“Nations are not built on shrines, but on laboratories and science. They are not built on miracles, but on constructive ideas.” – Ibtihal Abdel Wahab
Numerous indicators in several Arab and Islamic countries suggest that efforts to awaken the Arab mind and convince it that the solutions to our problems lie not in religious extremism, but in openness, tolerance, and coexistence with others, have largely failed. This has contributed to our growing backwardness, even as our adversaries continue to make progress and achieve development.
Several Arab forces have become increasingly inclined towards complacency and religiosity, in an effort to prove that opposing the forces of backwardness, represented by the Muslim Brotherhood and other movements, does not necessarily mean hostility towards religion. Consequently, we have witnessed a significant increase in the promotion of religious practices, particularly those associated with visiting the shrines of imams and saints, as well as individuals believed to possess miraculous powers.
The shrine of Sayyid al-Badawi, for example, attracted more than five million visitors this year, the vast majority of whom know little about the true nature of the man himself. Muhammad Metwally Al-Shaarawi said that he had met him during a period of financial hardship and that Al- Shaarawi had helped him out of his predicament. When they met again later, Al-Shaarawi asked him to return the money.
Sayyid Al-Badawi was born in Morocco approximately 800 years ago. Dozens of similar cases can be found in Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Morocco, Iraq, and elsewhere. In Kuwait, we have suddenly become more concerned with the clothing of more than 400,000 government employees, who make up nearly a third of the population. This is an unwelcome form of government intervention, as though, before the introduction of the “government dress code,” we were a morally bankrupt, ill-mannered, and immodest society.
Government decisions may, at least temporarily, strengthen the influence of religion in society, but they cannot contribute to its progress. This is not to suggest that the opposite is necessarily true. However, imposing a specific dress code is more a political decision than a rational or logical one. Implementing this decision will not necessarily enhance employees’ knowledge, broaden their horizons, or improve their character.
On the contrary, it risks discouraging questioning and criticism while marginalizing education, culture, and the media. As a result, the majority will continue to turn to imams and saints to solve their problems rather than giving research, knowledge, and science the place they deserve. This is what happens when the distinction between superstition and faith becomes blurred.
Professor Ibtihal Abdel Wahab says, “I don’t write from a position of superiority over people, nor do I seek to undermine their right to religious practices or rituals. Rather, I write with the sadness of someone who fears for her country, lest it lose its ability to distinguish between faith and superstition. The problem is not that people celebrate the birth of a religious figure, but that superstition becomes a social authority and that questioning it becomes a crime.” It is dangerous when beliefs become immune to questioning simply because they have been passed down through generations, to the point where they attract enormous crowds. What drives large segments of society to seek refuge and meaning in folklore while rational culture remains distant from their everyday lives? I am not referring to any particular shrine or city, but to a broader cultural crisis intertwined with the fragility of education, the weakness of critical thinking, the fear of the unknown, the search for reassurance in a harsh world, and the declining confidence in humanity’s ability to change its circumstances through its own efforts.
When life becomes unbearable, weighed down by crises, and when people feel that the doors to justice and opportunity are closed, seeking a supernatural solution can seem more appealing than embarking on the long and arduous journey of learning, working, and creating change. When institutions fail to provide convincing answers, stories promising instant salvation begin to proliferate. When people lose faith in their own ability to act, they turn to supernatural forces to accomplish what they have been unable to achieve themselves. At this point, reassurance becomes a substitute for knowledge, and people convince themselves that supernatural powers can alter their fate. In reality, however, their circumstances remain unchanged, even though what they truly need is reform, action, and a sense of responsibility.
By Ahmad alsarraf
Email: [email protected]
