Religion Salafia schism [Archives:2002/21/Front Page]

Disputes have begun to erupt and broaden lately within the Sheikh al-Wadie Salafi religious movement.
The schism has aroused concerns among many scholars of the movement. There are three major Salafia sheikhs in Yemen and heads of Salafia centers; Mohammed Abdulwahab al-Wasaabi, Mohammed al-Imam and Mohammed al-Suwaili, who issued on Thursday a statement confirming that the recent disputes among the Sunnis have stirred discords.
The statement has called on all students of Salafia centers, especially those at Dar al-Hadith centre in Dammaj and those at Dar al-Hadith centre in Mareb all the Sunnis being deeply engrossed in the question of dispute among scholars.
The statement said there must not be an enlargement and widening of the dispute and the scholars are doing whatever they can to solve it.
The split began in the wake of the acute dispute between chairman of Dar al-Hadith in Mareb Abu al-Hassan al-Maribi and his followers and Yahya al- who had been appointed by sheikh al-Wadie as his successor and head of Dar al-Hadith in Damaj.
The dispute has aroused dissatisfaction of Salafia Ulamma in Saudi Arabia where it is considered reference of Salafia current of al-Wadie and the major financier of it. The Egyptian-national Abu al-Hassan al-Marabi last week left for Saudia in response of an invitation there in order to discuss finding a solution to the standing crisis.
Dar al-Hadith in Mareb in the last few months came under a campaign of harassment by the authority under the policy it is pursuing for combating terror. As a result more than 70 of the centres students were arrested and some of them were deported outside the country under the pretext that their residency was illegal.
Abu al-Hassan al-Marabi had been detained for two days and was then released during the latest events in Mareb.
Some observers attribute the dispute to the moderate approach displayed by Abu al-Hassan al-Marabi and that he may be the personality qualified and capable of leading affairs of Salafia call after al-Wadie. Salafia call centers that are more than 80 in number are considered the most important ones where sciences of Salafia sects are taught.
They are attended by a large number of Yemeni, Arab and foreign students. But these centers are not officially authorized schools. Heads of these centers fear the possibility of having their centers closed especially after the U.S. said it has information about the presence of al-Qaeda elements who have studied religious studies at those centers in Yemen.

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