Tribalism, Ideological Bond

[maruf]

Tribalism, Ideological Bond


From the first moment of the mission of Muhammed (saw) , he set about destroying all the invalid
bonds between the individuals to replace this bonding with the ideological bond , the intellectual
conviction in the Aqeeda. The prophet's mission began in Mecca, a society which had no ideology
at all. It was a society dominated by nationalism. A society which Knew only the tribal bond . It
was a society which had no fixed laws , where one's brother was always right and the enemy was
always wrong. It was these invalid bonds, these emotional and sentimental bonds which the prophet
(saw) came to destroy.
The prophet (saw) included in his group of Sahaba the very example of this ideological bond. He
had in his group a Persian in the person of Salman Al-farsi, A Roman in the person of Soheib Arroomy,
and of course Bilal (RA) a Habashi. He made it very clear that the coming world order of
Islam would recognize non of the tribal or nationalistic bonds that so dominated the Meccan
society.
When the prophet (SAW) was in the third stage of his mission , he sought material help from many
tribes in and around Mecca. One particular tribe agreed to support him against all the other Arabs
,but they told him that their protection would not extend to the Romans or the Persians. He
categorically rejected their offer making it clear that the new order that he was bringing was not to
be solely an Arab afair, it was to dominate all peoples. AYAT> as saaf :9)He was not about to
allow the oppression of Roman and Persian rule to continue..
The Muslim Ummah has become the most debilitated nation in the world , we don't even realize
that we are a nation. The Ummah has become characterised by failure and oppression. The Ummah
has ingested a lethal poison, that of nationalism. This poison is constricting the body of the Ummah
weakening it so much that it cannot even raise its hand to come to the aid of those Muslima who
cry out in Bosnia
It is the false borders that have cut up this mighty Ummah which are bleeding it to death . The
Ummah must rush with dire urgency to remove this poison, to erase these lines which entangle us
like the net the kuffar have laid for us and which they are pulling tight around us. Brothers and
Sisters, in order to ascend again the Muslims must reforge the ideological bond which the
prophet(saw) established between the Sahaba and which is the very foundation of the concept of the
Ummah. We must reforge this tie and reject with enthusiasm all the other bonds, be they
nationalistic , tribalistic or any other false bonds. It is the Ideological bond, the conviction in the
Aqeedah through rational evidences which the Muslims must reforge. We must relate to each other
on this basis only, that we are the inheritors of the legacy of Muhammed (saw) and are as one
nation

[maruf]

I found it most appropriate to post this on this thread...keeping with the Admin's request.


This is an excellent article for those in the Ummah who still cannot since that Muslims are coming back to Islaam worldwide.

What the Writer (Allahu'alim if they are Muslim) indicates is that U.S. is in trouble if they allow Muslims to continue to identify and seek Islaam as an alternative to corrupted regimes or even so-called U.S. solution of Democracy. The Writer indicates that once Muslims call for Islaam, they will not accept any other alternative but the Islaamic one defined by Allah.

Allah, as the Kuffar fail to understand, is the Best of Planners, and is Most Powerful. They never see this, because they do not believe.

Take a close read...let Muslims not be frustrated by the ignorant rebellious amongst us and continued to push to rally our Ummah around its only solution, which is its re-establishment of khilafah leadership in the Islaamic State.

was-salaam







Friday, July 16, 2004
Arabs increasingly define themselves as Muslims first

dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=6290#

By Shibley Telhami




One of the most stunning moments after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime was the rush of tens of thousands of celebrating Iraqi Shiites into the streets in response to the call of their most revered leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. It was a stark demonstration of Shiite power, one that may have unnerved those Americans who believe in the possibility of a secular, democratic Iraq. The moment was also a harbinger of a larger trend across the Middle East, one that poses difficult, long-term challenges for US foreign policy: More and more Arabs identify themselves as Muslims first.

This trend is evident in a survey I conducted last month in six Arab countries - Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. It is related to another, more enduring phenomenon: the Arab public's perception of their mostly authoritarian governments. Respondents to my survey believe that the war in Iraq has made the region even less democratic. A possible - and remarkable - consequence of this perception is that most Arabs polled said that they wanted the clergy to play a bigger role in politics. How can this be?

