View source for Al-Ahbash

{{Short description|Neo-traditionalist Sufi religious movement}}
{{For|the ancient region|Al-Habash}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = Association of Islamic Charitable Projects
| native_name      = {{lang|ar|جمعية المشاريع الخيرية الإسلامية}}<br />{{Transliteration|ar|Jamʿīyah al-Mashārīʿ al-Khayrīyah al-ʾIslāmīyah}}
| logo             = Association of Islamic Charitable Projects logo.png
| colorcode        = {{party color|Al-Ahbash}}
| leader           = Shaykh Hussam Qaraqira
| religion         = [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] [[Islam]] (<small>[[Ash'ari]], [[Rifaʽi]], [[Sufism|Sufi]]</small>)
| foundation       = 1930s {{small|(as the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects)}}<br />1983 {{small|(as Al-Ahbash)}}
| ideology         = <!--[[Islamic democracy]]<br />-->[[Realpolitik|Pragmatism]]<br />[[Religious pluralism]]<br />Anti-[[Salafi]]
| national         = [[March 8 Alliance]]
| headquarters     = Various
| seats1_title     = [[Parliament of Lebanon]]
| seats1           = {{Composition bar|2|128|{{party color|Al-Ahbash}}}}
| website          = {{URL|https://www.aicp.org/}} {{small|(English)}}<br />{{URL|https://projectsassociation.org/}} {{small|(Arabic)}}
| country          = Lebanon
}}
'''Al-Ahbash''' ({{langx|ar|الأحباش|al-ʾAḥbāsh|the Ethiopians}}), also known as the '''Association of Islamic Charitable Projects''' ({{langx|ar|جمعية المشاريع الخيرية الإسلامية}}, {{Transliteration|ar|Jamʿīyah al-Mashārīʿ al-Khayrīyah al-ʾIslāmīyah}}, '''AICP''')<ref name="Kabha">{{cite journal|last =Kabha|first=Mustafa|author2= Erlich, Haggai|s2cid=55520804|title=Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam|journal =International Journal of Middle East Studies|volume=38|issue=4|pages=519–538| publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=United States|year=2006|doi=10.1017/s0020743806412459|jstor=4129146 |issn = 0020-7438}}</ref> is a [[Sufi]] religious movement and, in Lebanon, political party, which was founded in the mid-1980s.<ref name=Seddon>{{cite book|last=Seddon|first=David|title=A political and economic dictionary of the Middle East|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1857432121|edition=1st|page=22}}</ref> The group follow the teachings of Ethiopian scholar [[Abdullah al-Harari]].<ref name=Seddon /> Due to the group's origins and activity in [[Lebanon]], the Ahbash have been described as the "activist expression of Lebanese Sufism."<ref name="SufiResponse">{{cite journal|last=Hamzeh|first =A. Nizar |author2=Dekmejian, R. Hrair|title=A Sufi Response to Political Islamism: Al-Ahbash of Lebanon|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|volume=28|pages =217–229|publisher =American University of Beirut|location =Beirut|year=1996|url =http://ddc.aub.edu.lb/projects/pspa/al-ahbash.html | doi = 10.1017/S0020743800063145|s2cid =154765577 |access-date=10 April 2009|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The Ahbash have been noted for their ardent criticism of conservative strains of Islam, including the [[Salafi movement]] and [[Wahhabism]].<ref name="Maasho">{{cite news|last=Maasho|first=Aaron|title=Ethiopian Muslims protest government 'interference'|url=https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE84A00W20120511|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513231828/http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE84A00W20120511|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 May 2012|newspaper=Reuters Africa|date=11 May 2012}}</ref><ref name="Kabha" /> The movement has been described by some scholars as incorporating elements of Shia and Sunni theology within a framework of Sufi spiritualism.<ref name="Gambill" /><ref name="Doctrines">{{Cite journal |last=Islam |first=Md. Thowhidul |title=The Religious Thoughts of Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al-Habashi Al-Harari and the Doctrines and Politics of Al-Ahbash: An Evaluation |journal=International Journal of Interreligious and Intercultural Studies |volume=4 |issue=2 |date=October 2021 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357366890_The_religious_thoughts_of_Abdullah_ibn_Muhammad_Al-Habashi_Al-Harari_and_the_doctrines_and_politics_of_Al-Ahbash_An_evaluation |access-date=13 December 2024}}</ref> It has also been described as one of the "most controversial Muslim associations" among modern Islamic groups.<ref name="SufiResponse"/> Within [[Sunni Islam]], opponents of the Ahbash have frequently referred to the movement as unorthodox and deviant.<ref name="Maasho" /><ref name="Abbink">{{cite journal |last1=Abbink |first1=Jon |title=Religious freedom and the political order: the Ethiopian 'secular state' and the containment of Muslim identity politics |journal=Journal of Eastern African Studies |date=3 July 2014 |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=346–365 |doi=10.1080/17531055.2014.917855 |s2cid=33389563 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17531055.2014.917855 |issn=1753-1055|hdl=1887/27585 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Al-Ahbash calligraphy.png|thumb|left|Calligraphic logo of al-Ahbash]]
[[File:Al-Ahbash Logo.png|thumb|Emblem used by the North American branch]]
The AICP was founded in the 1930s by Ahmad al-Ajuz<ref name=Rubin>{{cite book|last=Rubin|first=Barry|title=Guide to Islamist Movements|url=https://archive.org/details/guidetoislamistm02rubi|url-access=limited|year=2009|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0765617477|page=[https://archive.org/details/guidetoislamistm02rubi/page/n389 322]}}</ref> and arrived in Lebanon in the 1950s, where "they blended [[Sunni]] and [[Shi'a|Shia]] theology with [[Sufi]] spiritualism into a doctrinal [[eclecticism]] that preached [[nonviolence]] and [[political quietism]]."<ref name=Gambill>{{cite book|last=Gambill|first=Gary C.|title=Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisi|year=2009|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0230605879|editor=Barry M. Rubin}}</ref> The AICP remained without a leader until the 1980s when [[Abdullah al-Harari]] became the nominal head of the organization<ref name=Rougier>{{cite book|last=Rougier|first=Bernard|title=Everyday jihad: the rise of militant Islam among Palestinians in Lebanon|year=2007|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0674025295|page=[https://archive.org/details/everydayjihadris00roug/page/113 113]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/everydayjihadris00roug/page/113}}</ref> and was taken over by Al-Ahbash in 1983.<ref name ="SufiResponse"/>

