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Politics : World Affairs Discussion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

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To: lorne who wrote (3004)	12/20/2003 11:19:27 AM
From: ChinuSFO	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3959

Middle East Beat: Explanation? Maybe Upon looking at the composition of the proposed Iraqi government, there is a clear indication of an overwhelming Shiite representation in it of about 13 seats. September 08, 2003, 07:59 AM By Khairy Janbek JORDAN (Star) - Upon looking at the composition of the proposed Iraqi government, there is a clear indication of an overwhelming Shiite representation in it of about 13 seats. One is not troubled at all with this configuration, and if the Sunnis have governed Iraq supposedly for many centuries then why not our Shiite brethren now. So if the direction that the nature of the rule in Iraq will be based on a faith-basis majority, then the new Iraq will be a Shiite state, that believes in free enterprise, liberal political structures and an independent judiciary. In this context, if the new Iraq emerges in this direction, then basically we shall end up in the region, with two Shiite states, Iraq and Iran, but with two different socio-economic and political structures. One must remind at this point, that Shiism has always been and will remain part and parcel of the Islamic heritage. In political terms, there will not be a monopoly again on who can represent the Shiite Muslims, because basically, Iraqi Shiite are Arabs, while in Iran they are Iranians. Again if this is a hypothetical scenario of future things to come, then the whole international community will be comparing and contrasting the two Shiite states, with massive queries about why things should happen in one place, and not in the other. This possibility, would give rise to another that would involve also, two different Shiite schools of thought, each compatible and adaptable to the political structures they happen to live within. In other words, it is likely, that there would be a school of Shiism that co-exists with the hypothetical liberal regime in Iraq. Without any doubt, the danger of any such possible development is in the hypothetical development of an Arab school in Najaf and an Iranian school in Qom. Irrespective of the possibilities, and the hypothetical outcomes, the real failure is the failure of Arabs and Muslims in managing to elevate the religious schools of Islam, above and beyond the daily mundane political affairs. One is not calling at all for the separation of politics from religion simply because this is a western attitude and western outlook. But rather as HRH Prince El-Hassan bin Talal who advanced the idea that all the holy cities of Islam, be it Mecca, Jerusalem, Najaf and Qom, should be in the conscience of Muslims, in the same manner that the Vatican is in the conscience of our Christian Catholic brethren. There is still time for Muslims and Arabs to be pro-active in this sense before it is too late. Because if our Islamic faith is going to be decided upon, by elements devoid of the least cultural affinity towards Islam and the Arabs, then it will only stand to reason, that the seeds of discord will start growing not just to engulf Iraq and Iran, but also the whole region. star.arabia.com