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Al-Ahbash
Leader	Hussam Qaraqira
Founded	1983 Beirut, Lebanon
Headquarters	Various
Ideology	Religious pluralism Neo-Traditionalism Apolitical
Religion	Sunni Islam (Ash^ariyy, Shafi^iyy,)
Website
www.aicp.org

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Al-Ahbash (Template:Lang-ar / al-aḥbash / Template:Lang-en), also known as the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects (Template:Lang-ar / jam'iyyat al-mashari' al-khayriyya al-Islamiyya) is a moderate religious organization which was founded in the mid-1980s. The group follow the teachings of Ethiopian scholar Abdullah al-Harari. The organization runs Islamic schools affiliated with Cairo's Al-Azhar University.

Due to the group’s origins and activity in Lebanon, the AICP have been described as the "activist expression of Lebanese Sufism".

History

The Association of Islamic Charitable Projects was founded in the 1930s by Ahmad al-Ajuz, According to Gary Gambill the AICP arrived in Lebanon in the 1950s, where he says they preached "doctrinal eclecticism that preached nonviolence and political quietism". The AICP remained without a leader until the 1980s when Abdullah al-Harari became the nominal head of the organization. and was taken over in 1983.

AICP was founded in the suburb of Bourj Abu Haidar, in West Beirut, as a small philanthropic and spiritualist movement among the Sunni lower classes. From there they spread throughout Lebanon to Tripoli, Akkar and Iqlim Al-Kharrub in the Chouf, where they founded educational and religious institutions. At the end of the 1990s there were close to 250,000 AICP members worldwide, according to a high-ranking AICP activist.

Several public figures became AICP members when it emerged in France beginning in 1991, such as rapper Kery James or Abd Samad Moussaoui.

In 1995, members of a Salafi jihadi group called "Osbat al-Ansar" killed the leader of AICP, Sheikh Nizar Halabi, who was at the peak of becoming Lebanon's Grand Mufti. His murder led to gruesome public execution of his assassins in 1997.

Religious beliefs

The AICP, part of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama^ah, adheres to the creed of the Ash^ariyys and the school of Imam ash-Shafi^iyy. Their religious ideology is very much in line with the traditional Sunni doctrines. The group rejects figures such as Ibn Taymiyyah, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and Sayyid Qutb due to extremist ideologies in their books. It advocates Islamic pluralism, and opposition to political activism (its slogan is "the resounding voice of moderation"). It also promotes its beliefs internationally through a major internet presence and regional offices, notably in the United States.

Doctrinal aspects

Syncreticism

Shaykh Habashi's syncretic teachings draw upon a conflation of different branches of Islamic theology, and thereby elude unambiguous classification. In an address to his followers, Shaykh Habashi stated that "e are Ash'aris and Shafi'is. The Ash'ariyya is the basis of our belief, and the Shfi'iyya is our daily code." According to Thomas Pierret, AICP ideology "can be termed "neo-tradionalist", in that it aims to preserve the Islamic heritage of the Ottoman era - which they consider themselves to be the inheritors."

Moderation

The AICP speaks and writes against those extremist groups who sponsor violence, terrorism, and the call for assassinations of government officials because they rule by secular law. These are foreign ideas contrary to the true teachings of Islam. Islam is the Religion of Moderation, and "Moderation" is the motto of the AICP. Mustafa Kabla and Haggai Erlich identify "moderation" as the key word in AICP's "necessary science of religion" 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.". This position is also reflected in the groups's decided opposition to the Salafist claiming movements and radical Islamist thinkers, namely Sayyid Qutb, Muhammed ibn 'Abd-al-Wahhab, and Ibn Taymiyyah.

Rejection of anthropomorphism

One further critical cleavage is AICP strict rejection of any form of anthropomorphism of God which they accuse Wahhabis of. Consequently, Shaykh Habashi holds that "it does not befit God to speak like that, and his word is not a voice or letters" and that therefore, the Arabic words that we read in the Holy Book of the Qur'an are expressions of the Eternal speech of Allah which is not a letter or sound, because Allah does not resemble the creations in any way. Another famous example regards the interpretations of the Qur'anic sentence describing God where the wahhabis translate it to Him being literally seated on the 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 consensus of Ahlu-Sunnah, it meant that he has subjugation over the throne.

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, AICP 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.

Political positions

As a political party, when AICP ran for the 1992 Lebanese parliamentary elections, this constituency enabled its candidate, Adnan Trabulsi, to win a seat in a Beirut district after the AICP and Hezbollah concluded an undeclared alliance in Beirut that assured the election of their respective candidates. However, Trabulsi lost in the subsequent 1996 elections.

