Dr. Daya Hewapathirane
Sufism or the Sufi Muslim Ideology
Traditionally, Sufism or the Sufi Muslim ideology had been the
predominant Islamic spiritual tradition observed throughout Southern Asia,
including Sri Lanka. Sufism is considered to be the mystical,
ascetic branch of Islam which emphasizes personal experience with Allah. Sufis
can be members of either the Sunni or Shia divisions of Islam who share most of
the basic principles of Islam. These two divisions stemmed from ancient
political strife among Muslims. Of the total global Muslim
population, 87-90% are Sunni Muslims and 10-13% are Shia Muslims. Most
Shias live in just four countries – Iran, Pakistan, India and Iraq.
Threats to the Dominance of Sufism
Sri Lanka
has a long history of Sufism dating back several centuries, although some
modern elements have been imported in recent years. During the past five
decades the dominance of Sufism has been undermined by the increased presence
of other Islam sects. Among them is Tabligh Jamaat, which has been active since
the 1950s and has developed a mass following in the last two decades. Initially
it avoided explicit political activity and concentrated on encouraging Muslims
to engage more actively in religious rituals. It particularly focused on
encouraging performance of daily prayers and religious rituals, and also
promoted rigid dress codes for its members. It promoted and encouraged a more
conservative view of Islam.
Tabligh
Jamaat was initially a religious movement founded in India in 1926 as a
response to the deteriorating values and negligence of fundamental aspects of
Islam which was becoming a threat to Muslims. Subsequently it became a
transnational movement with followers in many countries. This ultraorthodox
Islamic sect preaches that Muslims should replicate the life of Muhammad and
tells them it is their duty to travel across the country converting
non-believers to the Islamic faith. It has become common practice for Tabligh
members to make regular journeys around the country to propagate the virtues of
Islam. Young members are particularly encouraged to do so. This is said to be
giving the younger generation of Muslims a chance to mix with other ethnic
groups. Although Tabligh was of appeal to different classes of Muslims, its
rather simplistic approach to religious belief and antipathy towards political
and social action made it less popular among the educated, middle-class
Muslims.
Jamaat-i-Islamiya
(JI)
Jamaat-i-Islamiya
(JI) became active in Sri Lanka since the 1950s, and gained many adherents
during the past fifteen to twenty years. The JI was founded in Pakistan in 1941, starting as an Islamic
political party with the objective of establishing an Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. The JI opposes Ideologies such as capitalism, socialism and secularism, and practices such as bank interest and liberalist
social mores. In its operations in Sri Lanka, the more intellectual approach of Jamaat-i-Islamiya (JI)
generated greater appeal among the more educated middle class Muslims. It
largely concentrated on religious orthodoxy and did not openly advocate radical political ideas.
Emerging
Trends of Ultraorthodox Islam
According
to reports, in Sri Lanka, since the late 1980s there has been a strong growth
in ultra-orthodox interpretations of Islam that have provoked conflicts with
Muslims who traditionally profess Sufism. There are several emerging trends,
with issues of identity and Muslim separatism also coinciding with the influx
of some religious ideas from the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia,
Pakistan and elsewhere. These new trends appear to presage more difficult
developments in the future.
Arrival and Expansion of Wahhabism
Wahhabism as opposed to Sufism, is an ultra conservative branch
of Sunni Islam which is dominant in Saudi Arabia. It is a movement that started
in the 18th century, in Saudi Arabia, among fundamentalist Islam
believers who were promoting a return to the earliest fundamental Islamic
teachings of the Quran and Hadith or religious law and moral guidance
enunciated by Prophet Mohamed.
After
1973, with the Arab oil embargo resulting in the enrichment of Saudi Arabia,
the ultra-fundamentalist Wahhabi sect, dominant in oil-rich Saudi Arabia, began
to have impact on Muslims living in other countries. Soon, it began encroaching
Sri Lanka and having impact on adherents of the traditional form of Sufi Islam
prevalent in Sri Lanka. Wahhabis began establishing itself in Sri Lanka despise
the Sufis. They started operating through a movement called Thawheed funded by
Saudi Arabian sources. They were instrumental in the establishment of numerous madrasas
in Sri Lanka where young Muslims are being subject to various forms of
indoctrination and brainwashing in Wahhabism including the jihad approach and
Sharia law. During the last few decades, many Sri Lankan Muslims found
employment in Saudi Arabia. Also, many young Sri Lankan Muslims were awarded
scholarships by Saudi Arabia to study Wahhabism in Saudi universities. Upon
their return to Sri Lanka they undertook in an organized manner the propagation
of the ideology of Wahhabism. They were instrumental in the establishment of
numerous madrasas where young Muslims were subject to various forms of
brainwashing in Wahhabism including the jihad approach.
