Biixi Posted July 26, 2006 Much recent analysis about the Islamic courts in Mogadishu has focused on the political and military strength of the courts. The Union of Islamic Courts is often portrayed as a monolithic juggernaut about to crush all opposition and rivals especially the weak transitional government based in Baidoa. Some analysts even predict the courts may soon overthrow the interim government and take over power. Ideological fault lines What is missing from much of the discussion on the courts is the ideological divisions within the Islamist movement in Somalia, which have the potential to sap their current strength and worse, provoke another round of bloodletting - only this time between the adherents of the various ideological strands of modern political Islam. An ideological battle is being fought far from the public eye and the stage is now set for a clash between two contending visions of Islam. Recent developments in Mogadishu indicate the new calm in Mogadishu could, indeed, be the calm before the storm. The ideological divisions within the Islamist groups, were masked by the fact they had a common enemy - the warlords. Now that the warlords have been ousted, and the clans have switched their allegiance to the Islamists, these divisions are becoming noticeable. The swift installation of Shaykh Dahir Aweys as the de facto head of the Islamic courts and the apparent sidelining of Shaykh Sharif Shaykh Ahmad, the soft-spoken moderate cleric, is the clearest sign of a power struggle and tension between the Salafist and the Qutubist tendencies within the Islamist movement in Somalia. Aweys and Sharif Dahir Aweys, an ex-army colonel and a veteran of 1977 ****** War, is widely believed to be the genius behind the brilliant military campaign by the Islamic courts militia against the warlords in Mogadishu. While Aweys was plotting and conducting the military campaign in secret, Shaykh Sharif Shaykh Ahmad, a Sudanese-trained secondary school teacher and cleric, was slowly carving a niche for himself in the international media as the acceptable face of political Islam in Somalia. What, however, is only mentioned in whispers, is the ideological rift between the two men and their supporters. Aweys has no formal training as an Islamic cleric. His conversion to radical political Islam occurred sometime in the early 90’s when he and like-minded former officers in the Somali National Army and intellectuals joined the Al-Ittihad al-Islami (the Islamic Union). Al-Ittihad’s ideology and membership was heterogeneous. It brought together all the various strains of modern political Islam, just like the Islamic courts in Mogadishu in their early formative years. Salafism Since the defeat of the Al-Ittihad by Ethiopian forces and militiamen loyal to the Puntland leader Abdullahi Yusuf in mid-90’s, Aweys retreated to his home region of central Somalia and later Mogadishu and embarked on a period of self-education and spiritual reflection, which, many say, eventually led him to the puritanical Salafi ideology. This ideology, which is an off-shoot of the Wahhabi school, seeks to promote a “stripped-down†version of the Islamic faith that emphasizes ritual purity and frowns upon all forms of bid’a (modern innovations). It is this aversion to all forms of modern entertainment that explains the recent violent crackdown by the Islamic courts on cinema halls showing the World Cup. The Salafi ideology regards TV and sports as “Lahw†(vulgar pasttimes). Also because of its Wahhabist roots, Salafism is opposed to rationalism and is virulently anti-modernist. The Salafists favour a rigid and literal interpretation of Islamic texts and regard other Muslim sects as deviants. Salafis teach against compromise, and violent jihad is the central pivot around which their metaphysics revolve. Many of the over-zealous Islamist gunmen who have in recent days been terrorizing and killing innocent civilians watching the World Cup in various cinema halls in Mogadishu and in central Somalia, are influenced by the Salafi ideology. It is interesting that the Aweys faction of the Islamic courts has not yet come out categorically to condemn these acts. The line by Aweys is that these are unpremeditated acts or “accidentsâ€. He has not yet made any formal public statement to denounce the violence and say people can watch the World Cup on TV. Speaking to HornAfrik on 5 July after Islamic courts militia gunned down two people in the central region of Dhuusa Marreeb, Aweys failed to clearly condemn the action by the militia. He merely stated that the killing was an “accident†and the perpetrators would face the shari’ah laws. This apparent ambivalence is bound to further increase suspicions he may be the mastermind of what looks increasingly like a violent campaign to rapidly “Islamize†the country. Those with an intimate understanding of the Salafi