Scholar blasts Al Houthi followers

Sanaa: A founder of Al Houthi Believing Youth Organisation criticised its present followers as deviants and rebels.

"They work on nullifying the sources of knowledge and constraints of understanding. For them, the mind [reason] has no value if it does not support their model [their master Al Houthi]," said Mohammad Yahya Salem Azzan, who was the Secretary General of the Believing Youth since it was established in 1991 by Azzan, the slain Hussain Badr Al Deen Al Houthi and others in Sa'ada.

His statements were published in an interview with the daily 26 September, a state-run newspaper.

'No dialogue'

"The Quran's interpretations, and the Sunnah, the Prophet's sayings, [that] came through the Prophet's companions, who are seen by them [Al Houthis] as the reason behind the defeat and deviation of the Ummah," said Azzan, who had disagreed with Hussain Al Houthi late in 2001.

"From late 2000, Hussain started to refuse ... modernisation in our organisation, he started to sanctify the heritage.

"All of them are waiting for the model to teach them what to say and what to do, everyone of them is in doubt about his ability and awareness, they live on one rule which is my master knows better.

"They don't care for any dialogue whatever it is and however logical it is, and when they talk about adherence to Quran, they talk on condition that it must go with a certain interpretation they have in their mind, so Quran is ruled by their own behaviour and teachings of their model," said Azzan in the interview.

As government sources say the troops are surrounding the last stronghold of the rebels in Al Naqa'a, south of Saudi Arabia, the war of fatwas between scholars heats up about whether or not the state has the right to crush the rebellion by forces.

Dr Murtadha Al Muhatwari, professor at Sanaa University and a Zaidi scholar, criticised the fatwa that jihad against Al Houthi is a must.

He said the fatwa plays down the importance of scholars, and he accused the scholars who issue such a fatwa of being loyalists to the government rather than to religion.

He said the sectarian wound is still bleeding in Yemen, citing examples from history about how religious sects were issuing fatwas against each other.

Dr Al Muhatwari also played down a previous statement issued by the Yemeni Scholars Association, which comprises the most important religious references, including Zaidi references. The statement asked the government to perform its duty by crushing the rebellion.

"The State has all resources and abilities and it does not need help from anyone, it should only take its responsibility toward Allah and toward the history," he said.

"The fatwas are understood as fatwas against the Zaidi sect, and that it's an issue of settling accounts, and this means more malice and revenge."

This comes after a controversial fatwa recently issued by an important religious scholar Mohammad Bin Esmail Al Amrani, who said fighting against Al Houthi followers is a religious obligation or jihad.

He said the State must fight them and Muslims must support the State in that. Al Amrani, who is a Zaidi, said Al Houthi and his followers do not represent the Zaidi sect.

Scholar Mohammad Ali Ajlan, chairman of the Shura Council of the main Islamist opposition party (Islah), said the State has the right to fight those opening fire at its face to maintain security and preserve the unity of the country.

"The fight against those who open fire at the State is permissible ... except if the State has announced apostasy from Islam," he said. "It is never ever permissible for anyone complaining of being wronged by the State to open fire at the State."

Ajlan cited the Quran verse which says: "If two parties among the believers fall into a quarrel, you make peace between them, but if one of them transgresses beyond bounds against the other, then you [all] fight against the one that transgresses until it complies with the command of Allah; but if it complies, then make peace between them."

Galib Al Qurashi, a member of Parliament, said war in Sa'ada is not sectarian and has nothing to do with the Zaidi sect.

"The trouble in Sa'ada is not Zaidi, and it is not with Zaidi, it is not with any sect in Yemen," he said.

Political analysts, however, criticised all the conflicting fatwas as a way of disrespecting the constitution and laws which authorise the state to crush the rebellion without fatwas.

Fatwa calling for jihad against rebels flayed

Dr Murtadha Al Muhatwari, Sanaa University professor and Zaidi scholar, criticised the fatwa that jihad against Al Houthi is a must.

He said the fatwa plays down the importance of scholars, and he accused the scholars who issue such a fatwa, of being loyalists to the government rather than to religion.

Dr Al Muhatwari said the sectarian wound is still bleeding in Yemen, citing examples from history about how religious sects were issuing fatwas against each other.