Subject: Political Islam in Ferghana
From: Saleh Khatlan (skhatlan@ksu.edu.sa)
Date: Thu May 27 1999 - 00:03:34 EDT
Dear all: I think Nick Megoran is right: it is time for us to
start talking about substance. I would like to initiate a discussion
on a very important issue confronting the people of Ferghana,
i.e., political Islam.
I will start from the February 16th bombings in Tashkent. the
Uzbek government has accused Islamic opposition of the tragic
incident that caused the death of 15 people and injury of more
than a hundred. If the government's accusations are true, it
means that we are seeing a radical shift in the orientations and
objectives of the Islamic groups in Uzbekistan.
As many of us remember, when those groups appeared during
the late 1980s, as a result of Gorbachove's tolerant policy
towards Islam, they were totally focused on the task of education
the locals about Islam helping them to regain knowledge of their
religion after more than 70 years of forced deprivation.
Now the bombings and the government's allegations means
that the groups have become politicized. The question is what are
the reasons behind the shift from mere educational activity to
outright political concerns? Part of the answer can be found in the
government's harsh policy, and the other part in the deteriorating
socioeconomic conditions.
Moreover, the government keeps calling Islamists in Ferghana
Wahhabis. The use of this term distort the whole picture of Islam
in Central Asia. As many of you may remember the term
Wahhabi was first used in the late 1980s by KGB agents for the
purpose of discrediting the increasing signs of Islamic revival (
building mosques- studying Arabic languages., ect., ). Young
people who were Religiously active were described as Wahhabi
in order to isolate them from the rest of society benefiting from
the negative connotation associated with Wahhabism.
Wahhabism is a reform movement in Islam appeared in
Central Arabia (Saudi Arabia -now) in the mid-18th century,
calling for a renewal of the Muslim spirit, with cleansing of the
moral, and removal of all innovations to Islam. The term
'Wahhabism' is not used by Saudi Ulama who see themselves as
Salafis. It was given to them by their opponents (Ottomans). The
Ottoman authority as part of its attempts to contain the then
rising Saudi state spread negative and inaccurate information
about the movement.
The term Wahhabi comes from the name of sheik Mohammed
ibn Abd al-Wahab (1703-1791).
Today, in the Arab world those who are called Wahhabis are
known for being apolitical. Their mean concern is with morals
and rituals and they rarely get involved in politics.
So, the currents Islamic groups in Ferghana are not really
Wahhabis, but rather "modern" Islamic movements utilizing
Islam for political objectives, just like other groups in many
Middle Eastern countries. They are a product of certain
soci-economic and political conditions, and outside influence is
not the sole cause of their rise as the governments want us to
believe. These are just some ideas about a VERY important issue facing
Ferghana today. Any comments?
Saleh
Riyadh
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