The Conflict Has Just Begun M.J. Akbar When in February 1258 the killing had stopped and the looting had paused, Hulagu, grandson of the creator of the world’s prevailing superpower Chengiz Khan, and the destroyer of the Abbassid dynasty, asked the Iraqi ulema a simple question: “Which man is better as a sovereign? An unbeliever who is just, or a Muslim who is unjust?” The question is not substantially different from the one posed to the people of Iraq by George Bush. The 13th century clerics were silent until one of the sages in their midst, Radiuddin Ali, accepted new realities and wrote down the collective answer: “The unbeliever who is just should be preferred to the unjust believer.” It would be convenient to report that this is where the matter ended. But there was more than one answer given by the Arabs, and delivered over time. Not one of these responses ever suggested that the deposed and killed last Abbassid Caliph Mo’tasim be restored to the palaces of Baghdad. That era was dead, killed by its own excesses and buried by the Mongol avalanche, and the Arabs recognized it. But to reject the Abbassids was not synonymous with accepting the Mongols. The Mongols promised that the new regime in Baghdad would be run by Iraqis, not them. They too established the difference between control and administration. The former lay with Hulagu and his generals. The latter was left to the Iraqis. Hulagu retained Ibn Alkamiya as the vizier, or the prime minister, who had served the last caliph. Till today Arab schoolchildren are taught the sentence: “Cursed by God be he who curses not Ibn Alkamiya.” Hulagu’s armies were not without Muslims in their ranks when he marched on Baghdad, although they were not too many. His few Muslim supporters were Shiites, not Kurds: Kurds then had total empathy with the fellow Sunni Arabs, for the ruling dynasty of Saladin was indeed Kurdish. Some of the Muslim support for Hulagu was destroyed by guilt, as was the case of Teghel Argun who slipped away from the Mongol ranks after witnessing the destruction of Baghdad. He was later captured by the Mongols and put to deal in the marketplace of Tabriz. Many of the regional Muslim lords became submissive to the new power. Azizuddin Kavus offered Hulagu a magnificent pair of leather boots as a gift. He also had his own portrait drawn on the boots so that Hulagu could have him permanently at his feet. Yet others tried craft. The old and wily Badruddin Lulu of Mosul, on being summoned to Hulagu’s presence, promised his terrified followers that he would emerge with his honor intact. In fact, he suggested, he would not return before he had gone so far as to tweak Hulagu’s ears! He lived up to his promise. He offered Hulagu a magnificent pair of rare pearls and then asked for the honor of placing them on the conqueror’s ears. He was granted permission to do so. He tweaked Hulagu’s ears when putting on the earrings, and glanced at his entourage while doing so to indicate that he had kept his promise. But there were also those who responded to the deepest crisis in the history of Islam by discovering conviction, and then the courage to stand up against a power that since Chengiz Khan had never been defeated between the eastern shores of China to the doors of Western Europe beyond Russia, and now to the heart of the Muslim world in Baghdad. Then, as now, the fall of Baghdad opened the way to Damascus and Syria. Then, as now, the temptation seemed irresistible. History, of course does not repeat itself. There may be parallels, but nothing is ever a replica. Saddam is far less than the last of the Abbassids, and the Arabs do not seem to be in any condition to find a Baibers, let alone a Berkai. What the Mongol intervention did was throw the Arab world once again into a cauldron, and in that great heat and churning history began to be rewritten. It would be a mistake to romanticize the decline and disappearance of Saddam Hussein. He was more clever than powerful. He exploited Arab anger against neocolonialism. But Saddam, being a tyrant, was a problem rather than a solution. to compare him with Saladin is a joke. He, like the last of the Abbassids, created the confusion which a foreign power could exploit. The consequences are familiar to those who read history. A crisis has eliminated the pretender, and the future waits to see who will fill this vacuum. The Americans want this space to be occupied by a favorite like Ahmed Chalabi. But all they will succeed in doing is setting up an administration. There is a difference between administration and control. A figurehead may sit in Baghdad, but George Bush will be in power. This was precisely the situation after World War I, when a British-Indian Army “liberated” Iraq from the Ottomans and imposed first direct, and then indirect rule. The British foreign secretary in 1918, Sir Arthur Balfour, was not concerned about niceties. He said: “I do not care under what system we keep the oil. But I am quite clear that it is all-important for us that this oil should be available.” Iraqi nationalism, supported by Arab anger, will also seek to fill that vacuum. A second mistake is also being made by the victors. Attempts to divide and rule have begun. In India it was Hindus and Muslims; in Iraq it will be Shiites and Sunnis and Kurds. The Kurds want this division because they have been offered the dream of independence; but a Shiite-Sunni divide will not be equally simple. The story of Sheikh Abdel Majid Al-Khoei may not be definitive, but it is a marker. The 50-year-old Shiite cleric, head of the London-based Khoei Foundation and well respected in his community, was despatched by the British to Najaf to generate the support for the invasion that seemed to be strangely missing in Basra and Karbala and Najaf and Umm Qasr. On Monday, April 7, Sheikh Majid called upon Shiites to support the Americans and the British. On Tuesday he suggested neutrality. On Thursday he was killed in the Imam Ali Mosque. Tony Blair sent a message of condolence. Some of the omens are not good for the victors. The Pentagon has awarded, judging by American media reports, contracts worth $7 billion stretching over the next two years to Halliburton to put out the oil fires in Iraq. Dick Cheney’s old company will be making a profit of something like a million dollars a day. Who will pay the bill? Iraq. This is clearly not the way to end suicide missions. When arms speak, goes an old Roman proverb, the law falls silent. On April 1 a Pentagon official was quoted in the Washington Post as saying: “Everyone is now seen as combatant until proven otherwise.” How many jihadis, in how many secret cells, in how many nations across the Arab world, are saying precisely the same thing today about the Americans and the British? The war might be over. The conflict may have just begun. Arab News Opinion 13 April 2003 With the very best of good wishes, Musa Amadu Pembo Glasgow, Scotland UK. [log in to unmask] Da’wah is to convey the message with wisdom and with good words. We should give the noble and positive message of Islam. We should try to emphasize more commonalities and explain the difference without getting into theological arguments and without claiming the superiority of one position over the other. There is a great interest among the people to know about Islam and we should do our best to give the right message. May Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,guide us all to His Sirat Al-Mustaqim (Righteous Path).May He protect us from the evils of this life and the hereafter.May Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,grant us entrance to paradise . We ask Allaah the Most High, the All-Powerful, to teach us that which will benefit us, and to benefit us by that which we learn. May Allaah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant blessings and peace to our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions..Amen. _________________________________________________________________ Get Hotmail on your mobile phone http://www.msn.co.uk/mobile ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~