Pundits hailed the fatwa recently issued by Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei forbidding insulting "our Sunni brothers and wives of the Prophet Mohamed, including Aisha, the daughter of Abu Bakr also known as "Mother of Believers". The fatwa comes after Kuwaiti Shia cleric Yasser Al-Habeeb reportedly publicly insulted Aisha, prompting the Kuwaiti government to ban counter-demonstrations and strip Al-Habeeb of his Kuwaiti citizenship. The incident underlined the rising religious strife among Muslims. In the London-based daily Asharq Al-Awsat Abdel-Rahman Al-Rashid wrote that the current row between preachers of the Sunni and Shia sects has been escalating and that the battle had gone to television screens, igniting a verbal battle between the two sides. Al-Rashid wrote that "the situation is now ripe for a genuine fight." Al-Rashid asked whether this was natural due to globalisation or due to political exploitation of the situation. "We are standing over a sectarian corpse and we have no evidence as to who committed the crime. All we can do is look for a motive and try to see who stands to gain the most," Al-Rashid commented. Al-Rashid maintained that political tension in the region encourages each side to use all available means to circumvent the other. Whilst it is true that this excessive sectarian tension provisionally serves the interests of both sides, Al-Rashid warned, its long-term results will be extremely harmful and not in anybody's interests. "This is a sectarian conflict that is being built upon historical wars that can be easily exhumed and exploited by the political combatants in the region," Al-Rashid noted. Al-Rashid explained that it is in Iran's interests to strain the relationship between Shia and Sunnis in the Gulf; in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and also Iraq. "The same applies for those on the other side of the map. Unfortunately, these politicians who believe that the end justifies the means are sowing the seeds for future wars that could last for more than 100 years and will harm everybody without exception," Al-Rashid concluded. Also in Asharq Al-Awsat, Mshari Al-Zaydi wrote that the issue of religion "has become a volatile one not just throughout the Muslim world but globally, and religious crises are emerging at a faster rate than ever before." Al-Zaydi quoted former British prime minister Tony Blair when he predicted that this century would be "the century of religion". According to Al-Zaydi, this is the result of the failure of the notion of nationalism among Arabs. "Religious and sectarian tension has returned with a vengeance, and this is clear proof of the failure of national patriotism in the Arab world. This is proof of the inability of Arab and Muslim societies and countries to disengage from the ideology behind religious and sectarian violence," Al-Zaydi wrote. Al-Zaydi reminded readers that while Europe has suffered greatly as a result of ideology such as this, and much blood has been shed in Western history between Catholics and Protestants, the Muslim and Arab worlds have also been exhausted with conflicts both in the past and present. As a way out, Al-Zaydi called for raising awareness of the concept of citizenship and the social contract (with the state) as a social and historical necessity. Al-Zaydi wrote, "Citizenship must form the basis of interaction between members of society on the one hand and between those members and the state on the other." "Until that time comes, the wise and experienced in any religion around the world must show even more patience, paying special attention to what they say because whatever words they utter could potentially ignite the scene," Al-Zaydi concluded. In the London-based daily Al-Hayat, Abdullah Iskandar pointed out that while Khamenei's fatwa was met with relief within the circles of those working to bring Muslim denominations closer together, he doubted if it was sufficient, at least these days, to prevent strife between Muslims and to solve the problems and political disputes between Muslims, considering the background of some of them, i.e. the Sunnis, and the belief that an Iranian assault on all fronts is targeting them. Iskandar argues that at a time when media outlets in Iran and its supporters in the region place great emphasis on the fatwa, Iran has worked with all in terms of Iraq's political and financial weight to prevent the leader of the Iraqiya List, Iyad Allawi, from assuming the position of prime minister. This is connected to the suspicion that Allawi leans more towards Iraqi Sunnis and to his demands that interference in Iraq's affairs be stopped, especially on the part of Tehran. In parallel to this, Iskandar wrote, the campaign spreads against Egypt and its policies, in all Arab issues put forward, especially in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq. "And everyone knows what Egypt represents in the collective consciousness of the Arabs and in that of the Sunnis in particular," Iskandar wrote. In 'Agreement over Maliki and disagreement over Iraq' Mustafa Zein wrote that each of the United States, Iran and Syria, who have agreed over supporting Nuri Al-Maliki "without coordination", as President Jalal Talabani said, have their own reasons for this. Washington, according to Zein, sees in Al-Maliki a "statesman" who stood up to Shia militias, especially the fiery cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. "Washington is thus wagering on Al-Maliki maintaining his policies in order to exclude its most bitter enemies in Iraq from power," Zein wrote in Al-Hayat. As for Iran's reasons for supporting Al-Maliki, Zein explained they can be summed up by the fact that Tehran sees in him "its strongman in Iraq, who has defended and continues to defend its interests." Despite fighting against some of its supporters, Zein wrote, Al-Maliki has remained loyal to Iran. "He never brought up the issue of its increasing influence despite tremendous US pressure. He is also the most powerful among Shia politicians, as the popularity of the Supreme Council greatly dwindled after the death of its leader Abdel-Aziz Al-Hakim and after the Badr Organisation turned to political work," Zein wrote. Damascus on the other hand, Zein added, considers it imperative to include everyone's participation in government, in view of the fact that no political party, especially its friends, is able to attain power alone. "It supports Al-Maliki but does not stand against the others, especially Allawi. In other words, it supports a balanced government that brings together the strong and does not enslave anyone," Zein explained. Zein, however, laments the fact that "while everyone has agreed over Al-Maliki, agreeing over Iraq is a different matter."
