Alireza Komeili, Secretary of International Union of Unified Ummah
Most wars have been the source of intellectual, political, and even literary and artistic transformations. In our time, this role has been played by Palestine, to the extent that the rise and fall of nationalist, Islamist, and West-oriented movements in the Islamic world, especially in the Arab world, have depended on the fate of conflict or peace with the Zionist regime.
These events have had tremendous effects on the elites of the Islamic world. For instance, a thinker like Taha Abdurrahman, who was a passionate poet of his time, seriously entered the realm of thought after the Arabs’ bitter defeat in 1967, grappling with fundamental questions. Today, we are witnessing a similar “awakening” among the elites and within the broader Islamic Ummah, and even among some in the West, serving as a historical opportunity.
Once again, the philosophy behind the establishment of the temporary Zionist regime in our region and the reason for the West's and the United States' unwavering support are being reconsidered. The crisis of dependent or weak governance in the Islamic world is once again a topic of interest, raising questions about the impact of the current political structure on the world and the mechanisms of institutions like the United Nations and the Security Council and unions such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. This was the subject of many speeches during the recent General Assembly meeting.
Perhaps the main question of our time can be summed up as, “How can one live with dignity and independence?” After the historical era of Islamic empires, the Islamic world entered a bitter period of direct Western colonial intervention following World War I. Over time, particularly after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the seeds of hope for “returning to power and independence” were sown and hopes came alive.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the shift in global power, the unilateralist acts of the West increased and they openly spoke of the birth of the “New Middle East.” The responsibility of achieving this goal rested on two elements: One is their wild dog, the Zionist regime, which was basically created illegally for this purpose, and the other is the deceived element of Daesh and Takfiris, who brought what we saw in regional countries, thus diverting the opportunity of Islamic awakening by creating internal conflicts within the Islamic world.
At this critical juncture, the most important center of true independence in the Islamic world, i.e. the post-Islamic Revolution Iran, clearly played a pivotal role in defeating these two dangerous projects. The Lebanese and Palestinian resistance managed to thwart the Israeli regime’s series of attacks to dominate the entire region, and the newly-emerged resistance groups in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen overcame the Daesh threat and practically prevented a re-designing of the region in favor of the West. This is how everyone knew that a new power was born in the region — a power that has proclaimed its official existence these days and has manfully stepped into the field of honor in defense of the “Oppressed Gaza” despite its weaknesses and problems, to the extent that it has also drawn the admiration of its enemies and critics as well.
This model, whose independent identity and relative power shine in front of everyone’s eyes, can and must be replicated. Intellectual developments lead to social movements and ultimately political changes, and in the post-Al-Aqsa Flood world, the not-so-distant future of the Islamic Ummah will be filled with these events.
All the countries that have tried to free themselves from being dominated by and dependent upon the superpowers can today join this chain of independence and prevent the imposition of their will in the region. Passing the current decisive war is definitely the first priority, but at the same time, one should also think about unifying and identity-creating ideas among these elements.
“Ummahism” is like a macro-strategy of the current era, which should be transformed from dialogue and conference into operational ideas. The Zionist enemy, by using the capacity of several dependent and identityless elements, and even without a ground for materialization, proposes ideas like “IMEC,” which has the function of creating a unified identity and injecting hope and seriousness into its projects. So it should be easier for us and the countries of the region, who have many real and realizable needs and commonalities. This “shared destiny” is so real and intertwined that even the sand storms of our deserts create a common crisis for us, paving the ground for mutual cooperation.
Today, in the entire Islamic world, the infrastructure for the production of all the necessities of life exists, which is the basis of “regional economic independence.” Our financial and commercial exchanges can take place by defining a common currency or shared infrastructure. The energy region and even policymaking for energy in the world are in the hands of Muslims. Linking the interests of the countries together and avoiding enmity and conflict can show us the material and spiritual benefits of this convergence very soon.
The fact that our economic exchange with the rise of Islamist governments in Turkey and Iraq has turned them into our first five trading partners shows the deep connection between national interests and alignment in the Islamic Revolution’s foreign policy. Energy exchanges and technical-engineering exports to aligned governments in some Latin American countries also confirm this conformity, and this means that with a foreign policy based on intellectual foundations and orientation toward seeking independence, a/the country’s economic and national interests can be secured and “realistic idealism” is reasonable and achievable.
The time has come to define the “regional interests of the Islamic Ummah” instead of the national and singular interests of countries. Many (neo)colonized Muslim governments have now turned into powers and are on the verge of leap and independence. The meeting that was held a few years ago in Kuala Lumpur with a focus on Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, Qatar, Pakistan, and some other countries to discuss de-dollarization and exchanges based on local currency, cooperation in cyberspace, etc., showed how large the capacity of the Islamic Ummah is to form a new world power with a unified stance.
An understanding of this “shared destiny” has been formed more than before after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and with the enemy’s brazen display of brutality in killing Muslims and disregarding the opinion of regional countries. This common understanding is valuable. So seize the opportunity!
(The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Khamenei.ir.)
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