.

Islam and Democracy

From the very beginning of the millennium, Shaykh al-Nimr has expressed his opinion to improve Saudi Arabia political system by demanding an election in that monarchical country. However, the fact is that the House of Saud has long deemed democracy as bid‘ah, as it was an innovation from the West. I was surprised to hear that at the first time, but later it became obvious to me that all the fatwas exercised to forbid (taḥrīm) democracy and the empowerment of civil society is simply a trick to retain the status quo. It is very sad to acknowledge that most of the scholars live in Saudi hold fast to the same opinion, viewing democracy and elections as heretics.

But, what Shaykh al-Nimr was trying to do is to force the Saudi government to be more just and fair towards the different communities in the land, especially the Shiites. If the Shiites are not treated equally, then he threatened to call for an autonomous region in al-Awwamiyah, a region that is dominated by the Shiite communities. Shaykh al-Nimr also had influenced the young men for a hunger strike to protest against the injustice committed by Saudi government. Current uprisings and protests apparently sourced their inspiration from the tiger (al-Nimr).

The House of Saud saw these uprisings and hunger strikes as threats to their “domestic security.” They have been so long deep mired in the atmosphere of authoritarianism that they cannot stand anymore against disagreements, plurality and criticisms, which were essential in the development of democracy. In January 2015, a Saudi blogger Raif Badawi was publicly flogged by the government on a charge of heresy, which he allegedly committed by criticizing the oppressive Saudi religious establishment. This is an example out of many discrimination cases. Thus, what can exclude the Shaykh al-Nimr from receiving the same persecution? What more the personality of Shaykh al-Nimr as a Shiite Ayatullah. The prejudice leads Saudi to perceive that the real puppet master behind this revival is actually Iran.

Without regret, they took the liberty to imprison the street protesters, including Shaykh al-Nimr, who was already jailed several times before. If you ask me, should we pressure those who are against us, then the answer is negative: of course it's wrong! It contradicts the spirit of mutual consent (tasāmuḥ), the value of respecting other opinions, appreciating constructive criticism, and most importantly, it violates human rights (Ḥuqūq al-‘Ibād). The rule is simple: do not pressure the oppressed. The more you press them, the radical they will be.

A monarchy, especially the repressive one, will not help develop this ummah further. A government which is not able to accept the fact that this ummah is dynamic, and that plurality is an inevitable phenomenon, will create unnecessary conflicts as well as delaying the progress of the Muslim society. Monarchy is a false system if it denies the essential values prescribed in the Qur’an to protect the rights of Allah and the rights of men, as in the word of Khurshid Ahmad, “the Islamic political order is based on the concept of Tawhid and seeks its flowering in the form of popular vicegerency (Khilāfah) operating through a mechanism of Shūrā (mutual consultation, based on two Qur’anic verses: 3: 159 and 42: 38), supported by the principles of equality of humankind, rule of law, protection of human rights including those of minorities, accountability of the rulers, transparency of political processes and an overriding concern for justice in all its dimensions: legal, political, social, economic and international.”[x]

The Hazard of Sectarianism

“The Saudi government relies on bullets and imprisonment. Then we must rely on the arguments of truth! We will never use violence against the security forces; this is not our practice. Our way is by saying out loud the words that echoed justice. We cannot force people to follow our way. The tongue is the weapon that is stronger than the bullet.” His speech was so influential that despite his age at late 50’s, he was still considered as a threat to the government. This was true as he managed to influence quite a number of masses, particularly the youth, to protest for their deprived rights against the royal family.

Not long after that, the tiger was sentenced to death on the charges of terrorism, as well as fighting against the government, seeking the intervention of foreign forces (Iran) and lead to the instability of the Arab region. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia may act like that out of sectarianism, while we disapprove them because we disagree with sectarianism. Thus explaining why such act was criticised sharply, mainly from the people of conscience of different backgrounds, even from among the Ahl al-Sunnah themselves. This is because they are the people of understanding, who knew how many lives have lost due to this abstract sentiment.

Therefore as a Muslim, I saw the urge needs for Muslims to move beyond sectarianism and black-and-white thinking. We may have several differences in our faith and practices, but despite that we share a lot of common grounds. The same One God, the same Messenger, the same Qur’an, the same Qiblah, the same history and even a lot of similarities in the language. Imagine if the Muslims can go away with the doubts, differences and prejudice towards other firqah or communities. They could have been working together, to solve the relatively underdevelopment and backwardness of the Muslim society.

Politicisation of Public Institutions

Shaykh al-Nimr was not the first victim of the unjust court of Saudi Arabia. The death sentence upon the Shaykh did not undergo a fair trial. It violates the Maqāṣid al-Sharī‘ah of Ḥifẓ al-Nafs, and had been the practice of the House of Saud for quite a long time, never seems to cease as long as the land was administered by the corrupted and jadong[xi] royal family. They never learn how to accept criticisms to improve themselves, and the only way open to silent the dissents and critics is by using “legitimate” force, the ‘kangaroo court’ and the polices. A friend of mine from Saudi Arabia has once told me how he was nearly captured by the police for criticising the government. As a result of this policy, the culture of fear shrouded the atmosphere of the Saudi citizens. Everybody are too afraid to say anything about the monarchy, even though they knew the injustice done by them, as well as the lavish lifestyles their leaders live in. All these kind of attitudes practiced by the House of Saud share the similar elements with Daesh, namely extremism, intolerance and appeal to force.

