Yemen Looses A Great Scholar [Archives:2000/31/Focus]

COMMON SENSE
By: Hassan Al-Haifi

Day by day, we are seeing much of that was good in Yemen slowly disappear from us, leaving nothing it seems for our children to become attached to. Surely, Yemen is bound to have a break from this dismal and obvious disregard for heritage, as we find our links with a long tradition of scholasticism disappear. What is taking its place is not at all that refreshing and is not at all anywhere near what the old school of theology produced in Yemen.
The revered Ahmed Mohammed Zabarah was one of the outstanding religious scholars of our time, if not the top of the line. Yemen used to have plenty of scholars who were brought up not only to uphold the religious teachings of the Koran and the Prophet Mohammed (peace of Allah be upon him) in their original and unadulterated form, but also to ensure that the rulers of the Nation of Islam kept their end of the bargain of upholding the people’s rights and freedom. Such was the Grand Mufti of the Republic Ahmed Zabarah, who this observer knew very well as a neighbor and a long time friend of the family. Anyone who has prayed in the Al-Fulaeihy Mosque in the heart of the Old City of Sana’a will not have failed to see the charismatic old sage sitting by the Imam’s niche at the front of the Mosque. One would not have failed to also notice the trickling parade of worshipers coming to the old man to deliver their questions for an opinion on various matters of the worshipers’ lives that needed some clarification as to their conformity with religious jurisprudence. This was not so much to ensure adherence to a law of the state, but more to relieve the conscience of any doubt as to having abided by the dictates of the Al-Mighty and thus be absolved of at least one possible wrongdoing that may not necessarily be safeguarded by mundane or secular laws, but the heart is driven to seek reassurance that God’s will prevails in the way we lead our lives to reach the ultimate satisfaction of knowing that we are truly on His side, so that He can be on our side, now and in the hereafter.
The Grand Mufti was a modest man, who never declined any questions presented to him by any worshiper no matter where he came from or what class he belonged to. He never took a fee for any questions he answered and he made sure that the faithful was given a simple untaxing response that would reflect the tolerant and compassionate wisdom that made Islam the closest religion to human nature and common sense.
Mr. Zabarah was not the normal religious scholar who studied well, but found himself unable to ensure that the knowledge the scholar was entrusted with was to serve the Nation of Islam, not just in Yemen but any place where Moslems were in need of help in some form or another. Moreover, Mr. Zabarah saw Islam as being a religion of wide horizons, suitable for all times and all places. He had no illusions about the troubles that Islam was facing, not so much from its enemies, but from those who have a token knowledge of some of its rites and dictates, and have come to claim themselves to be trustees over the Nation, without so much as having gone deep enough to truly understand its wide horizons and reliance on logic and reason to underscore its fundamental precepts.
Like many enlightened Zeidi scholars, Mr. Zabarah saw that there was only One Islam and One Moslem Nation, with the same strength in belief as the belief in One God. Thus it was possible that a Zeidi can take up what real scholars from other sects have come to find in their scholastic journey into the Koran and the Traditions of the Prophet Mohammed (P), as long as their convictions were along the same lines as those of the probing scholar. Mr. Zabarah saw wisdom in much of the institutional developments in people’s lives that many Moslem scholars failed to see, such as legitimizing bank interest and insurance, which many conservative Moslems thought to be usurious. Of course, because of his level of scholastic attainment, Mr. Zabarah has reached the level of knowledge where he is entitled to make such judgements without having to fear retribution from other scholars, all of whom respect his right to make such almost rebellious statements. Mr. Zabarah also knew that with high scholastic maturity must also come courage to speak out openly and harshly against those who transgress on the rights of others, no matter how strong these transgressors are. He is reputed to have openly chastised the Imam Yahya as well as his son the Imam Ahmed for not opening up the country and for being too repressive at times, which is beyond the limits of authorities meted out to the Commander of the Faithful. This observer recalls having seen letters written by the Old Imam Yahya to Ahmed Zabarah’s father asking him to control his son’s outspoken attitude against the Imam’s policies and to ‘bring him in line’. Incidentally, Mr. Mohammed Zabarah was also a learned scholar of a high caliber, who did not of course take the Imam’s chastising of his son so seriously, and may have in fact concurred with his son’s opinions, for after all the son was no less than a carbon copy of the father, in terms of the level of scholasticism and theological wisdom obtained.
Mr. Zabarah had an unfailing memory and even in his nineties, he could still recall almost every aspect of his life and every journey he has gone on. He has traveled far and wide. He brought it upon himself to advocate for the freedom of Moslems in Communist countries, which were the most oppressed religious groups in the Communist World. He was able to make landmark achievements that are worthy of historical note. He had convinced both Communist governments in the former Soviet Union and the hard-line Communist regime of Mao Tse Tong to allow Moslems to make the pilgrimage to Mecca after having been banned for over fifty years from even thinking about facing Mecca for prayers, let alone make the pilgrimage. He convinced the Soviet leaders that it is sound policy to relieve the Moslems of the Soviet Union from the excessive oppression, since their best allies were then in the Moslem World and that Islam, like Communism is the religion of the oppressed, preaching ‘voluntary socialism’ and equal justice for all. The Soviet leaders saw some wisdom in Mr. Zabarah’s words and gave their permission for Moslems to go to Mecca for the pilgrimage. Zabarah ensured that the first waves of pilgrims from the Soviet Union were given the fine treatment all along their journey, calling upon his contacts to facilitate their journey all along the route to Mecca and back. Once the Soviets were convinced, Mr. Zabarah took advantage of his success, to convince the Chinese that the Soviets foreign policy was going to make greater inroads in the Moslem World, unless the Chinese followed suit and allowed the Moslems of China to also make the pilgrimage and to ease the restrictions on religious worship by the 60 Million Moslems then living in China (this was all during the late 60s, early 70s). The Chinese also saw the eminent threat to their successful foreign policy by the Soviet initiative and therefore had no choice but to accept the suggestions of Mr. Zabarah.
These were just some of the moments that surely underscore the strong devotion that Mr. Zabarah had to serving Islam everywhere in the world and to underline the universal aspect of the religion, with the strong belief that there should really be no borders between Moslem states and no conflict among Moslems for any reason. Mr. Zabarah like many enlightened scholars believes that Islam insists on dialogue as the vehicle for disseminating the faith. After all, Islam is a relatively easy religion and conforms very much to common sense and human nature. Islam’s doctrines of justice and equality are its attractive elements and its tolerance is second to none. There is no reason to shun dialogue, even with heathens. If a proper forum can be maintained, then surely Islam will prevail and all the other arguments against it will be trampled by the power of simplicity and down to earth good sense, by which should always be portrayed. The Grand Mufti had that power with him until his last dying moment. God bless his soul and Yemen truly lost one of its most phenomenal and sometimes controversial, but for all intents and purposes successful dignitaries, at least for the mission that he set for himself Ð to serve God and the faithful in whatever way possible, wherever they are. Is not that what Islam is really all about?

——
[archive-e:31-v:2000-y:2000-d:2000-07-31-p:./2000/iss31/focus.htm]