Salafi intolerance threatens Sufis

[Ibtisam]

Egypt's peaceful Muslims are being denied religious freedoms as the influence of conservative Salafism grows.

 

Whenever religious freedom is discussed in Egypt, the topic inevitably turns to the status of the Christian Copts. Thousands of articles have been written about Egypt's Copts and how they are denied their religious freedoms, but it almost never occurs to anyone that even Sunni Muslims are being deprived of their basic rights to religious freedom and worship.

 

 

That is exactly what happened at the end of last month when the ministry of awqaf (religious endowments) decided to ban Egypt's Sufi orders from holding gatherings for the performance of dhikr – rituals devoted to the remembrance of God. Sufis have been performing these rituals for centuries, so a ban at this particular time is absurd.

 

 

The ministry's excuse is that the ban is intended to pre-empt undesirable behaviour at Sufi gatherings, such as the shouting of invocations and late-night loitering in mosques.[/b In a city such as Cairo where the noise of traffic is a constant background, it just doesn't make sense. Clashes took place at Cairo's al-Husayn and al-Sayyida Zeinab mosques between members of Sufi orders and security forces who forced them to evacuate the two shrines.

 

 

A simple definition of Sufism is in order. Imam al-Ghazali says of the Sufis: The aim of their knowledge is to lop off the obstacles present in the soul and to rid oneself of its reprehensible habits and vicious qualities in order to attain thereby a heart empty of all save God and adorned with the constant remembrance of God.

 

 

The Sufis are moderate, tolerant, peace-loving and highly spiritual Muslims, light years away from the violent image of Islam projected to western audiences. They believe God must be at the forefront of one's thoughts at all times. The dhikr rituals, which include dancing and religious songs, are aimed at nothing more than the remembrance of God. Why the government would want to ban a practice so peaceful and harmless is incomprehensible.

 

 

In Egypt, Sufism is more institutionalised than anywhere else. There are 74 Sufi orders in Egypt, each headed by its own Sufi sheikh. At the top there is a Supreme Council for Sufi Orders and the president is directly in charge of Sufi affairs. Some Sufi orders were founded over 700 years ago. Their founders' shrines are present in mosques, and millions of Muslims travel to them every year to celebrate the birthdays (moulids) of the Sufi sheikhs and gain their blessings. Perhaps the spirituality of Sufism has been neglected by some in recent times, but the dhikr ceremonies and moulids have been cultural practices for centuries and are a part of Egypt's heritage. The moulids last for several days and are occasions for happiness, festivities, remembrance of God, income for the poor and fun for children.

 

 

The recent ban is another victory for extreme Salafi thinking at the expense of Egypt's moderate Sufism. Salafism, imported into Egypt from Saudi Arabia and publicised around the world thanks to petrodollars, is the enemy of anything moderate and tolerant. The Salafis believe that the only true path is to follow the practices of the early generations of Muslims – literally.

 

Salafi thinking, which has gradually occupied Egyptian thought over the past three decades, puts enormous emphasis on external appearance rather than the inner spirit. They grow their beards just as the first Muslims did and trim their trousers so that the hems hang well above the ankles (or just wear a short jilbab) and their women usually wear the niqab. They believe that anything that deviates from their strictly literal interpretations of Islam is bida'a (innovation) and thus a gateway to hell.

 

 

Although most Egyptians do not identify themselves as Salafis, their thinking has been greatly influenced by Salafism, especially the younger generation. Much effort is expended in public displays of religiosity such as beards, prayer beads, prayer calluses and women's clothing, while the spiritual aspect of religion and the proper ethics Muslims should adhere to take a back seat.

 

 

Salafis have been fighting Sufis for ages. They accuse them of polytheism and unbelief for revering the Sufi sheikhs and building mosques at their shrines. The recent dhikr ban is not the first victory for Salafi thought over moderate Sufism. They regularly call for the banning of all moulids and dhikr ceremonies, and succeeded in this respect last year when the moulid of al-Sayyida Zeinab, the prophet's Muhammad's granddaughter, was banned. The excuse used by the government back then was swine flu. The crowds at the moulid bothered them, but the crowds on Cairo's metros and buses didn't seem to be a problem.

