Haitham Manna in the Atlas of Nonviolence

Haitham Manna in the Atlas of Nonviolence
Violence begets violence, and civil resistance is the alternative to achieve justice

By Samir Nassif

Is it possible to triumph over tyranny, states, and groups that oppress their own people or other nations without resorting to field violence and military resistance?

This is a question being asked more than ever in light of the crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people following the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, in which the Palestinian resistance attempted to reclaim its occupied territories from Israeli settlers and liberate its comrades held in Israeli prisons without fair trials.

Dr. Haitham Manna, a writer and activist in the Syrian opposition who currently heads the Scandinavian Institute for Human Rights, addressed this issue in a recently published book titled “Atlas of Nonviolence.”

The main approach of this book is evident on page 27, where the author discusses the topic of civil disobedience. Manna states: “The first conclusion of the author of these lines was that violence, as a means of struggle for the oppressed and silenced, has become a tool that weakens and subjugates them. Weapons have become one of the destroyers of the self-immunity of peoples and their civilizations. This stance clashed with the position of jihadists and the Muslim Brotherhood, supported by leaders of Western and Gulf Arab countries, in imposing the arming of peaceful civil movements in Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Iraq. According to our thesis, violence attracts subjugation, shatters social fabric and infrastructure, and transforms large popular sectors into refugees, displaced persons, as well as into thugs, mercenaries, and war traders.”

He cites leaders worldwide who achieved their political goals through peaceful civil resistance, including Mahatma Gandhi in India, Martin Luther King Jr. in America, Nelson Mandela in South Africa, and summarizes some of their statements and positions. He also mentions the views of other Arab thinkers and activists who called for justice through nonviolence, including Gibran Khalil Gibran, Abdullah al-Hamid, Abdullah al-Olayyel, as well as non-Arab figures such as the Frenchman Jean-Marie Muller and Asians Muhammad Mandoor and Abdul Ghaffar Khan.

Manna criticizes the principle of “takfir” used by fanatical religious groups across various religions and ideologies. He argues that “takfir” stems from a rigid ideology, a closed system, and blind bias seeking enemies to serve as sacrificial lambs in its journey. He states that “takfir among fanatic Islamists is no different from takfir among closed Christians or secular ideologues who practice and advocate violence against their opponents.”

In the last section, he mentions McCarthyism in America in the 1950s, where freedom fighters were suppressed, and the Stalinist era when Communists in the Soviet Union assassinated or imprisoned their opponents.

The author emphasizes that Islamic extremists in Afghanistan, such as the Taliban, are no different from their counterparts in Palestine or Israelis who support settlement by force against the Palestinian people, calling them the “Jewish Taliban.” He strongly condemns their negative view of dissent and their racism.

Manna affirms that Islam rejects “takfir,” starting with Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), passing through the fourth caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, who lost his life after being assassinated by takfiris. He also points to the positions of enlightened Muslim scholars in the 20th century and currently in the 21st century, despite the fact that “takfir fatwas” still circulate and are taught in some educational institutions in Arab countries under the pressure of their governments and political leaderships. However, they do not take the positions of Al-Azhar and prominent Muslim scholars, like Imam Muhammad Abduh, who advocated “respect for intellectual sciences alongside deep faith in the teachings of the sacred religious books.”

The author calls for the criminalization of the concept of “takfir,” which incites violence against opponents to protect freedom of belief. He believes that it is not enough to criminalize it only through civil laws; it must be intellectually, educationally, and religiously confronted in religious platforms and educational institutions in the Arab and Islamic world.

Regarding “takfir,” he suggests dealing strongly with rejecting physical torture of dissenters and strict surveillance of people’s private lives, especially since governments worldwide now perceive humans as either “with us or against us.” If they are with us, they are with good, and if they are against us, they are with evil. Consequently, they must be suppressed, imprisoned, and tortured. This arbitrary trend has been reinforced by the practices associated with the so-called “war on terror” and the violations that accompanied it, according to Manna.

Therefore, peaceful civil resistance (in the author’s view) has become more challenging than ever. Governments that claimed democracy are willing to sacrifice fundamental freedoms in exchange for the theory of protecting internal security and relying on experts from outside their countries to participate in security investigations in some Arab countries. This shift towards authoritarianism has contributed to the endorsement of U.S. President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington in 2001 and after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. This paved the way for the abuses associated with the so-called “war on terror,” which normalized the violation of prisoners’ rights, according to Manna.

As a result, peaceful civil resistance (according to the author) has become more difficult, as “some Arab countries have turned into large militias, adopting unethical means and spreading false information to mislead public opinion.”

Manna believes that the peaceful movement in Daraa in 2011 against the Syrian regime was one of the most significant civil movements in the history of Syria and the region, before it was assassinated through violence. He states that “those who sow the military solution through violence always reap counter-violence, and free peoples always pay the greater bill. The harsh military options today will only result in a loser/loser situation, and civil resistance is the best option as a resilient approach to regain lost humanity there.

Haitham Manna expressed the hope that the humanitarian and ethical tragedies, escalating due to the spread of violence and the lack of concern for its practice these days, would convince people of the necessity of establishing a global ethical civil society that considers nonviolence as the virtuous means for change.

In the section titled “Nonviolence in the Arab World,” he personally recounts being subjected to beatings, humiliation, and accusations of collaboration because, in some instances in Syria, he refused to consider the execution of the Syrian president as a solution to Syria’s political problems. Instead, he called for a fair trial for all responsible individuals who committed human rights and democratic violations in Syria and elsewhere.

The author considers that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 contributed to the division of the Syrian opposition between those betting on external intervention and violence on one hand, and those betting on the peaceful civil movements of the people without external interference on the other.

In the section titled “War Crime,” Manna states: “Despite its brutality and its destructive results on humanity, nature, and life, war is still accepted in principle by the logic of states and non-governmental international organizations, and military spending continues intensively. The military assistance provided by the United States to Israel since the 1967 war until 1997 alone would secure education, potable water, and many basic needs for all the deprived people in the world. The costs of the Gulf wars equal the acceptable standard of living for the poor in the Islamic world in the eighties and nineties of the twentieth century. War, in itself, is a crime, and merely talking about war crimes is not enough. How many peoples have been annihilated because the choice of peace was not made, and the law of the jungle gave the militarily stronger the right to survive and dominate others and global decisions.” (Pages 95 and 96).

This section concludes by stating: “The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) prohibited killing non-combatant individuals, assaulting women, children, and the elderly. The Holy Quran encourages adopting the principle of positive neutrality, which means seeking reconciliation in wars as a primary principle, and then intervening against the aggressive faction if it persists in aggression.”

Manna concludes that what is required is to eliminate the social and political structures that reproduce conflicts and wars. According to him, this is the main task for intellectuals worldwide, developing a political and social dictionary (Atlas) in this field, and confronting all wars where the most hungry and impoverished civilians are the victims. In his view, some closed and extremist readings presented by certain Islamic entities do not constitute a response to global arbitrary tyranny as much as they contribute to its spread, consciously or unconsciously. He believes that the current focus should be on building an aware and tolerant personality towards this danger.

Haitham Manna: “Atlas of Nonviolence”