Syria violence claims head of Arab poet
2013-02-12 21:37
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Syria
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Beirut - A statue of the blind Arab poet Abu al-Ala
al-Maari, famed for his 11th-century critiques of Islam and other religions,
has been decapitated and toppled from its plinth in his home town in northern
Syria.
A picture of al-Maari's headless bust, rusting and
abandoned in the town of Maarat al-Noman, circulated on social media on
Tuesday, angering many Syrians who accused Islamist rebels battling President
Bashar Assad of cultural vandalism.
A prolific philosopher, Maari was known for his sceptical
writings on religious faith.
"Inhabitants of the earth are of two sorts: Those
with brains, but no religion, and those with religion, but no brains," he
wrote.
Maarat al-Noman, where he died in 1058, had been at the
centre of battles between government forces and the majority Sunni Muslim
rebels seeking Assad's overthrow, who now control the town.
"Your barbarity will not destroy the philosophy of
Maari - it lives and you go. Ideas do not die," said a banner pictured in
Damascus and posted on Facebook.
An activist called Safi, who described himself as a
moderate Muslim, also condemned the attack on Maari's statue.
"The war against the regime does not give
justification for anyone to destroy the cultural heritage of the country."
The 22-month-old uprising against Assad started as mainly
peaceful protests but escalated into an armed insurgency with increasing
sectarian dimensions.
Mainly Sunni rebels battling the Alawite president have
been joined by growing numbers of Islamist fighters.
In a recent sign of the growing Islamist influence,
judges at a rebel-run prison in the northern city of Aleppo offered reductions
of up to six months' jail terms to people convicted by opposition courts if they
memorised sections of the Qur’an.
"Prison is a place of reform," the head of the
city's judicial council said in a statement announcing the incentives.
