Algerian Growing Pressure Ousts Ahmed Raïssouni From The IUMS Presidency

The growing Algerian pressure by scholars, sheikhs, parties, associative organizations and the national media, led to the fall of the Moroccan, Ahmed Raissouni, from the presidency of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, thus putting an end to a dirty task and the end of a path for those who infringed on its sovereignty, to be an example to others that Algeria is a red line.

Raissouni announced his resignation from the presidency of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, justifying his decision as “maintaining his freedom of speech and refusing any form of pressure”, following very dangerous statements he made against Algeria, Mauritania and Western Sahara, which forced him to leave through the narrow door.

“I have decided to submit my resignation from the presidency of the International Union of Muslim Scholars”, the Moroccan preacher said, in a message published on his website, claiming that this decision came from his “adherence to firm and uncompromising positions and views, and to exercise my freedom of speech, without conditions or pressures.” It is no secret to anyone that they were the product of high popular pressures pressure and perhaps other hidden ones that made the Makhzen lose a prominent position that it tried to exploit to pass its colonial thesis to mislead Arab and Muslim public opinion.

Raissouni, who presented himself as the brainchild of Allal el-Fassi – the owner of the dreamy expansionist idea of annexing parts of Algeria, Mauritania and up to Senegal – explained in the message of his resignation that he is currently “in communication and consultation with his eminence the union’s general-secretary, Ali al-Qaradaghi, “to activate the decision to resign according to the requirements of the IUMS statute.

Subsequently, the IUMS Board of Trustees revealed its acceptance of the resignation of Moroccan Ahmed Raissouni from the presidency of the Union, while referring it to the Extraordinary General Assembly for a decision, according to what the same union reported in a statement.

The source confirmed that “the Board of Trustees of the International Union of Muslim Scholars agreed to respond to Ahmed Raissouni’s desire to resign from the presidency of the Union, to give priority to the interest and based on what was stipulated in the statute of the Union”, which indicates that the person concerned was motivated to leave his position, which makes his resignation a de facto dismissal and not a voluntary resignation, as he is trying to market in the name of exercising the right to freedom of speech.

If Raissouni classified his forced withdrawal from the presidency of the IUMS in the “resignation” category, the development of events proves the uprising of the sheikhs, preachers and the political class against him, since he made his reckless statements against Algeria and Mauritania as well, and the statements were condemned by official bodies, including the Algerian Supreme Islamic Council – under Guardianship of the Presidency of the Republic – and the Fatwa Committee of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Raissouni’s statements did not go unnoticed by the sisterly Mauritania, which was also targeted by his poisoned arrows, and the Mauritanian Muslim Scholars Association described these statements as “suspicious and provocative”, considering that this type of calls “has nothing to do with the unity of the Muslims’ ranks” and that it “slanders the sovereignty of states”.

In turn, the Supreme Council of Sahrawi Imams considered that Raissouni’s call for “jihad” against Western Sahara, Algeria and Mauritania comes “to satisfy and flatter his expansionist colonial regime and to disregard the real enemy of the Islamic nation and its people, in whose arms the Moroccan regime has fallen.”

The biggest move by the leaders of the Association of Muslim Scholars and the rest of the Algerian members involved in the international union. The 24 members decided to freeze their activities in the union until Raissouni left his position either by resignation or dismissal. They were also keen to expose the legal and jurisprudential errors that Raissouni, who is described as “well-versed in the science of purposes”, fell into before he lost his compass and got involved in the political game drawn by the Makhzen regime.

The head of the Association of Algerian Muslim Scholars, Abderrazak Guessoum, considered that the acceptance by the International Union of Muslim Scholars of Raissouni’s desire to resign came in response to the just and legitimate demands of Algerian scholars.

Guessoum explained that Raissouni’s resignation from his position came “in response to our just and legitimate demands”, noting that the resignation is “the desired goal of the Association of Algerian Muslim Scholars, and the news of his resignation and acceptance is very important because he has hardened and maintained his positions.”

Regarding the resumption of activity in the IUMS, Guessoum, in his capacity as a member of the Board of Trustees, said that he would resume his activity “with pride”, after “the goals of Algerian public opinion were achieved”, and confirmed that he would “participate in the next general assembly of this body with the rest of the members.”

For his part, Aboudjerra Soltani, in his capacity as president of the Wasatiya Forum and a member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, confirmed that the union’s approval of Raissouni’s resignation came against the backdrop of “the pressure exerted on him from all sides, such as the scholars of Algeria, Mauritania and others.”

Previously, Raissouni explicitly called, in an interview with a local Moroccan tv channel, for jihad against Algeria and the annexation of Tindouf to the Kingdom of Morocco and the annexation of the whole of Mauritania as well, and confirmed that “the Moroccans are ready to march towards Tindouf to liberate their desert”, adding that “even the existence of Mauritania is wrong, as well as Western Sahara and Morocco must return to what it was before the European invasion”. Despite the enormity of what he said and the dangerous statements he made, he insisted on his mistake without repentance or apology until he fell by a knockout, and no one is regretting his departure.