Explanation
Explaining the development of Islamism (or at least jihadist Islamism), one critic (Khaled Abu al-Fadl) describes it as not so much an expression of religious revival and resurgence, but a phenomenon created by several factors: * the undermining of the independence and religious authority of IslamicLimits on freedom of expression
According to... was sentenced to three years hard labor for writings that `offended Islam`;Egyptian author Farag Foda was assassinated on June 8, 1992 by militants of the Gamaa Islamiya as an example to other anti-fundamentalist intellectuals. While Islamists are often separated into "bad" violentgyptian Windel Beneto Edwards (born 25 October 1983), better known by his stage name Gyptian (), is a Jamaican reggae singer. He often appears with roots reggae songs within the reggae subgenre dancehall. Early life Born to a Seventh-day Adventist ...feminist novelist Nawal El Saadawi has been repeatedly tried in court for anti-Islamic writing and her husband ordered to divorce her as a Muslim apostate, although the charges were ultimately struck down; Islamist lawyers also charged Islamic and Arabic literature professor Nasr Abu Zayd with apostasy for his writings on the background of the Qur'an, and his wife was ordered to divorce him. ..."
Takfir
Some Islamists have evolved beyond targeting liberal and secular intellectuals to more mainstream Muslims (What researchers Matteo Sisto and Samir Gurung dub "Neo-Takfirism"). In the Algerian Civil War the insurgent/jihadist Islamist groupKhawarij
Some Islamists have been condemned by other Muslims as Kharijites for their willingness toEmphasis on politics
Neglect of other issues
Although Islamism is a movement devoted to the preeminence of Islam in all fields some have suggested that belief has been neglected in favor of politics, and that "organizers, enthusiasts, and politicians," rather than those focusing on spirituality or religion, have "had the most impact" in the movement. Other observers have remarked on the narrowness of Islamism, and its lack of interest in studying and making sense of the world in general. Habib Boulares regrets that the movement in general has "devoted little energy to constructing consistent theories" and has made 'no contribution either to Islamic thought or spirituality'. Olivier Roy complains of its intellectual stagnation in that "since the founding writings of Abul Ala Maududi,There is neither history, since nothing new has happened except a return to the ''jahiliyya'' of pre-Islamic times, nor anthropology, since man is simply the exercise of virtue (there is no depth psychology in Islam: sin is not an introduction to the other within), nor sociology, since segmentation is ''fitna'', splitting of the community, and thus an attack on the divine oneness the community reflects. Anything, in fact, that differentiates is seen as a menace to the unity of the community... Roy, ''Failure of Political Islam'', 1994: p. 73
Dependence on virtue
Roy also argues that the basic strategy of Islamism suffers from "a vicious circle" of "no Islamic state without virtuous Muslims, no virtuous Muslims without an Islamic state". Roy, ''Failure of Political Islam'', 1994: pp. 60–62, 67 This is because for Islamists, "Islamic society exists only through politics, but the political institutions function only a result of the virtue of those who run them, a virtue that can become widespread only if the society is Islamic beforehand." The process of choosing a leader involves not issues such as the structure of elections, of checks and balances on power, but searching for "subjective" qualities: Roy, ''Failure of Political Islam'', 1994, p. 62 the amir must "abstain from sin", incarnate "sincerity, equity, justice, purity" Roy, ''Failure of Political Islam'', 1994: p. 43, note 29 have "sincerity, ability and loyalty", Roy, ''Failure of Political Islam'', 1994: p. 62, note 7 "moral integrity as well as ... other relevant criteria" (Hassan al-Turabi). Roy, ''Failure of Political Islam'', 1994: p. 62, note 8Failure of Islamists in power
Examples of the failure of personal virtue and disinterest in "building institutions" capable of handling the corruption of power and human frailty is manifest, (Roy believes), in the Islamic Republic of Iran and mujahideen Afghanistan. In both cases the heroic Islamic self-sacrifice that brought Islamist insurgents to power was followed by notably un-heroic and un-virtuous governance of the victorious warriors "demanding their due" in spoils and corruption, Roy, ''Failure of Political Islam'', 1994: pp. 66–67 or abandon politics to "climbers, careerists, and unscrupulous businessmen." Roy, ''Failure of Political Islam'', 1994: p. 195 Islamists were no more successful than "other ideologies", in proving immune to