Al-Ahbash was founded in the suburb of Bourj Abu Haidar, in West [[Beirut]], as a small [[philanthropic]] and [[Spiritualism (beliefs)|spiritualist]] movement among the Sunni [[lower classes]].<ref name="SufiResponse"/> From there they spread throughout Lebanon to [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]], [[Akkar District|Akkar]] and [[Iqlim al-Kharrub]] in the [[Chouf]], where they founded educational and religious institutions.<ref name=Sfei>{{cite book|last=Sfei|first=Antoine|title=The Columbia world dictionary of Islamism|year=2008|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0231146401|author2=Olivier Roy|page=[https://archive.org/details/columbiaworlddic0000unse/page/26 26]|url=https://archive.org/details/columbiaworlddic0000unse/page/26}}</ref> Beginning in the 1990s, Ahbash propelled from a minority group to the largest Sunni religious organization in Lebanon, mainly due to [[Syrian]] government backing<ref name ="Ahbash">{{cite journal|last=Pierret|first=Thomas|title =Al-Ahbash|journal=Basic Reference|volume =28|pages=217–229|publisher=Edinburgh Academics|location=Scotland, UK|year=2010|url =https://edinburgh.academia.edu/ThomasPierret/Papers/316709/_al-A_bash_Ahbash_|doi = 10.1017/S0020743800063145|s2cid=154765577 |access-date=27 April 2012}}</ref>—having close links to [[General Intelligence Directorate (Syria)|Syrian intelligence]].<ref>{{cite web|author1=Raphaël Lefèvre|title=The Roots of Crisis in Northern Lebanon|url=http://carnegieendowment.org/files/crisis_northern_lebanon.pdf|publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace|access-date=28 October 2014|page=8|date=April 2014}}</ref> The Syrians supported and promoted the Ahbash in order to limit the influence of [[Radicalization|radical]] and [[Islamic fundamentalism|fundamentalist]] Sunni movements in Lebanon.<ref name=Jung>{{cite book|author1=Dietrich Jung|editor1-last=Jung|editor1-first=Dietrich|title=The Middle East and Palestine: Global Politics and Regional Conflict|url=https://archive.org/details/middleeastpalest00jung|url-access=limited|date=18 September 2004|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=9781403982124|page=[https://archive.org/details/middleeastpalest00jung/page/n168 156]}}</ref><ref name=Gambill44>{{cite journal|author1=Gary C. Gambill|title=Islamist Groups in Lebanon|journal=Middle East Review of International Affairs|date=December 2007|volume=11|issue=4|page=44|url=http://www.rubincenter.org/meria/2007/12/Gambill.pdf|access-date=12 April 2015|archive-date=9 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309212919/http://www.rubincenter.org/meria/2007/12/Gambill.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Nicholas Blanford|title=Killing Mr Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and Its Impact on the Middle East|date=25 August 2006|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857714053|page=177}}</ref> Their growth was also aided by the [[Confiscation|forcible seizure]] and control of many prominent [[mosques]] in West Beirut in the early 1980s, despite the protests of Dar al-Fatwa (the official body for Lebanon's Sunni Muslims).<ref name=Jung/><ref name=Gambill44/> At the end of the 1990s there were close to 250,000 Ahbash members worldwide, according to a high-ranking Ahbash activist.<ref name="Kabha"/>

