Spring 2014
POS 353
Islamic Ideology
Presented to
Dr. Elie El Hindy
By
Jimmy Matar 2012-1972
Introduction
Throughout the 20th century, the rise of political Islam has been one of the major events. The Islamic religion is followed by more than 1.5 billion people worldwide; however, it has become an ideological project for some.
Because of the important role that political Islam plays in the world today, a careful examination into the roots of these ideologies, how they evolved into the current form, how they are similar or different from each other, in addition to their perspectives for today and the future will shed light on their actions and way of thinking.
Historical Background
In the 16th century, there were three Islamic powers: Ottoman Empire, Central Asian Empire, and Mughal Empire. All three vanished from the face of the earth leaving behind multitude of Muslim aspirations longing for the glories of the past. The Ottoman Empire disintegrated in 1922, the Central Asian Empire was taken over by the Russian Empire, and the Mughal Empire’s last gasp was in 1857 when their rebellion was defeated by the British.
This has caused an absence of a core state for the Islamic world. There have been individual revolutions in several countries such as Omar Al Mukhtar in Libya, the Million Martyrs Revolution in Algeria…against Western colonization but the strategic centre of gravity had already shifted.
The continuous military defeats of the Arab countries against Israel (1948, 1967, and 1973) have caused a heavy burden in the psychology of the Arab Muslims. These defeats confirmed the loss of Muslim power. This led to abandoning the idea of secularism and going back towards the commitment to Islam to regain the former ...
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...led by the US as legitimate targets for jihad.
Salafists believe that “Muslims should emulate the first three generations of Islam referred to as the pious forefathers (al salaf al salih) as much as possible in all areas of life” (Evans, 2011, 820).
Although the Salafists differ on the issue of jihad, apostasy, and activism priorities, they strictly believe in the oneness of God, and in following the rules of the Qur’an in a strict manner so that the bias of human subjectivity and self interest will be eliminated.
There are three major groups: the purists who believe that they should use nonviolent methods to spread education and purification, the politicos who believe that the Salafi beliefs have to be implemented politically because God is the only source of legislation, and the jihadis who believe that change can only come from revolution and violence.
Sufism
The failure of defensive development in Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, and Persia had a large and long-lasting effect on the Muslim world. The original goal of the reforms was to end European intervention, revive the weakening empires, and to be on equal standing with Europe. Yet, all three empires over-utilized the wealth and knowledge of Europe, leading to their ultimate demise. The empires wished to impose reforms in the military, economics, education, and law which the region had not experienced previously. This resulted in backlash, violence, and division within the empires eventually leading to bankruptcy, ironically, to those which they wished to separate themselves.
They also consider him to be the last prophet of God through the teachings and the example of Muhammad. They refer to their god as Allah. The basis of Islamic life is centered on Allah, whom we must be submitted to and served. They believe that the previous messages and revelations have been partially misinterpreted or altered over time with evolving cultures and translating languages, but consider the Arabic Qur'an to be the unaltered and final revelation of Allah. Religion is practiced with the five pillars of Islam, which are basic concepts and required acts of worship.
Even though this might seem paradoxal to those most keen stereotypes of the contemporary popular image of Islam as hermetic and sectarian, the pattern of drawing people together while protecting the individuals’ freedom of beliefs is part of the anthropological DNA of the religion. Within its a context of emergence and expansion and with regard to the inner endless subdivisions of the Islamic faith, the principle of pluralism was naturally forged.
Thomas W. Lippman gives an introduction to the Muslim world in the book Understanding Islam. He has traveled throughout the Islamic world as Washington Post bureau chief for the Middle East, and as a correspondent in Indochina. This gave him, in his own words, "sharp insight into the complexities of that turbulent region." However, the purpose of the book is not to produce a critical or controversial interpretation of Islamic scripture. It is instead to give the American layman an broad understanding of a religion that is highly misunderstood by many Americans. In this way he dispels many myths about "Muslim militants," and the otherwise untrue perception of Islamic violence. In this way the American reader will become more knowledgeable about an otherwise unfamiliar topic. However, the most significant element of Lippman’s book is that it presents Islam in a simple way that makes the reader feels his awareness rise after each chapter. This encourages him to continue learning about the world’s youngest major religion. Understanding Islam dispels many misconceptions about the Muslim world, and presents the subject in a way that urges his reader to further his understanding of Islam through continued study.
Ajami argues that universalism of Pan-Arabism derived from the universalism of the Ottoman Empire had disappeared after 6 decades. There is no longer a collective Arab crisis and nation states have alternate nationalistic goals. A case in point to support his argument would be the example of Egypt. The country has pertinent political and economic issues to concern itself with. Many face unemployment and the country is on the verge of bankruptcy....