As a matter of fact, previously in 1980, there has been also the killing of a Shiite Ayatullah in Baghdad for the same political reasons – criticising the government. Ayatullah Baqir al-Sadr from Iraq was executed by the Iraqi government during the era of President Saddam Hussein. Public institutions such as the civil court, the police and infantry, of which supposed to be exceptionally fair, unbiased and protecting the people, has now become the organs of the government to launch attack against those who try to challenge the government’s decision. Sadly, this undemocratic tragedy occurs in the majority Muslim world. If we really want strengthen our ummah, this has to be changed.

Riyadh-Tehran Rivalry: Not a Mere Sectarian-orientation

With the current situation, things are not getting better. The war of words between Saudi and Iran has started. The embassy in both countries has been closed, and the mainstream media from both sides do the job demonising enemy in their respective countries. The cold war has manifested and became clearer each day. But, is this truly about sectarianism?

You might say yes, but only to a certain degree. In this context, the rivalry between Saudi and Iran was not driven consciously by the sect they are adopting, that is the Sunni and Shiite respectively. Because in many other places, the Sunni and Shia can live together so long there has been no political interference and propaganda from the government. Perhaps there exists some personality disorientation towards the other, but not to the extreme of waging war against another, either by themselves or through the proxy. Hence why it is in the Middle East that the hostility between the two neighbouring countries is a devastating one?

This is because the rivalry is not solely sectarian-based. The sentiment of madhhabs may have contributed an insignificant number to the conflict, but what more important is the underlying economic and geopolitical factor. The cold war between Riyadh and Tehran is none other than because of their conflicting political interests and the economic competition for the market. We should be aware that such slogan of Sunni-Shiite sectarianism is merely used as tools for their political mileage on both sides. Both sides label themselves as 'Sunni' and 'Shiite' to create an illusion that they are the defenders and protectors of Muslims from their enemy’s threat.

Why would they want such perception to be created? Well, the answer is simple; they wanted power and the expansion of influence. As Friedrich Nietzsche said it, men are lust for power, and having a great influence is something that was dreamed up by those in power. Usually those who are obsessed with themselves and the power they have would feel threatened whenever seeing somebody out there is trying to compete with them.

While in the economic area, both the black gold producers Saudi and Iran are competing for the market, as well as the status for the sole producer in the Fertile Crescent. If negotiations and peace talks between the two countries are not carried out as soon as possible, damage done would not be controlled and they will continue to fight through proxy. Then we will see more deaths of the innocent people, more violence, more terrorism and more refugees. As a Muslim, I do not wish to see the episode of Jamal and Siffin to repeat itself.

Generally, those who are in power in the Middle Eastern countries are corrupted. The cold war that is happening now is a war among the greedy and arrogant politicians, over power and wealth. Remember, if a war occurs, those politicians, elites and Ayatullah are not going to fight with the people in the battlefield. They will sit safely in their dome and fortress, and mobilise us to fight for them. And later who would be sacrificed in the war? The Muslims! Those who perform regular prayers, fasting and those who pay zakat to the needy. This is why; the Muslims need to move beyond the common interpretation that the current crises that we are facing nowadays are purely sectarian between the Sunni and Shiite. It is not the way war happens. In fact, it is fuelled much by the political and economic interests, as well as advancing their personal agend

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[i] Tafsīr al-Manār.

[ii] Limādhā Ta’akhkhar al-Muslimūn wa Limādhā Taqaddam Ghayruhum.

[iii] Ṭabā’i‘ al-Istibdād.

[iv] The Qur’anic Phenomenon.

[v] The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam.

[vi] Risalah Untuk Kaum Muslimin and The Concept of Education in Islam.

[vii] Al-Maḥāwir al-Khamsah li al-Qur’ān al-Karīm.

[viii] http://yournewswire.com/un-declares-israel-as-having-worlds-worst-human-rights/.

[ix] It would be unethical to generalise the abuse of human rights done by a specific organisation to the whole government. Therefore, the specific party responsible for suppressing religious minorities, especially Shiites and Christians, is called as al-Hay’ah, namely a committee of Amr Ma'ruf Nahy Munkar. We can easily define them as the Shariah police, the ones who look after your private life.

[x] Khurshid Ahmad, Islam and Democracy: Some Conceptual and Contemporary Dimensions. (The Muslim World, Vol. 90 (1&2), 2000) p. 2.

[xi] Jadong is a word coined by Malaysian sociologist and public intellectual, Syed Hussein Alatas (d. 2007), by which it means evil, ignorant and arrogant (jahat, bodoh, sombong).

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