the corruption of power. In Iran the failure is seen not just in lack of support for Islamist government, but in the decline of the Islamic revival. "Mosques are packed" where Islamists are out of power, but "they empty out when Islamism takes power." In "Islamist Iran ... one almost never sees a person praying in the street." Roy, ''Failure of Political Islam'', 1994: p. 199 Islamic jurists, which form a politically privileged class in Iran "were generally treated with elaborate courtesy" in the early years of the revolution. "'Nowadays, clerics are sometimes insulted by schoolchildren and taxi drivers and they quite often put on normal clothes when venturing outside Qom." Disillusionment with what he calls the "faltering ideology" can also be found in Sudan, with Erbakan in Turkey, or in the Algerian guerilla war. Kepel, ''Jihad'', 2002: pp. 13–14Failure of Islamist policies
Separation of the sexes
Thorough hijab covering for women and separation of the sexes has been advocated by Islamists such as Abul A'la Maududi who argue it prevents men from "being distracted by women" and allow them "to successfully carry out their jobs in society", but critics have complained of the lack of correlation between separation and respect for women. In the country with perhaps the strictest policy of separation of the sexes (Saudi Arabia) one disillusioned Islamist (Ed Husain), who worked as an English teacher was startled at the attitude of Saudi Arabian men towards women. Husain complained that despite the strict Saudi policy separation of the sexes that he wished to emulate as an Islamist, he heard harrowing stories of kidnapping of women and encountered downloading of hard core pornography by his students that he never encountered in Britain or the more "secular" Syrian Republic where he also taught. Despite his wife's modest dressout of respect for local custom, she wore the long black abaya and covered her hair in a black scarf. In all the years I had known my wife, never had I seen her appear so dull ... Yet on two occasions she was accosted by passing Saudi youths from their cars. ... In supermarkets I only had to be away from Faye for five minutes and Saudi men would hiss or whisper obscenities as they walked past. When Faye discussed their experiences with local women at the British Council they said, `Welcome to Saudi Arabia` Had I not reached Saudi Arabia utterly convinced of my own faith and identity, then I might well have lost both. Wahhabism and its rigidity could easily have repelled me from Islam.
Vagueness
Author Tarek Osman has criticized Islamism as promising "everything to everyone", leading to unsustainable conflicts and contradictions: an alternative social provider to the poor masses; an angry platform for the disillusioned young; a loud trumpet-call announcing `a return to the pure religion` to those seeking an identity; a "progressive, moderate religious platform` for the affluent and liberal; ... and at the extremes, a violent vehicle for rejectionists and radicals."Osman, Tarek, ''Egypt on the brink'', 2010, p. 111Irrelevance in modern times
Olivier Roy argues that, while Islamism has been wonderfully successful as a "mobilising slogan", it "just does not provide the answers to the problems of governing a modern states." Roy points to Egypt, the largest Arab Muslim country, where in the wake of the Arab Spring, the party of the oldest and largest Islamist movement (the Muslim Brotherhood) was by far the largest vote getter. It won the 2012 presidential election but within a year was overthrown and crushed by the military after massive protests by millions. Another critic, Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im argues that, even in family law, where Islamic jurisprudence provides an abundance of rulings, Sharia law does not provide a clear basis for a centralised administration, because the very idea of centralised administration did not exist at the time when the various schools of Muslim family law were developed.Emphasis on early Islam
Some critics (such as Tunisian-born scholar and journalist Abdelwahab Meddeb) have bemoaned the Islamist belief that in 1400 years of Muslim history, true Islam worthy of imitation was enforced for only a few decades.Unification of religion and state
One of the most commonly quoted slogans in the movement is that of the Muslim Brotherhood: `''al-islam dinun was dawlatun''` (Islam is a religion and a state). But, as one critic complains, the slogan "is neither a verse of theHistorical context
