Spare me the sermon?

SMN No. 3, June 14, 2010

A heated debate on religious preaching in public places broke out recently on Facebook in Syria. It was sparked by the launch of a group in May, which posed the question, “Can I take a microbus (van) or a taxi without listening to Sheikh Nabulsi?”

This bluntly put question shed light over the growing popularity of religious preachers like Sheikh Ahmad Rateb al-Nabulsi in Syrian society today.

Nabulsi, who teaches Sharia law in several Islamic institutions and universities in Syria, is a widely respected cleric. His sermons are available on CDs and regularly broadcasted on Arab and Syrian TVs and radio stations. It has become quiet common, especially in Damascus, to listen to his teachings while using public transport.

One reason behind the popularity of Sheikh Nabulsi is that in contrast to other preachers, he uses spoken Syrian, a simple language and straightforward anecdotes to talk about Islam, morals and society.

The administrators of the Facebook group, which assembled more than 1000 member, said that they did not want to offend devout people but were calling for “peace of mind” for public transport users.

Some posts argued that public spaces should be neutral and guarantee the right for individuals not to listen to religious sermons if they did not wish to. Others said that forcing all passengers on public transport to listen to Sunni Muslim clerics was disrespectful towards Syrians of other faiths like Christians, Shia and Allawites.

Most of the members’ posts quickly focused the debate on the content of Nabulsi’s teachings in addition to the place of secularism in society and individual freedoms.

Some members described the sermons as a nuisance. “We won’t allow anybody to pester us with extremist ideas and analysis based on illusions and not science,” one member said. Another one sarcastically posted that religious sermons were tantamount to “sound pollution” and were more “harmful than threats to the environment”.

Several posts accused Sheikh Nabulsi of undermining womens’ rights. “All his talk is against women. Women are always showed as guilty. With his simple message, he attracts simpleminded people,” one post said.

Other posts lamented that clerics never broach realistic topics related to the daily hardships of Syrians, like corruption or embezzlement of public funds.

The Facebook group also drew members who defended religious preaching. “This group prompts divisions among the Syrian people and fosters a hidden agenda of sedition and hatred,”  one post said.

In response, Nabulsi supporters created groups to back the broadcast of his sermons in taxis and busses. One of these groups, called “together for listening to the lessons of Sheikh Nabulsi day and night”, was set up recently and has attracted around 350 members so far.

Posts on the group’s page said that its goal was to defend the ideas of Nabulsi against “those who claim to be civilized”. Some members of this group said that Nabulsi’s balanced sermons were a “guarantee against fundamentalism and extremism.”

“His lessons carry great wisdom and reform society… They bring happiness to every house,” one member said.

The group was joined by a member identifying herself as Buthaina Shaaban, the Syrian presidential media and political adviser. This member did not post any comments.

The heated debates on both groups’ pages got coverage in the local media.