Question:

Was the view point of the Islamic movements during the Gulf War (1991), an expression of their following the popular policy?

Answer:

You cannot totally separate that policy from the overall target of the Islamic movements. What is needed to understand, however, is the fact, that the behaviour of the Muslim masses towards the Iraqi President Saddam Hussain, has been viewed by the concerned observers only from one specific angle. My honest opinion is that the reaction of the Muslim masses was neither because of love for Saddam Hussain, nor they were expecting any good from him. It was the intervention around the holy Hijaz under the American command and its consequences, and the West’s political and cultural hegemony in the area, which were openly and scornfully disapproved. No doubt, Saddam Hussain became the symbol of this resistance for some time. Some people, in simplicity, took this popular movement as personal support for President Saddam. Let us re-emphasise the point that the mass response was not at all for Saddam in person.

The spontaneous uprise strengthens in our view that for all their ‘deficiencies’, ‘poor thinking’ and being ‘sentimental and confused’, the Muslim masses are aware of the difference of pure Islam and infidelity and they are more concerned about Islam and the Muslim Ummah than the ruling classes. The uneducated born Muslims they be, yet they consider the dominance of Islam different and opposed to the dominance of ‘kufr’ (infidelity). They long for the dominance of Islam and hate the hegemony of paganism. In this background, to view the popular sentiments and their accord and conformity with the thinking of the Islamic movements, is but natural and correct expression. The crisis under question and the popular reaction should be seen in this background.

It also needs be kept in mind that the attitude of rulers in the West and the Arab World about leaders like Saddam Hussain, has been frequently changing. The Islamic movements oppose in principle the Iraqi leadership since the Bathists came to power. It was the Arab ruling leadership that extended friendly hand to Saddam Hussain or Hafiz al-Asad and it was only the clash of interests that shaped the friendship or hostility. A few years back, these leaderships were arming and strengthening Saddam; later they provide support to Hafiz al-Asad. Whereas Islamic movements have been hurt and pestered by both and we do not expect any good from either one. There was no question of any love for personality during the Gulf War. That is why the Islamic movements strongly condemned Saddam’s aggression in Kuwait in clear and un-ambiguous words and demanded restoration of Kuwait’s independence and identity. Of course, the Movements were opposing the New World Order of America, which had given the war a political dimension, projecting it as a clash of civilizations.

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