Critics contend that this unification is not unique to Islam but to the premodern era, or at least the era around the time of Muhammad. According toThis was also an era in which religion and the state were one unified entity. ... no Jew, Christian,Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ..., or Muslim of this time would have considered his or her religion to be rooted in the personal confessional experiences of individuals. ... Your religion was your ethnicity, your culture, and your social identity ... your religion was your citizenship. The post-Julian Roman Empire was Christian, with one "officially sanctioned and legally enforced version" of (Nicene) Christianity. The Sassanid Empire in Persia wasZoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ..., again with one officially sanctioned and legally enforced version of Zoroastrianism. On the Indian subcontinent, Vaisnava kingdoms (devotees of Vishnu and his incarnations) fought with Savia kingdoms (devotees of Shiva) for territorial control. In China,Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...rulers foughtTaoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Tao ...rulers for political ascendancy. "Thus every religion was a `religion of the sword.`"
Historical necessity
Critics also suggest that the early combination of religion and state in Muslim society may have been a product of its creation in the stateless world of Arab society where Muslims needed a state to protect themselves, rather than the timeless essence of Islam. Christianity was based within the "massive and enduring"Mohammad founded a religious community ''ex nihilo (Latin for "creation out of nothing") is the doctrine that matter is not eternal but had to be created by some divine creative act. It is a theistic answer to the question of how the universe comes to exist. It is in contrast to ''Ex nihilo ...''. He lived in western Arabia, a stateless region where tribal affiliations dominated all of public life. A tribe protected its members (by threatening to take revenge for them), and it provided social bonds, economic opportunities, as well as political enfranchisement. An individual lacking tribal ties had no standing: he could be robbed, raped, and killed with impunity. If Muhammad was to attract tribesmen to join his movement, he had to provide them with an affiliation no less powerful than the tribe they had left behind".
Scriptural basis
The scriptural basis of the Islamist principle that God – in the form of Sharia law – must govern, comes, at least in part, from the Quranic phrase that ''`Hukm is God's alone,`'' according to one of the founders of Islamist thought, Abul Ala Maududi. However, journalist and author Abdelwahab Meddeb questions this idea on the grounds that the definition of the Arabic word ''hukm'' is broader then simply "to govern", and that the ayah Maududi quoted is not about governing or government. ''Hukm'' is usually defined as to "exercise power as governing, to pronounce a sentence, to judge between two parties, to be knowledgeable (in medicine, in philosophy), to be wise, prudent, of a considered judgment". The full ayat where the phrase appears says:Those who you adore outside of Him are nothing but names that you and your fathers have given them. God has granted them no authority. ''Hukm is God's alone''. He has commanded that you adore none but Him. Such is the right religion, but most people do not know.Which suggests that the Quran is talking about God's superiority over pagan idols, rather than His role in government. According to Meddeb,
Islamist interpretation of Sharia
Criticisms of Sharia law – or orthodox historical sharia law – are varied and not always in agreement. They include: that Islamist leaders are often ignorant of Islamic law, the Islamist definition of Sharia is in error, its implementation is impractical, and that flexible solutions have been ignored, that its scriptural basis has been corrupted, and that its enforcement is un-Islamic.Ignorance
Despite the great importance Islamists gave to strict adherence to Sharia, many were not trained jurists. Islamic scholar and moderate Abou el Fadl complains that "neither Qutb nor Mawdudi were trained jurists, and their knowledge of the Islamic jurisprudential tradition was minimal. Nevertheless, like `Abd al-Wahhad, Mawdudi and Qutb imagined Islamic law to be a set of clear cut, inflexible and rigid positive commands that covered and regulated every aspect of life." Abou El Fadl, ''Great Theft'', 2005: p. 82 Dale C. Eikmeier points out the "questionable religious credentials" of many Islamist theorists, or "Qutbists," which can be a "means to discredit them and their message":With the exception of Abul Ala Maududi and Abdullah Azzam, none of Qutbism’s main theoreticians trained at Islam’s recognized centers of learning. Although a devout Muslim, Hassan al Banna was a teacher and community activist. Sayyid Qutb was a literary critic. Muhammad Abd al-Salam Faraj was an electrician. Ayman al-Zawahiri is a physician. Osama bin Laden trained to be a businessman.
