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A Shortage of Tolerance in a Sectarian 41 Tarir Square in Cairo during the Arab Spring of 2011, when Egyptians demanded the outster of President Hosni Mubarak. In Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East, regime change hasn’t resulted in democracy but in sectarian strife. Wikipedia photo e live in a sectarian age. A Shortage of Tolerance Excessive devotion to W the doctrines of a religion, sect, or group is a phenomenon of our time as it has been in previous eras In a Sectarian Age and as such, threatens peace and order both within and between states. Sectar- Thomas S. Axworthy ian violence plagues countries such as Myanmar, Nigeria, and Pakistan, but is most evident today in the Middle East. Egypt’s pro-democracy revolution has devolved into a In Egypt, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, after winning power struggle over sectarian vs. secular government. In the presidential election in 2012, did Syria, the brutal civil war is fueled by sectarian divisions not govern in an inclusive way – going so far as to appoint as governor of Lux- previously kept in check by years of autocracy. Elsewhere or a member of the hardline Islamist in the region, the same tensions play out in less spec- group associated with the terrorists who killed 58 tourists there in 1997. tacular but regular ways as the chronic grind between the Only a year after Morsi’s election, Salaf- desire for rights and democratic principles and religious ists, secularists, and Christian Copts demonstrated against the Brotherhood governance, frequently leading to civil unrest and outright in such numbers that the unrest boiled violence. At a time of disruptive change and previously over into a protest-fueled military coup whose long-term implications are still unseen power struggles, tolerance has become a scarce playing out. commodity. In the restive Middle East, it has never been In Syria, the “Arab Spring” revolt needed more. against an authoritarian regime be- came a war of Sunni versus Shia, hor- rible in itself for the citizens of that country, and exceedingly dangerous because of its potential for engulfing Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq. Because of Syria, writes Geneive Abdo, “The Shi‘a- Sunni divide is well on its way to dis- placing the broader conflict between Muslims and the West as the primary challenge facing the Islamic societies September/October 2013 42 of the Middle East for the foreseeable In Syria, for example, there are no good options, only least future.” bad ones. Prime Minister Harper is certainly correct that the Tolerance is defined by Andrew Mur- al-Assad regime is composed of “thugs” that have committed phy as an attitude or “a willingness to terrible crimes against their own citizens. But is the Sunni-led admit the possible validity of seem- ingly contradictory viewpoints.” It is opposition any better? a virtue based on the recognition, as Voltaire writes in his Philosophical Dic- recent years the “responsibility to pro- favoured by Muslim majorities almost tionary, that “discord is the great ill of tect” doctrine has also chipped away everywhere: in 31 of the 37 countries mankind, and tolerance is the only at the supremacy of state sovereignty where the question was asked, at least remedy for it.” Toleration, on the oth- above all. half of Muslims believed a democratic er hand, is a set of practices: it denotes, government rather than a leader with a As was seen in the months leading to according to Murphy, “forbearance strong hold is best able to address prob- the intervention in Libya, however, from imposing punitive sanctions for lems: 81 per cent of Lebanese Muslims, dissent from prevailing norms.” applying the principles of “non-inter- vention” versus the “responsibility to 66 per cent of Nigeria’s Muslims, and Tolerance, however, does not mean protect,” is rarely clear cut. In Syria, 55 per cent of Egyptian Muslims fa- that one must tolerate everything. It for example, there are no good op- vour democracy (only in Afghanistan is a practical, not an absolute, virtue tions, only least bad ones. Prime Min- and Pakistan do majorities not favour which requires balance of judgment. ister Harper is certainly correct that the democratic option). Similar results Karl Popper, in The Open Society, claims the al-Assad regime is composed of were shown for the principle of reli- that it is a paradox of tolerance “not “thugs” that have committed terrible gious freedom – Muslims generally say to tolerate the intolerant.” Unlimited crimes against their own citizens. But they are free to practice their religion, tolerance could lead to the disappear- is the Sunni-led opposition any bet- and most also believe that non-Mus- ance of tolerance if action is not taken ter? An al-Qaeda-run Syria will be no lims are free to practice their faiths. against extremists such as Hitler, who better