Indeed, Islamism is an extremely different tradition of thought, discourse and practice. In this regard, Mendelsohn attempts a comprehensive look at the new Islamic alternatives and introduce the concept of organising principles, shed light on the interpretation of religion as an organizing principle for world politics and discuss the role of couriers in upholding Islamic interpretations of organising principles (Mendelsohn 2012). In the radical Islamist narrative, the notion of God’s governance restores the essential principle of Islamic tenet. This principle, or organising principle, is devoted to the idea of God as the absolute conciliator in all worldly affairs. Nothing in Islam is hierarchy. Unlike the Christian tradition, Islam does not possess a formal church or hierarchy of religious authority. Ottoman Empire has never been encapsulated into a centralized institutional authority. It has been rather an oral, discursive form of narrative with storytellers as the spreaders of religious understanding. Over time, story tellers have been named ‘Alim’, ‘Faquih’ and ‘Imam’, all terms and titles that invest these couriers with the ability to speak with authority in the name of Islam, similarly to state and society (Mandaville, 2007: 11). As the sovereign western state rejects the sovereignty of God and it seems to be lost in adulation of ordinary humans, the couriers of Islamic belief are blaming the West for falling into Jajiliyya- a status of ignorance, of non-believers, which also refers to infidels and therefore call for action on defeating Islam (Ibid.). Jahiliyya is not a specific historical period but the righteous Muslim identity negation, the evil. Man is in crisis and he needs to make a choice: either Islam, the righteous path, either Jahiliyya, the realm of ‘Takfir’, ‘the Infidel’. Takfir represents the reason, Roy argues, for why fundamentalist often rejected the political arena. Politics is considered as essentially corrupted by Islamic fundamentalists. The state of Muslims failed into decadence and unhappiness because they accepted the western system and abandoned jihad, the fight against the infidels (Wiktorowicz, 2011: 280). Qutb, was one of the first courier of Islamic organizing principle who advocated jihad to establish Islamic rule (Wiktorowicz, 2011: 275). In this sense he rejected nationalism as an ideal and he permanently used the rhetoric of clash of civilizations : Islam and non- Islam, good and evil, just and injust. In contrast, Fuller brings another explanation, Islam has itself political ambitions and frustrations, therefore he argues that it is not culture but imbalance of power that fuels Islamist distrust and resentment of the West (Fuller, 2004: 20). Likewise, Sayyid highlights the reason that brought Islamists on the political stage - the psychological mood of the region is worse than ever before, and the reservoir of a vague anti-American ideology is deepening (Sayyid, 2011: 87). In this regard, numerous killings in Afghanistan and Iraq, the violation of Islamic symbols fuelled the Muslim violent emotions and pushed them to choose politics because they have no choice, otherwise politics is just an instrumental tool for reaching a higher spiritual goal. The dissertation is going to explain a bit more the religious thought behind the Muslim and Islamic philosophy (Islamic is the Muslim in action, while defeating its identity-Jihad). Islamism, in essence, rejects the contemporary system of territoriality as it is understood by sovereign nation and pursues to replace it with sharia ah-based. Thus, ‘Al-Islam din wa dawla’ is the expression of Islam as both religion and state, with governmental principles, institutions, and legal system springing directly from sharia. From the late 1920, Hasan al-Banna, the founder of the Brotherhood, revived the classical notion of da’wa (which in early times meant to live in accord with God’s will) and developed it in a stronger idea, the duty of every Muslim to fully subscribe to Islam, by living the religiousness in every aspect of their life (Hirschkind, 2011: 373). The Koran is the constitution that stipulates there is no need to go and looking for European values as Muslim community possess foundation for their own social order. Insofar, Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has become the first religious Islamic movement that reclaimed the political dimension. Nowadays is just a moderate Islamic organisation, in contrast with al-Jamiat. It pushed forward on the political agenda by respecting in the same time ‘da’wa’ to define the goals of organization, and sustaining the restoration of the Islamic community in the face of increasing secularization (Kepel, 2009). No political authority could contest this spiritual order of God and therefore the state must function to boost and enforce the Islamic system within society. In other words, the spiritual order is built from the basis, from inside the society, and is not provided by an institution, from the top institutionalized leaders (Mandaville, 2007: 47). As it would be seen further one, in Islamic thought, community has a big role in sustaining solidarity among Muslims. For Muslim, God is unique and not attached to a single political territory; therefore Muslims found themselves aspiring to a supranational unity in the name of a religious community loyal to Allah. After the abolition of the last Caliphate by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1924, Pan-national Muslim polity is looking to re-establish the model of caliphate (Mandaville, 2007: 239). That would be the chance the community of Muslims would regain its proudness. Caliphate encapsulates the idea of an Islamic great power. Once abolished, it may be considered a utopia for the western critics, however, the absence of Caliphate does not represents only a metaphor for filling a normative gap, instead nowadays it has found meaning in a new form of revival. In the approaches of the many scholars (Roy 2004 Sayyid 2011) it represents the Muslim ‘umma’ at a global level. In this regard, the creation of a large Muslim diaspora is one of the key developments that have enabled the spread of a pan Islamic sense of Musliness. The essence of ‘ummah’ is understood in the idea of renouncing one’s sectarian identities in the name of a greater harmony with God: it is, mainly, a communion of all Muslims. It is also the reason why Afghans or Checkens has been successful at times in the attempt to unify the tribes against the invader (Mandaville, 2011: 334). When the condition of Musliness is confronted by West, there are not any frontiers such as different ethnics or different languages. Arab nationalism, encapsulated in Umma, pursues to bring together mixed classes by dissolving them into Arab unity (Kepel, 2009: 62). Solidarity, in essence, is also perceived, and practiced. At the basis of society there is a strong yearning for unity and harmony (Kramer, 2011: 89). Millions of Muslims, rich or poor, dressed alike in the same austere garments, perform the ‘Hajj’, pilgrimage to Mecca, a symbol of moving, galvanizing, fulfilling a dignified role. The return to the innocence of their foundation is a personal awareness of being part of a vast Muslim identity, brotherhood or sisterhood, with shared beliefs, whether they differ in language, culture, skin color, ethnicity or wealth (Fuller, 2003: 18). Dar al- Islam, House of Islam, the geopolitical zone of early Muslims in the first centuries following death of Prophet Muhammad, is now replaced by a de-territorialized Islam, less indorsed into a specific and civilizational area (Roy, 2004: 222). It represents, nevertheless, another symbol of the eternal unification with the place of the eternal beginning. Nowadays the space of ‘ummah’ does not require a nation-state and borders, argues Oliver Roy (2011: 146): the community lives both in and apart from the existing society. Although the western world advances towards globalisation and uniformization, Fuller (2004: 19) argues that Muslim community mainly makes an effort to shift from the parochial state towards regionalization. Leading a discourse in front of students in Alexandria, in 1989, the Egyptian minister for religious affairs, Muhammad Ali Maghub proclaimed: Yes, Islam is the solution to all political, economic, and social problems. But it demands calm, reflective planning, and he calls for patience and rational organized, planning of the means (Starret, 1998). Firstly and most importantly, for Islamists, Islam Houa al- Hall - Islam is the solution. For those social entities very much in need for hope, the religious movements are seen as best able to provide relief for social and economic grievances. In Muslim rationale, religion becomes the symbol embedded in those movements that challenge authoritarian rulers that persecute them. They blame the colonial intruder for their economic failure, arguing that their post-colonial leaders have failed to meet national needs because they abandoned Islam. Islamists, not once assimilated with social justice proponents or even socialists deceive deep doubt towards contemporary globalisation. As in the last decade they have been permanently being cast away from power they now strongly identify themselves with the larger grassroots of the population against the sovereign elite and therefore become a major engine of embryonic anti state resentment (Sayyid, 2011: 73). Islamists have basically argued that Islamic world can manage better the inefficacity of the western type of government. Moreover, the Islamist mission delivers a broad critique of the existing order, contests it and targets to renovate it. It addresses the social, political, economic and cultural challenges faced by the contemporary Muslim societies and claims to provide solutions to them. Islamism is, in short, a form of instrumentalization of Islam by individuals, groups and organizations that pursue political objectives (Denoeux, 2011: 60). The principles of justice, clarity and order are derived from sharia. A constitution based on sharia is not predestined to be a platform for different and possibly incompatible philosophies and interests, its purpose is rather to smooth out divergent opinions and preserve harmony and unity on the basis of their traditional charter of Islam, Sharia (Kramer, 2011). In this context, the literature of da’wa provides a particular set of virtues emphasising the orderliness and civility of public interaction, a guide for the character of public subject: Who takes no interest in the affairs of the Muslims is not one of them. Expressing interest in others draws them toward you. To be given concern, one must show a concern for others. This is one of the effective qualities of the Muslim individual, that he be useful to those around him. Thus, one need be skilled at placing oneself in the service of others; and extending a useful hand to others in sincerity, devoid of personal interest, bias or egoism (quoted in Hirschkind, 2011: 379). So far Islamic community seeks to fulfil the internal development standard, which encapsulates commonly accepted values promoted by Islamic society that impel for fighting poverty, seek to provide the full employment and delivers a basic social of existence by providing mutual aid and assistance among Muslims. Nevertheless their message is always boost by community charity and social work. Islamists claim that a society dedicated to Allah would provide to respectable people happiness by subordinating individual interest for the collective moral. That is the right approach that will bring the best people in society to govern in the name of God. In a nutshell, conflicts in government can be avoided, by presence of the righteous and faithful Muslims who advocate the creed of the Quran. The notion of rights in western society, in contrast with the Islamic order constitution upholds the idea that individuals possess some characteristics that do not necessarily come from community with God. Islamists argue that people have no rights, only duties and