In
Arabic, the word jihad translates to mean “struggle”.
Persons engaged in jihad are called mujahideen. Jihad is an important religious duty for Muslims.
There are two meanings of jihad: an inner spiritual struggle and an outer
physical struggle. The “greater jihad” is the inner struggle by a
believer to fulfill his religious duties. The ‘halal’-haram- practices are
related to this type of struggle. This is a non-violent struggle. The other
meaning of Jihad is the physical struggle against the enemies of Islam. This
physical struggle can take a violent form or a non-violent form. The proponents
of the violent form translate jihad as “holy war”.
Increased Propagation of Wahhabism
With increased funding by the Saudi Arabia with their petro
dollars, and other forms of penetration, the Wahhabi followers have increased
in Sri Lanka during recent decades. This was clearly evident in the Eastern
province. Wahhabis claim that the Sufis or the moderate Sri Lankan Muslims are
ignorant of the basic teachings and practices in Islam. They claim to be the
real scholars of Islam.
This has led to sectarian clashes among peace loving Sri Lankan
Muslims. There appears to be an increasing trend in this unruly behaviour
pattern of some sections of the Muslim community, in the East and elsewhere
where they predominate. It is a fact that there is a rising trend of Wahhabi
Jihadism in Sri Lanka. Wahhabi fundamentalism has advanced so quickly in Sri
Lanka partly because the House of Saud has financed the building of many
madrasas and Mosques.
Scholarships
are offered to Muslim youths to go to Wahhabi institutions in Saudi Arabia and
Egypt with the condition that those who complete their Wahhabi studies should
return to Sri Lanka and propagate Wahhabism. This is happening extensively.
Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, Taliban,
Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Wahhabi terrorist groups. Saudi Arabia spends 87
billion US dollar per year to spread Wahhabism world-wide.
Wahhabis are trying to take the peaceful Islamic community in Sri
Lanka down the path of extremism and violence. The Wahhabis have already
created deep divisions in among Sri Lankan Muslims and have formed gangs that
intimidate moderate Muslims who speak out against Wahhabi fanatics. Like the
Christian fundamentalist groups using NGOs to convert innocent poor families to
Christianity, Wahhabis help poor Muslim families by providing cash and other
material benefits to convert them to their cult. Wahhabis appear to be using
Sri Lankan Government agencies to propagate Wahhabi activities.
Clashes between Sufis and Wahhabi Muslims
Wahhabism in Sri Lanka is headquartered in Kattankudi is a new
politico-religious movement that is sweeping the Eastern province of Sri Lanka
with more than sixty Muslim Wahhabi organizations helping in propagating the
movement throughout Sri Lanka and has raced ahead and taken control of the
Jihadist and Al Fatah groups in Sri Lanka under their wings. Wahhabism is
imported and planted in the midst of peace-loving Muslims in Sri Lanka, mostly
through the lavish inflow of Saudi money pumped into Sri Lanka has overtaken
other Islamic organizations by threats, intimidation and coercion.
Clashes between Sufis and Wahhabi Muslims in Kattankudi and Oddamavadi are
regular occurrence. More than 200 homes of Sufi followers were burnt down by
Wahhabi Jihadists in Kattankudi during similar clashes occurred in October
2004. One of the Sufi leaders Abdul Payilvan died in Colombo was buried at in
Kattankudi the next day. Wahhabi Muslims observed a hartal and demanded the
removal of the body from the burial grounds. Wahhabi Muslims claim Kattankudy
soil is sacred and bodies belonging to those who preach views contradictory to
Wahhabism should not be buried there. Wahhabis demanded that the body of Abdul
Payilvan, who is from Maruthamunai in the Ampara district, should be exhumed
and buried elsewhere.
Wahhabis had dug up the buried body of another Sufi Muslim from
Mosque burial grounds and dumped the body on a local road as an act of protest.
Kattankudi Police recovered the body, re-buried it in the original burial
ground and guarded burial ground for few days.
In
Kattankudi, the hatred between Wahhabis and Sufis has widened in the last few
years and has grown in intensity, left many injured, and caused damage to
several houses and vehicles. Though residing in Sri Lanka illegally, P Jainul
Abedin – a powerful Wahhabi preacher from Tamil Nadu – is now leading the
Wahhabi Jihadism in Kattankudi. A more recent 2009 clash in the south-western
Muslim coastal town of Beruwala reflects similar religious tensions between a
popular Sufi sheikh and a nearby Wahhabi congregation.
