“The report of the committee, which had been investigating the condition of children’s rights in Iraq since 1998, is bringing forth a “Child abuse knows no sects” illation. The report prepared by the UN is speaking of mentally deficient children, who are being used as suicide bombers by ISIL…” While reading this tragic news, I was thinking that, in the past six months I’ve read quite a lot of reports and research material, which handle the matter from different aspects, in the Western press and academy. Much research had even begun before we even heard of these names. As this research is imprisoning the matter to a narrow topic like “Islam’s relation with violence”, we are required to approach the matter from a wider context. I’m not sure whether the superficial press statements, which are circulating within the context formed by the Western researchers, are making it easier or harder for us to understand the events. Thus, I believe that, especially, the academic circles have a paramount role to play in the formation of our resources.
Last week, I’ve participated in a Workshop, where everyone was mobilized with the sense of mission. The Communal Investigation Implementation and Research Center (TARMER), which had been established within the scope of Istanbul Aydın University, had expanded our horizons with the meeting it actualized under the title of “Religious Movements in the Region”. The Workshop, which had been administered by Professor Mehmet Ali Büyükkara and Assistant Professor Necdet Subaşı, including the rector of Aydın University and the participation of around academicians and journalists, who are experts in their fields, convinced us to argue over many questions. The summary of those arguments can’t be squeezed into this article; however, it’s possible to ready it from the Workshop. However, I’d like to share some points and questions I find important from the point of understanding the incidents that take place under the “sect wars” topic briefly from the speech of Mehmet Ali Büyükkara, who is one of the academicians that’s knows this matter the best.
SECTARIAN GRUDGE IS ORIGINATING FROM THE SHARING OF RESOURCES
“Arabic Alevists has been living in Lazkiye and its surroundings for almost 1000 years. 970 years have passed since Druses migrated from Egypt and settled around Lebanon, Syria’s Druse Mountain and surroundings. The transformation of Yazidis, from a Sunni cult to their format today occurred around 780 years ago, and for almost eight centuries Yazidis have been living in Kurdistan, around Şengal and the Şehan Mountains. The arrival of Zaidiyyah, the sect of the Husis, who have expanded the riot they had started in the north of Yemen 10 years ago and captured the capital city Sana today, in this country had occurred 1115 years ago. In other words, sects existed in the region way before the establishment of nation states. It would be a serious error to evaluate the sects from the angle of nation states, which possess less than a hundred years of a past. Sectarian grudge and hatred are developing over the sharing of communal resources rather than the differentiation of beliefs… When unable to reach those, since the government is not a democratic structure, the sectarian identity, which is under attack in their view, is becoming prominent.”
WHO WILL PROTECT ME AND MY FAMILY THE BEST?
“In the region, due to the government not operating properly, people cannot protect their families; even going to the Friday prayer is regarded as a big risk, as it’s uncertain when and where a bomb might explode. Under these conditions, they are taking shelter in their sectarian identities, and they want to take the support of political and military power formed by the sect behind them….. For example, in Iraq, Mukteda es-Sadr has a Mehdi Army, and Nuri el-Maliki’s Case Party has the Bedir Brigades. None of these are formed by themselves. Since the Shiites didn’t feel secure, they were obliged to take shelter behind the Mehdi Army and the Bedir Brigade. In a similar way, Sunnis also started to appeal to them and support them (even though in the Middle East, the Sunni segments’ plurality doesn’t have good relations with Al-Qaeda). Although they are not Salafi, they began supporting Salafi groups, since they had war and conflict experience. By thinking, “I guess they’ll protect my family the best”, they opened the doors to their villages and towns, to these types of structures.”
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
How should the approach towards “having a Sect” be, in order to break Sectarianism? An “above-sects” and Quran-based religious call (modern) approach, or a multi-cultural approach, which accepts “having a Sect” as a reality, shows respect for traditions, open to differentiations (post-modern approach)? How can the influence of exclusionist and terrorist Salafi expansionism be limited? If the way is cleared for alternative religious schools (i.e Sufism) will that be a solution? Is Northern Muslimism (in other words, the Samarkand-Buhara-Istanbul line) really an alternative against the Southern Muslimism? What’s the opportunity of Islam “without jihad-sharia”, which is especially being presented as an alternative in Western circles? How should the strengthening of messianic formations, which acts with “mega ideals like saving the world”, strongly believes that it’s the single owner of reality, deactivates the reflection of the revelation with the harsh obedience culture between the believers, be evaluated? What are the psycho-social basics of possessing a state of mind to force your Muslim brother outside the religion rather than slaughter him? What are the manipulation tactics of the groups, which manage these types of people? What’s the psychological background of praising the group leaders? What’s the scale of influence of the virtual network congregations, which are slowly but surely taking the place of traditional congregation structures, on the recent happenings?
We need to find the answers as soon as possible.
