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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. he religious divides evident in international law since the Treaty of 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. Where sectarian disputes are evident and there is not sufficient tolerance to enforce a hu- man rights regime, states should work with faith communities to Protesters in Cairo demanding the removal of President Muhamed Morsi in June 2013. The Arab Spring develop rules to ensure peaceful had become the Arab Summer. The Army’s takeover led to a brutal crackdown on Islamists and the coexistence. Muslim Brotherhood. Shutterstock photo • The world is full of different models characterizing the Syrian conflict as an ethical base of all world religions so to protect minorities and devolve aspect of the ongoing struggle between that what unites members of differ- power – federalism, constitutional “100 million Shia” and “1.2 billion ent faiths becomes more important protection and rights, electoral sys- [Sunni] Muslims.” The Shia success in than what divides them. In this re- tems to reduce sectarian disputes, Iraq in 2006-2007 led King Abdullah II gard, the InterAction Council ini- etc. Where sectarian parties exist, of Jordan to warn Sunnis of the com- tiative of a Universal Declaration one interesting experiment is citizen ing “Shia Crescent” across the region. of Human Responsibility should be juries, randomly selected outside of Since the Arab Spring, this fear defined passed by the UN General Assembly the party framework and constituted in religious terms is now felt by many as a complementary charter to the to give non-partisan advice to the Shia and other minorities in Syria. The UN Universal Declaration of Hu- authorities. In Yemen, for example, self-perpetuating cycle of fear, reaction man Rights. The interfaith dialogue a national dialogue of 565 Yeminis and counter-reaction is one of the tru- of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia drawn from different movements isms of international relations and it is should equally command wide and ideologies has been meeting to support. well on its way to destroying today’s write a new constitution. Middle East. • Extremism of all kinds is easily ac- • While motivated by religious differ- cessible on the Internet. UNESCO ences, the social and economic roots To combat the growth of sectarianism, should take the lead in preparing a of sectarianism cannot be ignored. we need to promote the value of toler- popular education program that pro- Programs committed to economic ance as a basis for broader toleration motes the common ethical base of and social equality are as critical to regimes on the understanding that de- all world religions and then ensure reducing extremism and violence as mocracy is about more than the ballot that ethics are promoted at least as legal guarantees. box: heavily as fanaticism. The age old • The Hippocratic Oath of “above all strategy of education bringing about Tolerance do no harm” is an excellent argu- tolerance cannot work unless it is ment for the continued relevance of • Focus first on religious leaders and tried. This point is brought home by non-intervention as a general guide make the case that strong belief is a May 2013 paper, “A Review of Citi- to policy makers. Non-intervention compatible with tolerance for other zenship Education in Arab Nations,” is not an absolute. But in a sectar- people’s views. Surveys showing that written by Muhammad Faour, for a majority of Egyptian Muslim Sun- the Carnegie Middle East Centre. It ian war like Syria’s, with no good nis do not believe Shias to be fellow shows that Arab countries have set options, what would a military in- Muslims, for example, demonstrate ambitious goals for education reform tervention by outsiders achieve? the necessity to engage the religious and citizen promotion, such as intro- Prudence is a virtue that squares well leadership of that critical Muslim ducing concepts like democracy and with tolerance. country. human rights, but in practice “Arab Many issues contribute to the strife, di- • Over time, the Lockes, Spinozas, nations have taken very few steps to vision and uncertainty wrought by to- and Voltaires won the war of ideas make these goals a reality and to pre- day’s crises: because faith in the divine around toleration and it is necessary pare young people for the transitions is a private matter, religion should not for rights-based organizations and ahead.” be one of them. governments committed to human Toleration rights to be vigilant when standards Thomas S. Axworthy is Senior • States which promote sectarian vio- fall. Human rights are universal, not lence outside their borders should Distinguished Fellow at the Munk School relative. States must be held to the be brought before the UN Security of Global Affairs. He served as senior principles of the UN Universal Dec- Council for threatening the peace policy adviser and later principal secretary laration of Human Rights. and security of the world system. to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. • It is important to stress the common States which continue to finance ter- [email protected]

September/October 2013