It was brought to my attention that certain groups organized by the Iranian government recently cracked down on a Nimatullahi protest in Qom. Not having all the facts at my disposal, I can say that there are a number of problems with the reactions to this development (both by the Iranian government and by Muslims and non-Muslims around the world).

1. The Iranian government has developed a history of suppressing demonstrations and protests, even those sanctioned by the government (this can only be characterized as either paranoia or serious control issues.

2. The reaction from the non-Muslim world is predictable (blaming the entire Iranian government, the Islamic revolution, and “Islamist” movements in general).

3. The reaction from Sunni Muslims around the world is very short-sighted. They immediately associate an Iranian backlash against sufis as a Shi’a backlash against Sufism.

Again, I can only go by what I know and what I’ve heard from the many people I’ve known who live in Iran and were even in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.

1. Like most new governments, the Iranian government certainly has paranoia and control issues and over exerts the “required patriotism” that is commonplace in all nation states. That’s not an excuse for their actions. It must change, reforms must happen, and protests must continue. That, however, is no reason to trash the regime. If it was, then the American government and it’s disgusting racist white slave masters should have been the first to be “trashed” by Native Americans and African Americans. But we have persevered with kindness and hope for the future, because we know that the average patriotic white American is not representative of the government. Similarly, many of the Iranians, even those who started and perpetuated the Islamic Revolution, have the sincerest intentions and goals. And the constitution of Iran is one of the most Islamic and just in the world. It is up to the people to make sure that their government lives up to it, as it has been in America and elsewhere.

2. There’s really not much to say about this. Obviously, “Islamists” can be good or bad. It is not the goal of spreading Islam and living by Islam that is the problem. It is those who seek to sabotage for their own material gains.

3. To answer my Sunni brethren honestly, sufism is not alien to the Shi’a school of thought. In fact, it was only through our Imams that it even survived. And the proof of that is that 90-something percent of sufi tariqas trace their chains through Imam Ali (peace be upon him). Also, many of the ahadith that sufis hold dear are scrutinized by some sunnis (and all salafis), but our Imams have upheld them and verified their authenticity.

If it were not for the Imams of Ahlul-bayt, Sufism would have ceased to exist. Nevertheless, the Imams always strove to preserve the Shari’ah and ensure that people would not deviate from the path under the guise of Sufism. Even the most intoxicating experience (I mean this in terms of religious intoxication) is no excuse to do or claim anything contrary to the Shari’ah, and I’m sure most Sunnis will agree with that.

Finally, these are the kinds of issues about which Muslims should pressure the Iranian authorities, to live up to the high standards and aims of the Islamic Revolution. The politics of Iran’s nuclear program should not be our concern. Our concern should be with upholding justice and Islamic ethics. I do not believe that Iran owes the western world’s governments any kind of explanation, but as Muslims whose fellow Muslims (the sufis in question) have a right over us, we have a right to know what is going on and an obligation to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 17th, 2006 at 8:26 pm and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.