Hypocrisy of Arab Muslim Rulers Unmasked
By Dr. Sultan Ahmad
Quran ruled out a private subjective relationship with Allah that accentual personal salvation, but equally it debarred theocracy, rule in the name of Allah, and dictatorship, rule through brute power. Tyranny, whether religious or secular, countermanded the free spirit of Islam announced and promoted in the Quran. The most honored in the sight of Allah is the believer with the most taqwa. The Glorious Qur'an mentioned this in Surah al-Hujurat (49:13.
"Indeed, the most honorable of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous [consciousness and fear of Allah, piety]. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquinted."
Contrary to this teaching of Islam, almost all Arabic speaking Muslim majority countries are currently ruled by tyrant monarchs: Kings, Princes, Sheikhs' families. In the absence of popular public support, family is the main frame of the rulers and all heads of the departments of the governments in these countries are cousins of the ruling [royal(!)] families.
Wahhabi Islam is a movement within Islam that was founded in the 18th century CE by Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab in central Arabia. Wahhab made the central point of his reform movement the principle that absolutely every idea added to Islam after the third century of the Mulsim era (about 950 CE) was false and should be eliminated. Muslims, in order to be true Muslims, must adhere solely and strictly to the original beliefs set forth by Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him). Contemporary secular behaviors are even more anathema to Wahhab's successors. It is against modernity, secularism, and the enlightenment which current Wahhabists do battle — and it is this anti-secularism, anti-modernism which helps drive their extremism, even to the point of violence. Wahhab gave the Al Saud tribe certain credence to attacking other tribes, circumventing the Quranic edict to not fight other Muslims.
Obviously, Wahhabi religious leaders reject any reinterpretation of the Qur'an when it comes to issues settled by the earliest Muslims. Wahhabists thus oppose the 19th and 20th century Muslim reform movements which reinterpreted aspects of Islamic law in order to bring it closer to standards set by the West, particularly with regards to topics like gender relations, family law, personal autonomy, and participatory democracy. Even today, Wahhais use the term when referring to the West and at times even to their own societies.
Failed to attact Muslims to his ideas, at last Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab settled in Dara'iyya, or Deraiya (in the Nejd), where he succeeded in converting the greatest notable, Mahommed ibn Sa'ud, who married his daughter, and so became the founder of a hereditary Wahhabite dynasty. According to Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab's teachings, a Muslim must present a bayah, or oath of allegiance, to a Muslim ruler during his lifetime to ensure his redemption after death. The ruler, conversely, is owed unquestioned allegiance from his people so long as he leads the community according to the laws of God. For the first time in Islamic history, Islam had to take shelter of political dynasty for its propagation – that is Wahhabism.
According to Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab, worship in Islam includes conventional acts of worship such as the five daily prayers; fasting; Dua (supplication); Istia'dha (seeking protection or refuge); Ist'ana (seeking help), and Istigatha (seeking benefits). Therefore, making dua to anyone or anything other than Allah, or seeking supernatural help and protection that is only befitting of a divine being from something other than Allah are acts of "shirk" and contradict Tawhid. While Saudi Wahhabis were "the largest funders of local Muslim Brotherhood chapters and other hard-line Islamists" during this time, they opposed jihadi resistance to Muslim governments and assassination of Muslim leaders because of their belief that "the decision to wage jihad lay with the ruler, not the individual believer."
Consumption of wine is forbidden to the believer because wine is literally forbidden in the Quran. Under the Wahhabis, however, the ban extended to all intoxicating drinks and other stimulants, including tobacco. Wahhabbism is considered as extremist and heretical mainly based on Wahhabbism's rejection of traditional Sunni scholars and interpretation.
Allah (swt) again says in Surah al-Baqarah (2:143) that this "Best Ummah" will also be witness over the mankind:
"And thus We have made you a median [just] community that you will be witnesses over the people and the Messenger [Muhammad] will be a witness over you".
The Wahhabi movement contradicts the above quoted assertion of the Holy Quran when it emphasizes the religion of Islam and its adherent Muslims as a "median [just] community" declaring all sorts of extremism void. Only about less than 1% of the 1.6 billion Muslims are followers of Wahhbism.
