The name is everything

In Saudi Arabia and Iran, the group charged with enforcing public morals (sharia) is known as "The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice."  In Tunisia it will be known as "Centrist Association for Awareness and reform."  In order to appear "less radical" to the Tunisian people, the name change occurred.  Now one must ask; if Islam is that vaunted religion everyone says it is, and that there is nothing inherently violent or oppressive about it, why admit that the people would not accept the original name because it is seen as too radical?

Just asking.  Anyone care to answer that?  Esposito?  Aslan?  Hooper?  Anyone at all?


From Maghreb Christians March 3

Tunisia’s New Islamist Police

The new face of Tunisian democracy

“Women without a veil deserve to burn in hell.” — Adel Almi, head of The Centrist Association for Awareness and Reform.

An Islamic militia has been legalized in Tunisia. According to the Tunisian media outlet Kapitalis, the Tunisian Ministry of Interior, lead by Ali Larayedh, chairman of the ruling Islamist party, Ennahda, has given legal status to the “Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice,” an Islamic religious police established after the Tunisian Revolution by self-appointed custodians of Islamic virtues. Kapitalis reports, however, that with the legalization, the name of the Committee was changed to the “Centrist Association for Awareness and Reform” to appear less radical to the Tunisian population.

The association is composed of three committees: one focuses on the Sharia ["The Way," or Islamic religious law]; one on religious “science” and the third on juridical matters. The Centrist Association declares that its objective is to call on citizens be righteous and to follow the rule of Sharia.

There is no such thing as a little bit of sharia, eventually it becomes all or nothing. 

Before the Association was legalized, the Tunisian media were reporting that it was being formed by Salafists [followers of the extremely conservative form of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia], who aggressively intervene in public life by occupying mosques, and verbally and physically attacking women who did not abide by the dress code that they deemed sufficiently modest.

The media outlet Tunisia Live mentions that despite the Association’s having changed its name to look moderate, it is highly radical. The head of the association, Adel Almi, was accused of having “attacked” Prof. Ikbal Gharbi, known for her liberal views. Lately, Almi has come under the spotlight after he decided to forbid Prof. Gharbi — appointed by the government to the post of Director of the religious radio station, Zitouna FM from entering her office. The reason, according to Almi, was that Prof. Gharbi had no religious background, despite her being an eminent professor at the Theological Zitouna University in Tunis.

In reality, Almi objects to a woman being in charge of a religious radio station, and for being known as a reformer with a modernist interpretation of the Qur’an. Further, Prof. Gharbi does not wear the veil and Almi belives – as he said to the Tunisian radio Mosaïque FM – that women without a veil deserve to burn in hell. Members of the association have also been accused of harassing Tunisians on Facebook, asking to fight reformists, as Prof. Gharbi.

Now that the association has been given a legal status, Kapitalis wonders whether Tunisians’ individual freedoms are going to be attacked. “Are the members of this new association going to be present in the public streets and question citizens perceived as not being Islamic righteous? Are the members of the association some sort of Saudi religious militia, charged with the task of directing the faithful towards the path of God? Wait and see,” writesKapitalis.

You won't have long to wait; the answer to your question will, undoubtedly be yes.

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