Sharia as single universal set of laws to obey
Islamists such as Sayyid Qutb and Ayatollah Khomeini have argued that true Islam and a Muslim community cannot be said to exist without the application of Sharia law. According to Qutb, "The Muslim community with these characteristics vanished at the moment the laws of God .e. Shariabecame suspended on earth." Khomeini preaches that Islamic government is neededif the Islamic order is to be preserved and all individuals are to pursue the just path of Islam without any deviation, if innovation and the approval of the anti-Islamic laws by sham parliaments are to be prevented,and in this Islamic government, (in fact "in Islam")
the legislative power and competence to establish laws belongs exclusively to God Almighty. The Sacred Legislator of Islam is the sole legislative power. No one has the right to legislate and no law may be executed except the law of the Divine Legislator.Abou El Fadl replies that the Quran itself seems to deny there is one sharia for everyone to obey:
`To each of you God has prescribed a Law hariaand a Way. If God would have willed, He would have made you a single people. But God's purpose is to test you in what he has given each of you, so strive in the pursuit of virtue, and know that you will all return to God n the Hereafter and He will resolve all the matters in which you disagree.According to these dissenters the definition of Sharia as being the body of Muslim jurisprudence, its various commentaries and interpretations, only came later in Islamic history. Many modernists argue this jurisprudence is "entirely man-made, written by Muslim scholars according to their various schools, based on their best understanding of how the Qur'an should be translated into codes of law." One scholar, Muhammad Sa'id al-'Ashmawi a specialist in comparative and Islamic law at Cairo University, argues that the term Sharia, as used in the Qur'an, refers not to legal rules but rather to "the path of Islam consisting of three streams: 1) worship, 2) ethical code, and 3) social intercourse. Thus al-`Ashmawi and many other modernists insist that the Shari'a is very different than Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and that fiqh must be reinterpreted anew by scholars in every age in accordance with their understanding." "In Turkey, the Islamist post-Islamist.html"_;"title="Post-Islamism.html"_;"title="r_Post-Islamism">post-Islamist">Post-Islamism.html"_;"title="r_Post-Islamism">post-IslamistJustice_and_Development_Party_(Turkey).html" ;"title="Post-Islamism">post-Islamist.html" ;"title="Post-Islamism.html" ;"title="r post-Islamist">Post-Islamism.html"_;"title="r_Post-Islamism">post-IslamistJustice_and_Development_Party_(Turkey)">Justice_and_Development_Party_has_many_members_who_speak_of_Sharia_as_a_metaphor_for_a_moral_society."
"the_supposed_purists_cannot_even_agree_on_which_sins_to_repress._Saudi_Arabia_forces_women_to_be_veiled_and_forbids_them_to_drive,_while_Iran_allows_females_to_show_their_faces_behind_wheels_but_threatens_them_with_jail_if_they_expose_too_much_hair._Sunni_rigorist_insist_that_God_hates_men_to_be_clean_shaven,_whereas_Tehran's_Ministry_of_Culture_suggests_in_July_2010_that_He_was_more_perturbed_by_ponytails_and_mullets._Some_extremists_have_even_attached_spiritual_significance_to_customs_that_mandate_physical_violence,_such_as_female_genital_mutilation_and_so-called_honor_killings,_oblivious_to_the_pagan_roots_of_the_first_practice_and_the_unequivocal_hostility_of_the_Qur'an_and_hadiths_to_the_second_one.