Burns, Thomas J. "Islam." Religion and Society. OU Campus' Dale Hall, Norman. 14 Apr. 2014. Lecture.
Over the course of the last century, the Islamic Republic of Iran (formerly known as Persia) has seen colonialism, the end of a dynasty, the installation of a government by a foreign power, and just over three decades ago, the popular uprising and a cleric-led revolution. These events preceded what could be considered the world’s first Islamic state, as politics and fundamentalist religion are inextricably linked in contemporary Iran. Looking at Iran from the mid 1940’s until the present day, one can trace the path that led to the rise of fundamental Islam in Iran in three distinct periods. The first is that which began with the rise of secular nationalism and the decline of Islam. In the second, the secular, western-friendly government eventually gave way to the Islamic revival in the form of a government takeover by hard-line clerics and disillusioned, fundamentalist youth; both motivated and led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Rule of Iran by these fundamentalist clerics then led to the formation of the fundamentalist Islamic theocracy that governs present-day Iran. The current government has some democratic appearances, but all real power is in the hands of the supreme leader, an Ayatollah who is chosen by the Assembly of Experts, a group of clerics chosen by the Guardian Council. With the Iranian Revolution, political Islam was born, with the fundamentalists holding the reins of power in Iran to the present day.
Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.
In Islam, the close association of political power, moral authority, and religious beliefs made authority its biggest issue. (Page 43)
Islam, similar to Judaism and Christianity, is a monotheistic religion based on the belief in one God. There are two main divisions in the Islam religion, they are Sunni and Shi’a. The separation of the two major divisions of Islam was caused by the early question of leadership after Muhammad’s death .The vast majority of Muslims, perhaps 90 percent, are Sunni, and the other ten percent are Shi’a. "Sunni" comes from the Arabic word Sunnah, meaning "customary practice." In Sunni Islam, the imam is the man who leads the Friday prayers in a mosque with scriptures from the Qur’an, the text of which is considered to be the direct word from God (Allah). In my native country (Senegal), Islam plays a big role in our everyday life and we have different Tariqas (sub-group of Islam) within the nation.
The Islamic tradition, as reflected in Naguib Mahfouz’s Zaabalawi, has over the course of history had an incredible impact on Arab culture. In Mahfouz’s time, Islamic practices combined with their political relevance proved a source of both great power and woe in Middle Eastern countries. As alluded to in Zaabalawi, Mahfouz asserts the fact that not all Muslims attain religious fulfillment through this common tradition, and other methods outside the scope of Islam may be necessary in true spiritual understanding.
Lewis, Bernard (1996). Islam and Liberal Democracy: A Historical Overview. Journal of Democracy, Volume 7, Issue 2, 52-63.
Qutb’s involvement with Egyptian religious politics caused him to come into conflict with the Nasser government of 1950s’ Egypt and Qutb spent a decade in prison. It was during this period he produced many of his seminal writings on the establishment of a truly Islamic society. By drawing on early Islamic thinkers and on direct interpretation of the Qur’an, Qutb advocated violence in establishing an Islamic state. The thinking behind and the implications of these interpretations are discussed at length in this essay to demonstrate how they have informed the belief of many Islamic fundamentalists, especially with regard to the use of violence to achieve their aims. The latter part of the essay focuses on the legacy of Qutb’s ideas and how these have been manifest in various fundamentalist groups. However, because academic literature is often a few paces behind the present it has not been possible to explore some recent developmenst of Islam inspired violence in any detail, namely the emergence of fundamentalist groups within the Muslim diaspora of the West.
Al-Qaeda is a group that was established by Osama bin Laden, a man who subscribed to a sect of Sunni Islam known as Salfism. Today Salafism is often a term used to describe a Muslim who adheres to strict form of the religion. In Dr. Marc Monte’s statement he expresses a sentiment that would lead people to believe that those who commit acts of Islamic terrorism are rightly following the prescribed path of Islam no matter which sect they subscribed to. Is this an accurate description of those who claim to be Muslims or even those wh...
Rather, this terrorism was a product that was pushed and accelerated through significant historical events using the religion of Islam as a tool to “perpetuate power” . These historical events that accelerated terrorism, include that of the United States intervention in the 1980’s, and propagandist ideologies like that of Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabism. Thus, before attempting to analyze and understand the influences behind these events, one must first understand how this religion was used to perpetuate power, by approaching to understand religion in a more philosophical manner.