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| '''Al-Ahbash''' ({{lang-ar|الأحباش}} / {{transl|ar|DIN|al-aḥbash}} / {{lang-en|''The Ethiopians''}}), also known as the '''Association of Islamic Charitable Projects''' (AICP) ({{lang-ar|جمعية المشاريع الخيرية الإسلامية}} / {{transl|ar|DIN| jam'iyyat al-mashari' al-khayriyya al-Islamiyya}})<ref name="Kabha">{{cite journal|last =Kabha|first=Mustafa|author2= Erlich, Haggai|title=Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam|journal =International Journal of Middle East Studies|volume=38|issue=4|pages=519–538| publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=United States|year=2006|doi=10.1017/S0020743806384024|jstor=4129146}}</ref> is a ] religious movement which was founded in the mid-1980s.<ref name=Seddon>{{cite book|last=Seddon|first=David|title=A political and economic dictionary of the Middle East|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1857432121|edition=1st|page=22}}</ref> The group follow the teachings of Ethiopian scholar ].<ref name=Seddon /> The AICP claims to run its Islamic schools being affiliated with ],<ref name="ManarAlHudaQuote"/> a claim which has been denied by ].<ref name="ReutersAArabiya"/><ref name="Al-Azhar Letter">{{cite web | url=http://www9.0zz0.com/2010/04/11/13/652454149.jpg | title=President of Al-Azhar's Letter / statement issued on the official letter-head of Al-Azhar (Arabic)| publisher=Al-Azhar University | date=August 28, 2001 | accessdate=July 17, 2016 | author=Dr. Ahmed Omar Hashem}} (Excerpts from the letter from Arabic to English regarding AICP or Al-Ahbash: "There is no single form of recognition / accreditation and cooperation between ] University and them. All papers, in which what is otherwise claimed (by this organization) do not correspond to the truth. We reject all attempts to abuse the prestigious name of ] University by this organizations..")</ref><ref name="Al-Azhar">{{cite web | url=http://sunnah.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Exposing-Abd-Allah-al-Harari-and-the-Habashis-of-Lebanon.pdf | title=Exposing Abd Allah al-Harari and his sect the Ahbash of Lebanon ("Association of Islamic Charitable Projects") | publisher=Markaz al-Nasr li Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamaah, Jakarta, Indonesia | accessdate=July 17, 2016 | pages=23, 24}}</ref> Due to the group’s origins and activity in Lebanon, the Ahbash have been described as the "activist expression of Lebanese Sufism".<ref name="SufiResponse"/> | |||
| ==History== | |||
| The Association of Islamic Charitable Projects was founded in the 1930s by Ahmad al-Ajuz,<ref name=Rubin>{{cite book|last=Rubin|first=Barry|title=Guide to Islamist Movements|year=2009|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0765617477|page=322}}</ref> According to Gary Gambill the AICP arrived in Lebanon in the 1950s, where he says "they blended Sunni and Shi'a theology with Sufi spiritualism into a doctrinal eclecticism that preached nonviolence and political quietism".<ref name=Gambill>{{cite book|last=Gambill|first=Gary C.|title=Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisi|year=2009|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0230605879|editor=Barry M. Rubin}}</ref> The AICP remained without a leader until the 1980s when ] became the nominal head of the organization.<ref name=Rougier>{{cite book|last=Rougier|first=Bernard|title=Everyday jihad: the rise of militant Islam among Palestinians in Lebanon|year=2007|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0674025295|page=113}}</ref> and was taken over by Al-Ahbash in 1983.<ref name ="SufiResponse">{{cite journal|last=Hamzeh|first =A. Nizar |author2=Dekmejian, R. Hrair|title=A Sufi Response to Political Islamism: Al-Ahbash of Lebanon|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|volume=28|pages =217–229|publisher =American University of Beirut|location =Beirut|year=1996|url =http://ddc.aub.edu.lb/projects/pspa/al-ahbash.html | doi = 10.1017/S0020743800063145|accessdate=10 April 2009}}</ref> | |||