Several public figures became Ahbash members when it emerged in [[France]] beginning in 1991, such as rapper [[Kery James]] or Abd Samad Moussaoui.<ref name=SamirAmghar>{{cite book|last1=Amghar |last2=Boubekeur |last3=Emerson|first1=Samir |first2=Amel |first3=Emerson|title=European Islam: The Challenges for Society and Public Policy|year=2007|publisher=Centre for European Policy Studies|isbn=978-9290797104|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=INpc_hPdFBYC&q=french+rapper+ahbash&pg=PA29|page=29}}</ref>

On 31 August 1995, members of a [[Salafi]] jihadi group called "[[Osbat al-Ansar]]" killed the leader of Al-Ahbash, Sheikh [[Nizar Halabi]],<ref>[[Middle East International]] No 508, 8 September 1995, Publishers [[Christopher Mayhew|Lord Mayhew]], [[Dennis Walters|Dennis Walters MP]]; G.H.Jansen pp.13-14</ref><ref name="SufiResponse"/><ref name=Rubin1>{{cite book|last=Rubin|first=Barry M.|title=Chronologies of Modern Terrorism|url=https://archive.org/details/chronologiesmode00rubi|url-access=limited|year=2008|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0765620477|page=[https://archive.org/details/chronologiesmode00rubi/page/n275 265]}}</ref> who was reportedly being groomed by the Syrians to become Lebanon's [[Grand Mufti]].<ref name=Gambill44/> His murder led to a heavy-handed Syrian response—concluding with the [[public execution]] of his [[Assassination|assassins]] in 1997.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Gary C. Gambill|title=Islamist Groups in Lebanon|journal=Middle East Review of International Affairs|date=December 2007|volume=11|issue=4|page=46|url=http://www.rubincenter.org/meria/2007/12/Gambill.pdf|access-date=12 April 2015|archive-date=9 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309212919/http://www.rubincenter.org/meria/2007/12/Gambill.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

It has been compared to the Turkish [[Gülen movement]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mukerrem |first1=Miftah |title=Turkey and Ethiopia at Crossroads: Ahbashism and Gulenism |url=http://insamer.com/tr/turkey-and-ethiopia-at-crossroads-ahbashism-and-gulenism_383.html |website=Insamer |access-date=2018-07-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704093256/http://insamer.com/tr/turkey-and-ethiopia-at-crossroads-ahbashism-and-gulenism_383.html |archive-date=2018-07-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Religious beliefs==
{{Ash'arism}}
{{Sufism}}
Al-Ahbash beliefs are an interpretation of [[Islam]] combining elements of Sunni Shia Islam with Sufi spiritualism.<ref name ="SufiResponse" /> Al-Ahbash follows the [[Shafi'i school]] of [[fiqh]] (jurisprudence) and its theological school is [[Ash'arism]], and the [[Rifaʽi]] order is the source of their Sufi practices.<ref name="Ahbash"/> The group rejects [[Salafi]] figures such as [[ibn Taymiyya]], [[Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab]] and [[Sayyid Qutb]]. It advocates [[Pluralism (political philosophy)|pluralism]], and opposition to political activism; its slogan is "the resounding voice of moderation".<ref name="SufiResponse"/> It also promotes its beliefs internationally through a significant internet presence and regional offices, notably in the [[United States]].<ref name="Pierret">{{cite journal | last =Pierret | first =Thomas| title =Internet in a Sectarian Islamic Context | journal =ISIM Review|issue =Spring 2005|page =15 | publisher =International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World | location =The Netherlands | year =2005 | url =https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/16971/ISIM_15_Internet_in_a_Sectarian_Islamic_Context.pdf?sequence=1 | access-date =10 April 2009 }}</ref>