Contradicting to its teachings, ruling Wahhabi Muslims in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman, to name a few, depends on the Western Christian countries, especially America, over Glorious Allah for their protection. Is it not Shirk according to Wahhabism?
Wahhabi influence in Saudi Arabia, however, remained tangible in the physical conformity in dress, in public deportment, and in public prayer. Most significantly, the Wahhabi legacy was manifest in the social ethos that presumed government responsibility for the collective moral ordering of society, from the behavior of individuals, to institutions, to businesses, to the government itself. Saudi Arabia is also engaged in funding Muslim extremists around the Muslim World [the funding of Jammat-e-Islam of Bangladesh is an example - which not only opposed but also engaged in the organized killings of hundreds and thousands of innocent Muslims and destroying properties during the liberation war of Bangladesh].
Now let us take an account of what the Wahhabis, now-a-days in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar are practicing. According to recently published Wikileaks report - in Saudi Arabia, the government of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi royal family has been subject over many years to frequent allegations of extensive and systemic corruption originating, in part, from a lack of distinction between the personal interests and wealth of the royal family and that of the Saudi state.
Saudi King Abdullah has repeatedly urged the U.S. to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. In one diplomatic cable, King Abdullah said it was necessary to "cut the head of the snake", in reference to Iran's nuclear program.
In Jeddah, despite the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) — the religious police of Saudi Arabia, there is an ongoing underground nightlife, which includes "the full range of worldly temptations and vices" i.e., "alcohol, drugs, sex " and "working girls" (prostitutes). Even though these parties are in complete violation of CPVPV's laws, the mutaween of CPVPV are afraid to raid these parties, since these parties are hosted by the young princes of al-Saud, the monarchic ruling house of Saudi Arabia.
The Economist summarized cable descriptions of "exclusive parties" in Saudi Arabia, stating, "An American official in Saudi Arabia describes un-Islamic mores at a clandestine Halloween party, hosted by a royal prince. Alcohol and prostitutes abounded at the event, attended by 150-plus Saudis. The host's status kept the fearsome religious police away. Such parties, the writer concluded, were increasingly typical in the kingdom."
Not only that, theses rulers also use double standards in recruiting manpower. If one possesses a passport of a developed Christian country he, in some cases, is paid more than double the salary than one who possesses passport of a developing [Muslim] country for the same job. Moreover, if one travels to these countries with a passport from developing countries, he is considered a suspect. But if one travels with a passport from developing countries, he is considered immune of all things. What discrimination by these Muslim rulers?
According to a May 2009 cable, the "Saudi regulatory system offers the al-Saud regime a means to manipulate the nation's media to promote its own agenda," and criticism of the al-Saud regime is not tolerated at all. All major media outlets in Saudi Arabia — newspapers, such as Al-Watan, Al-Hayat, and Asharq Al-Awsat, and free-to-view television networks, such as MBC Group and Rotana — are owned and controlled by the al-Saud regime, and accordingly self-censorship is the order of the day — which is "motivated by profit and politics". The pro-western ideologies in these newspapers and American programming — such as Friends, Desperate Housewives, Late Night with David Letterman and Hollywood films — are seen as an antidote to extremist religious thoughts in the recruitment of terrorists, especially young teenagers, because of the demographic target groups of these programs.
Leaders of the Muslim countries in the Middle East along with Saudi Arabia and Egypt are all liars. They tell the Americans something but hide it (for fear of public loath) from their countrymen. Israel, the enemy of the Muslim Ummah, which in its possession hundreds of nuclear overheads, is not considered enemy by these rulers. They target Iran as their enemy as it stands against the Israeli aggression of the Palestinian lands. These leaders are nothing but Munafiquns (hypocrites).
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia, the members of the royal family are found to drink alcohols, engaged in fornication while the public are stoned to death or their heads cut off for similar offense. A member of the Saudi royal family Saud bin Abdul Aziz bin Nasir al Saud had been sentenced to life imprisonment for homosexuality and murder. Now readers, think of the so called Muslim Kings, Princes and rulers of the royal families, what kind of Muslims they are. May Allah (swt)'s wrath be on them and save the people of those countries from the evil clutch of these hypocrites?
Osama bin Laden should initiate Jihad against these tyrant monarchs to free Islam and the Muslims of these countries form the clutch of these hypocrite rulers rather than blaming and targeting the Christian World.