obligation, therefore the relationship between the individual and society is one of ethical responsibility. One classic school of Islamic thought insists that public welfare (maslaha) is the key measure of Islamic correctness and good governance. Increasingly Islam attempts to come at the core of public opinion, seeks popular support, and shows public interest in administering an Islamic state (Fuller, 2003: 98). Muslim youth, representing the transnational echo of Muslim values, seems to buttress their Islamic values in any location around the world, similarly in Educational sites. As such, verse 135 of Surah Al Nisa (The Women) has been posted on a wall opposite the faculty’s main entrance, dedicated to the best mottos in regard to justice: O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah , even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah is more worthy of both. So follow not [personal] inclination, lest you not be just. And if you distort [your testimony] or refuse [to give it], then indeed Allah is ever, with what you do, Acquainted. (CII, 2013) Furthermore, the western Myth of equality stands against the myth of affiliation. While secular myth may express great images of the moral potential of humanity, the Muslim myth of affiliation emphasises solidarity. In Islam thinking, essential elements of liberal democracy such as the principle of equality do not respond well to sharia. It is rather a discourse about elements of democracy, where principles are associated with other essences or thinking and practices. The Muslims debate about democracy (democratyya) includes attention to and elaboration of religious conceptions of consultation (shura), governance (hakymiyya), community (umma), legislature (majlis) and legislation (shari’a) as well sovereignty (seeyada al dawla), elections (intikabat) and pluralism ( tawadad). They are all concepts located in the language of Islam and not foreign constructions in the Muslim vocabulary and consciousness, except for ‘shura’, a new entrance in the democratic western space. ‘Shura’ represents an element in the response to the modern secularizing influences of the democratic philosophies of socialism and communism. Since 1979 The Islamic Republic of Iran discloses a system of regular elections for the whole people of the country, including women and ethnic and religious minorities such as Kurds and Jews. Indeed laws are deliberated and promulgated with the subsequent consent of a supreme assembly of religious clerics. According to article 62, section 1, of the 1992 constitution, ‘The Islamic Consultative assembly is constituted by the representatives of the people elected directly and by secret ballot.’ (Milton Edwards, 2004:104,105). Doctrinally, Islamic finance has one basic principle, to provide alms for the community in need. Bank savings are functions by prohibition of fixed interest rates, as being condemned by the Koran as ‘usury’ (raiba). An example in this regard is given by the Iraqi Shiite Ayatollah Baqir who advocated an Islamic economic edifice entirely based on the principles of Islam. Likewise, the example of the Egyptian Ahmad-al-Naggar who established a bank that has the mission to collect a zakat fund that accounted for 2.5 percent of its capital and used to be used as alms for the disadvantaged Muslims (Kepel, 2009: 76). Muslims uphold their obligation and shared identity of religion as a vital counterbalance to the pragmatic liberal economic view and competitiveness of American individualism. It is sceptical that an individualistic society could provide fulfilment; only the communitarian religious society is right, it is also highlighted the concept of the rights - rights of people as a community, and not individualism. The Islamic thinking encapsulated in Da’wa shapes the conditions of civic society for Muslims in Egypt. The Islamic state is concerned with the authenticity and emotional feelings of the religious subject, therefore, in reaction to the problems of the young globalized Muslim citizen is trying to create a system of specific secular cultural institutions as a prophylaxis. One editorial argues in regard with the importance and utility of mosques for the young generations: We should restore mosques once again to their proper function as places of worship, and provide young people with plenty of other accessible leisure activities, so that they can live like normal young people, studying or working in the morning, going to their place of worship to pray, and then in their leisure time going to the cinema, theatre or library, or taking part in their favourite sport (Hirschkind, 2011: 375) Other virtues: the virtues of sincerity (iklas), humility (khushu), and fear of God (taqwa or khauf) are also frequently associated with the performance of da’wa (Hirschkind, 2011: 380). Likewise, the cultivation of friendliness, temperateness and gentleness of speech tend to maintain the health of the Islamic society. The religious law is the only source of social and ethical truth. Islamists think that failures of authocratic regimes ruled by Sadat and Mubarak might be a lesson from the fact– instead of shariah they preferred the western law. Religion (Roy 2004) as identity is encapsulated in the expression ‘proud to be’. The author of The Ummah claims that the new fundamentalism is actually an agent and a consequence of deculturation. Others authors such as Lacroix (2011) argues that Islam has been pushed to reinvent itself under the pressure of globalisation. In his opinion, the success of present Islamism movements will depend essentially on their capacity to transform the overriding political culture and the conceptions of legitimacy that sustain it, and these goals can be achieved only by being identified with a strong civil society. In this sense, he offers the example of Morocco and Turkey that tried the more liberal path and succeeded (Lacroix, 2011: 264)
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 13:59:12 +0000
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