__Overly_simplistic_
A_related_criticism_is_that_Islamist_"Identity_politics.html" ;"title="Post-Islamism">post-Islamist">Post-Islamism.html" ;"title="r Post-Islamism">post-IslamistJustice and Development Party (Turkey)">Justice and Development Party has many members who speak of Sharia as a metaphor for a moral society." Fuller, ''The Future of Political Islam'', 2003: p. 57 Thus "there is no one Sharia but rather many different, even contesting ways to build a legal structure in accordance with God's vision for mankind." Fuller, ''The Future of Political Islam'', 2003: pp. 56–57 One difference between this interpretation and the orthodox Sharia is in the penalty for apostasy from Islam. According to non-Islamist Sudanese cleric Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, the Islamist interpretation of sharia, "is fundamentally inconsistent with the numerous provisions of the Quran and Sunna which enjoin freedom of religion and expression." An illustration of the lack of a single universal Sharia is the fact that its proponents do not agree on one. Legal scholar Sadakat Kadri complains that"the supposed purists cannot even agree on which sins to repress. Saudi Arabia forces women to be veiled and forbids them to drive, while Iran allows females to show their faces behind wheels but threatens them with jail if they expose too much hair. Sunni rigorist insist that God hates men to be clean shaven, whereas Tehran's Ministry of Culture suggests in July 2010 that He was more perturbed by ponytails and mullets. Some extremists have even attached spiritual significance to customs that mandate physical violence, such as female genital mutilation and so-called honor killings, oblivious to the pagan roots of the first practice and the unequivocal hostility of the Qur'an and hadiths to the second one.
Overly simplistic
A related criticism is that Islamist "Identity politics">politics of identity have relegated the Sharia to a level of political slogan, instead of elevating it to the level of intellectual complexity at which our jurisprudential forefather discussed it, debated it, and wrote about it. .... Superficial political chants claiming that the Qur'an is our constitution or that the Shari'a is our guide," are heard but not discussion "of what a constitution is, which parts of the Qur'an are 'constitutional,' or how the Shari'a is to guide us on any particular matter of legal relevance."Historical record
Leading Islamists maintain that in addition to being divine, Sharia (or again orthodox Sharia), is easy to implement. Qutb believed that Sharia would be no problem to implement because there is "no vagueness or looseness" in its provisions. Qutb, ''Milestones'', 1981: p. 85 Khomeini contendedIslam has made the necessary provision; and if laws are needed, Islam has established them all. There is no need for you, after establishing a government, to sit down and draw up laws, or, like rulers who worship foreigners and are infatuated with the west, run after others to borrow their laws. Everything is ready and waiting.But critics complain that strict application of orthodox Sharia law has been tried repeatedly throughout Islamic history and always found to be impractical. Olivier Roy refers to the call to enforce Sharia, as a periodic cycle of Islamic history "as old as Islam itself." But one that is "still new because it has never been fulfilled. It is a tendency that is forever setting the reformer, the censor, and tribunal against the corruption of the times and of sovereigns, against foreign influence, political opportunism, moral laxity, and the forgetting of sacred texts." Roy, ''Failure of Political Islam'', 1994: p. 4 According to Daniel Pipes, "the historical record shows that every effort in modern times to apply the Shari`a in its entirety – such as those made in Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, Libya, Iran, and Pakistan – ended up disappointing the fundamentalists, for realities eventually had to be accommodated. Every government devoted to full implementation finds this an impossible assignment."
Quran as Constitution
"TheIgnoring Maslaha
A solution to this problem embraced by modernists and usually ignored by Islamists, is the inclusion of the principle that Islamic law must serve the general common good or maslaha. This open-ended requirement clashes with Qutb's idea that there is "no vagueness or looseness" in Sharia."Many modernist use as the point of departure the well-established Islamic concept of maslaha (the public interest or common good.) For those schools that place priority on the role of maslaha in Islamic thinking, Islam by definition serves the common good; therefore, if a given policy or position demonstrably does not serve the public interest it simply is "not Islam". This formulation is used by the huge Muhammadiyah movement in Indonesia, among others. The pioneering Egyptian Islamic thinker Muhammad `Abdu spoke in similar terms when he criticized Muslim neglect of the concept of `common good` and rulers' emphasis on obedience above justice."
Islam approves of all policy which creates good and eradicates evil even when it is not based on any revelation. That is how the Companions of the Prophet understood Islam. Abu Bakr, for example, appointed Umar to succeed him without precedent. Umar suspended the Quranically mandated punishment of hand amputation during a famine, he suspended it also when he discovered that two thieves, the employees of Hatib, were under-paid. And so on.