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Dr. Sultan Ahmad: Former Professor and Dean of Science, Chittagong University; and also former Professor and Dean of Faculties, East West University, Bangladesh
"Indeed, the most honorable of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous [consciousness and fear of Allah, piety]. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquinted."
Contrary to this teaching of Islam, almost all Arabic speaking Muslim majority countries are currently ruled by tyrant monarchs: Kings, Princes, Sheikhs' families. In the absence of popular public support, family is the main frame of the rulers and all heads of the departments of the governments in these countries are cousins of the ruling [royal(!)] families.
Wahhabi Islam is a movement within Islam that was founded in the 18th century CE by Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab in central Arabia. Wahhab made the central point of his reform movement the principle that absolutely every idea added to Islam after the third century of the Mulsim era (about 950 CE) was false and should be eliminated. Muslims, in order to be true Muslims, must adhere solely and strictly to the original beliefs set forth by Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him). Contemporary secular behaviors are even more anathema to Wahhab's successors. It is against modernity, secularism, and the enlightenment which current Wahhabists do battle — and it is this anti-secularism, anti-modernism which helps drive their extremism, even to the point of violence. Wahhab gave the Al Saud tribe certain credence to attacking other tribes, circumventing the Quranic edict to not fight other Muslims.
Obviously, Wahhabi religious leaders reject any reinterpretation of the Qur'an when it comes to issues settled by the earliest Muslims. Wahhabists thus oppose the 19th and 20th century Muslim reform movements which reinterpreted aspects of Islamic law in order to bring it closer to standards set by the West, particularly with regards to topics like gender relations, family law, personal autonomy, and participatory democracy. Even today, Wahhais use the term when referring to the West and at times even to their own societies.
Failed to attact Muslims to his ideas, at last Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab settled in Dara'iyya, or Deraiya (in the Nejd), where he succeeded in converting the greatest notable, Mahommed ibn Sa'ud, who married his daughter, and so became the founder of a hereditary Wahhabite dynasty. According to Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab's teachings, a Muslim must present a bayah, or oath of allegiance, to a Muslim ruler during his lifetime to ensure his redemption after death. The ruler, conversely, is owed unquestioned allegiance from his people so long as he leads the community according to the laws of God. For the first time in Islamic history, Islam had to take shelter of political dynasty for its propagation – that is Wahhabism.
According to Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab, worship in Islam includes conventional acts of worship such as the five daily prayers; fasting; Dua (supplication); Istia'dha (seeking protection or refuge); Ist'ana (seeking help), and Istigatha (seeking benefits). Therefore, making dua to anyone or anything other than Allah, or seeking supernatural help and protection that is only befitting of a divine being from something other than Allah are acts of "shirk" and contradict Tawhid. While Saudi Wahhabis were "the largest funders of local Muslim Brotherhood chapters and other hard-line Islamists" during this time, they opposed jihadi resistance to Muslim governments and assassination of Muslim leaders because of their belief that "the decision to wage jihad lay with the ruler, not the individual believer."
Consumption of wine is forbidden to the believer because wine is literally forbidden in the Quran. Under the Wahhabis, however, the ban extended to all intoxicating drinks and other stimulants, including tobacco. Wahhabbism is considered as extremist and heretical mainly based on Wahhabbism's rejection of traditional Sunni scholars and interpretation.
Allah (swt) again says in Surah al-Baqarah (2:143) that this "Best Ummah" will also be witness over the mankind:
"And thus We have made you a median [just] community that you will be witnesses over the people and the Messenger [Muhammad] will be a witness over you".
The Wahhabi movement contradicts the above quoted assertion of the Holy Quran when it emphasizes the religion of Islam and its adherent Muslims as a "median [just] community" declaring all sorts of extremism void. Only about less than 1% of the 1.6 billion Muslims are followers of Wahhbism.
Contradicting to its teachings, ruling Wahhabi Muslims in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman, to name a few, depends on the Western Christian countries, especially America, over Glorious Allah for their protection. Is it not Shirk according to Wahhabism?