| Al-Ahbash was founded in the suburb of Bourj Abu Haidar, in West Beirut, as a small philanthropic and spiritualist movement among the Sunni lower classes.<ref name="SufiResponse"/> From there they spread throughout Lebanon to Tripoli, Akkar and Iqlim Al-Kharrub in the ], where they founded educational and religious institutions.<ref name=Sfei>{{cite book|last=Sfei|first=Antoine|title=The Columbia world dictionary of Islamism|year=2008|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0231146401|author2=Olivier Roy|page=26}}</ref> Beginning in the 1990s, Ahbash propelled from a minority group to the largest Sunni religious organization in Lebanon mainly due to Syrian government backing<ref name ="Ahbash">{{cite journal|last=Pierret|first=Thomas|title =Al-Ahbash|journal=Basic Reference|volume =28|pages=217–229|publisher=Edinburgh Academics|location=Scotland, UK|year=2010|url =http://edinburgh.academia.edu/ThomasPierret/Papers/316709/_al-A_bash_Ahbash_|doi = 10.1017/S0020743800063145|accessdate=27 April 2012}}</ref>—having close links to Syrian intelligence.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Raphaël Lefèvre|title=The Roots of Crisis in Northern Lebanon|url=http://carnegieendowment.org/files/crisis_northern_lebanon.pdf|publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace|accessdate=28 October 2014|page=8|date=April 2014}}</ref> The Syrians supported and promoted the Ahbash in order to limit the influence of radical and fundamentalist Sunni movements in Lebanon.<ref name=Jung>{{cite book|author1=Dietrich Jung|editor1-last=Jung|editor1-first=Dietrich|title=The Middle East and Palestine: Global Politics and Regional Conflict|date=18 September 2004|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=9781403982124|page=156}}</ref><ref name=Gambill44>{{cite journal|author1=Gary C. Gambill|title=Islamist Groups in Lebanon|journal=Middle East Review of International Affairs|date=December 2007|volume=11|issue=4|page=44|url=http://www.rubincenter.org/meria/2007/12/Gambill.pdf|accessdate=12 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Nicholas Blanford|title=Killing Mr Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and Its Impact on the Middle East|date=25 August 2006|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857714053|page=177}}</ref> There growth was also aided by the forcible seizure and control of many prominent mosques in West Beirut in the early 1980s, despite the protests of Dar al-Fatwa (the official body for Lebanon's Sunni Muslims).<ref name=Jung/><ref name=Gambill44/> At the end of the 1990s there were close to 250,000 Ahbash members worldwide, according to a high-ranking Ahbash activist.<ref name="Kabha"/> | |||
| Several public figures became Ahbash members when it emerged in ] beginning in 1991, such as rapper ] or Abd Samad Moussaoui.<ref name=SamirAmghar>{{cite book|last=Amghar |last2=Boubekeur |last3=Emerson|first=Samir |first2=Amel |first3=Emerson|title=European Islam: The Challenges for Society and Public Policy|year=2007|publisher=Centre for European Policy Studies|isbn=978-9290797104|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=INpc_hPdFBYC&pg=PA29&dq=french+rapper+ahbash&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xxGzUJSQGOrLyAHmhoCIDg&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=rapper&f=false|page=29}}</ref> | |||
| In 1995, members of a ] jihadi group called "]" killed the leader of Al-Ahbash, Sheikh ],<ref name="SufiResponse"/><ref name=Rubin1>{{cite book|last=Rubin|first=Barry M.|title=Chronologies of Modern Terrorism|year=2008|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0765620477|page=265}}</ref> who was reportedly being groomed by the Syrians to become Lebanon's ].<ref name=Gambill44/> His murder led to a heavy-handed Syrian response—concluding with the gruesome public execution of his assassins in 1997.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Gary C. Gambill|title=Islamist Groups in Lebanon|journal=Middle East Review of International Affairs|date=December 2007|volume=11|issue=4|page=46|url=http://www.rubincenter.org/meria/2007/12/Gambill.pdf|accessdate=12 April 2015}}</ref> | |||