In Canada and the United States, al-Ahbash followers pray using a southeastern [[qibla]],<ref name="The Philadelphia Inquirer"/> in contrast to most Muslims in the region, who face the northeast in their mosques.<ref name="The Philadelphia Inquirer">{{cite web | url=http://articles.philly.com/1994-05-25/news/25828053_1_islamic-scholars-muslims-in-north-america-islamic-charitable-projects | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019104112/http://articles.philly.com/1994-05-25/news/25828053_1_islamic-scholars-muslims-in-north-america-islamic-charitable-projects | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 19, 2015 | title=Which Way Mecca? It's Relative The Issue Divides Muslims Here. Is It Southeast? Northeast? | publisher=May 25, 1994 | work=The Philadelphia Inquirer | date=May 25, 1994 | access-date=July 17, 2016 | author=Macklin, William R.}}</ref><ref name="Muslim Link">{{cite web | url=http://www.muslimlinkpaper.com/myjumla/community-news/2817-ethiopian-muslims-protest-indoctrination-by-government-sponsored-sect | title=Ethiopian Muslims Protest Indoctrination by Government Sponsored Sect | publisher=The Muslim Link | date=October 12, 2015 | access-date=July 17, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Evolution and Beliefs">{{cite web | url=https://archive.islamonline.net/?p=6655 | title=Al-Ahbash: Evolution and Beliefs | publisher=Islam Online | date=September 25, 2007 | access-date=July 17, 2016 | author=A Group of Islamic Researchers}}</ref>

== Doctrinal aspects ==

===Syncreticism===
Shaykh Habashi's syncretic teachings draw upon [[Islamic schools and branches|different branches of Islamic theology]], and thereby elude unambiguous classification. In an address to his followers, Habashi stated, "[w]e are Ash'aris and Shafi'is. The Ash'ariyya is the basis of our belief, and the Shfi'iyya is our daily code."<ref name="Kabha"/> According to Thomas Pierret, Ahbash's ideology "can be termed 'neo-traditionalist', in that it aims to preserve the Islamic heritage of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman era]],<ref name="Ahbash" /> which they consider themselves to be the inheritors."<ref name="Pierret"/>

Shaykh Habashi in his books and lectures blends<ref name="Sarih al-Bayan">{{cite book|last=al-Habashi|first=Shaykh 'Abdallah|title=Sarih al-Bayan (Explicit Declaration)|year=1990|publisher=Jam'iyyat al-Mashari'|location=Beirut, Lebanon|pages=86, 88, 90, 105 ('These ahadith are: "For whosoever I am master, this Ali is his master; O God support whosoever is"'), 111 ('Habashi does not give much importance to the Hanafi and Maliki Schools of Law'), 107, 195}}</ref><ref name ="Manar al-Huda">{{cite journal |title=none| journal =Manar Al-Huda | publisher = Association of Islamic Charitable Projects | location =Beirut, Lebanon |date=1992{{ndash}}93|orig-year =November 1992, 32; April 1993, 37; April–May 1993, 45}}</ref><ref name="Al-Kafil">{{cite book|last=al-Habashi|first=Shaykh 'Abdallah|title= Al-Kafil bi-'Ilm al-Din al-Daruri (The Guarantor of the Necessary Science of Faith) |year=1994|publisher= Burj Abi Haydar Mosque |location=Beirut, Lebanon|pages=46}}</ref><ref name="Bughyat al-talib">{{cite book|last=al-Habashi|first=Shaykh 'Abdallah|title= Bughyat al-talib | publisher= Association of Islamic Charitable Projects |location=Beirut, Lebanon|page=31}}</ref><ref name="Shaykh Abdalla's lecture">{{cite news|last=al-Habashi|first=Shaykh 'Abdallah|title= Shaykh Abdalla's lecture, 26 January 2003 |publisher= Association of Islamic Charitable Projects |location=Beirut, Lebanon}}</ref> elements of Sunni and Shi'i theological doctrines with Sufi spiritualism by supporting the legitimacy of [[Ali]] and his descendants while condemning [[Mu'awiyya]], the caliph and governor of Damascus, and his son Yazid, as "seditious" thus adopting the Shi'a tradition.<ref name ="SufiResponse"/><ref name=Rubin/><ref name=Rougier/><ref name=MRubin>{{cite book|last=Rubin|first=Barry|title=Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisis|url=https://archive.org/details/lebanonliberatio00rubi|url-access=limited|year=2009|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0230623064|page=[https://archive.org/details/lebanonliberatio00rubi/page/n149 139]}}</ref><ref name=MarshallShea>{{cite book|last=Marshall|first=Paul|author2=Shea, Nina|title=Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom Worldwide|year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0199812288|page=356}}</ref> Although not explicitly stated, Sufism plays also an important role in al-Ahbash's doctrine as demonstrated by the practice of several Sufi traditions such as the [[ziyarat]] (pilgrimage), mystical dancing sessions, use of musical bands in religious ceremonies,<ref>"A Sufi Response to Political Islamism" by R. Hrair Dekmejian & A. Nizar Hamzeh, p.225.</ref> and the support of three [[tariqa]]s.<ref name ="SufiResponse"/> The contention that it is a primarily Sufi movement,<ref name ="SufiResponse"/> however, has been disputed.<ref name="Kabha"/>

