by B. R. GOWANI
IMAGE/Iranian Diplomacy
In 2004, King Abdullah II of Jordan warned that if the new Iraqi regime is dominated by pro-Iran parties or politicians, a “Shia Crescent” made up of Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria will emerge. He also warned that the Gulf countries such as Bahrain (which has 70% Shias but a Sunni King) and Saudi Arabia (which has about 15% Shias) may experience trouble from its Shia population.
The words such as love, peace, harmony, unity, and so on sounds so cool and conjures up a picture of a world free of conflict, tension, disunity, evil, insecurity, … These words have the power to transport people in search of those things into a totally different world.
A king of a small Middle Eastern kingdom, inherited from his father, lacking the intention to turn his own region into a peaceful and harmonious place, did, nevertheless, came up with an idea of interfaith harmony–a tiny contribution from his side towards better relations between leaders of different religions.
In September 2010, King Abdullah II of Jordan made the following plea in the United Nations:
“More than ever before, our world is confronting multiple global crises which cannot be effectively addressed, without a coordinated, multilateral action…. A strong, central role for the United Nations is essential.
“It is also essential to resist forces of division that spread misunderstanding and mistrust especially among peoples of different religions. The fact is, humanity everywhere is bound together, not only by mutual interests, but by shared commandments to love God and neighbour; to love the good and neighbour. This week, my delegation, with the support of our friends on every continent, will introduce a draft resolution for an annual World Interfaith Harmony Week. What we are proposing is a special week, during which the world’s people, in their own places of worship, could express the teachings of their own faith about tolerance, respect for the other and peace. I hope this resolution will have your support.”
Within a month, the UN adopted the proposal and the first week of February was designated as the World Interfaith Harmony Week. So this week the world is celebrating the Harmony Week.
Any move on any leader’s part to minimize or eliminate frictions between different religions should be accepted with open arms–but only after enough scrutiny is given to the intention/s and politics behind this noble gesture.
Let’s see whether Abdullah II’s Interfaith Harmony initiative is a genuine effort or just a gimmick to stay in good books of his Western supporters, especially the United States.
One important condition required for harmony between two neighbors is that each of the neighbor should have peace within her/his own house, that is, the family members, or most of them, should have amicable relations among themselves, then only the harmony initiative is going to work. Many a times not everyone is going to agree but if there are enough members to override the opposition, then it is possible.
One example: The current Pakistani government is trying to improve relations with its neighbor India–and its intentions are good because it will not only reduce the chances of war (there have been almost four wars between them in the last sixty five years) but will also weaken the communalist forces on both sides. The Army and the Islamists, however, are not in favor and so the normalization process is progressing at a very slow pace.
Coming back to Abdullah II, if he was genuine about harmony, he would have tried to eliminate enmity between the two major branches of Islam: Sunni and Shia. Instead, in 2004, he tried to create fear among the Sunni Muslims of the emerging “Shia Crescent“. Despite the fact that only 15% of the Muslims worldwide are Shias. There are only four countries (Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan) where Shias form the majority. (This is true of Christian, Hindu, and other religious leaders too–who talk about interfaith dialogue without first taking care of the infighting and injustices going on within their own religions.)
Interfaith bullshit is the in thing for sometime now. In 2008, President George W. Bush vomited this precious gem from the UN pulpit:
“One of my core beliefs is that there is an almighty God, and that every man, woman and child on the face of this Earth bears his image.”
He should have been asked: “Mr. President, by killing people in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, aren’t you destroying the image of your God?”
If Abdullah II is serious about harmony, then he should do the following:
Invite Iran’s President to Jordan or visit Iran and discuss ways of improving relations.
Ask Saudi Arabia to stop funding the Islamists in Muslim countries and thus halt spreading hatred.
Ask Saudi Arabia to stop mistreating its Shia population (Twelvers, Ismailis, and others).
Ask Pakistan’s Sunni fanatics to stop killing Shia and Ahmadi Muslims (and also Christians and Hindus).
…
Then Abdullah II should shoulder the giant responsibility of interfaith harmony.
He should ask the US and other Western countries to discontinue their illegal embargo against Iran for the sake of interfaith harmony.
He’ll see the result within days. He would spend the rest of his kingship in exile.
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com