Ignoring problems with the development of orthodox Sharia
Finally there is the question of accuracy of the ''ahadith'' or sayings of the Prophet which forms the basis of most Sharia law. The sayings were not written down for some generations but transmitted orally. An elaborate method has been developed to verify and rate hadith according to levels of authenticity, includingCompulsion in Sharia
Islamist governments such as Iran's have emphasized compulsion in personal behavior (such as the wearing of hijab) enforced with religious police. The question here is, if compelling people to obey Shariah law means they may be obeying out of fear of punishment by men rather than devotion to God's law, and whether this obedience from fear negates the merit of the act in the eyes of God. Compulsion in religious observance deprives "the observant of the credit for following God's order through personal volition. Only free acts of piety and worship have merit in God's eyes." Fuller, ''The Future of Political Islam'', 2003: p. 64Case of hijab
Hijab, or covering of a woman's head and body, is arguably "the most distinctive emblem of Islam".Aslan, (2005), p. 65 Compulsory wearing of the hijab is also a hallmark of Islamist states such as Iran and famously theCase of ridda
Traditionally ''ridda'', or converting from Islam to another religion is a capital crime in Islam. Islamists have been noted for their enthusiasm in enforcing the penalty. But like hijab however, there is question over the scriptural or historical basis of the proscribed sentence of death. According to reformist author Reza Aslan, belief in the death sentence for apostates originated with early Caliph Abu Bakr's "Innovations to Islam
Tendency towards modernism
Critics have noted that Islamists have claimed to uphold eternal religious/political principles but sometimes change with the times, for example embracing "far more modern and egalitarian" interpretations of social justice – including socialist ideas – than the rightly guided caliphs would ever have conceived of. Fuller, ''The Future of Political Islam'', 2003: p. 26 Islamists in power in the Islamic Republic of Iran, have had to "quietly put aside" traditional Islamic divorce and inheritance law and replace them with statutes addressing "contemporary Iranian social needs," according to Graham Fuller. Fuller, ''The Future of Political Islam'', 2003: p. 30 Another critic, Asghar Schirazi, has followed the progress of changes in divorce law in Iran, starting with the western innovation of court divorce for women – a deviation from traditional IslamicChurch-like structures
According to Shahrough Akhavi, church-like behavior is found in theOther trends, such as centralized control over budgets, appointments to the professoriate, curricula in the seminaries, the creation of religious militias, monopolizing the representation of interests, and mounting a Kulturkampf in the realm of the arts, the family, and other social issues tell of the growing tendency to create an "Islamic episcopacy" in Iran.
Western political concepts
One critic has compiled a list of concepts borrowed from the West and alien to the Sharia used in the constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran: 'sovereignty of the people' (hakemiyat-e melli), 'Idea of historical progress
Sayyid Qutb adopted the " Marxist notion of stages of history", with the demise ofFeminism
For Islamists women's condition under Islam is a major issue. Women regularly attend public mosque salah services and new mosques consequently allot far more space to women's sections.The Western Mind of Radical Islam by Daniel PipesIdeology
Traditional Islam emphasized man's relation with God and living by Sharia, but not the state "which meant almost nothing to them but trouble ... taxes, conscription, corvée labor." Islamists and revivalists embrace the state, in statements like: Islam "is rich with instructions for ruling a state, running an economy, establishing social links and relationships among the people and instructions for running a family," and "Islam is not precepts or worship, but a system of government." Rather than comparing their movement against other religions, Islamists are prone to say "We are not socialist, we are not capitalist, we are Islamic." In his famous 1988 appeal to Gorbachev to replace Communism with Islam, Imam Khomeini talked about the need for a "real belief in God" and the danger of materialism, but said nothing about theInnovation in Sharia
