Comment: The heady brew of religious extremism, democracy and public opinion

This government is legless, three sheets to the wind, incapable of walking a straight line, has blurred vision and cannot remember from one second to the next what decision it made yesterday, never mind last month. If only this was heaven, the real mother of a hangover that is sure to come could have been avoided.

But alas, this is real life, and it is time this government stopped being intoxicated by the sense of achievement that has come with having given the Maldives deliverance from an autocracy. Wake up, and smell the theocracy that is in the air. Is it not sobering enough?

Wahhabism is in the Maldives to stay. Osama bin Laden made it clear that his ultimate aim is to establish an Islamic Caliphate across the globe. There are many who are willing to die for the cause, and many of them are now in the Maldives.

If the government continues to oscillate, gutless and indecisive, in the current manner, the Maldives could easily become the first member of this envisioned Caliphate. Twice now the government has changed its mind about bringing in new legislation regarding the sale of alcohol. Twice now it has back-tracked, citing ‘public opinion’. What is at stake here is not the availability or lack thereof of alcoholic beverages, but the ability of the current government to be a strong and capable leader of the nation.

Who is the ‘public’ that the government cited? The Wahhabi clerics? Has it come to the stage now where a Maldivian man is only a Maldivian man if he wears a bushy beard that covers his face?

Is a Maldivian woman only a Maldivian woman if she has covered herself from head to toe, or at least covered her hair with a Buruqa that complements the figure hugging PVC cat-suit she has on?

Is a Maldivian only a Maldivian if s/he is happy to listen to the Qur’an or some Dharus or another all day, every day?

Is a Maldivian only a Maldivian if s/he believes that women are inferior to men?

Is that the ‘public’? And what is ‘opinion’? Even if one does not buy into the elitist position that public opinion can never be informed enough for it to ensure that all democratic decisions are informed decisions, it is a valid question to ask of this government: what has informed this ‘opinion’ to which you have once again bowed? How has this ‘public’ arrived at this ‘opinion’ that has you so cowed?

Opinion, by definition, is a judgement or view based neither on fact nor knowledge. When the lack of knowledge is used by a particular group of people to ensure – through religious propaganda – that everyone holds the same view, what is expressed is not an opinion but dogma. Religious dogma.

The majority of Maldivian people are not free to think for themselves any more. After thirty years of being told what to do – from good table manners to good praying etiquette spelled out by the Great Leader – and being denied the opportunity to develop intellectually as free thinking people; the void where knowledge should have been is now being filled with unrelenting religious propaganda that saturates the Maldivian airwaves.

Every single medium of the various types available in the twenty first century is being utilised by these well-organised and well-funded Wahhabbis. They have numerous websites (dhiIslam.com; Dharuslive.com; Click4Islam.com; Raajjeislam.com; Islam Maldives; Dharuma.net to name but a few) and a strong presence on social networking sites and YouTube. They organise public sermons and lectures covering everything from Valentine’s Day to good husbandry and housekeeping. They fly in international scholars to preach their message and convince the youth that life is better lived after death.

To respond to this well-organised, well-oiled invasion of our country, this brutal rape of our identity in broad daylight, this daily negation of our rights under the name of Islam by suggesting that all ‘beloved citizens who might harbour what might be considered extremist ideas and opinions’ should perhaps ‘moderate and soften their ways of thinking’ makes President Nasheed look as effective a political leader as a newly crowned Miss World breathlessly avowing her goal to attain world peace.

‘Might’ harbour what ‘might’ be considered extremist ideas and opinions? Where is the doubt coming from about the extremism of their ideas? They are openly and clearly saying that women are inferior to men. They are indoctrinating Maldivians to believe that Wahhabbism is the only form of Islam that Allah recognises. Might be considered extremist?

Yes, public opinion is vital to democracy. There is, however, no system in place to effectively measure public opinion in the Maldives. There are no regular polls, no surveys, no studies to gauge what the public’s view of anything is. Nobody has their finger on the public pulse, just a hand around its throat.