===Moderation===
Mustafa Kabla and Haggai Erlich identify "moderation" (''[[Wasat (Islamic term)|wasatiyyah]]'') as the key word in al-Ahbash's "necessary science of religion"<ref name ="SufiResponse"/> and instance the group's twelve-goal platform whose second item calls for "[p]reaching moderation [...] and good behavior as ways of implementing religious principles, while combating extremism and zeal."<ref name="Kabha"/> This position is also reflected in the groups's decided opposition to the [[Salafist|Salafist movement]] and Islamist thinkers, namely [[Sayyid Qutb]], [[Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab|Muhammed ibn 'Abd-al-Wahhab]], and [[Ibn Taymiyyah]].<ref name="Kabha"/><ref name ="SufiResponse"/>

===Rejection of anthropomorphism===
One further critical cleavage is al-Ahbash's strict rejection of any form of [[anthropomorphism]] of God of which they accuse [[Wahhabi]]s.<ref name="Kabha"/> Consequently, Shaykh Habashi holds that "it does not befit God to speak like that, and his word is not a voice or letters"<ref>Cited in Kabla and Erlich 2006: 531</ref> and that therefore, the [[Qur'an]] contains the word of God but could be written only after "[[Archangel Gabriel|Gabriel]] listened to His word, understood it, and passed it on to the prophets and the angels."<ref name="Kabha"/><ref name="Bughyat al-talib"/><ref name="Shaykh Abdalla's lecture" /> This is a highly controversial point of view within [[Islam]] which is not fully compatible with the consensus of Sunnis, and Wahhabis accuse Ahbash of doubt regarding the origin of the Qur'an.<ref name="Kabha"/> Another famous example regards the interpretations of the Qur'anic sentence describing God seated on his throne after creating the world. According to Wahhabi texts, this means that he literally sat on his throne; however, according to Shaykh Habashi, copying the [[Mu'tazila]] school of thought, it meant that he took control of the world.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Mustafa Kabha|author2=Haggai Erlich|title=Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam|date=November 2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=531|url=http://aigaforum.com/documents/Al-Ahbash-whaibyya.pdf|access-date=27 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Patrick Desplat|author2=Terje Østebø|title=Muslim Ethiopia: The Christian Legacy, Identity Politics, and Islamic Reformism|date=18 April 2013|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=9781137322098|page=181}}</ref>

===Separation of religion and state===
The arguably most important split, however, is the question of the relation between religion, politics, and the state. Departing from most Islamic writings on this topic, al-Ahbash advocates a separation of religion and state and thereby rejects the idea of an Islamic state. Al-Fakhani, an AICP representative said "Most of our states are Islamic and Muslims wish the presence of an Islamic state, but the regional and international conditions do not allow it."<ref>{{cite news|title=Al-Ahbash: Their Ideology and Evolution|url=http://the-levant.com/ahbash-ideology-evolution/|access-date=12 July 2017|agency=The Levant News|date=18 December 2015}}</ref> Consequently, the group repeatedly emphasized the need for Muslim-Christian co-existence and tolerance towards other religious groups in Lebanon.<ref name="Kabha"/>

===Takfir===
The tolerant stance in Al-Ahbash's public rhetoric is doubted by some Muslim groups, orthodox Sunni in particular. They accuse the group of an excessive use of [[Takfir]] – the act of declaring another Muslim an unbeliever – and thereby of the provocation of inner-Islamic tensions.<ref name="Pierret"/><ref name="Ahbashism">{{cite web | url=http://www.ethiomedia.com/2012_report/ahbashism_campaign.pdf | title="Ahbashism", Government and Ethiopian Muslim Protests | publisher=Ethiomedia | date=May 12, 2012 | access-date=July 17, 2016 | author=Mul’ataa, Yuunus Hajji | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161004185447/http://www.ethiomedia.com/2012_report/ahbashism_campaign.pdf | archive-date=October 4, 2016 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="Takfir"/><ref name="Doctrines" /><ref name="Zoltan Pall">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T-t3RAysVJkC | title=Lebanese Salafis Between the Gulf and Europe: Development, Fractionalization and Transnational Networks of Salafism in Lebanon | publisher=Amsterdam University Press | author=Pall, Zoltan | year=2013 | pages=44–47 | isbn=978-9089644510}}</ref> Al-Ahbash has mainly used takfir against [[Wahhabi]] and [[Salafi]] leaders.<ref name="Takfir">{{cite book|last1=Rougier|first1=Bernard|title=The Sunni Tragedy in the Middle East: Northern Lebanon from al-Qaeda to ISIS|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=88|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2blKCAAAQBAJ|access-date=17 July 2016|isbn=9781400873579|date=2015-10-13}}</ref><ref name="Beirut Review">{{cite journal | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nP66AAAAIAAJ | title=The Beirut Review: A Journal on Lebanon and the Middle East | author= | journal=The Beirut Review: A Journal on Lebanon and the Middle East | year=1994 | issue=7 | pages=124}}</ref> According to [[Tariq Ramadan]], Al-Ahbash "adherents carry on a permanent double discourse: to Western questioners, they claim to support the emancipation of women and laicism to oppose the "fundamentalists" (all the issues they know are sensitive and useful for getting them recognized). However, within Muslim communities, they carry on an extremely intransigent and closed discourse, usually treating most of the principal Muslim ulama as kuffar by which they mean "unbeliever,' "impious people"). They base their teachings on interpretations recognized as deviant by all other schools of thought and all other scholars of note (for example, their singular understanding of the meaning of the name of God, or their assertion that the Qur'anic Text was interpreted by the angel Gabriel, or the practice of praying to the dead). Their approach on very specific points of doctrine (such as those we have referred to) is hostile and usually violent."<ref name=TariqRamadan>{{cite book|last=Ramadan|first=Tariq|title=Western Muslims and the Future of Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2DIL9h8WBJcC&pg=PT55|year=2004|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-517111-2|page=55}}</ref>