Traditionally Sharia law was elaborated by independent jurist scholars, had precedence over state interests, and was applied to people rather than territories. " e caliph, though otherwise the absolute chief of the community of Muslims, had not the right to legislate but only to make administrative regulations with the limits laid down by the sacred Law." Islamists in Iran and Sudan extended the purview of Sharia but gave the state, not independent jurists, authority over it. The most extreme example of this was the Ayatollah Khomeini's declaration in 1988 that "the government is authorized unilaterally to abolish its lawful accords with the people and ... to prevent any matter, be it spiritual or material, that poses a threat to its interests." Which meant that, "for Islam, the requirements of government supersede every tenet, including even those of prayer, fasting and pilgrimage to Mecca." Something not even Atatürk, the most committed Muslim secularist, dared to do. Traditionally Sharia applied to people rather than territories – Muslims were to obey wherever they were, non-Muslims were exempt. The idea that law was based on jurisdictions – with towns, states, counties each having their own laws – was a European import. "Turabi declares that Islam `accepts territory as the basis of jurisdiction.` As a result, national differences have emerged. The Libyan government lashes all adulterers. Pakistan lashes unmarried offenders and stones married ones. The Sudan imprisons some and hangs others. Iran has even more punishments, including head shaving and a year's banishment. In the hands of fundamentalists, the Shari`a becomes just a variant of Western, territorial law." Under the new Islamist interpretation, the "millennium-old exclusion" of non-Muslims "from the Sharia is over." Umar Abd ar-Rahman, the blind sheikh, "is adamant on this subject: `it is very well known that no minority in any country has its own laws.` Abd al-`Aziz ibn Baz, the Saudi religious leader, calls on non-Muslims to fast during Ramadan. InIslamic economics
Criticism of Islamist (or Islamic) economics have been particularly contemptuous, alleging that effort of "incoherence, incompleteness, impracticality, and irrelevance;" driven by " cultural identity" rather than problem solving. Another source has dismissed it as "a hodgepodge of populist and socialist ideas," in theory and "nothing more than inefficient state control of the economy and some almost equally ineffective redistribution policies," in practice. Halliday, ''100 Myths'', 2005: p. 89In a political and regional context where Islamist and ulema claim to have an opinion about everything, it is striking how little they have to say about this most central of human activities, beyond repetitious pieties about how their model is neither capitalist nor socialist.
Riba
One complaint comes fromusury perpetrated on the illiterate and the poor by ''soodkhuris'' (lit. `devourers of usury`). These officially registered moneylenders under the Moneylenders Act are permitted to lend at not more than 1% below the State Bank rate. In fact they are Mafia-like individuals who charge interest as high as 60% per annum collected ruthlessly in monthly installments and refuse to accept repayment of the principal sum indefinitely. Their tactics include intimidation and force.
Social justice
On the same note, another critic has attacked Islamist organizations in that country for silence about "any kind of genuine social or economic revolution, except to urge, appropriately, that laws, including taxation, be universally applied." In the strongly Islamic country of Pakistan for example, this despite the fact that "social injustice is rampant, extreme poverty exists, and a feudal political and social order are deeply rooted from eras preceding the country's founding." This lack of interest is not unique to Pakistan. "The great questions of gross maldistribution of economic benefits, huge disparities in income, and feudal systems of landholding and human control remain largely outside the Islamist critique." Fuller, ''The Future of Political Islam'', 2003: p. 196Enmity towards the West
Major Islamist figures such as Sayyid Qutb and Ayatollah Khomeini emphasize antipathy towards non-Muslims and anything un-Islamic. Sayyid Qutb, for example, opposed co-existence with non-Muslims and believed the world divided into "truth and falsehood" – Islam being truth and everything else being falsehood. "Islam cannot accept or agree to a situation which is half-Islam and half-Jahiliyyah ... The mixing and co-existence of the truth and falsehood is impossible," Qutb, ''Milestones'', 1981: p. 130 Western civilization itself was "evil and corrupt," a "rubbish heap." Qutb, ''Milestones'', 1981: p. 139 Olivier Roy explains Islamist attacks on Christians and other non-Muslims as a need for a scapegoat for failure.Since Islam has an answer to everything, the troubles from which Muslim society is suffering are due to nonbelievers and to plots, whether Zionist or Christian. Attacks against Jews and Christians appear regularly in neofundamentalist articles. In Egypt, Copts are physically attacked. In Afghanistan, the presence of western humanitarians, who are associated with Christian missionaries espite the fact that many if not most have secular often leftist backgroundsis denounced. Roy, ''Failure of Political Islam'', 1994: p. 85
Verses of the Quran and enmity