Saudi
agents have successfully penetrated Sri Lankan Muslims social fabric and have managed
to defeat the Sufism in their game. Due to the training afforded by the House
of Saud now the Wahhabis have prevailed over the Sufis. The Muslims in Sri
Lanka have been subdued due to the Wahhabi influence.
The House of Saud pretending to be the leaders of the Islam
promote their Wahhabi ideology world-wide. The result has been the birth of
al-Qaida, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Wahhabi terrorist groups which are
killing Sunni and Shia Muslims alike in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
All the ‘Islamist’ terror attacks in South Asia including in Mumbai,
Afghanistan and Pakistan had the hallmarks of Wahhabism. Wahhabi Jihadists are
blinded by faith to believe that they have the mandate of Allah to rid the
world of ‘infidels’ and ‘heretics’. Until this Wahhabism is thoroughly
discredited, combating Wahhabi terrorism is impossible. Since the Western
countries subterfuge to destabilise Sri Lanka, by surreptitiously supporting
the LTTE failed, now the Western countries will promote Wahhabi Jihadism to
cause strife and trouble to destabilize Sri Lanka. Wahhabi followers –
al-Qaida, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Wahhabi terrorist groups – have
caused untold misery in several countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan
and India. Sri Lanka appears to be their next target. Wahhabis have already
built several illegal Mosques in Sri Lanka using Saudi Arabia’s petro dollar.
Indoctrination of Younger Generation in Madrasas
Zachary
Abuza, in his book titled Militant Islam in Southeast Asia (Crusible of
Terror), highlights the role of Madrasas or exclusively Islamic schools
established by Muslim extremists in indoctrinating the younger generation. The
author comments that “In their pursuit of the creation of Islamic states,
many Southeast Asian jihadis established Islamic schools to indoctrinate,
propagate, and recruit. The leaders of many militant groups in Southeast Asia,
returned from training in Mid Eastern countries and established madrasas as the
base of their operations and recruitment.” These radical Islamic madrasas,
with unrestricted material support from foreign Muslim countries, especially
Saudi Arabia, have begun to recruit and brainwash many Muslim children
and youth in Islamic Jihadist movement and Islamic fundamentalism.
Trend of Intolerance and Extreme Forms of Violence
Newspapers have reported a significant influx of Wahhabi
preachers and activists from Saudi Arabia and South India during the past three
decades in particular. The Saudi Embassy in Sri Lanka, has admitted that
certain wealthy Saudi persons are helping various Muslim religious groups in
Sri Lanka to put up mosques. The Wahhabi jihad trends have revealed their
ambition to control South Asian Islam communities even by means of using
violent methods. The traditionalists such as the Sufis of Sri Lanka, appear to
be resisting this Saudi initiated Wahhabi- jihad aggression, hostility and
violence.
It is evident that the
traditional practices of Islam of the island’s Sufi Muslim community, are under
threat by the Wahhabi group. Sufis are under attack not by adherents of other
religions but by their own Muslims brothers. Worship of saints practiced by the
Sufi Muslims of Sri Lanka is frowned upon by the Wahhabi group. Owing to increasing
threats, many Sufi Muslims appear to be distancing themselves from their
traditional practices such as mosque feasts and the worship of saints. Wahhabi
groups are violently opposed to these traditional practices. They are in
actual fact promoting the theology endorsed by senior scholars in Saudi Arabia.
They claim that the religious practices of Sufi Muslims are impure,
tinged with superstition and mystical rituals and they are determined to make
Śrī Lanka’s Muslim community conform to more orthodox strictures and they are
will use violence if necessary to achieve their ends.
The Sufis in the meanwhile has begun a campaign against the
Wahhabis appealing to Sri Lanka authorities for an impartial inquiry into
Wahhabi activities in the country, to disarm the Wahhabis and to enable the
reconstruction of its headquarters in Kattankudy which was destroyed by the
Wahhabis and the Sufis affected and displaced to be compensated by the Wahhabis
so that they can rebuild their ruined homes and businesses.
Thareekathul Mufliheen Organization of Sufi Muslims
Wahhabi
In late 1980s, the Sufi Muslims formed an organization known as
All Ceylon Thareekathul Mufliheen organization defining itself as a peace
loving and non-violent Religious Society, where members are expected to
be patient and tolerant even in times of grave injustice and calamity brought
about by the Wahhabis. This organization was founded by Sheihul Mufliheen M.S.M. Abdullah, known as Rah,” in the
southeastern Sri Lanka village of Maruthamunai. It was registered as a
cultural society with the civil authorities in 1989. The headquarters of
Thareekathul Mufliheen is now located in the small eastern coast village of
Kattankudy.