== Political positions ==
As a political party, when al-Ahbash ran for the [[1992 Lebanese general election|1992 Lebanese parliamentary elections]], this constituency enabled its candidate, Adnan Trabulsi, to win a seat in a Beirut district after the Ahbash and Hezbollah concluded an undeclared alliance in Beirut that assured the election of their respective candidates.<ref name="SufiResponse"/> However, Trabulsi lost in the subsequent 1996 elections.<ref>Hamzeh and Demekjian 1996: 225; el Khazen 2003: 620, Table 2</ref> In 2018, Trabulsi was again elected to serve on the Lebanese Parliament.

The Ahbash are also allied to the [[Amal Movement]], a Shia party,<ref name="SufiResponse"/> and [[Future Movement|Mustaqbal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/157969/CMEC_6_abdellatif_lebanon_final.pdf|title=Lebanon’s Sunni Islamists—A Growing Force|website=Carnegie Middle East Center|author=Omayma Abdel-Latif|date=January 2008|issue=6}}</ref>

==Controversy==
The group are seen as being controversial within [[Islam]] for its anti-[[Salafi]] religious stance and also, as their Sufi and other beliefs are seen as heretical.<ref name="SufiResponse"/><ref name="Pierret"/><ref name=Grayling>{{cite book|last=Grayling|first=A. C.|title=Ideas That Matter: The Concepts That Shape the 21st Century|year=2010|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0230623064|page=139}}</ref> As a result, they are commonly described by Wahhabis as combining "Sufi polytheism, shirk, with Shi'i covert anti-Sunna tactics".<ref name="ManarAlHudaQuote">{{cite book |author1=Mustafa Kabha |author-link=Mustafa Kabha |url=http://aigaforum.com/documents/Al-Ahbash-whaibyya.pdf |title=Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam |author2=Haggai Erlich |date=November 2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=529 |access-date=27 October 2014}} (Refers to Al-Ahbash's own monthly magazine, Manar Al-Huda 93 (December 2000): 36-42 and their other sources and web-sites.)</ref> According to Samuel Bar in ''Warrant for Terror: The Fatwas of Radical Islam and the Duty to Jihad'', the Wahhabis have described the Ahbash as being outside of Ahl al-Sunnah and have argued that their fatwas should not be considered.<ref name="Bar">{{Cite book |last=Bar |first=Shmuel |url=https://www.google.com.pk/books/edition/Warrant_for_Terror/SiwB5fxXfhwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=al-ahbash+uthaymeen&pg=PA105&printsec=frontcover |title=Warrant for Terror: The Fatwas of Radical Islam and the Duty to Jihad |date=2008-06-13 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=978-1-4616-4685-3 |language=en}}</ref> Some of these fatwas have drawn significant controversy, including rulings that permit transactions involving interest with non-Muslims, the permissibility of intermingling between genders, and allowing prayer in a state of impurity under certain circumstances. Critics argue that such rulings deviate from the consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah.<ref name="Doctrines" />

