The Ideological Turmoil of the Ahbash sect between the Call for Moderation and the practice of Takfir in the political reality: Lebanon, Jordan: a comparative study

Abstract

This paper discusses the status of the ideological turmoil of the (Ahbash sect), resulting from the contradiction between the discourse of moderation and religious tolerance that they claim in the literature of their public media discourse, and their practice of Takfir (accusing others of infidelity/ blasphemy) with the intention of eliminating the material and moral existence of the other.

The paper addresses this issue through discussing: Their approach to atonement (altakfir) and their political reality in some Middle Eastern countries (Lebanon, Jordan).

The most important results of the study:

The current study showed that Ahbash is a politically and ideologically unpredictable ambivalent group, which enjoys the support of Arab and foreign official bodies that use them as a tool to achieve several political and religious goals, the most important of which are:

- Contributing to the formulation of a new secular Islam (moderate Islam) according to the vision of America, and to promote it among Muslims.

- Confronting political Islamic movements and accusing them of infidelity, especially: (Jamāʿat al-Ikhwān al-Muslimīn (the Muslim Brotherhood), Hizb ut-Tahrir, and Salafism); in order to exclude them and replace them as an alternative Islamic intellectual reference.