Thursday, March 15, 2007

Sawsan Al Sha3er's column: سوسن الشاعر-كلمة أخيرة


18/01/2007

هل ننسى أن أول من عانى من جرائم التفجيرات هم شيعة العراق لأكثر من سنتين من بعد سقوط صدام، لا يمكننا أن ننسى أنه قد سقط منهم الآلاف وأصبح دمهم أرخص من دماء الحيوانات نتيجة تفجيرات الانتحاريين وأكثرها دموية تلك التي جرت في مرقد الإمامين، لا يمكننا أن ننسى أنهم ظلوا بلا ردة فعل فترة طويلة حيث كان زعيمهم الروحي السيستاني يطالبهم فيها بالصبر وعدم حمل السلاح، أم نسيتم؟ كما لا يمكننا أن ننسى إننا كنا ننادي حينها السنة في الدول العربية وخاصة دول الجوار أن يقفوا في وجه حملات التطهير والمجازر التي ترتكب في حق الشيعة، لكن رد فعل الأصولية السنية كان ضعيفا ومترددا ومتخاذلا نصرة لهيئة علماء السنة العراقيين الذي هم أيضا تعاونوا بصمتهم وما نطقوا إلا بعد أن فاق الأمر كل تصور وما عاد لسكوتهم تفسير إلا ضلوعهم بتلك الجرائم. أدنا الصمت الذي كان شيطانا أخرس حين ذاك، واليوم وكما هو متوقع انقلبت الآية وطال القتل سنة العراق وعلى جريمة الهوية فقط، الآن فقط بدأت تعلو أصوات الذين سكتوا استصراخا تحذر من حملة تطهير وتهجير ضد السنة! الآن نشط تبادل الأخبار ونشط عرضها ونشط الضمير الإنساني والخوف على الأبرياء، اليوم تتصدر أخبار المجازر صفحاتهم الأولى في حين كانت أخبار مجازر الشيعة تعرض في الصفحات الداخلية ويتم التلاعب بعناوينها والتخفيف من حدتها. لسنا نبرر مجازر اليوم التي تأخذ الإنسان بجريرة هويته، ولن نقبلها وسنندد بها ونستنكرها ونطالب الشيعة في كل مكان باستنكارها مثلما طالبنا السنة استنكار مجازر الأمس، ونطالبهم بعرضها في الصفحات الأولى والتعامل معها بحجم جرائمها الوحشية القذرة ونناشد مَن هو قادر على مساعدة الشعب العراقي بوقف هذا الحمام والتصدي لكل مَن له يد في تلك الجرائم سواء كان عراقيا أو أجنبيا أن يقوم بواجبه. لكننا نتساءل أين غاب هذا النشاط المحموم الذي نراه اليوم في نشر أخبار جرائم قتل السنة وبث خطب بعض علماء الشيعة التي تجيز قتل السنة والمتداولة على الإنترنت اليوم؟ أين كان هذا الضمير الإسلامي -إن جاز التعبير- حين طال التفجير النساء والأطفال والشيوخ والعمال ورواد المطاعم وطوابير المتقاعدين وتجمعات المصلين؟ ألم تكن هناك خطب وأشرطة النحر موجودة؟ ألم تكن هناك صور مقززة وخالية من الحس الإنساني يرتكبها سنة بحق الشيعة؟ فأين كانت صحافتكم وإيميلاتكم ومواقعكم؟ أليست هذه ازدواجية في المعايير؟ أليست هذه النتيجة بسبب الكيل بمكيالين؟

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reading something like this - does it ever make you wonder about the essence of your own religion?

Or are we sticking to the age-old argument (It's not the religion, it's the humans who interpret it) ?

Wouldn't you think that a religion that claims to be the final/greatest one, would have at least a form of divinity about it that would make it a bit more dignified than this?

Gardens of Sand said...

Hello Evil Odd, first thanks for stopping by. I look forward to more of your comments. You asked me if I ever wonder about the essence of my religion when reading something like this. My question to you is do you?

Before I answer your question I would like to tell you a little something about me. I come from both sects. A parent is one, another the other. So my upbringing is a perfect example to me of how we can and should all learn to live peaceably with each other and set aside our differences. Truth be told, we are more similar than different and those differences are mainly historical and political. In Bahrain, I would be considered a liberal. I truly believe in the live and let live motto. In the west, I am viewed as a conservative.

Now that you know my background, let me answer your question. In a nutshell, no; I never wonder about the essence of my religion. Actually, I am amazed by it. I wasn’t always practicing and some may still think I don’t do enough. However I study a lot and read a lot. The problem I believe lies when people confuse a faith with its adherents. A convert once told me that when he said his shahada at the mosque, the imam said to him to follow Islam and not Muslims. Why? Coz for the most part, we are all messed up!

