Two months only after his appointment as minister of religious affairs Abdeljalil Ben Salem was dismissed following a polemic at a hearing at the Tunisian parliament. Answering a question from a leftist Popular Front MP about Wahhabism and its links to terrorist groups, Ben Salem said that on two occasions had advised Saudi diplomats “to reform their school of thought because historically terrorism came from there”, and added “this thinking and school of thought … could only breed extremism.” The statement cost Ben Salem his post but has also caused a diplomatic embarrassment for Youssef Chahed’s government. Tunisian public opinion has been split on the sacking of the Ben Salem. Some news outlets announced “Saudi Arabia Sacks the Minister of Religious Affairs”.
Ben Salem’s statement left political parties in a dilemma. While what he said was music to the ears of the FP and other secularist parties, they nonetheless did not defend him publicly, for the simple reason that his nomination in the coalition government was backed by Ennahdha, although he is not officially a member of the movement. Ennahdha itself remained silent, since Ghannouchi did not want to disrupt his efforts to mend bridges with Riyadh. There are also the economic interests of Saudi Arabia and direct investment in Tunisia to consider. Even the most vocal secularist political, cultural and economic elites in Tunis observe a deafening silence when it comes to Gulf money and investment in the Tunisian economy—investment that it desperately needs. This episode reminded Tunisians of an exchange of letters between Najdi scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792), and Zeitouna Mosque scholar Omar Mahdjoub (1724-1807). At the turn of the 18th C. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab sent a letter to Hamouda Bacha, Bey of Tunisia (1782-1814), calling him to embrace his thought. The Bey sought the Zeitouna scholars’ advice for a response to the letter. Zeitouna produced a historic religious argument refuting the claims and foundations of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s thought. That exchange together with the works of Scholar Tahar Ben Achour (1879-1973), and others, established Zeitouna’s scholarly independence as a guardian of Maliki doctrine jurisprudence in the region.
Links for more information:
http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20161104-tunisie-ministre-affaires-religieuses
http://www.huffpostmaghreb.com/farhat-othman/dessous-et-retombees
http://www.investir-en-tunisie.net/fr/index.php/2016/01/02/larabie-saoudite
http://daikiri.over-blog.com/article-81887534(Arabic Document: Response of Zeitouna Ulama to Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab)
http://nawaat.org/portail/2016/11/04