| ==Religious beliefs== | |||
| Al-Ahbash beliefs are an interpretation of ] combining elements of ] and ]. Their religious ideology is very much in line with the traditional Sunni doctrines, although the groups sometimes unrestrained use of ] has brought them under discension by the wider Islamic community.<ref name ="SufiResponse" /> Al-Ahbash follows the ] school and ] theology, their Sufi aspect is derived from the ] brotherhood.<ref name="Ahbash"/> The group rejects ] figures such as ], ] and ]. It advocates Islamic ], and opposition to political activism (its slogan is "the resounding voice of moderation").<ref name="SufiResponse"/> It also promotes its beliefs internationally through a major internet presence and regional offices, notably in the ].<ref name="Pierret">{{cite journal | last =Pierret | first =Thomas| title =Internet in a Sectarian Islamic Context | journal =ISIM Review|issue =Spring 2005|page =15 | publisher =International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World | location =The Netherlands | year =2005 | url =https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/16971/ISIM_15_Internet_in_a_Sectarian_Islamic_Context.pdf?sequence=1 | doi = | accessdate =10 April 2009 }}</ref> | |||
| == Doctrinal aspects == | |||
| ===Syncreticism=== | |||
| Shaykh Habashi's syncretic teachings draw upon a conflation of ], and thereby elude unambiguous classification. In an address to his followers, Shaykh Habashi stated that ''"e are ]s and ]s. The Ash'ariyya is the basis of our belief, and the Shfi'iyya is our daily code."''<ref name="Kabha"/> According to Thomas Pierret, Ahbash's ideology ''"can be termed "neo-tradionalist", in that it aims to preserve the Islamic heritage of the ] era<ref name ="Ahbash"/> - which they consider themselves to be the inheritors."''<ref name="Pierret"/> | |||
| Shaykh Habashi in his books and lectures blends<ref name="Sarih al-Bayan">{{cite book|last=al-Habashi|first=Shaykh 'Abdallah|title=Sarih al-Bayan (Explicit Declaration)|year=1990|publisher=Jam'iyyat al-Mashari'|location=Beirut, Lebanon|pages=86, 88, 90, 105 ('These ahadith are: "For whosoever I am master, this Ali is his master; O God support whosoever is"'), 111 ('Habashi does not give much importance to the Hanafi and Maliki Schools of Law'), 107, 195}}</ref><ref name ="Manar al-Huda">{{cite journal |title=none| journal =Manar al-Huda | publisher = Association of Islamic Charitable Projects | location =Beirut, Lebanon |date=1992{{ndash}}93|origyear =November 1992, 32; April 1993, 37; April–May 1993, 45}}</ref><ref name="Al-Kafil">{{cite book|last=al-Habashi|first=Shaykh 'Abdallah|title= Al-Kafil bi-'Ilm al-Din al-Daruri (The Guarantor of the Necessary Science of Faith) |year=1994|publisher= Burj Abi Haydar Mosque |location=Beirut, Lebanon|pages=46}}</ref><ref name="Bughyat al-talib">{{cite book|last=al-Habashi|first=Shaykh 'Abdallah|title= Bughyat al-talib | publisher= Association of Islamic Charitable Projects |location=Beirut, Lebanon|page=31}}</ref><ref name="Shaykh Abdalla's lecture">{{cite news|last=al-Habashi|first=Shaykh 'Abdallah|title= Shaykh Abdalla's lecture, 26 January 2003 |publisher= Association of Islamic Charitable Projects |location=Beirut, Lebanon}}</ref> elements of Sunni and Shi'a theological doctrines with Sufi spiritualism by supporting the legitimacy of Imam Ali and his descendents while condemning Mu'awiyya, the caliph and governor of Damascus, and his son Yazid as "seditious" thus adopting Shi'ite tradition whereas setting apart from all other Sunni jurists.<ref name ="SufiResponse"/><ref name=Rubin/><ref name=Rougier/><ref name=MRubin>{{cite book|last=Rubin|first=Barry|title=Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisis|year=2009|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=0230623069|page=139}}</ref><ref name=MarshallShea>{{cite book|last=Marshall|first=Paul|author2=Shea, Nina|title=Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom Worldwide|year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=0199812284|page=356}}</ref> Although not explicitly stated, Sufism plays also an important role in al-Ahbash's doctrine as demonstrated by the practice of several Sufi traditions such as the pilgrimage to holy men's tombs (]), mystical dancing sessions, use of musical bands in religious ceremonies<ref>"A Sufi Response to Political Islamism" by R. Hrair Dekmejian & A. Nizar Hamzeh, p.225.</ref> and the support of three Sufi ]s.<ref name ="SufiResponse"/> The contention that it is a primarily Sufi movement,<ref name ="SufiResponse"/> however, has been disputed.<ref name="Kabha"/> | |||
