Growing “Shiitization”
I was listening to the radio this morning, and heard a New York Times writer discussion the growing trend of “Shiitization” in Syria.
“Shiitization” refers to Sunnis converting to Shiaism (and hence beginning to curse the companions) and he says that this is happening because they see them as standing up. He has an article that is supposed to be coming out in the New York Times this Sunday (April 29, 2007)
Last year, I saw this potential danger in praising vile, terrorist (yes, terrorist!) thugs who curse the companions like “Hezbollah's” Hasan “Nasrullah” because they use this as a recruiting tool that only leads to the evil slander of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Aisha, Muawiyyah and other noble companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) so I was not surprised when I heard it. It makes me sad that in spite of their slander upon the companions, we saw Muslims jumping on the “Hezbollah” bandwagon and buying their propaganda without looking into their alterior motives.
Our brother Amir Butler wrote an excellent piece on this last year while everyone else was singing “Hezbollah's” praises and putting out misguided rap songs about them as in:
few people seem willing to question Hezbollah’s motives, method or meaning. Muslim leaders across the Arab world have dutifully supported Hezbollah and even the so-called moderate Muslim leadership in Australia are calling for Hezbollah to be de-listed as a terrorist organisation. The principle reasoning for all this support seems to be that Hezbollah are killing Jews, rather than any nuanced or considered assessment of Hezbollah’s political and religious ideology. Yet, before even more Sunnis line up behind Hezbollah and start waving their flag (as many Muslims seem to have been doing at recent rallies), perhaps somebody should ask some questions; beginning with: what on earth are we supporting when we endorse Hezbollah as freedom fighters and heroes?
I will be looking for the article in the New York Times on Sunday, Insha Allah, but in the meantime, I did a search to see if I could find any other articles on this trend. I found this which says:
Such mainstream Sunni Islamist movements as the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in Egypt and Jordan, however, as well as Hamas, have so far favored an alliance with Iran, Hezbollah and the Shi'a against their common enemies: Israel and the United States. But this strategy faces another potential threat: the apparently growing trend of Sunnis converting to Shiism (tashayyu'), most remarkably in predominantly Sunni Egypt and Jordan, but also in Sunni-majority Syria and in countries as far away as Sudan and Morocco.
This trend has been attributed to intensive Iranian missionary activity, the growing popularity of Iran under President Ahmadinejad, and the rising star of Hezbollah as a result of its feats in the July-August 2006 war with Israel and the emergence of its charismatic secretary general, Hasan Nasrallah, as a new Arab hero. Many Sunni Arabs now see Iran and Hezbollah as the only forces willing and capable of standing up to the United States and Israel. And their political enthusiasm has affected the religious sphere, prompting numerous conversions to Shiism.
Are some Muslims so filled with blind hatred of Israel and the West that they would begin to curse the companions as – what they see as – a successful means of putting them down?
It seems that Hamas' machivellian methodology (“enemy of my enemy is my friend”) is coming back to bite everyone and could lead to more confusion and disaster. Other countries such as Sudan are now learning the hard way that inviting them in only led to a stabbing in the back:
In Sudan, meanwhile, a coalition of Sunni religious organizations has launched a campaign against Iran's missionary activities there. The Supreme Council for Coordination Among the Islamic Associations has warned of a major conspiracy, led by new converts to Shiism and backed by Shi'a organizations and Iran, to spread Shiism in Sudan. To illustrate what it termed the “Shi'a danger,” the Council claimed that whole villages have been converted to Shiism, and that Shi'a mosques and husainiyyat (worhip places smaller than mosques) have proliferated in Khartoum. The Council urged the government to close down the Iranian Cultural Center in Khartoum.
So they are learning the hard way that the machiavellian method does not work…
It was extremely frustrating to watch Muslims in protests last year irrationally refuse to denounce the gangsters known as “Hezbollah”, and even flying their flag. I knew that ultimately it would lead to what “Hezbollah” and the unislamic Republic of Iran really wants: More muslims following their way of cursing Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and the other companions.
To those who think that I am harsh: You probably haven't seen what they regularly say about Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her). Anyone who reads it and loves her will cry.
Even people like Yusuf Qaradawi – who once did not see a danger from them – are realizing that these people have alterior motives:
He accused them of trying to penetrate Egypt and convert its people to Shiism; he warned that if such efforts were allowed to continue, Egypt could become a second Iraq within the next two decades; and he blasted Hasan Nasrallah for being a fanatic. On November 26, 2006 Qaradawi again denounced the Shi'a, this time for trying to exploit Hezbollah's victory against Israel in order to penetrate Sunni societies and convert the Sunnis to Shiism.
But other prefer to keep their heads in the sand and quote slogans:
One would have expected the largest and most influential Sunni Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood (which in many ways is deeply influenced by Qaradawi), to react publicly to the Shiitization debate. That, however, has not happened; as a rule, the Brotherhood has preferred to remain silent. Its spokesmen usually evade the question, speaking generally about the unity of Islam and the need to avoid sedition
Machiavellianism is what is at the heart of the matter, and it will eat away at us
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