Sex and the” revolution” (2)

What is the point of Jihad Al Nikah and why has it come to light suddenly and particularly in Syria? In the case of Ain Tarma , Lina was able to offer an answer . The people who lived in Ain Tarma belonged to the armed groups or were their families and supporters everyone else had left ! It was very important to keep the population of Ain Tarma stable , for it not to decrease . Turning Ain Tarma into a ‘’ hot spot ‘’ where free sex , was not only legalized but was given a holy cloth to wear was one way of insuring that its people did not leave it !

Lina’s conviction of this was further confirmed when after one month of her marriage , her husband , decided to fulfill his obligation in Jihad Al Nikah and take on a young women , freshly widowed . She heard them talk on the phone, one day prior to their marriage and the bride to be had only one condition for her groom that he must prove his stamina and endurance , not in the battlefield , but in the bedroom!!

It seemed to Lina that the ‘’ revolution ‘’ was based more on sexual needs and desires rather than the need and desire to bring true reforms ! Slowly , slowly Lina’s life became intolerable . Her husband’s strange ‘’ Islamic ‘’ values tore her apart . He forbade her to smoke because smoking according to him was ‘’ haram ‘’ or sinful , yet he told her , how one day , he was about to kidnap a soldier simply because the soldier was in the army and what saved the soldier was pure good luck . The armed groups of Ain Tarma who were to okay the kidnapping  were simply too busy to pick up the phone when Lina’s husband called them ! How , Lina questioned her husband is it haram to smoke , but not haram to kidnap and kill a soldier ? His answer came strong and clear – everyone in the Syrian Army , the government and Hezbollah were sinners and were in secret liaison with the Israelis . The seeds of this idea had long been planted in the minds of some Syrians. Those who frequented particular mosques and felt an affinity to a particular way of thinking – that of radical Islam .

This way of thinking was one that fears the rise of any sect in Islam , except that of the majority, Sunni Islam . Therefore , Hezbollah’s ability to hold their own in the summer of 2006 against Israel was viewed , not as an Arab or Lebanese victory but rather as Shi’a victory ! This led to fear of the rise of the Shia’ in the Levant . Slowly and insidiously there started in Syria and only in particular mosques and areas a wave of sectarianism and in particular against Shi’as . The idea was to spread distrust and fear amongst the Sunni majority, of the Shia’ , who were depicted as sinners and in liaison with Israel , their victory of 2006 considered a sham and their rhetoric of resistance considered a ploy to gain popularity . However , in must be made clear that this happened only on a small level and that the vast majority of Syrians , Sunni or otherwise , viewed Hezbollah’s victory as one of the most honorable phases in the history or the Arab Israeli struggle .

Many of those who adopted the theory that  Shia’ s were in liaison with Israel did that with a clear political agenda in mind . It was to empower the gulf countries and particularly Saudi Arabia at the expense of the more secular countries in the area! With the present crisis in Syria and other Arab countries it seems that those people succeeded to a certain point !

Lina’s experience with her second husband , left her a broken women spiritually for it destroyed her faith in some of her country men and the way they perceived Islam .It is true , that up till now only a minority of Syrians think the way that Lina’s husband thinks but she had the bad luck to marry one of them ! Lina divorced her husband after two months of marriage !

Reem Haddad