| ===Moderation=== | |||
| Mustafa Kabla and Haggai Erlich identify "moderation" as the key word in al-Ahbash's "necessary science of religion"<ref name ="SufiResponse"/> and instance the group's twelve-goal platform whose second item calls for "reaching moderation and good behavior as ways of implementing religious principles, while combating extremism and zeal.".<ref name="Kabha"/> This position is also reflected in the groups's decided opposition to the ] and Islamist thinkers, namely ], ], and ].<ref name="Kabha"/><ref name ="SufiResponse"/> | |||
| ===Rejection of anthropomorphism=== | |||
| One further critical cleavage is al-Ahbash's strict rejection of any form of anthropomorphism of God which they accuse ]s of.<ref name="Kabha"/> Consequently, Shaykh Habashi holds that "it does not befit God to speak like that, and his word is not a voice or letters"<ref>Cited in Kabla and Erlich 2006: 531</ref> and that therefore, the ] contains the word of God but could be written only after "] listened to His word, understood it, and passed it on to the prophets and the angels."<ref name="Kabha"/><ref name="Bughyat al-talib"/><ref name="Shaykh Abdalla's lecture" /> This is a highly controversial point of view within ] which is not fully compatible with the consensus of Sunnis, and Wahhabis accuse Ahbash of doubt regarding the origin of the Qur'an.<ref name="Kabha"/> Another famous example regards the interpretations of the Qur'anic sentence describing God seated on his throne after creating the world. According to Wahhabi texts, this means that he literally sat on his throne; however, according to Shaykh Habashi, following the ] school of thought, it meant that he took control of the world.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Mustafa Kabha|author2=Haggai Erlich|title=Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam|date=November 2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=531|url=http://aigaforum.com/documents/Al-Ahbash-whaibyya.pdf|accessdate=27 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Patrick Desplat|author2=Terje Østebø|title=Muslim Ethiopia: The Christian Legacy, Identity Politics, and Islamic Reformism|date=18 April 2013|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=9781137322098|page=181}}</ref> | |||
| ===Separation of religion and state=== | |||
| The arguably most important split, however, is the question of the relation between religion, politics, and the state. Departing from most Islamic writings on this topic, al-Ahbash advocates a separation of religion and state and thereby rejects the idea of an Islamic state. Consequently, the group repeatedly emphasized the need for Muslim-Christian co-existence and tolerance towards other religious groups in Lebanon.<ref name="Kabha"/> | |||
| ===Takfir=== | |||
| The tolerant stance in Al-Ahbash's public rhetoric is doubted by some Muslim groups, orthodox Sunni in particular. They accuse the group of an excessive use of ] - the act of declaring another Muslim an unbeliever - and thereby of the provocation of inner-Islamic tensions.<ref name="Pierret"/><ref name="Ahbashism">{{cite web | url=http://www.ethiomedia.com/2012_report/ahbashism_campaign.pdf | title="Ahbashism", Government and Ethiopian Muslim Protests | publisher=Ethiomedia | date=May 12, 2012 | accessdate=July 17, 2016 | author=Mul’ataa, Yuunus Hajji}}</ref><ref name="Takfir"/><ref name="Zoltan Pall">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T-t3RAysVJkC&source=gbs_navlinks_s | title=Lebanese Salafis Between the Gulf and Europe: Development, Fractionalization and Transnational Networks of Salafism in Lebanon | publisher=Amsterdam University Press | author=Pall, Zoltan | year=2013 | pages=44–47 | isbn=9089644512}}</ref> Al-Ahbash has mainly used takfir against ] and ] leaders.