Islam and Freemasonary
Many Islamic anti-Masonic arguments are closely tied to antisemitic conspiracy theories, though other criticisms are made, such as linking Freemasonry to Al-Masih ad-Dajjal (the false Messiah in Islamic Scripture). [158][159] Syrian-Egyptian Islamic theologian Mūhammād Rashīd Ridâ (1865–1935) played the crucial role in leading the opposition to Freemasonry across the Islamic world during the early twentieth century.[160]
Influenced by Rida, Islamic anti-Masons argue that Freemasonry promotes the interests of the Jews around the world and that one of its aims is to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in order to rebuild the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.[161] Through his popular pan-Islamic journal Al-Manar, Rashid Rida spread anti-Masonic ideas which would directly influence the Muslim Brotherhood and subsequent Islamist movements, such as Hamas.[162] In article 28 of its Covenant, Hamas states that Freemasonry, Rotary, and other similar groups "work in the interest of Zionism and according to its instructions ..."[163]
Several predominantly Muslim countries have banned Freemasonry within their borders, while others have not. Turkey and Morocco have established Grand Lodges,[164] while in countries such as Malaysia[165][166] and Lebanon,[167] there are District Grand Lodges operating under a warrant from an established Grand Lodge. In 1972, in Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, then Prime Minister of Pakistan, placed a ban on Freemasonry. Lodge buildings were confiscated by the government.[168]
Masonic lodges existed in Iraq as early as 1917, when the first lodge under the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) was opened. Nine lodges under UGLE existed by the 1950s, and a Scottish lodge was formed in 1923. However, the position changed following the revolution, and all lodges were forced to close in 1965.[169] This position was later reinforced under Saddam Hussein; the death penalty was "prescribed" for those who "promote or acclaim Zionist principles, including freemasonry, or who associate [themselves] with Zionist organisations."[158]