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This week, The Unbelief Brief is diving back into Iran's latest political shake-up, the bold acts of civil disobedience by Turkish Airlines employees at Tehran airport, and the shocking 20-year sentence handed to a man in Saudi Arabia who could hardly be called an “influencer”.
Plus, don't miss our EXMNA Insights, where we explore the history of Ashura and its pivotal role in the split between Islam's two major factions.
The Unbelief Brief
Last week, we drew attention to Iran’s recent presidential election, which saw the victory of “reformist” Masoud Pezeshkian. As the dust of the election settles, it is worth interrogating the character and nature of Pezeshkian as a politician more closely, and that is exactly what an article in Iran International written shortly after the election does. Author Majid Mohammadi reminds us that terms such as “reformist” and “moderate” are always relative, and in the case of Iran’s authoritarian theocracy, this is more evident than ever. While it is true that the new president has offered tepid criticism of Iran’s mandatory hijab laws, his public pronouncements regarding the Islamic Republic and its Supreme Leader make clear he is not a secular savior.
Staying in Iran: despite the Woman, Life, Freedom protests tapering off last year, it is clear that widespread discontent with the mandatory hijab laws remains. Most recently, this erupted in an act of civil disobedience among female employees of Turkish Airlines in the Tehran airport. The women, Iranian citizens, had reportedly refused to wear the hijab in an act of protest, and even “made trouble” for police officers who attempted to enforce their compliance with the law—prompting police to temporarily shut down the Turkish Airlines office entirely. Despite enforcement of hijab violations becoming more frequent and forceful in the last year, the employees reportedly did not receive any punishment beyond a “first warning.”
Finally, moving over to Saudi Arabia: a man with 10 followers on the platform formerly known as Twitter has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for tweeting dangerous things, according to a recent statement from Human Rights Watch. The conviction reportedly took place on May 29th, but it appears not to have come to light until last week. The victim, Asaad al-Ghamdi, is the brother of Mohammed al-Ghamdi, who was himself sentenced to death last year for similar reasons. Both, for their tweets apparently critical of the Saudi government, were accused of undermining the regime and also slapped with bogus terrorism charges. All this is in spite of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman publicly calling the first conviction shameful and suggesting the laws used to convict Mohammed al-Ghamdi should be changed—almost exactly one year ago now.
EXMNA Insights
Today marks Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar, when Hussain, Muhammad’s grandson, died at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD. The observance of Ashura is a day of historical and religious significance for many Muslims as it is considered a battle for Islam’s succession, and ultimately, entrenched the factional division of Sunnis and Shias. In short, Shias believe that the caliphate should be passed on to the direct descendants of Muhammad, while Sunnis disagree. Further complicating the issue is who Muhammad identified as a successor; Shias believe he left Ali to lead the group of believers while Sunnis believe Muhammad designated Abu Bakr, his close companion, and father of his youngest and favorite wife, Aisha.
Over the past 1,300 years, these political differences have crystallized into deeply factious and religious ones. It is an open secret that Sunni religious fundamentalists ratchet up violence against Shias observing the month of Muharram. Shia communities have become adept at engaging in important ritual practices while simultaneously preparing for brutal attacks against them. In less violent disenfranchisement of Shia communities, Sunni authorities have been known to ban Shia-led religious processions and community events during Muharram as they believe it “destabilizes social harmony and undermines national cohesion”.
For many Shias, a significant part of observing Ashura involves self-mortification, or inflicting physical pain on oneself, to express remorse for their inability to prevent the killing of Muhammed's family members in an ambush. In a show of extreme religiosity, millions of Shia Muslims engage in self-harm with the most common forms being ritually striking one’s head and chest with one’s hands, or, for the more fervently devout, the use of weapons such as knives, chains, and razor blades to inflict wounds deep into the flesh. Sunni Muslims categorically denounce the practice (and more recently, so do a growing number of Shia clerics), as well as call into question the extreme veneration of Ali which Sunnis accuse of veering into idolatry.
Additionally, Sunni Muslims claim that the 10th of Muharram also marks other, more religiously significant events, such as the parting of the Red Sea by Moses. However, many Shias view this interpretation as an attempt to downplay the importance of the Battle of Karbala within Islamic history, further exacerbating sectarian tensions between the two communities. Ashura is also sometimes used for political purposes, with various groups or states leveraging the emotional and religious significance of the day to advance their own agendas. As the centuries pass, tensions surrounding how Ashura is commemorated further highlight the very human and tribal nature of Islam and its deeply flawed leader.
1,300 years later, it may be time for a deeper reckoning with the suffering and violence this schism has caused compared to the relative pointlessness of the disagreement. The fact that Islam’s major sectarian divide is not theological but political reveals that, for all its claims of transcending worldly pettiness, the concerns of its leaders going all the way back to its founding could not be more self-serving. In this sense, the Sunni/Shia schism reflects the historical foundation of the religion itself and the foundation of much of human history; the desire for conquest and political power.
Until next week,
The Team at Ex-Muslims of North America
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