Humans are not perfect. Far for it, many of them are pure evil. It is a historical fact that civil war is the bloodiest and most brutal kind of a war. So for me, when I see what is going on, I shake my head in amazement at how we never seem to learn our lessons. History repeats itself and we never fall back on the faith we espouse.

It is easy for people when put in a volatile circumstance to sink to the lowest common denominator. Am I justifying what is done? No I am horrified by it yet I am not surprised. I even predicted to friends such would happen. Such is expected when corruption runs rampant and people rely on other people for guidance rather than use their God given conscience.

God is perfect, humans aren’t. Faith is an exercise that a person has to perfect. It is not like I am Muslim, my book is divine so I can do no wrong. It is more of a I am Muslim, I have to search for answers and guidance by myself through my book and do what is right.

I am not saying follow Islam or whatever. Each human has their own journey. Every book is good and I believe most have some sort of divine inspiration. Corruption comes from people. I sincerely believe that if every person lives according to their faith, truly lives by it, then this world would be a much better place.

For me, my faith is a comfort. I turn to the Quran to get a sense of what is going on and why. Within the pages I find my solace. This may sound like the same old excuse to you, but to me it is the genuine answer.

LuLu said...

Well here is my take on it:
Let's not get our religion into it. Religion is what people make of it.. and our people are just selfish to the core. Something in our education system and upbringing must be to blame somehow. How come in the US and Europe you see white people stand up and demonstrate for Palestine, Rwanda, Darfur, and Kosovo, etc etc, whereas we couldn't care less about anyone? Our people are only moved when "one of our own", someone we identify with, is hurt.

Gardens of Sand said...

I agree with what you said Lulu. Whenever I ask why we just cast blame when we oursleves are even more guilty, all I get are excuses and accusations.

I did not see anyone going to the streets here or in any Arab country about Darfur. I did not hear a peep. No outrage, nothing. Is our blood more precious that theirs? Yet I saw and heard alot about it from the people of Western countries.

Why do we not do more and why do we pick and choose what to care about? When have we gotten so self righteous and selfish.

When and why did we decide we are better than others? When will we realize that we are all human and all these things we identify with are chains that we use to bind us and hinder our humanity??

Why don't we care about others' plight yet scream with outrage when others don't care about us?

Anonymous said...

As much as I hate to admit it, there is this little voice in my head that wants to agree with your comment. It makes perfect sense that people are different to what the religion is. But I always expect that people who offend this religion should be hit by a lightning strike, not be chopped up by other people...

Let me move to a different line of argument though - certain things in life attract certain people - that's a general rule. But if we get a bit more specific we can sometimes 'stereotype' (and yes, I do believe that stereotyping can be justified, in certain cases).

Allow me to use a crude example:

Pubs attract people who want to have a drink in a loud envrionment, but also to sit around and chat..

Nightclubs generally attract people who want to have a drink, but also those who want to get jiggy with it.. not much talking happens there..

Cocktail lounges attract the classy (wannabes) who want to drink a funky cocktail, listen to chilled-out tunes, and pretend they're talking about important things.

Now if we were to use the examples above and compare them to religions (yes, distasteful, I know). What type of people do you think your religion attracts? And hence, the type of people it attracts is a reflective of its 'inner essence', don't you think? Or is it just its perceived 'essence'?

Gardens of Sand said...

If you talk with converts to Islam or to any other faith, you will find that what attracted them to the specific faith is an answer to something they have sought but were unable to find before. What they seek to fulfill differs by the person and his/her circumstance. A Jehovah’s Witness once told me that what attracted her to the sect was their denial of the existence of hell. Apparently her mother was promiscuous and the idea of her mum no longer existing rather than burning in hell helped her sleep at night. A Muslim convert told me that what attracted him to Islam was the one-on-one relationship a Muslim has with God. The need for a mediator was something he was never able to reconcile with and he found the answer in Islam.

What about the Muslims perpetuating violence? Well, I think you will find that most of them are born into Islam and not converts. But still there is something that attracts and enables them to commit violent acts. Some may be attracted and fulfilled by violence. Others may be hopeless wanting to escape their environments, desperate to do anything. Maybe some seek a sense of belongingness they haven’t found elsewhere. The ‘reasons’ are many. I posted an article written by another blogger (in Arabic) entitled ‘how to create a terrorist in six steps.’ It is somewhere in the archives and in my opinion an excellent read. You will find that it applies not only to violent terrorists, but terrorists of every kind and exclusivist groups too.

Well Evil Odd, hope my answer suffices. Thanks for posting the questions. Gr8 food for thought.

SoulSearch said...

Its amazing how religion spurs so much controversy when it is meant to be a solace for humanity. Personally, I find solace in religion, especially praying 5 times a day. People are surprised when they see me doing it everyday, but its the one thing that makes sense to me, and I wish people would be more tolerant when it comes to other faiths and belief systems.

Peace,
SoulSearch