This organization maintained that
each human being is free to choose a path of faith and that there should not be
any compulsion to embrace the views of the organization. This was published in
a book in Tamil, in 1980, by the founder of this organization titled Imanin Unmaiyai Nee Arivaya, or Do You Know the Truth of Iman? – iman
referring to Islamic belief. This led to serious problems. A book was
translated into English as The Court of Reason, and was published in
2010. The country’s official Council of Islamic Scholars, the All Ceylon
Jamiathul Ulama, purportedly without reading the book or holding a hearing to
examine it, published a fatwa or religious opinion on September 10, 1989,
declaring Abdullah (Rah) and his followers as murtadd or apostates, who renounced
Islam, in the judgment of the clerics.
Abdullah (Rah) the founder of Thareekathul Mufliheen organzation filed a defamation suit against the All
Ceylon Jamiathul Ulama in 1990 in Colombo which led the All Ceylon Jamiathul
Ulama (ACJU) revoked the fatwa in 1996, and settle the complaint. Besides the
fatva, the AUJU also took action to deny the Thareekathul Mufliheen to register
marriages and the burial of the dead in conformity with Islamic practice.
However, through legal action these rights were restored.
Thareekathul Mufliheen organzation of the Sufis opened a Meditation”
Centre at Kattankudy in 1996. Wahhabi extremists struck the building
setting fire to it. Abdullah (Rah) and the members of the order were targets of
shooting and grenade attacks, and other physical aggression, as well as
threats. In 2004, many Wahhabis organized under the title Jihad” again set the
Meditation” Centre ablaze, destroying its library, along with homes and
businesses owned by Sufis. Financial loss to the injured parties was
considerable, and one Sufi was shot and killed while another was wounded by
gunfire.
In 2005, a protest was filed by the organization, with the Sri Lanka
Human Rights Commission (HRC) in 2005. The HRC found in favor of the Sufis,
stating that their constitutional right to adhere to the belief of their will
and choice had been violated. The Meditation Centre and headquarters were
rebuilt in 2006. Sheihul Mufliheen M.S.M. Abdullah (Rah) the founder of
the Thareekathul Mufliheen organzation died in December 2006. Wahhabi preachers and the armed
Jihad” incited the local clerics and politicians (Jamiathul Ulama Kattankudy,
the Muslim Federation of Mosques, and the Urban Council of Kattankudy) to
oppose his burial according to Islamic rites, in the Meditation Centre, as he
was a supposed apostate.” According to the Wahhabis and their accomplices, apostates”
could not be buried in Kattankudy.
The Jihadis, armed with lethal weapons, rioted after the death of Abdullah
(Rah), causing widespread social disruption in Kattankudy resulting in a
general work stoppage, shutting down of schools, government and private
offices, banks and businesses. Some banks and shops were looted and burned in
the process. The official clerics of All Ceylon Jamiathul Ulama, Jamiathul
Ulama Kattankudy, the Muslim Federation of Mosques, other Islamic
organizations, and the Kattankudy Urban Council initiated a judicial argument
on December 11, 2006. They denounced Abdullah (Rah) as defying Muslim norms and
traditions and charged that Thareekathul Mufliheen organization had failed to
seek permission from the authorities for the burial. The petition by the
official clerics and Wahhabis was dismissed in 2007. The Sri Lanka Human Rights
Commission declared in 2007 that it could not interfere in the disputes
between various sects of a religion” and recommended the conflict be referred
to the Council of Ulemas – All Ceylon Jamiathul Ulama, or to the Ministry of
Religious Affairs.
In December 2006, in a separate controversy, the Urban Council in
Kattankudy had ordered the dismantling of the minaret at the Meditation”
Centre, as an unauthorized structure. Although the Police tried to
prevent the commencement of the demolition, Wahhabi extremists interfered with
the police resulting in shootings and the death of three rioters. A police post
and police vehicle were assaulted. However, subsequently members of the
Urban Council joined a Wahhabi mob and invaded the Meditation” Centre and
knocked down the minaret, removing the body of Abdullah (Rah), either burning
or reburying it in a location yet unknown. The houses of 117 Sufis were leveled
by fire. Many were threatened and fled the district.