Wahhabi influence in Saudi Arabia, however, remained tangible in the physical conformity in dress, in public deportment, and in public prayer. Most significantly, the Wahhabi legacy was manifest in the social ethos that presumed government responsibility for the collective moral ordering of society, from the behavior of individuals, to institutions, to businesses, to the government itself. Saudi Arabia is also engaged in funding Muslim extremists around the Muslim World [the funding of Jammat-e-Islam of Bangladesh is an example - which not only opposed but also engaged in the organized killings of hundreds and thousands of innocent Muslims and destroying properties during the liberation war of Bangladesh].
Now let us take an account of what the Wahhabis, now-a-days in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar are practicing. According to recently published Wikileaks report - in Saudi Arabia, the government of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi royal family has been subject over many years to frequent allegations of extensive and systemic corruption originating, in part, from a lack of distinction between the personal interests and wealth of the royal family and that of the Saudi state.
Saudi King Abdullah has repeatedly urged the U.S. to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. In one diplomatic cable, King Abdullah said it was necessary to "cut the head of the snake", in reference to Iran's nuclear program.
In Jeddah, despite the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) — the religious police of Saudi Arabia, there is an ongoing underground nightlife, which includes "the full range of worldly temptations and vices" i.e., "alcohol, drugs, sex " and "working girls" (prostitutes). Even though these parties are in complete violation of CPVPV's laws, the mutaween of CPVPV are afraid to raid these parties, since these parties are hosted by the young princes of al-Saud, the monarchic ruling house of Saudi Arabia.
The Economist summarized cable descriptions of "exclusive parties" in Saudi Arabia, stating, "An American official in Saudi Arabia describes un-Islamic mores at a clandestine Halloween party, hosted by a royal prince. Alcohol and prostitutes abounded at the event, attended by 150-plus Saudis. The host's status kept the fearsome religious police away. Such parties, the writer concluded, were increasingly typical in the kingdom."
Not only that, theses rulers also use double standards in recruiting manpower. If one possesses a passport of a developed Christian country he, in some cases, is paid more than double the salary than one who possesses passport of a developing [Muslim] country for the same job. Moreover, if one travels to these countries with a passport from developing countries, he is considered a suspect. But if one travels with a passport from developing countries, he is considered immune of all things. What discrimination by these Muslim rulers?
According to a May 2009 cable, the "Saudi regulatory system offers the al-Saud regime a means to manipulate the nation's media to promote its own agenda," and criticism of the al-Saud regime is not tolerated at all. All major media outlets in Saudi Arabia — newspapers, such as Al-Watan, Al-Hayat, and Asharq Al-Awsat, and free-to-view television networks, such as MBC Group and Rotana — are owned and controlled by the al-Saud regime, and accordingly self-censorship is the order of the day — which is "motivated by profit and politics". The pro-western ideologies in these newspapers and American programming — such as Friends, Desperate Housewives, Late Night with David Letterman and Hollywood films — are seen as an antidote to extremist religious thoughts in the recruitment of terrorists, especially young teenagers, because of the demographic target groups of these programs.
Leaders of the Muslim countries in the Middle East along with Saudi Arabia and Egypt are all liars. They tell the Americans something but hide it (for fear of public loath) from their countrymen. Israel, the enemy of the Muslim Ummah, which in its possession hundreds of nuclear overheads, is not considered enemy by these rulers. They target Iran as their enemy as it stands against the Israeli aggression of the Palestinian lands. These leaders are nothing but Munafiquns (hypocrites).
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia, the members of the royal family are found to drink alcohols, engaged in fornication while the public are stoned to death or their heads cut off for similar offense. A member of the Saudi royal family Saud bin Abdul Aziz bin Nasir al Saud had been sentenced to life imprisonment for homosexuality and murder. Now readers, think of the so called Muslim Kings, Princes and rulers of the royal families, what kind of Muslims they are. May Allah (swt)'s wrath be on them and save the people of those countries from the evil clutch of these hypocrites?
Osama bin Laden should initiate Jihad against these tyrant monarchs to free Islam and the Muslims of these countries form the clutch of these hypocrite rulers rather than blaming and targeting the Christian World.
-----------------------
Dr. Sultan Ahmad: Former Professor and Dean of Science, Chittagong University; and also former Professor and Dean of Faculties, East West University, Bangladesh
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