Sectarian violence
in Bangladesh stems from Wahhabi
doctrines
By A.H. Jaffor Ullah
I was appalled reading the news that on Monday,
January 12, 2004, bombs were blasted in nation’s premier Sufi
shrine in Sylhet. This scribe knows the importance of Shahjalal’s
shrine in Sylhet. Every time we went to Sylhet town to visit my
maternal grandmother we used to visit the shrine, feed the
gigantic fish, and collect some water that the local folks
believed to have magical quality. The shrine is still considered
a holy place in Bangladesh. Back then in the 1950s many Hindus in
Sylhet town used to revere the place. Such is the charm of Sufi
Islam. However, we now live in a different world. A world mired
with religious fanaticism and extremism.
We have seen the transformation of our docile
society into a violent one in the late 1990s when a spate of
bombing had rocked our cities and towns. In all the cases the
extremists who were hell bent to cause destruction of life and
properties that they considered their enemy had targeted secular
organizations, political parties, mina bazaars, cinema halls,
church, etc. for bomb blasts. Lately, the Daily Star started to
use the term “bigot” to refer to the Islamic fundamentalists who
many in Bangladesh believe to be the planner and executioners of
these bomb blasts.
One may question as to why the Islamic extremists
and terrorists are targeting an innocuous site such as the Sufi
Shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal. The neo-religionists in Bangladesh
who have embraced Wahhabi doctrine heart and soul have
conveniently forgotten that many Sufi saints spread Islam among
South Asians. To unearth the truth all one has to do is visit the
four corners of Bangladesh. There are many Sufi shrines scattered
all over our motherland. However, with the advent of Wahhabism
and thanks to Tablig Al-Jamaat for this vital transformation of
our society many neo-religionists now say that Islam should be
purified in Bangladesh. Many political leaders belonging to
Jamaat-i-Islam also show their open disdain for Sufi brand of
Islam, which is also known as folk Islam. The Wahhabites and
practitioners of political Islam wanted very much to transform
Bangladesh into a hard-core Islamic nation. No wonder we have so
many political parties in Bangladesh that sell political Islam to
our gullible hoi polloi.
Recently, sectarianism has reared its ugly head in
Bangladesh. This has caused some concern among secularists and
moderates in the nation. In their fervor to “purify” Islam, the
Wahhabites and other hard-core Islamists have joined forces to
declare Ahmadiyas, a minority Muslim sect in Bangladesh as
non-Muslims. Now the onslaught on nation’s premier Sufi shrine on
January 12, 2004, in which 3 people have died and 37 injured is a
grim reminder that sectarian violence is on the rise.
The seed of sectarianism was planted a long time
ago in Bangladesh. In 1999, this scribe wrote a piece in Daily
Star entitled “Freedom at Midnight.” The impetus for writing that
satirical article came from the news that two rival Islamic groups
clashed on midnight in the outskirt of Dhaka city in Badda. The
Islamists belonging to Wahhabism makes no bone about their disdain
for Sufi Muslims who performs such rituals as Milad to show
their reverence for prophet Muhammad. The Sufis also visit
Dargah or shrines of Aolias or Dervishes. They also
celebrate the birth anniversaries of the Muslim saints, which are
popularly known as Urs. To taunt the folks who adhere to
the age-old folk Islam the Wahhabites call these rituals as “Mazar
Culture.” Many neo-Islamists belonging to political party
Jamaat-i-Islam openly put down the practitioners of Sufi Islam as
some kind of deviants. They conveniently forget that Islam was
spread in our part of the world by Sufi saints from distant land.
In fact, Sufism started in Iraq, Turkey, Persia, and in the
vicinity probably in the 9th and 10th
century. Many scholars have described Sufism in many different
ways in English, throughout this century, but they all tend to
agree on its essential character as being the inner, esoteric,
mystical, or purely spiritual dimension of the religion of Islam.
The neo-Islamists have vague understanding of
Sufism. In fact, Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the spiritual leader
of Wahhabi doctrine saw the danger of Sufi Islam as he visited
Iran in 1736. He immediately began to teach against what he
considered the extreme ideas of various exponents of Sufi
doctrines. When Wahhab returned to Arabia he wrote the “Kitab at-tawhid’
(“Book of Unity”), which is the main text for Wahhabi doctrines.
About 250 years later, we find that the Wahhabites of modern times
are out there to purify Islam in Bangladesh. It is noteworthy
that the spiritual strength of al-Qaeda organization stems from
Wahhabi doctrines. The 9-11 terrorist attack was possible because
of intolerance amongst a certain faction of Wahhabites. The same
mentality is at work in Bangladesh; therefore, the terrorists who
set the bomb in Sufi shrine in Sylhet must be thinking that they
are doing a favor to Islam by creating panic amongst ordinary
Muslims who often visit Sufi shrines in search of peace and to
bring solace to angst-ridden minds.
It is noteworthy that Abd al-Wahhab's teachings
could be characterized as puritanical and traditional,
representing the early era of the Islamic religion. Wahhab made a
clear stand against all innovations (bid'ah) in Islamic
faith since he believed them to be reprehensible, insisting that
the original grandeur of Islam could be regained if the Islamic
community would return to the principles enunciated by the Prophet
Muhammad. Wahhabi doctrines, therefore, abhors the idea of an
intermediary such as pir, aolia, dervishes, etc., between the
faithful and Allah and condemn any such practice as polytheism.
In the same vein, the decoration of mosques, the cult of saints,
and even the smoking of tobacco were condemned by Wahhabi
teachings. The hateful preaching of Abd al-Wahhab led to
controversy so much so that he was expelled from 'Uyaynah in
1744. He then settled in Ad-Dir'iyah, capital of Ibn Sa'ud, a
ruler of the Najd (now in Saudi Arabia). The spread of Wahhabism
was possible because of an alliance that was formed between Abd
al-Wahhab and Ibn Sa'ud. Later, Sa’ud’s heirs in Arabian
Peninsula continued a campaign of conquest. They made Wahhabism
the dominant force in Arabia since 1800. In twentieth century,
the Saudi started to export Wahhabism to other Muslim majority
nations. In South Asia, they targeted the Deoband Madrassah in
U.P. The Deobandis then spread Wahhabism to erstwhile East
Pakistan targeting the mosque at Kakrail. Bishwa Ejtema is a
brainchild of a Deoband maulana. The spread of Wahhabi doctrines
had made Bishwa Ejtema a thriving event in Bangladesh. One of the
aftereffects of Wahhabi Islam is the spread of sectarian violence
in South Asia. Pakistan is a case in point. It looks as if
though Bangladesh is following the Pakistani Model.
Bangladesh should reject sectarian violence by all
means. This is a virus whose spread should be minimized. The
bombing of Sufi shrine in Sylhet by the extremist is an ominous
sign. Members of the civil society should maintain their
vigilance to wipe out any traces of religious extremism from
Bangladesh.
------------------------------
Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a columnist and researcher,
writes from New Orleans, USA
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