Al-Houthi and false sanctity

There is nothing more pathetic than for the mind to respond to the delusions of the priesthood, for man to transform from a thinking being into a mere echo reverberating in the void, chanting the name of a leader he has never seen, whose presence he has only sensed on a screen, as if the image had become more real than reality, as if this absent person in his cave had become a god to whom hands were raised and heads bowed.

Belief in Abdul-Malik al-Houthi is not faith, but rather a mental surrender to a false idea, one carefully crafted to be presented as a sacred certainty, while in reality it is a mere deception. How can a man whom no one has ever seen outside his cave become a symbol of salvation? How can he be elevated to the status of an infallible leader when he has never faced the reality for which he demands others die?

This faith is not born of knowledge, but of fear; it is not formed from conviction, but from the repetition of lies until they appear to be truth. Every oppressive regime or entity seeks to create a false sanctity around its leader, to strip people of their ability to question, to transform obedience into a virtue and doubt into a sin. Thus, Abdulmalik al-Houthi is viewed not as an ordinary man, but as a superhuman being, an unquestionable truth, even though everything around him points only to fragility, to a man who hid while the blood of his followers was shed in defense of his power.

The danger of manifestations of intellectual decadence is that a man is treated as a god simply because he possesses power, and that chanting his praises becomes a ritual of faith, as if loyalty cleanses the mind of its need for understanding. But true faith lies not in worshipping persons, but in seeking the truth, and the truth here is clear: this man is nothing but another illusion sold to a public accustomed to worshipping its jailers.

Belief in Abdul-Malik al-Houthi is not so much faith as surrender to the power of illusion. It is the kind of faith instilled in the soul through repetition, not proof, through fear, not conviction, until it becomes absolute, unquestionable certainty. Throughout time, tyrants have never needed extraordinary intelligence or exceptional vision, but simply the ability to craft an image that transcends their reality, to create a false aura surrounding them so that people mistake it for a sacred light.

Belief in an idea is only dangerous when it becomes a substitute for thought. Herein lies the major dilemma of belief in Abdulmalik al-Houthi: it is not a belief stemming from personal experience or rational understanding, but rather the product of a long-term propaganda system based on emptying the mind of questioning and replacing it with obedience. This type of belief does not arise from knowledge, but from the imposition of a stereotypical image of an infallible person, a man who appears in public only via controlled screens, surrounded by an aura of mystery that confers him false power, where his absence from the scene becomes evidence of his strength, not a sign of his fear or weakness.

Abdulmalik al-Houthi was not the first person to be subjected to this technique. Totalitarian regimes throughout history have always created invisible leaders, ghosts who impose themselves on reality without being a part of it. Stalin was not just a dictator, but a "sacred father" visible only through his images ubiquitous. Khomeini was not just a political leader, but rather embodied in the Shiite imagination as a shadow of God on earth. Thus, the same pattern is repeated: a man who hides, yet is sanctified; absent from the scene, yet seen as absolutely present.

Tyranny, in essence, is not merely the exercise of force; it is, above all, a project to reshape consciousness, such that submission becomes a virtue and rebellion a moral crime. Here, faith in the leader is an absolute necessity, as he strips people of their need to think and gives them the illusion of security under the "wise leader." Instead of seeking the truth, people are asked only to believe. Instead of seeing reality as it is, they are asked to see it as the discourse of authority imposes it.

But Abdulmalik al-Houthi, unlike traditional tyrants, did not even offer a convincing discourse. He addressed people only with what stirred their primitive instincts: sectarianism, hatred, and fear of the other. This type of leadership builds its legitimacy not on achievements, but on fabricating enemies. He does not need to be present in people's lives as an actual leader; it is sufficient for him to be present in their imagination as a symbol of salvation, as a supposed protector from an ever-present danger—a danger he himself created and consecrated.

Historically, great leaders have been those who publicly confront their fates, standing at the forefront, paying the price for their choices along with their people. But Abdulmalik al-Houthi represents the exact opposite. He is the model of a leader who only appears when he is called to speak. He does not stand at the forefront, but sends others to die in defense of his authority. He does not live among the people, but hides away from them, surrounded by his own guards and elites.

This physical absence is not merely a security measure; it is a strategy in itself. It is what gives him an aura of mystery and what causes his followers to weave myths around him. When the human mind is deprived of seeing the truth, it begins to weave explanations that fill the void. It is said that he does not appear because he is targeted, but the truth is that he does not appear because he has nothing to say. He does not confront because he cannot confront. He hides because his authority is based on image, not reality.

Faith, at its core, is a spiritual act that transcends material reality in search of a higher meaning. But when it is imposed by force, when man is stripped of his freedom to doubt, it becomes an instrument of slavery. Thus, Abdulmalik al-Houthi becomes the epitome of a false god—a god who does not grant life but demands death, who does not offer truth but imposes lies, who does not liberate man but renders him subservient and obedient.

The most dangerous thing about this belief is that it leaves no room for reason to see the truth, but rather closes all windows of doubt. When doubt becomes forbidden, tyranny becomes sacred.

But history only records the names of tyrants as criminals, and only lists dictators as outcasts. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi is no exception, and he will never be, just as his predecessors were not. Time will expose the falseness of a faith rooted in fear, and restore to minds their ability to see, after the idols are shattered and the mask falls off this false "god."