The advent of Executive Sheikhs and the commercialization of Religion

[Abtigiis]

“I am not going to the Mosque because I am not a thief”, Hassan Khalif, a prominent elder in the town of Degahbour in Somaligalbeed, once remarked. It was a remark that got notoriety for its blasphemous brilliance. It took me fifteen years to understand the frustrations of the old man from the dusty village I call home. And only the cheapness of Sheikh Ibrahim Dheere of United Western Somali Liberation Front (UWSLF) compelled me to accept that the resident occupiers of the front lines of the house of God are not saints, but sinners. Is 500 sq. meter of land in the CMC suburb on the eastern side of Addis Ababa the price of Sheikh Ibrahim? Is that all you need to package a surrender as peace deal and to betray the aspirations of your suffering people? Is Andalus and Madina complexes in East Leigh enough to blind Dhagaweyne, now inducted as Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim Shakuul, a man I know from the days we used to play with balls made of plastic and old socks, to the atrocities of the Tigre occupiers? It is a matter that I don’t want to pursue further, lest I turn this piece into a political vilification, which I do not intend it to be.

 

In the last two decades, men with white attires have taken over the business sector wherever Somalis live. The attire and the beard, previously known as emblem of the faithful, are a symbol of class nowadays. You simply do not have to assume the Wadaads of these days are in any way closer to the seat of God than an adulterer. A month or so ago, one of them proposed that if I can help his business to be granted an exclusive franchise in one of the regions in Somalia, I will get kickbacks. That is what it is, but he beautifies the sleaze by saying "what is mine is yours". I have no idea why he thought I have the power to do that. Fortunatlly, I have no such powers and there was no chance I would be tempted. This is not exclusive to one Wadaad, but is the seal of how they do business. They bribe, cheat and do not return money they borrow. They lie and twist religious edicts based on where their intersts lie. In their worst form, they become anti-humanity, when they graduate to the Alshabab mindset.

 

In an article I wrote sometime ago under a pen name titled “the merchants of Fatwa”, I have remarked that “the fusion of business and religion is a deadly mix. Business requires flexibility in interactions with partners and clients. It also instructs unyielding devotion to self-interest. Religion imparts wisdom and guidance with intransigence and selflessness. Flexibility doesn’t go hand-in-hand with intransigence; selfishness doesn’t pair with altruism”. Clearly a new ethics is born, one that overturned idealistic altruism of religion for a more enterprenuerial lure, which is much more user-friendly to business and clients who have until now been bored by a surfeit of prosaic sermons from the religious establishment. They now talk about bread and butter issues, not a problem by itself, if they could take off the mask of magnanimity they wear, when the truth is they are like the jew usurperer– Shylock – in Shakeasper’s celebrated “The merchant of Venus” play.

 

Mosques have now become the new stock exchange markets and a hideout of the mentally corrupt who are in search of a fitting veneer to wrongfoot the overzealous beliver.

[Valenteenah.]

Surely this is not the case for all wadaads? Many may be corrupt but the majority might just be working hard for betterment and the afterlife.

But I do have to say Somalis love the religion, even when their actions conflict with it!, so they do often get misled and misused by the bearded-brigade (wouldn't call them wadaado). Still I think it's important to give the benefit of the doubt unless you have evidence or strong intuition that the person isn't what they claim to be. (In this regard I'm not refering to any random wadaad but those that take up communal and advocacy responsibilities within mosques and the public sphere as men of religion and learning).

 

 

BTW Abtigiis, I'm glad you're back. You light up the board.

[Abtigiis]

Barwaaqo, indeed there is no merit in generalisations and there is always an exception. My argument is that the Exectutive sheikhs are largely out and out knaves who would steal from the prophet hismelf if he was alive.

 

The fact that one of them owes me money, however small, may have contribued to my anger but it doesn't invalidate my assertions. :D

[xiinfaniin]

'Pitfalls await', said the Greek philosopher, 'for he who dwells on generalities'. Prof. Abtigis might have been wronged by men of religion, and his grievances may be real and genuine. But that shall never justify the broad accusations he labeled against an entire segment of the society. The punishment (slandering all men of religion who congregate in the Houses of God) does not fit the alleged crime.

 

But Prof. Abtigiis is not alone in formulating remedies to a problem that are clearly out of proportion. Ironically, the SNM he disparages so eloquently prescribed a painful dismemberment to the mother land based on a justified political grievances their community had under Barre regime. This is a worrying trend indeed.

 

There is genuine discussion to be had on the proper role of men of religion in the affairs of local communities. Prof. Abtigiis's brush strokes and broad accusations will not advance that discussion.