Historically, Arabs have had three political options: Islam, pan-Arabism or nationalism linked to individual states. Saddam Hussein's appeal in the Arab world, such as it was, principally flowed from his embrace of secular Arab nationalism. After the death of Egypt's pan-Arab leader, Gamal Abdel-Nasser, in 1970, secular Arab nationalism never regained the influence it had in the 1950s and 1960s. But it still had adherents and government advocates, most notably the Baathists in Syria and Iraq, and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). But the demise of the Baathists in Iraq, the weakening of Syria's hand and the paralysis of the Palestinian government and its president, Yasser Arafat, have further eroded the movement's appeal. One consequence has been evident in Iraq. Once the Baath institutions collapsed, the primary organizations capable of mobilizing large crowds were religious.

Still, the trends are not all heading in one direction. There is much to suggest that secular Arab nationalism remains a significant political force. For example, few in the Arab world admire religious figures as leaders. In my survey, I asked respondents to name the world leaders they most admired. The most frequently mentioned were Nasser and French President Jacques Chirac, despite the fact that he has banned the veil in French schools. In Jordan, the deposed Saddam Hussein topped the list with 20 percent. The most popular leaders identified with an Islamic agenda were Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon's Hizbullah, and Osama bin Laden. The common image running through these choices is that of a leader defying the US. Not surprisingly, US President George W. Bush was the second most disliked leader, after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Furthermore, the pre-eminence of Islamic identity in the region varies from country to country. In Egypt and Lebanon, most respondents identify themselves as Egyptians and Lebanese more so than Arab or Muslim. But in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, majorities or pluralities cited their Islamic identity above all others.

These results suggest that the desire for a greater role for clerics in regional politics is driven by two factors: the absence of alternative means to organize opposition to Arab governments, and the belief that clerics would be less susceptible to corruption in a region where rulers' corruption is a major issue. Whatever the reasons for many Arabs looking to Muslim clerics to lead them, it's clear that this sentiment will enhance the influence of religious authority in the region, despite a widespread public recognition that the model of rule by clergy in Iran has been mostly a failure.

Arabs' increasing embrace of Islam as the primary source of their identity did not begin with the Iraq war or even after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The phenomenon has intermittently occurred over the last several decades. But its accelerated growth today is in part the result of the collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in 2000, the subsequent rise of the latest Palestinian intifada and the Israeli response to it. Not only did the breakdown of talks weaken the PLO and empower its Islamist opponents, especially Hamas, but the conflict with Israel also began to be seen increasingly in religious, rather than nationalist, terms. Both the Israelis' and Palestinians' focus on the status of Jerusalem in the negotiations, coupled with the need to broaden support for the Palestinian cause among Arabs and Muslims, helped turn the issue into an Islamic one as well. Today, Palestine is far more important in non-Arab states such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Turkey than it was only a few years ago.

The Iraq war and the way the war on terrorism have been perceived in much of the Islamic world have further intensified identification with being a Muslim. Increasingly, Muslims view the war on terrorism as a war on Islam. Conversely, many Americans now regard Islam as the source of the terrorist problem. These trends have provided Islamic groups with increasing grass-roots potential limited only by the operating space allowed them by insecure authoritarian governments.

The increasing tendency to frame issues in religious terms does not augur well for US relations in the region. The hope for a resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, one rooted in the idea of two states living side by side in peace, is a nationalist one. If the conflict becomes religious, it's difficult to envision a peaceful solution.

Some conflict of interest is inevitable in American relations with Arab and Muslim countries. Traditionally, however, they have found ways to accommodate their interests. But it is harder to envision any accommodation when the stakes are religious. Nothing should be of higher foreign-policy priority for the US than to avoid such an outcome.


Shibley Telhami is Anwar Sadat professor for peace and development at the University of Maryland and senior fellow at the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution in Washington



Copyright (c) 2004 The Daily Star