than an Assad-run Syria. Sixty And among those who believe non- used the rules of democracy to gain per cent of Canadians, for example, Muslims are free to practice their faith, the power to end democracy. “Some disagree that Canada should supply the prevailing opinion is that this is a things are intolerable, even – or espe- Syrian rebels with military aid and it is good thing: in Turkey, for example, 78 cially – for a tolerant person,” writes likely that most western publics agree. per cent of Muslims believe they are André Comte-Sponville. Alas, in Syria, it is a Shia-Sunni fight, free to practice their faith. Fifty-eight per cent believe people of other faiths If tolerance is an individual attitude and there is no good reason that Can- ada (or anyone else) should pick one are free to do so, and of those, 89 per or virtue, subject to education, per- cent say it is a good thing. sonal persuasion, and mutual learn- religious group over another, a point ing, toleration is a set of practices that made forcefully by Derek H. Burney But support for making Sharia the of- deliberately chooses not to interfere and Fen Osler Hampson, among oth- ficial law of the land is also very strong with the conduct of others. Tolera- ers. The Harper government’s policy (99 per cent in Afghanistan, 84 per tion regimes are practical accommoda- of non-intervention in the Syrian civil cent in Pakistan, 83 per cent in Moroc- tions to achieve peaceful co-existence, war is the right one. co). In Egypt, for example, 74 per cent which may or may not have much to States who give in to the temptation say Sharia should apply to all regard- do with the advance of tolerance. In to fuel sectarian passions for their own less of faith. Sunni-Shia tensions are combating sectarianism, one needs ends do so at their peril. The Pakistani also evident: 53 per cent of Egyptian both a program to change individual Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) orga- Sunnis, for example, say that Shias are attitudes and another to make institu- nization sponsored the fanatical Tali- not Muslims. Fifty per cent of Egyptian tional accommodation work. ban as early as 1994, as their agent in Muslims also believe that Christians Afghanistan. Today, the Taliban are are hostile to Muslims, and 35 per cent oleration regimes depend on deeply entrenched within Pakistan it- believe that Muslims are hostile to the principle of non-interven- self and threaten the integrity of the Christians. T tion, which has been a rule of very state that spawned them. international law since the Treaty of he religious divides evident in Westphalia in 1648. The Friendly Re- The Pew Forum on Religion and Pub- the Pew findings have now lations Declaration of the UN Gen- lic Life commissioned three surveys on become a political force of terri- the attitudes of today’s Muslims on a T eral Assembly in 1970, states: “No fying intensity. When the Arab Spring State or group of States has the right host of issues, many of them relevant revolt began in 2011, Iran’s Supreme to intervene, directly or indirectly, for to the theme of tolerance: “Tolerance Leader Ali Khamenei made a pan-Is- any reason whatever, in the internal and Tension: Islam and Christianity lamic appeal declaring, “It is not an is- or external affairs of any other State. in Sub-Saharan Africa” (2010), “The sue of Shia or Sunni. It is the protest of a Consequently, armed intervention World’s Muslims: Unity and Diversi- nation against oppression.” But a scant and all other forms of interference or ty” (2012), and “The World’s Muslims: two years later, Hezbollah leader Has- attempted threats against the person- Religion, Politics and Society” (2013). san Nasrallah declared to his Shia sup- ality of the state or against its politi- The most recent study in April 2013, porters (Hezbollah originally was creat- cal, economic and cultural elements, for example, released findings for ed by Iran as a Shia proxy in Lebanon), are in violation of international law.” 38,000 interviewees of Muslim belief that the Syrian war is “our battle.” This This rule is superseded, however, if the in 39 countries. declaration of Shia solidarity, in turn, Security Council decides that state ac- The results of the Pew study are mixed. led to a fatwa by the Qatar-based Sun- tions threaten peace and security. In Positive results show that democracy is ni spiritual leader, Yusef Al-Qaradawi, Policy 43 rorism or sectarian violence must be censored. The International Mone- tary Fund, for example, has criticized Kuwait for doing little to criminalize terrorist financing and for its loose regulatory regime on money laun- dering. The US Treasury Department has stated that both Kuwait and Qa- tar have “unfortunately become per- missive environments for extremist fundraising.” • Human rights may be the ideal, but peaceful co-existence is a necessary step to get there.
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