They are also viewed by other Muslims groups as being favoured by the governments of the United States, Europe, Ethiopia, and Australia, who "do indeed welcome the Ahbash activities among their Muslim citizens."<ref>{{cite book|author1=Mustafa Kabha|author2=Haggai Erlich|title=Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam|date=November 2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=527–8|url=http://aigaforum.com/documents/Al-Ahbash-whaibyya.pdf|access-date=27 October 2014}}</ref> They have been described as a [[sect]] by various commentators,<ref name="TariqRamadan" /><ref name="Grayling" /><ref name="economist">{{cite news|title=Syria and the Hariri assassination|url=http://www.economist.com/printedition/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_VDJDJNN|newspaper=The Economist (print edition)|date=27 October 2005 }}</ref><ref name="OliverRoy">{{cite book|last=Roy|first=Oliver|title=Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah|year=2006|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=0231134991|page=227}}</ref> while others see them as a valid religious movement.<ref name="Rubin" /><ref name="Rougier" /> The AICP runs a network of Islamic schools in affiliation with [[Al-Azhar]] according to Kabha and Erlich<ref name="ManarAlHudaQuote" /> although a range of scholars from the latter institution, including previous [[List of presidents of Al-Azhar University|Presidents]] and [[Ali Gomaa]], the former Grand Mufti of Egypt, have described the Al-Ahbash movement as deviant and unorthodox in their edicts or ''Fatwas'' (an official statement or order from an Islamic religious leader),<ref name="AhmedElTayebRectorAlAzhar">{{cite web | url=http://www.rferl.org/a/caucasus-report-grozny-fatwa-controversy/27987472.html | title=Analysis: Grozny Fatwa On 'True Believers' Triggers Major Controversy| publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/RFE/RL, Inc. | date=September 14, 2016 | access-date=March 27, 2017 | author=Liz Fuller}} (Excerpt: "Conference participants, who included [[Ahmad al-Tayyeb|Ahmed El-Tayeb]], rector of Cairo's [[Al-Azhar]] Islamic University, adopted a fatwa stipulating that the sole true adherents of traditional Islam are those who abide by Kalam scholastic theology, belong to one of the four madhhabs (legal schools)......It identifies the Salafi strain of Sunni Islam professed in Saudi Arabia as a "dangerous and erroneous contemporary sect," along with the extremist group Islamic State, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and the [[Habashis]].")</ref><ref name="UCLondon">{{Cite book |last=Yawar |first=Athar Ahmed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ALwzQEACAAJ |title=From Madness to Eternity: Psychiatry and Sufi Healing in the Postmodern World |publisher=UCL (University College London) |year=2020 |location=London, United Kingdom |pages=166 |language=en | access-date=March 2, 2021}} (Refers to the fatwās against the Ahbash from a range of scholars, including [[Ali Gomaa]], the Mufti of Egypt (fatwā dated 1999), and Ahmad Umar Hashim, the president of [[Al-Azhar]] University (2001).)</ref><ref name="ReutersAArabiya" /> and members of the movement were arrested "attempting to spread their beliefs on the campuses of [[Al-Azhar]] University" under the Egyptian penal code.<ref name="ReutersAArabiya" />

===Australia===
In 2011, the [[Australian National Imams Council]] accused the Muslim Community Radio Incorporated as being associated with Al-Ahbash, which they described as a fringe cult organisation and violent, and made public announcement for government officials not to renew its broadcasting license.<ref name="O'Brien">{{cite news|last=O'Brien|first=Natalie|title=Muslims call for 'radical' radio station to be closed|url=http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/muslims-call-for-radical-radio-station-to-be-closed-20110108-19j9r.html|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=9 January 2011}}</ref> However, the [[Australian Communications and Media Authority]] granted a 5-year license in 2011, which drew criticism from Islamic groups.<ref name=Norrie>{{cite news|last=Norrie|first=Justin|title=Muslim radio stays on airwaves|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/muslim-radio-stays-on-airwaves-20110521-1exo6.html|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=22 May 2011}}</ref> In 2006, the Imam of [[Lakemba Mosque]] in [[Sydney]], [[Taj El-Din Hilaly]], threatened to back out of the [[Howard government]]'s, [[Muslim Community Reference Group]] because of the inclusion of Dr. Mustapha Kara-Ali, who was affiliated with Al-Ahbash.<ref>{{cite news |title=Divided, angry Muslim advisory body meets |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-02-27/divided-angry-muslim-advisory-body-meets/806764 |agency=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=26 February 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kerbaj |first1=Richard |title=Howard's Muslim advisory team split |url=https://wwrn.org/articles/20466/ |website=WWRN |publisher=The Australian}}</ref>

===Egypt===
In 2003, [[Ali Gomaa]], the former Grand Mufti of Egypt, issued a fatwa describing the Ahbash as "deviant" that sought to "corrupt the Muslim creed and incite sedition amongst the Muslim Ummah. Moreover, they are paid agents to the enemies of Islam." In 2007, Egypt also arrested 22 men for seeking to spread the Ahbash faith in the country.<ref name="ReutersAArabiya">[https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054204/http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2007/12/13/42886.html "Egypt arrests 22 men for corrupting Islam"][http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2007/12/13/42886.html - ''Reuters''], 13 December 2007. ("The source said they belong to the al-Ahbash sect – which has a significant following in Lebanon and strong historical ties to Syria – and which is considered unorthodox by many Islamic clerics including the ones at [[Al-Azhar]].")</ref>

