{"id":119660,"date":"2021-10-27T16:59:30","date_gmt":"2021-10-27T23:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=119660"},"modified":"2021-10-27T16:59:30","modified_gmt":"2021-10-27T23:59:30","slug":"ali-sabrys-equation-an-indication-of-acrobatics-on-a-high-wire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/10\/27\/ali-sabrys-equation-an-indication-of-acrobatics-on-a-high-wire\/","title":{"rendered":"Ali Sabry\u2019s equation: An indication of acrobatics on a high wire?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

(The\nfollowing is only a layman\u2019s personal opinion for what it is worth. It is hoped\nthat it will be read not as an attack on the intrepid and intelligent young\nMinister of Justice Ali Sabry, but as a due appreciation of the difficulties of\nthe daunting challenge that he has undertaken on behalf of the nation.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justice\nMinister Ali Sabry was reported to have stated: The traditional brand of\nIslamism which has been practiced by Muslims in Sri Lanka for centuries has to\nbe preserved while the religion should not be practiced according to the likes\nof one group\u201d (\u2018Islamism practiced over centuries has to be preserved – Ali\nSabry\u2019\/Daily Mirror Online\/October 20, 2021\/Yohan Perera). According to the\nDaily Mirror correspondent, he made this remark after taking part in a\nreligious ceremony at the Dewatagaha Mosque, Colombo. (This architecturally\nimpressive place of Islamic worship is a proud national monument situated at\nthe heart of the commercial capital; it is a symbol of the peaceful coexistence\nof Muslims with Sri Lankans of other faiths.) The minister was reported to have\nadded: Unity among Muslims in Sri Lanka should also be preserved just like\npreserving unity among various religious and ethnic groups.\u201d Sri Lankans of all\nbeliefs interested in the early restoration of the externally disturbed\ncustomary religious and communal harmony subscribe to that laudable view with\nthe necessary alterations. But will his equation of Islam with Islamism work in\nthe current context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(CAVEAT:\nThere is no way to check the authenticity of the news report, unless Minister\nAli Sabry confirms or denies what is claimed in it about him. It has not been\nindicated in which language he expressed these ideas. Did he actually use the\nwords Islam and Islamism speaking in English or their equivalents speaking in\nanother language, or has the DM reporter arbitrarily translated into English\nusing those two terms what the speaker said in another language?)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nfor the purpose of this essay, I assume that the news portal mentioned above\nhas reported the Minister\u2019s words correctly, subject to later correction. I\ndon\u2019t know whether Muslims in Sri Lanka have started using the words Islam<\/em>\nand Islamism<\/em> interchangeably, which, of course, I\u2019d have thought, is a\nnear impossibility, given the universally recognized difference in meaning\nbetween the two terms. Google.com defines Islam as \u2018the\nreligion of the Muslims, a monotheistic faith regarded as revealed through\nMuhammad as the Prophet of Allah\u2019. Islamism on the other hand, is generally\ntaken to mean Islamist fundamentalism associated with violent militancy, which\nis purely a religio-political movement. The Wikipedia defines Islamism thus:\nIslamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a\npolitical ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be\nreconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance\nwith what is conceived as a revival or a return to authentic Islamic practice\nin its totality\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explaining\nthe relation between Islam and Islamism, the Wikipedia says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

QUOTE <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nrelationship between the notions of Islam and Islamism has been subject to\ndisagreement. Hayri Abaza argues that the failure to distinguish between Islam\nand Islamism leads many in the West to support illiberal Islamic regimes, to\nthe detriment of progressive moderates who seek to separate religion from\npolitics. A writer for the International Crisis Group maintains that the\nconception of \u2018political Islam\u2019\u201d is a creation of Americans to explain the\nIranian Islamic  Revolution and (that) apolitical Islam was a historical\nfluke of the short-lived era of the heyday of secular Arab nationalism between\n1945 and 1970\u201d, and it is quietist-political Islam, not Islamism, that requires\nexplanation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\nsource distinguishes Islamist from Islamic by the fact that the latter refers\nto a religion and culture in existence over a millennium, whereas the first is\na political\/religious phenomenon linked to the great events of the 20th\ncentury\u201d. Islamists have, at least at times, defined themselves as\nIslamiyyoun\/Islamists\u201d to differentiate themselves from Muslimun\/Muslims.