Controversy

The group are seen as being controversial within Islam for its anti-Salafi Claimer religious stance.They are also viewed by other Muslims groups as being favored by the governments of the United States, Europe, and Australia, who "do indeed welcome the AICP activities among their Muslim citizens." They have been described as a sect by various commentators, while others see them as a valid religious movement.

Saudi Arabia

Former grand mufti of Saudi Arabia Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz declared AICP a "deviant faction" due to their exposing of him.

Lebanon

AICP reportedly remains neutral in the Syrian Civil War, despite pressure from both sides.

However, despite this instance of violence, the AICP have "normal" and "friendly" relations with Hezbollah. The AICP have also engaged in bloody clashes in Sidon and Tripoli, in the 1990s, against the rival Sunni Al-Jama'ah Al-Islamiyah.

Ethiopia

In 2012, Ethiopian government of Meles Zenawi handed over schools and Mosques to AICP in order to protect the Muslim population from wahhabi influence.

References

1. ^ Kabha, Mustafa; Erlich, Haggai (2006). "Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 38 (4). United States: Cambridge University Press: 519–538. doi:10.1017/S0020743806384024. JSTOR 4129146.
2. ^ Seddon, David (2004). A political and economic dictionary of the Middle East (1st ed.). Routledge. p. 22. ISBN 978-1857432121.
3. ^ Hamzeh, A. Nizar; Dekmejian, R. Hrair (1996). "A Sufi Response to Political Islamism: Al-Ahbash of Lebanon". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 28. Beirut: American University of Beirut: 217–229. doi:10.1017/S0020743800063145. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
4. ^ Rubin, Barry (2009). Guide to Islamist Movements. M.E. Sharpe. p. 322. ISBN 978-0765617477.
5. Gambill, Gary C. (2009). Barry M. Rubin (ed.). Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisi. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0230605879.
6. ^ Rougier, Bernard (2007). Everyday jihad: the rise of militant Islam among Palestinians in Lebanon. Harvard University Press. p. 113. ISBN 978-0674025295.
7. Sfei, Antoine; Olivier Roy (2008). The Columbia world dictionary of Islamism. Columbia University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0231146401.
8. Amghar, Samir; Boubekeur, Amel; Emerson, Emerson (2007). European Islam: The Challenges for Society and Public Policy. Centre for European Policy Studies. p. 29. ISBN 978-9290797104.
9. Rubin, Barry M. (2008). Chronologies of Modern Terrorism. M.E. Sharpe. p. 265. ISBN 978-0765620477.
10. Gary C. Gambill (December 2007). "Islamist Groups in Lebanon" (PDF). Middle East Review of International Affairs. 11 (4): 44. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
11. Gary C. Gambill (December 2007). "Islamist Groups in Lebanon" (PDF). Middle East Review of International Affairs. 11 (4): 46. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
12. ^ Pierret, Thomas (2005). "Internet in a Sectarian Islamic Context" (PDF). ISIM Review (Spring 2005). The Netherlands: International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World: 15. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
13. Pierret, Thomas (2010). "Al-Ahbash". Basic Reference. 28. Scotland, UK: Edinburgh Academics: 217–229. doi:10.1017/S0020743800063145. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
14. Cited in Kabla and Erlich 2006: 531
15. WW, AICP. "Association of Islamic Charitable Projects in North America (Allah Exists Without a Place)". www.aicp.org. Retrieved 2016-07-05.
16. Hamzeh and Demekjian 1996: 225; el Khazen 2003: 620, Table 2
17. Mustafa Kabha; Haggai Erlich (November 2006). Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam (PDF). Cambridge University Press. pp. 527–8. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
18. Ramadan, Tariq (2004). Western Muslims and the future of Islam. Oxford University Press US. pp. 29, 234. ISBN 978-0-19-517111-2.
19. Grayling, A. C. (2010). Ideas That Matter: The Concepts That Shape the 21st Century. Basic Books. p. 139. ISBN 0230623069.
20. "Syria and the Hariri assassination". The Economist (print edition). 27 October 2005.
21. Roy, Oliver (2006). Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah. Columbia University Press. p. 227. ISBN 0231134991.

External links

• Association of Islamic Charitable Projects official US site

• 1983 establishments in Lebanon
• Islam in Lebanon
• Islamic political parties in Lebanon
• Sufism in Asia
• Sufi organizations
• Al-Ahbash