Some Clergy Still Oppose the Vote

Wednesday, 2 March, 2005

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Shahabuddin Tarakhil

The landmark October 9 presidential poll has thrown up strong divisions in the Islamic clergy, between those who view the election as consistent with religious law and those who attack the poll as anti-Islamic.

Leading religious scholars in the Afghan capital have voiced support for the recent presidential election. In contrast, several mullahs in outlying villages condemned the poll, saying it was the work of Europeans and Americans.

One has even urged supporters to wage war against the new government.

Much of the disagreement centres on the interpretation of Islamic law as to whether religious scholars alone have the right to choose a country's leader, or whether ordinary people have a right to participate.

Mullahs in Afghanistan wield considerable influence. As the majority of the population is illiterate, the word of religious scholars, particularly in rural areas, is greatly respected.

One of those most vehemently opposed to the election is Mullah Azizurrahman, 45, a fundamentalist mullah who has a mosque just outside Kabul city.

He said the government should be chosen by Islamic scholars and not by ordinary people.

"Anyone who cast a ballot and took part in the election has committed a major sin," he told IWPR.

Azizurrahman’s view represents the extreme end of the spectrum. In his view, even the interim and transitional governments of Hamed Karzai are in breach of Islamic law.

He gauges their credentials by asking what “hudud” – punishments sanctioned by Islamic law, such as flogging, amputation, stoning to death and burying alive - have been put into practice by the Karzai-led governments.

Another village mullah, who declined to allow his name to be used, said he opposed the election because he saw it as an indication of strong American influence and involvement in his country.

"During Friday prayers, when we are supposed to cite the name of the leader, I am not sure whether to name Bush or Karzai," said the mullah, in a reference to the common practice of referring to the national leader in weekly sermons.

The cleric, whose mosque is attended by several hundred people, said that the United States has spent a lot of money on creating a liberal society in Afghanistan, and it has bred moral corruption.

Another village mullah, who leads hundreds of people in prayers and teaches Islamic studies to teenage boys at his mosque near Kabul, said, "I told everybody not to take part in the election, because it is an election of the Europeans."

This religious leader, who declined to give his name, said, "Anyone who participated in the election has brought himself closer to hellfire."

He urged people to wage jihad, or holy war, against the government that emerges from the election.

Pacha, 40, a mullah from the rural Dehsabz district, north-east of Kabul city, said the head of the government had already been chosen by the White House.

He said this election had been imposed upon Afghanistan, and people were not given a choice about whether they wanted it. He asked why, if holding an election was legal under Islamic law, the Taleban did not hold one. The previous transitional government was established by “kafirs”, infidels, he added.

But well-known religious figures in Kabul disagreed with opponents of the election.

Mullah Qari Obaidullah, of Kabul's central Pul-e-Khishti mosque, was critical of mullahs who claim the ballot is unlawful. He said the election was carried out after consultation with religious scholars, and that those who claim otherwise are unaware of what really happened.

He agrees that moral corruption has increased in the country, but says he is asking the ministry of internal affairs to take measures against this.

A senior Shia cleric, Ayatollah Mohammad Asef Mohseni, took the view that both religious scholars and ordinary people should take part in elections.

When told of the mullah’s claim that religious scholars alone should select the national leader, he said it would be hard to find five clergymen in the whole country who were qualified to do that job.

Asked about the American jets patrolling the skies on election day, he said, "When there is a dangerous situation, it doesn't make any difference whether it is a kafir or a Muslim who is defending you."

He also pointed out that the election was not compulsory, "Nobody forced anybody to vote."

Mohseni said that according to Shariat law, the leader of an Islamic country should be selected because he is familiar to all citizens, and he should be a religious scholar or judge who is fair-minded and powerful enough to ensure peace.

Attaurahman Saleem, the deputy minister for Haj (pilgrimage) in the transitional government, criticised those mullahs who attacked the election process. He accused some of them of being ignorant of global events and having no political knowledge.

He said that thanks to the cooperation of religious scholars, most people had gone to the polls and the elections had been a success.

Shahabuddin Tarakhil is an IWPR reporter in Kabul.