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Promoting proximity
Islamic scholars meet in Doha and call for unity in Islam amid fiery
sessions and latent accusations, writes Rasha Saad
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Click to view caption
The Doha conference attracted hundreds of Muslim scholars
representing different Islamic sects
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The Doha Conference for Dialogue of Islamic Schools of Thought
concluded Monday condemning sectarian war between Sunnis and Shias in Iraq and
appealing to followers of all Islamic schools to respect each other's beliefs
and sanctities.
The conference was dominated by the issues that currently dictate
relations between Islam's two main sects -- sectarian violence in Iraq and the
growing influence of Iran in the region. A fervent call from all participating
scholars urged an end to conflict that is undermining Iraq's unity.
Participants "condemn the sectarian war between Sunnis and Shias
unfolding in Iraq, which is conducive to [its] fragmentation," read a statement
issued at the end of the conference attended by more than 200 Muslim scholars
and thinkers. The scholars also stressed that the whole Arab-Islamic nation
should be united in the face of what they called "serious challenges and
aggressions on the umma [nation]."
The scholars, from 44 countries and representing various Islamic sects,
said the shedding of Muslim blood and attacks on Muslim properties were
prohibited in Islam. They denounced all "crimes perpetrated along sectarian
lines" and urged adherents of various Islamic sects to "respect" one another.
The conference -- organised by the Qatari College of Sharia in
cooperation with Al-Azhar University and the World Forum for Proximity of
Islamic Schools of Thought -- called on the rulers of Arab and Muslim countries
to enhance the efforts of scholars to achieve unity and foster dialogue among
the various Islamic schools of thought. They urged the formation of an
international scientific forum with Doha as its headquarters and scholars
comprising the Sunni, Shia, Ebadhi and Zaidia schools of thought to be tasked
with enhancing the proximity of Islam's sects.
The Doha communiqué also called for the reformation of education
curriculum in ways that promote dialogue among Islamic schools. It called on
the religious leaders of differing sects to ban malevolent propagation of Shia
thought in Sunni-dominant countries and vice- versa as "this would trigger
disputes and weaken the unity of Islam."
Participating scholars urged the followers of all Islamic schools to
respect one another's holy places and engage dialogue in a spirit of mutual
respect. "Any exchange of insults against the companions of Prophet Mohamed or
his relatives should be treated as an un-Islamic act," they said.
The reconciliatory tone of the conference's final statement, however,
hardly reflected the fiery sessions of the conference itself, with scholars
from different sides trading accusations of proselytising and authoring
violence in Iraq. Leading the verbal attack, prominent Egyptian- born,
Qatar-based Sunni cleric Sheikh Youssef El-Qaradawi denounced what he described
as "attempts to convert Sunnis to Shiism" in countries that are predominantly
Sunni. "It is not permissible for a sect to try to spread in a country that is
dominated by the other sect," he said.
The bulk of Qaradawi's criticism was directed at Iran. Qaradawi
insisted that Iran "holds the keys to a settlement in war- torn Iraq" and that
"it has influence in Iraq. It can stop this violence and put out the fire that
could destroy everything." Qaradawi, who heads the International Union for
Muslim Scholars (IUMS), announced that his organisation has decided to send a
delegation to Tehran to hold talks with Iranian officials.
Qaradawi also accused Shias in Iraq and Iran of harbouring militias
that kill and displace Sunni Arabs in Iraq. "The Sunnis are being driven out of
Baghdad by militias and death squads," stated Qaradawi.
Moving from political into theological differences, Qaradawi criticised
some Shias for repeatedly insulting the companions of Prophet Mohamed, "how can
I shake hands with those who are swearing at the companions? It is the
companions who brought Islam to Iran, so why the rudeness?"
Qaradawi also charged that unlike Shias, Sunnis -- a majority in the
Muslim world -- have taken the initiative and issued fatwas that recognised the
Shia Jaafari School.
Qaradawi's attacks perplexed many, including Ali Azrship, head of the
Iranian-Arab Cultural Studies Centre in Iran, who said he did not expect such
remarks from Qaradawi, and that these remarks do not help inter- Muslim
dialogue.
Qaradawi's accusations of Iranian intervention in Iraq particularly
struck a nerve, being a reiteration of US accusations to Iran of meddling in
Iraqi affairs, an accusation denied by Iranians. The US has stepped up its
confrontation with Iran in Iraq and has recently targeted Iranian diplomats and
raided what was described as a diplomatic liaison office in the northern city
of Arbil, detaining six Iranians.
Rejecting Qaradawi's accusations, Ayatollah Taskhiri, a prominent
Iranian scholar and head of the Islamic Culture and Communications Organisation
(ICCO), and also a member of Qaradawi's IUMS, warned that "colonial powers"
want to make Iran the enemy of the Arab world, in the place of Israel, and pit
Shias against Sunnis to serve the interests of the Zionists. Taskhiri asked
that Sunnis to "stop proselytising Shias."
Differences also came to the fore as to how the conference should
proceed. While Taskhiri, who chaired the final session, requested that
participants focus on common elements, rather than highlight divisive issues,
Qaradawi insisted that all sensitive issues should be discussed in frankness to
reach real unity amongst the two main Islamic sects.
According to reports, some participants were sceptical about the
usefulness of such meetings, likening them to a "dialogue of the deaf". "The
participants came with the intention of proving the other wrong and not
listening," Mahmoud Azab, professor of Islamic civilisation at France's
Sorbonne University told the AFP.
Head of the Cairo-based Centre for the Rapprochement of Islamic Sect,
Abdullah El-Ghomi, agrees that the conference is not the right place for attack
but rather for rapprochement. Nonetheless, El-Ghomi believes, admitting there
are problems is the first stage towards overcoming them. "It should be
recognised that there are extremists in both sides, thus both Sunnis and Shias
should offer concessions and overcome this obstacle," he told Al-Ahram Weekly.
El-Ghomi also insists that it goes against human nature to expect that
a group or nation with such a rich history would be flawless. "Both Sunnis and
Shias should admit that there have been historical flaws as far as both sects
are concerned. But we should not keep paying for the history of our ancestors,"
he said.
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