<ref name="Takfir">{{cite book|last1=Rougier|first1=Bernard|title=The Sunni Tragedy in the Middle East: Northern Lebanon from al-Qaeda to ISIS|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=88|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2blKCAAAQBAJ&dq|accessdate=17 July 2016}}</ref><ref name="Beirut Review">{{cite journal | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nP66AAAAIAAJ | title=The Beirut Review: A Journal on Lebanon and the Middle East | author=Policy Studies, Lebanese Center for | journal=The Beirut Review: A Journal on Lebanon and the Middle East | year=1994 | issue=7 | pages=124}}</ref> According to ], Al-Ahbash "adherents carry on a permanent double discourse: to Western questioners, they claim to support the emancipation of women and laicism to oppose the "fundamentalists" (all the issues they know are sensitive and useful for getting them recognized). However, within Muslim communities, they carry on an extremely intransigent and closed discourse, usually treating most of the principal Muslim ulama as kuffar *by which they mean "unbeliever,' "impious people"). They base their teachings on interpretations recognized as deviant by all other schools of thought and all other scholars of note (for example, their singular understanding of the meaning of the name of God, or their assertion that the Qur'anic Text was interpreted by the angel Gabriel, or the practice of praying to the dead). Their approach on very specific points of doctrine (such as those we have referred to) is hostile and usually violent."<ref name=TariqRamadan>{{cite book|last=Ramadan|first=Tariq|title=Western Muslims and the Future of Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2DIL9h8WBJcC&pg=PT55|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-517111-2|page=55}}</ref> | |||
| == Political positions == | |||
| As a political party, when al-Ahbash ran for the ], this constituency enabled its candidate, Adnan Trabulsi, to win a seat in a Beirut district after the Ahbash and Hezbollah concluded an undeclared alliance in Beirut that assured the election of their respective candidates.<ref name="SufiResponse"/> However, Trabulsi lost in the subsequent 1996 elections.<ref>Hamzeh and Demekjian 1996: 225; el Khazen 2003: 620, Table 2</ref> | |||
| The Ahbash are also allied to the other major Shia party, the ].<ref name="SufiResponse"/> | |||
| ==Controversy== | |||
| The group are seen as being controversial within ] for its anti-] religious stance, as their Sufi and other beliefs are seen as heretical.<ref name="SufiResponse"/><ref name="Pierret"/><ref name=Grayling>{{cite book|last=Grayling|first=A. C.|title=Ideas That Matter: The Concepts That Shape the 21st Century|year=2010|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=0230623069|page=139}}</ref> As a result, they are commonly described by Wahhabis as combining "Sufi polytheism, shirk, with Shi'i covert anti-Sunna tactics".<ref name="ManarAlHudaQuote">{{cite book|author1=Mustafa Kabha|author2=Haggai Erlich|title=Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam|date=November 2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=529|url=http://aigaforum.com/documents/Al-Ahbash-whaibyya.pdf|accessdate=27 October 2014}} (Refers to Al-Ahbash's own monthly magazine, Manar Al-Huda 93 (December 2000): 36-42 and their other sources and web-sites.)</ref> They are also viewed by other Muslims groups as being favoured by the governments of the United States, Europe, and Australia, who "do indeed welcome the Ahbash activities among their Muslim citizens."