UK, London / Тrend corr G. Ahmadova / The head of the Islamic Commission on Human Rights Mahsud Shajare believes that Vahhabism is not a radical Islamic teaching.
"Vahhabits describe the people who are do not agree with their ideas as kaffir (atheist, unbeliever) and according to their religion they believe they have the right to deprive the so-called kaffirs of life," he said.
Vahhabism is a religious and political movement which was founded in the 18th Century in Central Arabia, Nejd. The movement launched its activities under the slogan of 'Depuration of Islam', 'Returning to Norms of the Prophet's Period' and 'Unification of Arabs against Ottoman Caliphate'.
Vahhabism, as other terms, is used for harbouring some ideas. For some people this word has different meanings. Vahhabism, Salafism - the meaning of these terms should be clarified," Shajare said.
According to Islamic standards, people have a right to different thinking and may follow different scientific schools (teachings), but they must not deprive other people of that right. Vahhabism rejects opinions from others and that has nothing in common with Islam, Shajare said.
Many Vahhabism postulates go beyond the boundaries of Islam, he said. "It is what caused the events of 11 September in the United States and an explosion in a metro in England. That is disgusting and illegal and I do not think it is radicalism; it is rather a reaction to something. Vahhabits stick to the concept of 'goal justifies the means', but in Islam a goal never justifies the means. Our life is in the hands of God," Shajare said. "There are many other groups which follow an ideology in order to kill people. We should fight and protest against this. We should unify to solve the problem," he said.
Shajare considers the spread of sects popularized by definite scientific schools teaching Islam in recent years to be a dangerous event. Citing the war in Iraq, Shajare noted that as a result of the development of such sects, everyday hundreds civilians die in Iraq, Shiites and Sunnites etc. "The invasion of Iraq caused the development of sectarianism and the occupiers bear the responsibility for that," he said.
Islam is a very diverse religion, of which one should be proud. However, several teachings still represent themselves as Islamic. "We should oppose this. Unfortunately, several research centres, such as a powerful organization RAND Reports in the United States, have reported that sectarianism is a tool for control over Islam. This idea is being agitated worldwide, and we Muslims have become victims of that," he said.