 

 

Salafis regularly bash Sufism as un-Islamic and their rituals as unbelief and infidelity. They also accuse them of encouraging sin and debauchery because mixing of the sexes takes place at the shrines and during the moulids. Indeed, the mosque of al-Sayyid Ahmed al-Badawi in Tanta, where the founder of the Ahmadiya Sufi order is buried, does not enforce any strict segregation between men and women. Both sexes can be seen together inside the mosque and the only separation takes place during prayer, when women stand behind the men. Such mixing of the sexes is seen as pure evil by the Salafis, and unacceptable by many Egyptians.

 

 

Thanks to the Salafis, Islam has been given a bad name all over the world. As if that's not enough, the invasion of Egypt by Salafi thought has resulted in the stagnation of Islam and pulled the minds many of Egyptian Muslims back in time. What's more is that the intolerance of Salafism has worsened Muslim-Coptic relations in the past few decades. And to top all that, now even Egypt's peaceful Muslims are being denied religious freedom in their own country.

 

Baher Ibrahim guardian.co.uk,

[ANWAR]

I am Salafi

 

and many young muslim brother here in NORWAY are to

 

WE JUST WANT TO GUID PEOPLE TO THE SUNA OF Prophet Muhammad SWS, and his companions

 

and for that, we are giveng Islam a bad name all over the world??????????

 

Here is a good salafi Speaker

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/OneWayToParadise#p/a/134CBE660A1B7236/1/7oJShz6Kens

[ANWAR]

The principal of Salafism is that Islam was perfect and complete during the days of Prophet Muhammad and his companions, but that undesirable innovations have been added over the later centuries due to materialist and cultural influences. Salafism seeks to revive a practice of Islam that more closely resembles the religion during the time of Prophet Muhammad.

 

The term Salafism is sometimes used interchangeably with "Wahhabism". Adherents usually reject this term because it is considered derogatory and because they believe that Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab did not establish a new school of thought but revived the original teachings of Prophet Muhammad as was practiced by his companions and the earliest generations of Muslims. Salafis will never self-describe themselves as "Wahabis." Nonetheless, modern-day Salafis do regard Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab as a great Islamic scholar and reformer, a fact that is confirmed by their close adherence to his doctrinal teachings.

[Haatu]

There only path to jannah is the way of the prophet (SAW) and the companions. Anything other than that is bidca. Promoting the good and forbidding the evil is part of Islam.

[Libaax-Sankataabte]

Ibti, your topic has trended up on twitter already.

 

http://twitter.com/SufiBloom

[NASSIR]

I think the reason why tolerance is very scarce in our parts of the world is our limited understanding of the laws of appearance. For instance, Scientists work under the assumption that the natural world follows an orderly, cause & effect patterns. So their primary goal is to study, find out and understand these laws, signs and patterns & then make them more useful to humanity and surroundings. The question then is who created these natural laws and patterns? Atheists would reason they came out of 'accidents' but accidents do not have patterns, signs or direction. However, morality is relative in every society and it is within us, a domain seperate from the laws of appearance (i.e. technology, math and science). A crucial role by any government would be to give its individuals an ultimate freedom to question, explore and observe or freedom not to be circumscribed by one group's rigid interpretation and application of religion, for Allah says there is no compulsion in Islam and that there are, in fact, signs in this world for those who understand--exactly the work that scientists do to search, learn and come up with theories, models and laws.

[NASSIR]

Religious freedom is very essential to our lives. And education is key to overcoming all of these barriers and misunderstandings..

[Ibtisam]

Originally posted by Libaax-Sankataabte:

Ibti, your topic has trended up on twitter already.

 

http://twitter.com/SufiBloom

The sufi watch and awareness or something must have picked it up! lol

[Muriidi]

hey , salafi's are such elitists !

 

before they tell you any of their secrets you have to recite 10 hadiths .. by heart...

they're not against sufi hadra .. they just think it should be less "formal" and the prophet pbuh should be called "Mustafa" during hadra ..

nowadays salafi imams are not afraid to quote the Christian Bible during friday khutba.

 

.. anyway think "Mustafa" during the sufi hadra , and the they might join even .. feels kinda like dis :

 

[Allamagan]

^ muriidi ku dheheen!