Since
then, however, abuses against the Sufis of Kattankudy have continued, with the
Wahhabi Thawheed faction in the forefront of violence. Official ulema and the
village authorities attempted unsuccessfully to prevent celebration of a Sufi
festival in 2008. That year, a Sri Lanka Supreme Court order, providing that
200 members of Thareekathul Mufliheen be allowed to return to their homes in
Kattankudy and practice their beliefs in freedom, was obstructed by armed Jihad
members. In response to the campaign against it, Thareekathul Mufliheen has appealed
to the Sri Lanka authorities for an impartial inquiry into Wahhabi activities
in the country; to disarm the Wahhabis; to provide for reconstruction of the
headquarters of Thareekathul Mufliheen in Kattankudy; to enforce the revocation
of the fatwa issued by the All Ceylon Jamiathul Ulama against Abdullah (Rah)
and his disciples, as ordered by the Colombo District Court, and to compensate
the displaced Sufis, facilitating restoration of their lost heritage, ruined
homes, and businesses. The Sufis of Kattankudy seek peaceful resettlement with
honor.”
There is
clear evidence of increasing tension and extreme forms of violence between
traditional and more fundamentalist Islamic groups in Muslim communities across
Sri Lanka. During the latter period of the war with Tamil LTTE terrorists,
Muslim Home Guards were recruited by the Sri Lankan government to fight the
terrorists. In the East some of these Home Guards deserted with their weapons
and joined the Wahhabis rebels to fulfill its demand for Jihad” against
traditional Sufi Muslims.
The Beruwala Violence
The most
cruel and crude nature of violence was well evident in the 2009
attack and devastation of the Beruwala Rahuman Masjid Mosque during its annual
Buhari feast, which has been a practice in this mosque for over 130 years. A
fundamentalist group of Muslim extremists armed with knives, swords and axes stormed the mosque, yelling that all those participating in the feast were
infidels who had deviated from the path of Islam. The attackers set fire to the
mosque and caused millions of rupees of damage. Two men were brutally hacked to
death in the violence. They damaged cars, motor cycles and bicycles, and a
special Police team had to be deployed in control the situation. A curfew was
imposed in the area and some of the perpetrators were arrested but some had
escaped.
In 2009 the Wahhabis vandalized and destroyed a 150-year old
shrine located in Ukuwela near Matale. This was associated with violent clashes
between Muslim groups. According
to Muslim community leaders and groups this violence contradicts the
fundamental teachings of Islam.
Saudi
Arabian funding for fundamentalist groups
Sri Lankan Muslims, especially young males found easy employment in
Saudi Arabia during the past few decades. Some were awarded scholarships
by Saudi universities. Those who completed their studies returned to Sri Lanka
and started to propagate the ideology of Wahhabism. In pursuit of their mission
to expand their sphere of influence among Sufi Muslims and others, these
Wahhabis resorted to violence and intimidation culminating in death and
destruction.
Most
Muslim problems in the country at present appear to stem from foreign,
particularly Saudi Arabian funding for fundamentalist groups. Also, the young
Muslims who have been exposed to Saudi Islamic religious norms and who are
being indoctrinated in madrasas and universities in Muslim countries such as Saudi
Arabia and Pakistan and reading Wahhabi texts which are opposed to
traditional practices such as those of Sufi Muslims. What is wrong with this
trend is the approach adopted by these extremist groups to propagate and
promote their ideology, thinking and practices among the traditional Sufi
Muslims of Sri Lanka.
Their
approach is unacceptable because it is causing disharmony and violence within
the Muslim community. They should be aware of the fact that they are living in
a non-Muslim country where Sinhala Buddhists form the mainstream dominant
community. The approach to change by the extremist Muslim groups are not
compatible with the social values of the country.
Harmonious Community Relationships threatened
The
traditional Sufi Islam practiced by Muslims in Sri Lanka for centuries, and
related lifestyle of Muslims facilitated harmonious relationships with other
religions and communities in the country. Maintaining such relationships was
necessary for most Muslims who were businessmen dealing with a market
consisting mostly of non-Muslims. Owing to their living among Buddhists most
Muslims were inevitably influenced by, and learnt to respect the social values
of Sinhala Buddhists marked by tolerance and non-violence in
particular.
It
is unlikely that the more fundamentalist Muslim groups and related extremist
attitudes and practices that appear to be emerging will help Sri Lankan Muslims
to coexist successfully with the island’s other religions, as before. In fact
the Wahhabis do not seem to be able to coexist peacefully with their own
Muslim brothers.
As a nation
with a historic cultural tradition that extends to over 2200 years, where
freedom, compassion, tolerance and accommodation of people of all faiths and
ethnicities have been the founding principles, it is necessary that we as a
nation take necessary steps to protect and preserve these noble and wholesome
cultural traditions. We cannot allow them to be undermined under any
circumstances. It is necessary that all communities living in this country
develop respect towards the social values and norms of other communities inhabiting
this land and not pursue policies and activities that would jeopardize the
quality of life and stability of our nation.
Dr.
Daya Hewapathirane