creed say the stance by Aweys on this bewildering opposition to sports and TV is consistent with its teachings, namely, the notion that any pasttime is a distraction from worship. Qutubism The other main counter-current to Salafism in Somalia is Qutubism. As the name suggests, this ideology owes its birth to the Egyptian Islamist thinker Sayyid Qutub, executed in 1966. The principle text of Qutubism is the political commentary of the Holy Koran which Sayyid Qutub wrote in prison called “Fi Zilal al-Quran†(In the Shade of the Koran). This commentary and other writings by Qutub form the theoretical basis for the ideology which seeks to reconcile Islam and modernity. Qutub’s vision is less atavistic than the Salafist vision and his critique of modern Western civilization is, in the main, not too extreme. His followers have since refined the ideology, drawing on the works of many Sunni Islamist thinkers like Abul Ala Maududi of Pakistani. Islamist groups that embrace moderate versions of Qutubism, like the Islamic Brotherhood of Egypt, favour engagement, compromise and moderation to achieve their goals. In the last few years, Shaykh Sharif Shaykh Ahmad, an Abgal cleric, has emerged as the principle proponent of Qutubism in Somalia. He has spoken in favour of engagement with the West and with the transitional government based in Baidoa. He has stated he is opposed to the creation of a Taleban-style government. In many of the interviews, Sharif has made it clear he favours a gradual approach in consolidating the power of the Islamic courts rather than the Islamization blitzkrieg favoured by Aweys. In an interview with the pro-Islamist Somali website Goobjoog on 20 May, Sharif was clear he favoured dialogue with the interim government and a democratic settlement to the crisis in Somalia. He is widely respected in the country for his keen intellect and piety, but in a militaristic society where power still flows from the barrel of the gun, it is difficult to see how he can become a powerful player in the new dispensation. Although regarded as the spokesman of the Islamic courts, everyone knows that the real power lies with Hasan Dahir Aweys. Ethiopia Aweys appears determined to sideline Shaykh Sharif and stamp his own Salafi vision on the Union of Islamic Courts. He is also determined to spread the influence of the courts across Somalia and establish an Islamic state. Aweys remembers the bloody military campaigns in Puntland and southwestern Somalia in the 90’s in which Al-Ittihad was routed by the Ethiopians and the man who now heads the transitional federal government of Somalia - Abdullahi Yusuf. The animus between the two men runs deep because of this history and Aweys may capitalize on his new-found power to make things very difficult for Abdullahi Yusuf. In a recent BBC Somali Service interview, Aweys declined to clearly state whether he recognized the interim government based in Baidoa despite being pressed to do so by the interviewer. In the same interview, Aweys also voiced his support for the idea of Greater Somalia, by claiming Ethiopia-occupied Somali territory. This bellicose rhetoric by Aweys has already heightened tension with Ethiopia. Somali media have in recent days been awash with reports of Ethiopian military incursions and although Addis Ababa has refused to admit this, many analysts believe Ethiopia has significantly stepped up its military presence in Somalia. Tension This troubling picture in Mogadishu is further complicated by inter-clan rivalries, mainly between the Ayr, the Mudulod and the Abgal clans, as well as the apparent resurgence of the traditional mainstream Sunni sects that are jostling for influence and creating their own Islamic courts in a bid to counter the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC). A report published in the Shabeelle Media Network on 5 July suggests tension is rising in Mogadishu again, especially in Bermuda, and violent clashes may break out between the rival Islamic groups competing with one another in setting up Islamic courts. Backlash At the moment, Aweys needs Sharif to mollify and soften the critics of the courts at home and abroad, but a major falling out is inevitable at some stage in the near future. Indeed, Shaykh Sharif recently hinted at resigning in an interview with the London-based Al-Sharq al-Awsat on 7 June, something which surprised many. The Islamists are fast squandering the public goodwill they earned since they ousted the hated warlords. The honeymoon is now over for the courts. The simmering ideological rift threatens to turn nasty and the violent campaign against so-called anti-Islamic behaviours is quickly alienating the public. In Somalia’s chaotic and fluid political landscape, a major backlash against the courts cannot be ruled out. Source: BBC Monitoring research Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
