That's Arabic for "hypocrites"--a serious charge in the early days of Islam when people would claim conversion to the faith, only to attempt to subvert the fledgling religion from the "inside." Today, however, we see a different form of hypocrisy among the Association of Muslim Scholars. According to Neil MacDonald in today's Financial Times, the Association issued a fatwa urging Sunnis to vote. Not in the nationwide elections, mind you, but in provincial contests in Kirkuk province. Or, as MacDonald quotes Mohammad Khalil, a Sunni Arab running for governor,
the Association of Muslim Scholars originally prohibited Sunnis from voting but...voting is now accepted as legitimate just for the provincial council of Kirkuk.
Why just in Kirkuk? Oil, baby. Kirkuk province is home to the Baba Gurgur oil fields, one of the richest in Iraq. With all that money at stake, the Sunni Arabs don't want to be left begging for crumbs when the province's Kurds and Turkomen divvy up the petro-pie.
So. Apparently, Sunni Arabs consider elections objectionable under American "occupation" (for more on the Sunnis, see below)--unless you're talking about elections taking place in oil-rich provinces, when suddenly it become every Sunnis' duty to vote. Guess the left was right after all: Iraqi democracy is a sham to secure oil profits. Just ask the Association of Muslim Scholars.
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