STOP SECTARIAN DIFFERENCES

ABUSE OF MUSLIMS' RIGHTS IN ARAB COUNTRIES There is a disturbing trend in the ongoing Arab Spring that must be addressed. In Syria, Sunnis are targeted by the Assad regime. In Bahrain, Shiites who constitute more than 70% of the population are the victims of a vicious repression. The story is the same in Yemen, Oman, Kuwait, Emirates, etc. Already, Shiites in Saudi Arabia are protesting against the monarch's anti-Shiite policies. This is unacceptable to the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC). Muhammad Iqbal (1876 – 1938) was right when he said, "Nothing is wrong with Islam. All the wrong there is is in our way of being Muslims". Muhammad Assad, author of The Road to Mecca, also affirmed, "It was not the Muslims that had made Islam great. It was Islam that had made the Muslims great". The Muslim rulers of today are getting deeper and deeper into turmoil because they are following their whims and caprices. This was not the vision of the four Orthodox Khulafa'. They were neither Sunnis nor Shiites. Neither does it conform in any way with the ideas of classical Muslim thinkers like Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Arabi, Ibn Rushd, Al-Mawardi or modern reformers like Muhammad Iqbal, Jamal Ad-Din al-Afghani (1839 – 1897), Ibn Taymiyyah, etc. Why must Muslim rulers allow oppression on the basis of sectarian differences? MURIC affirms that a Muslim is a Muslim regardless of his sectarian leaning. All men and women who believe in La ilaha ila Allah Muhammadun Rasulullahi are Muslims whatever their various differences in race, colour, sex or sect. Prophet Muhammad was not a Sunni. Neither was he a Shiite. We therefore call on Muslims around the globe to put an immediate stop to sectarian struggles. The West is cashing in on this weakness among Muslims to divide and rule them. It was used by America in Iraq. The majority Shiites gave Saddam Hussein away. US forces penetrated so easily because the Shiites supported the invaders. It is an irony of fate that the West today is identifying lapses in governance in the lands of Muslims whereas the principles of good governance are deeply embedded in the teachings of Islam. MURIC therefore urges all Muslim rulers to tow the path of justice, fair play, equal rights and the rule of law. Only urgent reforms aimed at good governance can placate the hitherto silent majorities. We lay great emphasis on the need to eschew sectarian killings and political persecution.         Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, Lagos State University, P.O. Box 10211, LASU Post Office, HO 102 101, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria. Tel. 234-803-346-4974   I remain oppressed untill the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the sick healed and the homeless sheltered