Hiding behind the buzz words of democracy is not going to deliver Maldivians democracy – it may be rule by the people for the people, but it might well be worth remembering that people at religious boot camp with Wahhabbis may not have had the freedom to arrive at a considered opinion about anything of their own free will. ‘Freedom of opinion’ as a democratic right extends not just to freely expressing an opinion but to freely forming it as well.

Staggering from one side to the other (a foreign policy that finds allies in counter-terrorism; a domestic policy that is victim to an extremist Islamic sect) and bending over backwards to appease both sides while trying to stand upright; that kind of behaviour is far better suited to a public house than to the house that runs the public, would you not agree?

Munirah Moosa is a journalism and international relations graduate. She is currently engaged in research into the ‘radicalisation’ of Muslim communities and its impact on international security.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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President begins tour of northern islands

President Mohamed Nasheed began a tour of some of the islands of the northern atolls in the Maldives.

The president will visit some islands of Shaviyani Atoll and Noonu Atoll.

As part of his tour, President Nasheed inaugurated Beach House Maldives Resort, now part of the Waldorf Astoria Collection, at Haa Alif Manafaru yesterday afternoon.

Beach House Maldives is the first Waldorf Astoria Collection property to open in Asia.

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Government “suppressing media”, MJA tells Asian Tribune

The government is suppressing media in the Maldives by “continuing the draconian measures of the previous dictatorship”, according to an interview with the Maldivian Journalists Association (MJA) by the Asian Tribune.

The MJA’s comments were prompted by the decision by the Department of Information to dock five points from the broadcast license of the radio station DhiFM, following its coverage of the protest outside the president’s residence on 28 January.

In the AT article the MJA called the Private Broadcasting regulation a “draconian law”, and accused the government of having “no genuine intention of amending the law.”

“Rather, it is now trying to act on the draconian measures that were all too common features of the previous dictatorship,” the MJA told AT.

Minister of Tourism Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad, also responsible for the Department or Information, last week described the disciplinary procedures for broadcast media as “not ideal”, and noted that it was seeking the creation of an independent media council.

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2010 to be a productive year at parliament, promises speaker

Parliamentary Speaker Abdulla Shahid said he will work to make 2010 a productive year at parliament, reports Miadhu.

Out of 77 MPs, 64 were present at yesterday’s meeting, the first parliamentary session of the year.

Shahid said 2009 was also a productive year. Since the new parliament was sworn in on 28 May 2009, the Majlis have conducted 33 deliberations and adopted 6 legislations.

There will be priority given to those issues that were being discussed when parliament was called into recess in December 2009.

Kulhudhuffushi South MP Mohamed Nasheed has criticised the parliament for taking a two month long recess, arguing that it will be difficult to complete the parliament’s work in the six remaining months of the transition period.

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New regulations on resort rent and lease periods will bring changes

President Mohamed Nasheed has said that government will amend the Maldives Tourism Act, reports Miadhu.

The president said that once the taxation bill and the resort rent and lease bill become legislations, there will be major changes to the tourism sector.

President Nasheed added that according to the ‘Third Tourism Master Plan’, the government is working on increasing bed capacity to 36,659 beds by 2012. He said the Maldives must not only target the high-end market, and announced the government will begin to create a mid-market.

Both the taxation and the Tourism Act amendment bill are being examined by the People’s Majlis.

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Comment: Reflections after the alcohol crisis

From a purely religious perspective it is very odd that you could buy alcohol or open bars in the lagoon of Hulhumalé, but not on the land. But that is exactly what the existing regulations on liquor have allowed.

Religiously, it is also very strange that you could open hundreds of ‘human bars’ in houses, but not in city hotels with more stringent regulatory measures. Again, that is exactly what the existing regulations on liquor have allowed.

A lesson from history

Going back to the last Muslim caliphate, it is very awkward, from a purely religious point of view, that the Ottoman sultans sanctioned the Hanbali School of jurisprudence over all others.

