Earthquake Türkiye and Syria: Polarizing Religious Narratives

According to Turkish and Syrian officials, more than 50,000 people lost their lives on February 6, most of them in Turkey. It was the largest natural disaster to hit the two countries in over a hundred years. During a visit to the areas hardest hit by the quake, World Food Program director David Beasley described the situation on the ground as “incomprehensible, devastating and horrific”, leaving behind “ghost towns”. All expressions of shock left over those who witnessed the disaster.

While natural disasters have an enormous impact on the land and physical infrastructures, they also reveal the development of social thought, of which religious beliefs are among the most important pillars. Because of the failure of the democratic project of the Arab Spring, which witnessed the transformation of many uprisings into armed Islamic movements, not to mention the failure of democratic transition in countries where the uprisings succeeded, religious actors still dominate. The Forces Occupying the Public Sphere in the Arab World.

The suppression of political parties and civil society organizations, accompanied by the prevention or restriction of effective political participation, leaves Arab citizens with limited options both in the public sphere, where the media is subject to censorship, as well as in religious circles. Hence the need to reconsider the religious narratives currently circulating in the Arab world related to the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

“a punishment from God”

Al-Azhar graduate Abdullah Rushdi claimed in a video clip posted on his Facebook page that natural disasters are evidence of increased corruption among those affected. The Egyptian cleric’s remarks were met with a wave of criticism from his followers, who pointed out that many of those affected are people displaced by the war in Syria. Rushdie responded that “the logic of divine retribution has transcended the limits of human comprehension”.

The opponent of the Egyptian regime, Abu Ishaq Al-Huwaini, expressed similar views. The recent disaster, the Salafi cleric went on, was a warning to survivors to return to “God’s way” – the Salafi straight and narrow. In the same context, Lebanese Shiite cleric Sami Khadra tweeted that the earthquake was a reminder of “God’s greatness,” and a warning to believers to turn away from what he described as “the path of sin and neglect.” Khadra was also harshly criticized by some of his followers, to which he replied that “atheists and leftists” did not understand his views. He blamed social media for allowing his opponents to express their opinions.

In the Christian camp, some Lebanese social media pages reported that the earthquake was divine revenge for Turkey for converting the Hagia Sophia into a mosque two years ago. And Father Abdo Abu Qassem, head of the Catholic Media Center in Lebanon, published a video clip refuting these interpretations, explaining that the Christian faith does not accept that God punishes the guilty, adding that fear should not be the motive of believers. However, in the same video, he called on “atheists who support abortion and supporters of homosexuality to return to God and learn from recent events.”

It should be noted that these views do not represent all believers belonging to these religions or denominations. However, the existence of such a discourse, especially in the absence of humanitarian approaches, is evident. The diversity of discourse among religious figures from different groups reveals the extent to which the catastrophe was used for religious purposes.

In response to the wave of anger, Egyptian preacher Mostafa Hosni posted a video clip on his website citing hadiths confirming that natural disasters were punishment before Islam, but that God made them a mercy for the Islamic nation. Hosni said that the victims will occupy the position of martyrs. Despite his radically different interpretation, Mostafa Hosni has much in common with Al-Azhar graduate Abdullah Rushdi – especially his stance on the logic of divine retribution.

The Jordanian preacher, Dr. Iyad Al-Qunaibi, said that the disaster befell everyone in that region. He agreed with Hosni that this raised the rank of affected Muslims, but he also added that it was a punishment for the infidel, as stated in a video clip on his Facebook page. Al-Qunaibi added that people were affected according to the degree of their piety, and that the Muslim victims were martyrs.

Processing and advocacy are the primary objectives

In response to the disaster, religious figures felt the need to offer their own religious interpretation of what happened. Those who interpret the earthquake as an act of revenge see the catastrophe as an opportunity to attract followers and call for a return to the teachings of their own religion. In this case, the earthquake was the result of moral corruption and failure to follow religious teachings.

Earthquake victims are classified as sinners, those chosen by God to serve as an example. Such statements provoked a popular backlash, and were in fact the opposite of what religious figures had hoped. They were blamed for their lack of humanity, while discussions about the nature of divine justice increased as a result.

In a second approach, those in positions of religious authority took a defensive stance, responding to critics of the first religious interpretation by offering more nuanced opinions. They stand in solidarity with the victims, calling them martyrs rather than sinners, and deeming their suffering more worthy of comment than the earthquake itself. Despite appearing more humane and pragmatic, Muslim clerics reserve the status of martyr for Muslims only, and focus their sympathy only on them.

a more charitable approach

Some clerics, especially Syrians, avoided taking a religious stance or offering a metaphysical explanation for the earthquake or its victims. The social trauma had a greater impact than the religious need to provide an explanation, or the need to exploit the event. Dr. Muhammad Ratib al-Nabulsi, for example, contented himself with offering his condolences to the families of the victims and called on believers to donate to the families of the victims, describing this act as “worship of the age.”

In a more self-critical move, Islamic law doctor Muhammad Habash wrote on his Facebook page: “How ridiculous and inhumane we were when we were waiting for the tsunami and the Agadir earthquake to practice the culture of blaming;

Habash himself not only shied away from offering a religious interpretation that might condemn the earthquake’s victims, but he also shifted in the direction of providing religious comfort, and thus relieving those affected by the consequences of the disaster. Since the earthquake, he has been actively involved in drafting religious regulations for the adoption of children who lost their parents in the earthquake.

He proposed the ‘joining’/dam system as a religiously acceptable alternative to adoption, which fulfills all the noble purposes of adoption, without changing the adopted child’s surname, or changing the inheritance/patrimonial system practiced in Islam, as described by Habash.

Critical views are limited

Critical narratives focus on the human and use the public sphere, where religious figures bear a social responsibility, to highlight state neglect. The latter may refer to the apparatus of engineers, planners, and civil servants whose deficiencies led to a high number of casualties in the aftermath of the earthquake, to the lack of preparation for disasters in Arab countries, or to the need to provide non-judicial relief to those affected.

Religious figures present their arguments in the context of maintaining a complex relationship with the state and its apparatus. This explains why critical views are either very limited or completely missing from the equation in non-democratic Arab states. Instead, we find generally polarizing metaphysical narratives (such as interpreting disasters as punishment) or apologetic (such as seeing disasters as sin-mitigators).

If nothing else, popular religious discourse in the aftermath of the earthquake reveals once again that institutional reform in Arab countries is long overdue. Those voices who value humanity over religious polarization deserve our support.

Mostafa Karhamed

© Qantara 2023

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos