MANIPAL, India, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- The
Shiite branch of Islam is regarded as heresy by followers of Wahhabism, an
Islamic school of thought founded in the 18th century by Abdul Wahhab. Extreme
adherents of this faith routinely visit violence on Shiites, and every one of
its preachers condemns the Shiites as un-Islamic.
However, the 1979 ascendance of Grand Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini to absolute power in Iran meant the capture of one
of the geopolitical pivots of the Shiite world -- the other being Iraq -- by a
thinker whose teachings closely resembled the philosophy of Abdul Wahhab, at
least in tone.
Wahhab's ideas originally had been
designed to counter the influence of Turkish Sufi doctrine over the Arab
Bedouin. The Wahhabis enjoyed the support of the British Empire and its
successor in international reach, the United States, initially because this
alienation from Turkish influence suited their interests.
This backing began to be withdrawn only
after Sept. 11, 2001. Nearly nine years after that event, the prying away of
Wahhabis from the state structures of key Muslim-majority states has been at
best partial, and usually no more than cosmetic. Wahhabism continues to
dominate the world of Muslim religious schools and sites by the marginalization
of clerics and scholars who subscribe to a moderate -- if not Sufi --
worldview.
Nowhere has this process secured deeper
roots than in Pakistan.
Apart from some locations in the Middle East and North Africa, Pakistan has become the most significant jihadi factory, turning out thousands each year. Education in the religious schools, or madrassas, is based on vilification of those not subservient to a Wahhabi mindset. Even regular school education in Pakistan has aped models in the "moderate" Middle East by including heavy doses of religion in what ought to be secular curricula.
Apart from some locations in the Middle East and North Africa, Pakistan has become the most significant jihadi factory, turning out thousands each year. Education in the religious schools, or madrassas, is based on vilification of those not subservient to a Wahhabi mindset. Even regular school education in Pakistan has aped models in the "moderate" Middle East by including heavy doses of religion in what ought to be secular curricula.
The products of such Wahhabist
indoctrination are often unable to compete effectively in a globalizing world,
and hence develop feelings of resentment that motivate them toward extreme
solutions. Sadly, while former U.S. President George W. Bush funneled billions
of U.S. taxpayer dollars toward "reforming" education in Pakistan,
his administration failed to ensure the overhaul of the curricula to educate a
generation able to resist the temptations of jihad.
Both the Khomeinists and the Wahhabis see
the United States and Israel as their Axis of the Devil, and both produce a
profusion of literature designed to create hatred for both countries.
Although Wahhabi literature also
continues to openly and repeatedly condemn Shiite philosophy as apostasy, this
has not prevented "revolutionary" Iran from coming together with
Wahhabists within the Pakistani army -- who have been dominant since the 1970s
-- and the institutions it directly and indirectly controls.
Travel and telephone records, including
"coincidental" visits by Iranian and Pakistani military commanders to
locations such as Beijing or Dubai, show a steep acceleration in contacts
between the ruling Khomeinist structure in Iran and its Wahhabi counterparts in
Pakistan.
The Wahhabis have been adept at the
"good cop, bad cop" routine needed to lull the best and the brightest
in Washington, D.C., into their customary stupor when faced with the need to
implement actual -- as distinct from cosmetic -- measures against the Wahhabis
who dominate the Pakistani military and its affiliates.
In contrast, the theatrical Khomeinists
have succeeded in turning successive U.S. administrations, and even domestic
public opinion, against them with the ranting of their leaders. This is
especially true of the current loudmouthed president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the
handpicked nominee of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Although the majority of the Iranian
people are not Arab, and hence not directly related to the situation in the
Palestinian territories, Iran has become the biggest state sponsor of the
militant Palestinian groups that seek to extinguish through violence the state
of Israel.
Interestingly, the flow of technology to
the country from states as varied as China and Germany continues unabated,
enabling Iran's mullahcracy to move closer to the day when it can launch a
devastating blow against Israel and NATO assets in the vicinity.
What will be the effects of this
increased fraternization between the Khomeinist establishment in Iran and its
Wahhabi counterparts in Pakistan? The jury is still out, although both would
like to see a weakened United States that would, in their view, be more
susceptible to Iran's bullying and Pakistan's cajoling.
Given the complementary skills of the two
countries in asymmetrical warfare, this emerging alliance between Iran and
Pakistan is significant enough to merit the attention of the international
community.
-(Professor M.D. Nalapat is vice chair of
the Manipal Advanced Research Group, UNESCO Peace Chair, and professor of
geopolitics at Manipal University. Copyright M.D. Nalapat.)
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