Going back to the very early period of Islam, from a purely religious point of view, it is a bit strange that Caliph Abu Bakr would allow the Wars of Apostasy (Ridda wars), but that leading companions such as Umar or Ali would oppose it.

Again, it is very revealing that his own brother Sulayman Ibn Abdul Wahhab and his own father would so strongly oppose Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab to the extent that Sulayman would write a whole treatise against his brother Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab.

No exception…

Reflecting on our society, it is equally revealing that Islamic Ministry disagreed, for instance, with Jamiyathul Salaf over health insurance and over the religious unity laws.

Why does Abdulla Saeed (Maldivian professor at Melbourne University) think there should be complete freedom of religion without worldly punishment while Jamiyuthul Salaf came out against this in the penultimate day of Hassan Saeed’s bid to become president?

Similarly, we could learn a thing or two from the disagreements over burqas and female heads of state between the double master’s degree-holder and winner of ‘Order of Merit, First Class in Arts and Sciences’ from Egypt’s Al-Azhar university, and the rest of our sheikhs.

We could also learn from the disagreements between Dr Afrasheem Ali and the rest over dancing, singing and dress codes.

…and the norm

Do we not wonder why there have been so many different interpretations of Sharia, including all the sects, Shiites and Sunnis and so on?

Indeed, inconsistencies, contestation and disagreement are the norm in every religion.

The European wars of religion and the Inquisition and Al-Mihna of Caliph Ma’mun were only the bloody face of such disagreements in religion.

To err is human

Now, could we not reflect on the incident when the Prophet (PBUH) was wrong about the grafting of date-palms and his subsequent distinction between Muhammad as Prophet (PBUH) and Muhammad as a human being?

The Qur’an, and more so the hadiths, constitute an overwhelming collection of information. Since the Prophet’s death, there has not been a divinely-guided interpreter of this information.

Hence, what we must know that it is us – all humans – who read the Qur’an and hadiths to come up with rulings and judgments.

As Caliph Ali is reported to have said, the “Qur’an is but ink and paper, and it does not speak for itself. Instead, it is human beings who give effect to it according to their limited personal judgments and opinions.”

The reasonable…

And as humans we all are subject to various sorts of burdens in our judgments and rulings, including:

  • The evidence involved in a particular religious matter might be complex and conflicting
  • The weight each group gives to particular evidences might be different
  • The issues themselves might be vague and that may lead to different interpretations (what is qawwamun, for example?)
  • The way each group weighs the issues are differently affected by their total life experience, knowledge, and so on

These limitations could be part of the explanation why we have so many reasonable disagreements even within religion.

So, because people may reasonably disagree on religion, is it not a good reason not to let the State – which has the monopoly on legitimate use of violence – become the arm of any religious faction?

…the unreasonable and the selfish

In the political sphere, disagreements on religious issues can be amplified to even bloody levels by ‘pure politics’ itself.

Stepping to political sphere, motivated by your own political aspirations, it is not so difficult to be so inconsistent on religious issues.

“It is the next election, stupid!”

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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President appeals to MPs for “cooperation and support”

The president has appealed to opposition parties not to jeopardise the country’s nascent democratic system and put aside partisan politics, in his second presidential address on the opening of parliament.

He warned of the “consequences” should the government be forced to take to safeguard the country’s democratic system against “unlawful actions based on unrealistic hopes”, stating they would be borne “not only by this system of governance, but also by the opposition and we ourselves.”

“I don’t believe that any of us would want for that to happen. The sensible way would be to avoid falling into such personal rivalry and to build essential national foundations,” he said, calling on “the cooperation and support of the honourable Members of the People’s Majlis to transcend political turmoil and differences of thought and ideology.”

Justice

The president also spoke about addressing problems with the judicial system, promising that “this government will work tirelessly to solve the problems of delayed justice when people who are arrested and investigated are not prosecuted.”

He noted that the number of people who were sentenced and had their sentences enforced increased by 69.7 per cent last year compared to 2008, while the percentage of people involved in cases sent for prosecution increased by 88.2 per cent.