<ref>{{cite book|author1=Mustafa Kabha|author2=Haggai Erlich|title=Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam|date=November 2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=527–8|url=http://aigaforum.com/documents/Al-Ahbash-whaibyya.pdf|accessdate=27 October 2014}}</ref> They have been described as a ] by various commentators,<ref name=TariqRamadan/><ref name=Grayling/><ref name=economist>{{cite news|title=Syria and the Hariri assassination|url=http://www.economist.com/printedition/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_VDJDJNN|newspaper=The Economist (print edition)|date=27 October 2005 }}</ref><ref name=OliverRoy>{{cite book|last=Roy|first=Oliver|title=Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah|year=2006|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=0231134991|page=227}}</ref> while others see them as a valid religious movement.<ref name="Rubin"/><ref name=Rougier/> | |||
| ===Australia=== | |||
| In 2011, the ] accused the Muslim Community Radio Incorporated as being associated with Al-Ahbash, which they described as a fringe cult organisation and violent, and made public announcement for government officials not to renew its broadcasting license.<ref name="O'Brien">{{cite news|last=O'Brien|first=Natalie|title=Muslims call for 'radical' radio station to be closed|url=http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/muslims-call-for-radical-radio-station-to-be-closed-20110108-19j9r.html|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=9 January 2011}}</ref> However, the ] granted a 5-year license in 2011, which drew criticism from Islamic groups.<ref name=Norrie>{{cite news|last=Norrie|first=Justin|title=Muslim radio stays on airwaves|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/muslim-radio-stays-on-airwaves-20110521-1exo6.html|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=22 May 2011}}</ref> | |||
| ===Egypt=== | |||
| In 2003, ], the former Grand Mufti of Egypt, issued a fatwa describing the Ahbash as "deviant" that sought to "corrupt the Muslim creed and incite sedition amongst the Muslim Ummah. Moreover, they are paid agents to the enemies of Islam." In 2007, Egypt also arrested 22 men for seeking to spread the Ahbash faith in the country.<ref name="ReutersAArabiya">, 13 December 2007. ("The source said they belong to the al-Ahbash sect – which has a significant following in Lebanon and strong historical ties to Syria – and which is considered unorthodox by many Islamic clerics including the ones at ].")</ref> | |||
| ===Ethiopia=== | |||
| In 2012, Muslim protesters in ] accused the ] government of ] of promoting Al-Ahbash among the Muslim population of the country.<ref name="Maasho">{{cite news|last=Maasho|first=Aaron|title=Ethiopian Muslims protest government 'interference'|url=http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE84A00W20120511|newspaper=Reuters Africa|date=11 May 2012}}</ref> | |||
| ===Jordan=== | |||
| During the 1990s fighting broke out between the ] and Al-Ahbash in what became known as the "war of the mosques". The fighting was started due to the brotherhood believing that Jordan's Ministry of Religious Endowments were giving precedence to Al-Ahbash members being allowed to teach in mosques from which they themselves were banned.<ref name=Tal>{{cite book|last=Tal|first=Nahman|title=Radical Islam in Egypt and Jordan|year=2005|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1845190989|page=215}}</ref> | |||
| ===Lebanon=== | |||
| Due to its strong historical links with the Syrian government of the ], the Ahbash have often been in conflict with the Lebanese supporters of the anti-Syrian ] and in 2005 at least two of its members were initially implicated—jailed and later released—in the ].<ref>{{cite news|author1=Elise Knutsen|title=STL defense strategy takes shape in Sabaa questioning|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2015/Mar-20/291501-stl-defense-strategy-takes-shape-in-sabaa-questioning.ashx|accessdate=13 April 2015|work=The Daily Star ''(Lebanon)''|date=20 March 2015}}</ref> The Ahbash also strongly opposed and demonstrated against the ] that was triggered by Hariri's assassination.<ref>Barry Rubin, ''Guide to Islamist Movements'', pp.322-323.</ref><ref>David Gardner, I.B. Tauris, ''Last chance: the Middle East in the balance'', 15 June 2009, the University of Michigan, pp. 135, 140.</ref> Ahbash reportedly remains neutral in the ], despite pressure from both sides.<ref name="Al-Akhbar">{{cite web | url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/14719 | title=Lebanon: Al-Ahbash Retreat from Politics | publisher=Al-Akhbar | date=January 29, 2013 | accessdate=July 17, 2016 | author=Choufi, Firas}}</ref> | |||