===Ethiopia===
In 2012, Muslim protesters in [[Addis Ababa]] accused the [[Ethiopian]] government of [[Meles Zenawi]] of promoting Al-Ahbash among the Muslim population of the country.<ref name="Maasho"/>

===Jordan===
During the 1990s fighting broke out between the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] and Al-Ahbash in what became known as the "war of the mosques". The fighting was started due to the brotherhood believing that Jordan's Ministry of Religious Endowments were giving precedence to Al-Ahbash members being allowed to teach in mosques from which they themselves were banned.<ref name=Tal>{{cite book|last=Tal|first=Nahman|title=Radical Islam in Egypt and Jordan|year=2005|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1845190989|page=215}}</ref>

===Lebanon===
Due to its strong historical links with the Syrian government of the [[al-Assad family]], the Ahbash have often been in conflict with the Lebanese supporters of the anti-Syrian [[Rafic Hariri|Hariri family]] and in 2005 at least two of its members were initially implicated—jailed and later released—in the [[Assassination of Rafic Hariri]].<ref>{{cite news|author1=Elise Knutsen|title=STL defense strategy takes shape in Sabaa questioning|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2015/Mar-20/291501-stl-defense-strategy-takes-shape-in-sabaa-questioning.ashx|access-date=13 April 2015|work=The Daily Star (Lebanon)|date=20 March 2015}}</ref> The Ahbash also strongly opposed and demonstrated against the [[Cedar Revolution]] that was triggered by Hariri's assassination.<ref>Barry Rubin, ''Guide to Islamist Movements'', pp.322-323.</ref><ref>David Gardner, I.B. Tauris, ''Last chance: the Middle East in the balance'', 15 June 2009, the University of Michigan, pp. 135, 140.</ref> Ahbash reportedly remains neutral in the [[Syrian Civil War]], despite pressure from both sides.<ref name="Al-Akhbar">{{cite web | url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/14719 | title=Lebanon: Al-Ahbash Retreat from Politics | publisher=Al-Akhbar | date=January 29, 2013 | access-date=July 17, 2016 | author=Choufi, Firas | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112215/http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/14719 | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2010, Ahbash and [[Hezbollah]] members were involved in a street battle which was perceived to be over parking issues. Both groups later met to form a joint compensation fund for the victims of the conflict.<ref name="Yalib">{{cite news|title= Hezbollah, Al Ahbash chiefs meet over Borj Abi Haidar incident|url=http://www.yalibnan.com/2010/08/30/hezbollah-al-ahbash-chiefs-meet-over-borj-abi-haidar-incident/|work=Yalibnan|date=30 August 2010}}</ref> However, despite this instance of violence, the Ahbash have "normal" and "friendly" relations with Hezbollah. The Ahbash have also engaged in bloody clashes in Sidon and Tripoli, in the 1990s, against the rival Sunni [[Islamic Group (Lebanon)|Al-Jama'ah Al-Islamiyah]].<ref name="SufiResponse"/>

===Saudi Arabia===
Former grand mufti of Saudi Arabia [[Ibn Baz]] declared Ahbash a ''"deviant faction"''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rougier|first1=Bernard|title=Everyday Jihad|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/everydayjihadris00roug/page/296 296]|url=https://archive.org/details/everydayjihadris00roug|url-access=registration|quote=bin baz ahbash.|access-date=11 April 2016|isbn=9780674025295|year=2007}}</ref>

===Ukraine===
[[Roman Silantiev]] states that the mufti of [[Ukraine]], Ahmad Tamim, a Lebanese citizen, has been accused of belonging to the ''"sinister sect"'' of Ahbash by his opponents, however, his opponents find it difficult to define the heresy of Ahbash. Ahmad Tamim's opponent mufti [[Said Ismagilov|Said Ismaigilov]] allegedly has links to groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Silantiev|first1=Roman|title=Nationwide Ambitions|url=http://www.ng.ru/facts/2014-09-17/6_muftiat.html|access-date=12 February 2017|agency=Nezavisimaya Gazeta|date=17 September 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Islam}}
*[[Barelvi]]
*[[Nahdlatul Ulama]]
*[[Politics of Lebanon]]
*[[Sufi–Salafi relations]]

==References==
{{Reflist|33em}}

==External links==
* [http://www.aicp.org/ Association of Islamic Charitable Projects] official US site

{{Sufi}}
{{Ash'ari}}

[[Category:Al-Ahbash| ]]
[[Category:1983 establishments in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Islam in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Islamic political parties in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Sufism in Asia]]
[[Category:Sufi organizations]]
[[Category:Ash'ari]]