That may have to wait until after the election. - Tom
Posted on 03/06/2004 5:44:53 AM PST by nuconvert
Some Shiites Blame Traditional Enemies Wahhabis for Latest Atrocities
Mar. 6, 2004
By Hamza Hendawi / Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Some Iraqi Shiites suspect this week's deadly bombings of pilgrims may have been the work of Wahhabis, traditional enemies who consider Shiites heretics and whose warrior ancestors often raided their holy cities during two centuries of animosity. Born on the Arabian Peninsula in the 18th century, Wahhabism is among the strictest Islamic movements and considers Muslims who do not follow its teachings to be heathens and enemies. Al-Qaida terror network leader Osama bin Laden was raised as a Wahhabi.
Shiite preacher Hazim al-Aaraji has openly accused Wahhabis and al-Qaida of carrying out Tuesday's attacks, which killed at least 181 people and wounded 553 during one of the most important Shiite holidays.
"We are not afraid of saying the truth, which is that al-Qaida and the Wahhabists are behind the attacks on Kazimiya and Karbala," Al-Aaraji said Friday in a sermon outside the Kazimiya shrine in Baghdad.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the bombings at the Kazimiya shrine in Baghdad and in the holy city of Karbala to the south. U.S. and Iraqi officials blamed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a suspected anti-U.S. militant with ties to al-Qaida.
The Jordanian extremist allegedly wrote a letter to the al-Qaida leadership calling for attacks against Shiites to draw them into a civil war against Iraq's Sunni Arabs. Shiites comprise 60 percent of Iraq's 25 million people but were long oppressed under Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime.
Some Shiite clerics and politicians disagree that foreigners were responsible. Without producing any evidence, they point to homegrown Wahhabis, believing that followers of a creed equating Shiites with "infidels" would be capable of such violence.
"Wahhabis believe that the killing of Shiites curries favor with God," said Abbas al-Robai, editor of the Shiite weekly newspaper al-Hawza. "They are behind the attacks, but I cannot be 100 percent sure."
Iraqi Wahhabis have denied involvement in Tuesday's attacks.
In a sermon at a Baghdad mosque known to attract Wahhabi worshippers, preacher Abdel-Satar al-Janabi said, "The Sunnis are not to blame for the bombings. We appeal to clerics and honorable persons in this country to contain this sedition."
Shiites have long been a favorite target of Wahhabi warriors in Iraq, who sacked Karbala in 1801, and twice laid siege to the nearby holy city of Najaf early in the 19th century.
Ironically, the violence encouraged Shiite clerics in the two cities to convert tribesmen roaming the surrounding desert, winning useful allies against the marauding Wahhabis and gaining a majority in Iraq.
The Shiites' emphasis on imagery, their ritual beating of themselves during some religious occasions and their visits to shrines are considered "haram," or prohibited, by militant Sunni Muslims. The iconoclastic Wahhabis view them as pagan and strongly disapprove of the Shiite narrative of a disappeared 12th imam who will return one day to lead them.
Wahhabis, who take their name from founder Mohammed Abdel-Wahhab, can be found in several Muslim nations, including Iraq, Yemen and Qatar. It is the official creed of Saudi Arabia's powerful religious leadership. Bin Laden is Saudi-born.
The Wahhabis were defeated by the Ottomans in 1811, but the movement resurfaced in the 20th century when its clerics forged an alliance with the al-Saud tribal clan to create today's Saudi Arabia.
Pockets of Wahhabism reappeared in Iraq in the 1940s. Saddam tolerated the spread of the creed during his 1980-1988 war with Shiite Iran, when generous Saudi support was crucial. But some Wahhabis eventually turned against the regime and many were jailed.
The Wahhabis remain a small but significant force in Sunni strongholds in Baghdad and north and west of the capital - hotbeds of armed resistance to the U.S.-led occupation and their Iraqi allies.
Wahhabis deny that their beliefs amount to a creed, arguing that it is more of a set of teachings governing the social and economic life of Muslims. They prefer to call themselves Salafis, or emulators of the Prophet Muhammad.
"Wahhabism is a conservative, not a radical movement," said Dia'a Rashwan, an expert on Islamic movements at Cairo's al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. "But it provides a suitable environment for militancy."
That may have to wait until after the election. - Tom
Even if they just argue with each other its a start. We need a tolerant faction to rise amid the islamic faith and quash the radicals and take permanent control of Islam. The war on terror would end with Islam taking control of their own radical faction.
The Al-Qaeda act on it.
If the Saud fall, then the Bin Ladenites will retun to the Arabian peninsula in trimuph.
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