| In 2010, Ahbash and ] members were involved in a street battle which was perceived to be over parking issues. Both groups later met to form a joint compensation fund for the victims of the conflict.<ref name="Yalib">{{cite news|last=|first=|title= Hezbollah, Al Ahbash chiefs meet over Borj Abi Haidar incident|url=http://www.yalibnan.com/2010/08/30/hezbollah-al-ahbash-chiefs-meet-over-borj-abi-haidar-incident/|work=Yalibnan|date=30 August 2010}}</ref> However, despite this instance of violence, the Ahbash have "normal" and "friendly" relations with Hezbollah. The Ahbash have also engaged in bloody clashes in Sidon and Tripoli, in the 1990s, against the rival Sunni ].<ref name="SufiResponse"/> | |||
| === North America === | |||
| The Al-Ahbash pray using the South-east direction in Canada and the United States<ref name="The Philadelphia Inquirer"/> versus majority of the Muslims who pray towards ] using the North-east direction in their mosques.<ref name="The Philadelphia Inquirer">{{cite web | url=http://articles.philly.com/1994-05-25/news/25828053_1_islamic-scholars-muslims-in-north-america-islamic-charitable-projects | title=Which Way Mecca? It's Relative The Issue Divides Muslims Here. Is It Southeast? Northeast? | publisher=May 25, 1994 | work=The Philadelphia Inquirer | date=May 25, 1994 | accessdate=July 17, 2016 | author=Macklin, William R.}}</ref><ref name="Muslim Link">{{cite web | url=http://www.muslimlinkpaper.com/myjumla/community-news/2817-ethiopian-muslims-protest-indoctrination-by-government-sponsored-sect | title=Ethiopian Muslims Protest Indoctrination by Government Sponsored Sect | publisher=The Muslim Link | date=October 12, 2015 | accessdate=July 17, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Evolution and Beliefs">{{cite web | url=http://archive.islamonline.net/?p=6655 | title=Al-Ahbash: Evolution and Beliefs | publisher=Islam Online | date=September 25, 2007 | accessdate=July 17, 2016 | author=A Group of Islamic Researchers}}</ref> | |||
| ===Saudi Arabia=== | |||
| Former grand mufti of Saudi Arabia ] declared Ahbash a ''"deviant faction"''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rougier|first1=Bernard|title=Everyday Jihad|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=296|url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=5H1MWPfqg4oC&pg=PA296&dq=bin+baz+ahbash&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=bin%20baz%20ahbash&f=false|accessdate=11 April 2016}}</ref> | |||
| ===Ukraine=== | |||
| ] states that the mufti of ], Ahmad Tamim, a Lebanese citizen, has been accused of belonging to the ''"sinister sect"'' of Ahbash by his opponents, however, his opponents find it difficult to define the heresy of Ahbash. Ahmad Tamim's opponent mufti Said Ismaigilov allegedly has links to groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Silantiev|first1=Roman|title=Nationwide Ambitions|url=http://www.ng.ru/facts/2014-09-17/6_muftiat.html|accessdate=12 February 2017|agency=Nezavisimaya Gazeta|date=17 September 2014}}</ref> | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{Reflist|33em}} | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * official US site | |||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 18:14, 20 February 2017
For the ancient region, see Al-Habash. Political party| The Association of Islamic Charitable Projects جمعية المشاريع الخيرية الإسلامية jam'iyyat al-mashari' al-khayriyya al-Islamiyya | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Shaykh Hussam Qaraqira |
| Founded | 1983 Beirut, Lebanon |
| Headquarters | Various |
| Ideology | Religious pluralism Neo-Traditionalism Apolitical Anti-Salafi |
| Religion | Sunni Islam (Ash'ari, Sufi) |
| Website | |
| www.aicp.org | |