Friday, December 25, 2009

Yemen - Islam in Conflict


This post is not really about what is happening in Yemen now. It is about what happened in Yemen then. Historical perspective is of deep importance when dealing with a movement built on nostalgia and legend - In this case a return to Islam's golden age - Al Qaeda is such a movement.



Yemen, like most of the Arabian peninsula, was converted to Islam during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad, noted by the dark area in the above map. It seems wonderfully simple, one might suppose - Muhammad had a revelation and started a religious movement. They raised an army and overtook Arabia! The truth is nothing like simple however, and may represent one of the most complicated political, religious, and military transitions in recorded history. During the early years of Islam questions of tribal loyalty, economics, and religious faith became intermingled - Add to this a number of local "prophets", themselves claiming to be divine conduits in touch with God. Yemen figures prominently in the early history of Islam as a focus of conflict during the Ridda wars, or the "Wars of Apostasy".

These Wars of Apostasy, occurring in the years immediately following the death of Muhammad, during the time of the first Caliph of Sunni Islam Abu Bakr, are primarily responsible for the structure and schisms seen in Islam today. It
is this legacy that is at the foundation of the split between Sunni Islam, and the Shia Islam of Persia. In Shiaism, it was not Abu Bakr, Muhammad's father-in-law, who was the rightful heir to Islam, but his son-in-law Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, or Ali who was Muhammed's true heir as leader of the Islamic faith.

So here we are,
Yemen in the 21st century! Just as Yemen was at the focus of conflict during the Ridda wars, it is in turmoil today. There is an active Sunni-Shia military conflict in Yemen, a growing Al Qaeda presence, and increasing concern over the stability of the country. An arena in which the fundamental legacy of Islam is still being fought for is fertile ground for a self-anointed prophet like Usama bin Laden, whose grandiosity likely has no bounds. Sheik Bin Laden may be tempted to resolve the Sunni-Shia conflict in Yemen with his own unique fix, by inserting himself as the true "First Caliph" of the modern age, the rightful heir to Muhammad, and one of their own. Don't underestimate the importance of tribal loyalty in Arab culture!

It is difficult to predict how the conflict in Yemen will unfold, or the likelihood that
Usama Bin Laden will surface there. A prior blog post discusses the search for this madman, and raises questions about estimates of his current location (see Where is Usama bin Laden Anyway?) .

There is one safe bet though -

I think it is safe to conclude that if we can afford to finance the search for secret messages in Al Qaeda videos, as part of our counter-terrorism effort, we can afford to fund scholars of Islamic history and the research resources they require!