\nDaniel Pipes describes Islamism as a modern ideology that owes more to European\nutopian ideologies and isms\u201d than to traditional Islamic religion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 END OF QUOTE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(By\nthe way, the Wikipedia is no longer regarded as an easily available smart tool\n– once praised as such even by Noam Chomsky – for the amateur researcher for\nthe reason that the entries are made by voluntary editors at various levels of\nscholarship and academic authority and authenticity. The Wikipedia user must be\nsufficiently educated and well informed to be able to separate the wheat from\nthe chaff. In this case, the definitions given are sound enough, to my\nunderstanding.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nAli Sabry made the particular remark, if he actually did so, he probably had in\nmind what the Wiki quote refers to as \u2018quietist or political Islam\u2019 (which, in\ncommon parlance, is called \u2018moderate Islam\u2019).  Moderate Islam is\nnot regarded as a problem, but  Islamism definitely is. It need not be\nreiterated that the problem of Islamism affects the whole world. As far as Sri\nLanka is concerned, Islamic\/Islamist fundamentalism came to prominence\nrelatively recently, although it has been smoldering since the mid-20th century\nas some commentators have pointed out. Given this background, responsible\nspeakers do not use the two words (Islam and Islamism) as alternatives. I\nbelieve that minister Ali Sabry speaks as a responsible person. That is why I\nam sceptical about the Daily Mirror report. But these are strange times. Anything is\npossible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\nit is somewhat inconceivable that Ali Sabry, who has been entrusted by the\nPresident with such a great responsibility or  an array of\nresponsibilities as he bears in a government that sought election on the main\nplatform of One Law, One Country\u201d and that is poised to bring in a new\nconstitution, made this thoughtless identification of Islam with Islamism. The\nPresident seemed to ignore the well expressed opposition of some of his trusted\nsupporters (particularly the monks) to his selection of Ali Sabry to the\njustice portfolio. The President appointed him (only a national list MP) as\nJustice Minister, overlooking such eligible candidates for the post as the SLPP\nelected MPs Susil Premjayanth, a professionally qualified lawyer with more than\nthirty-five years of experience at the bar and in constitution making, Dr\nWijedasa Rajapaksa, a former minister of justice who served under yahapalanaya\nand later fell out with that regime. The President did so with a purpose. He\nwanted to assure the Muslim community that they are safe and will not be\nsubjected to discrimination under his rule, particularly in the face of\nincursions into Sri Lanka of rampant Islamist extremism, although most Muslims\ndid not vote for him at the presidential election in November 2019. It is\nconceivable that the President\u2019s more important aim in appointing Ali Sabry to\nthat key post was to enlist the participation of the Muslim community in\ngovernance despite their implicit initial refusal of his goodwill. It is\nunlikely that Ali Sabry has forgotten this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps, it is\ntoo early to call Ali Sabry\u2019s apparent verbal faux pas a case of letting the\ncat out of the bag. But those who have been suspicious of him from the\nbeginning will say \u2018Thank you for the information\u2019. Is he running with the hare\nand hunting with the hounds? Or is he trying to sweep the Wahhabist menace\nunder the carpet? Anyway, let\u2019s hope that he will say something to reassure the\nover 90% non-Muslim majority + the many ordinary Muslims who do not\naccept  and oppose (some openly, many surreptitiously) the Wahhabi\nideology and who are being persecuted by it; they expect him not to allow any\npro-Islamist bias or politically expedient duplicity to cloud his judgement and\nbetray the trust that the President has reposed in him. From the beginning, Ali\nSabry has acted as or like a pious Muslim who will stand up and speak up for\nhis community, while performing his duty. There is nothing wrong with that. But\nthe fact remains that there is only one Minister of Justice for the whole of\nSri Lanka. The person who occupies that position is required to serve the whole\nnation without practicing overt or covert discrimination against any community.\nAttitudes implied by his apparent readiness (though this has not been\nconfirmed, to be fair by him) to see an equivalence between traditional Islam\npracticed in Sri Lanka and the problematic Islamism that is relatively of more\nrecent origin at least in Sri Lanka could be seen as incongruent with that\nvital national obligation in a less intellectually gifted politician. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala (The following is only a layman\u2019s personal opinion for what it is worth. It is hoped that it will be read not as an attack on the intrepid and intelligent young Minister of Justice Ali Sabry, but as a due appreciation of the difficulties of the daunting challenge that he has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rohana-r-wasala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119660\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}