He also said the government would “redouble efforts to save generations of youth from strong addiction to
different kinds of hard drugs and free countless Maldivian families from this plague that has caused them so much grief and sorrow.”

He noted that the government had established branches of the prosecutor general’s office in the atolls.

Extremism

The president asked that “beloved citizens who might harbour what might be considered extremist ideas and opinions to be moderate and soften their ways of thinking.”

“I call on all citizens to prioritise friendship and understanding for the harmony and progress of society,” he said.

Decentralisation

The president appealed to MPs for “consideration and support” when he resubmitted amended legislation on decentralisation.

“This nation is in great need of the cooperation of this esteemed Majlis,” he said. “The Government desires to advance the principle of resolving matters through dialogue and deliberation with all political parties. At the moment, we must embark on many endeavours for this nation.

He said the government would also decentralise the country’s sports centres in the country and seek to organise a sea sport festival before 2012.

“In the coming two to four months, several projects are due to be started. I believe that if a framework to resolve issues through dialogue among the different political parties could be constituted, it would provide many benefits for the people.”

Nasheed appealed to the MPs to “talk to the Government so that the bills submitted by the government are speedily passed, even if it should be with amendments.”

Future

Nasheed described the country’s outlook as “very clear, very joyous, as the Maldives passes the stages of consolidating democracy.

“With the grace of God, the government’s continued efforts to provide even more fulfilment and prosperity for the people will result in easing and enriching their lives further this year,” he said.

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Government withdraws controversial new liquor regulations

The government has decided to withdraw controversial new alcohol regulations governing the sale of alcohol on inhabited islands, following a meeting attended by the Maldives Police Service, Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), the Home Affairs Ministry, the Economic Development Ministry, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and several religious scholars.

Last week the Ministry of Economic Development released regulations allowing the sale of alcohol to non-Muslims by hotels on inhabited islands with over 100 beds. The regulations were intended to replace a system of individual liquor licenses issued to expatriates, allowing the private consumption of alcohol.

However the changes were met with a major protest on Friday afternoon organised by senior members of the Islamic Affairs Ministry and Adhaalath party.

“The president has always said he would try to gauge public opinion and sentiment,” said spokesman for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair. “It was of major concern to him that a large segment of the public not happy with the new regulations.”

He noted that “a coalition partner” had threatened to “work on bringing down the government” if the regulations had not been rescinded.

He also confirmed that Holiday Inn, believed to have been seeking to acquire a license, had received threats against its premises since the regulations were announced.

Hassan Moosa Fikree, Vice President of Islamic NGO Jamiyyath-al-Salaf campaigning against the regulations, said the decision had generated a “very postive opinion for the government and the president’s promise to listen to the voice of the citizens. That’s why we voted for him.”

Suggestions that the old regulations allowed less control than centralised liquor licensing were “completely false”, he said, explaining that it would have caused a surge in the number of drinking establishments “in a very congested city” if “each and every hotel with more than 100 beds opens a bar.”

Fikree said he did not object to permits for diplomats and foreigners, but rather “pubs and bars in the city.” However,”i n my opinion there shouldn’t be anyone using alcohol except in private by diplomatic people.”

State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed said he was “pleased with the decision.”

Sheikh Shaheem had claimed he would leave the government along with other senior members of the conservative Adhaalath party if the president has persisted with the regulations, “but as he took the decision he did, there’s no need to talk more about that.”

He agreed with Fikree “that I think it is better if the 826 licenses are cancelled, [and alcohol] is only allowed for official diplomatic delegations.”

Zuhair suggested that the objection was politically motivated by the Adhaalath party “as there is nothing banning the sale of alcohol to non-Muslims.”

He noted that there were 4000 Maldivians living in Colombo in Sri Lanka, “and you don’t see them flocking to bars despite there being one every fourth block.”

“The next step”, Zuhair predicted, “is that Holiday Inn will sue the government because they have invested so much on the understanding they would receive a liquor license. There are so many points they could make.”

Holiday Inn declined to comment.

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