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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 May 2000 Issue No. 481 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 May 2000 Issue No. 481
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Features Interview Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Reign of darkness
By Salama Ahmed Salama
The worm currently eating away at the very core of Islamic societies, obstructing their development, distorting their image and draining their energy in futile battles is the so-called Abu Sayyaf phenomenon. Sometimes it manifests itself in separatist movements, like the Liberation of the Moro Front in the Philippines, which took hostage some 20 foreign tourists vacationing in the Philippines, thus turning the world against Muslims once again. At other times, its adherents dedicate themselves to disciplining women who supposedly deviate from the teachings of Islam (which is most apparent in Kuwait). A third trend seems to specialise in kidnapping foreigners to pressure governments to submit to their specific demands, as is the case in Yemen. Another faction "crusades" in the name of Islam against any kind of creative work, which is the case in Egypt.
Whether they take the form of physical violence or moral intimidation, actions of this kind are aimed mostly at short-term objectives. They may be useful in scoring a rapid victory -- kidnapping for revenge or blackmail, say -- but they cannot be useful in serving a cause or realising long-term benefits. This movement, and the ideas it advocates, cater to the feelings of a preponderantly ignorant mob. By sowing dissent and fuelling hostilities, actions like those of "Abu Sayyaf" usually succeed only in antagonising states already opposed to all that is Islamic in thought, culture, human beings or physical reality.
Only in a milieu where political freedom, democracy and the rule of law are nonexistent, where free thought is obstructed and justice and equal opportunity compromised, can such groups as Abu Sayyaf flourish. Only then can violence hold sway as the sole possible path to power. Only then can groups like Abu Sayyaf -- regardless of their designation -- bring the dissatisfied together and recruit criminals to wreak havoc by kidnapping and torturing their victims.
The uproar raised in Egypt over the novel Walimat 'Ashab Al-Bahr (A Banquet for Seaweed) by the Syrian writer Haydar Haydar is yet another battle which, though seemingly in defence of Islam, in fact amounts to a death sentence pronounced on a literary work, allegedly because it shows contempt for religion. Opponents to the work have encouraged their followers to harass the cultural authority responsible for approving publication, and pressured public opinion to proclaim that the book is worthless in both literary and moral terms.
Yet it is a little surprising that this explosion of rabble-rousing and blind fanaticism is turned against a work published 18 years ago, and widely available in several Arab countries. Such eminent critics as Ali El-Ra'i and Mahmoud Amin El-Alem have called the novel an essentially political work, a manifesto against corruption and injustice, and the expression of profound disappointment with revolutions and revolutionaries. The story is set in Iraq and Algeria, where revolutionary dreams evaporated as blood and chaos drowned aspirations to justice, dignity and freedom. Certain phrases uttered by its distraught characters could be construed as insulting to the values we revere, but they are part and parcel of the fabric of the story (no different than the cursing and swearing we hear every day on the streets). Since the author clearly had no malicious intention to revile or distort Islam, is it worth stifling the spirit of creativity and instigating such a violent reaction because of envy or fanaticism?
The problem is that we have allowed Abu Sayyaf and his gang to pass judgement on every creative work, no matter how brilliant. We have allowed obscurantist interpretations to become decisive and binding. The state's power to prosecute, investigate and pass judgement have been taken over; the state is now just one of many victims, another hostage, suppressed, blackmailed and threatened.
Soon, Abu Sayyaf will find no one to stand up to him. Nor will there be anyone left to oppress or censor. Once chaos and irrationality prevail, reason and truth will regress. Islam will be little more than a cover for an arid and thankless existence, an artificial, sterile life led under the pretext of protecting the faith.