But whatever the explanation, the sentiments of Qutb and Khomeini seem to clash with`all those who believe – the Jews, the Sabians, the Christians – anyone who believes in Allah and the Last Days, and who does good deeds, will have nothing to fear or regret.`
`We believe in what has been revealed to us, just as we believe in what has been revealed to you .e. Jews and Christians Our God and Your God are the same; and it is to Him we submit.` The Balance of Islam in Challenging ExtremismAnother points out ayat endorsing diversity:
, Dr. Usama Hasan, 2012, quilliam foundation
"If thy Lord had willed, He would have made humankind into a single nation, but they will not cease to be diverse ... And, for this God created them umankind
"To each of you God has prescribed a Law and a Way. If God would have willed, He would have made you a single people. But God's purpose is to test you in what He has given each of you, so strive in the pursuit of virtue, and know that you will all return to God n the Hereafter and He will resolve all the matters in which you disagree."... and ayat that seem to be at odds with
"If your enemy inclines towards peace, then you should seek peace and trust in God"
"... If God would have willed, He would have given the unbelievers power over you uslims and they would have fought you uslims Therefore, if they he unbelieverswithdraw from you and refuse to fight you, and instead send you guarantees of peace, know that God has not given you a license o fight them"As Abu al-Fadl says, "these discussions of peace would not make sense if Muslims were in a permanent state of war with nonbelievers, and if nonbelievers were a permanent enemy and always a legitimate target."
Sunna and enmity
The policies of the prophet – whose behavior during the 23 years of his ministry makes up Sunnah or model for all Muslims – after conquering Mecca were notably light on bloodletting. While everyone was required to take an oath of allegiance to him and never again wage war against him, he "declared a general amnesty for most of his enemies, including those he had fought in battle. Despite the fact that islamic law now made the Quraysh his slaves, Muhammad declared all of Mecca's inhabitants (including its slaves) to be free. Only six men and four women were put to death for various crimes, and not one was forced to convert to Islam, though everyone had to take an oath of allegiance never again to wage war against the Prophet."Alleged conspiracies against Islam
Khomeini believed "imperialists" – British and then American – had 300-year-long "elaborate plans for assuming control of" the East, the purpose of which was "to keep us backward, to keep us in our present miserable state so they can exploit our riches, our underground wealth, our lands and our human resources. They want us to remain afflicted and wretched, and our poor to be trapped in their misery ... " One complaint of this approach by critics is that these "conspiracy theor es revolving around the "ready-to-wear devil" of the West are "currently paralyzing Muslim political thought. For to say that every failure is the devil's work is the same as asking God, or the devil himself (which is to say these days the Americans), to solve one's problems." Roy, ''Failure of Political Islam'', 1994: pp. 19–20Christian Crusades
The belief of some, such as Sayyid Qutb, that therecover the lost lands of Christendom and in particular the holy land where Christ had lived, taught and died. In this connection, it may be recalled that when the Crusaders arrived in the Levant not much more than four centuries had passed since the Arab Muslim conquerors had wrested theses lands from Christendom – less than half the time from the Crusades to the present day – and that a substantial proportion of the population of these lands, perhaps even a majority, was still Christian."The Arab Muslim contemporaries of the Crusaders did not refer to them as "Crusaders or Christians but as Franks or Infidels". Rather than raging at their aggression, "with few exceptions, the Muslim historians show little interest in whence or why the Franks had come, and report their arrival and their departure with equal lack of curiosity."Lewis, ''Islam and the West,'' (1993), p. 13 Crusaders and Muslims allied with each other against other alliances of Crusaders and Muslims. Rather than being event of such trauma that Muslims developed an old and deep fear of Christians/Europeans/Westerners from it, the crusaders' invasion was just one of many such by barbarians coming from "East and West alike" during this time of "Muslim weakness and division." Lewis argues that any traumatization from the Crusades felt by Muslims surely would pale in comparison to what European Christendom felt from Islam. The Crusades started in 1096 and the Crusaders lost their last toe-hold when the city of Acre, was taken less than two hundred years later in 1291, whereas Europe felt under constant threat from Islam, "from the first Moorish landing in Spain 11to the second Turkish siege of Vienna
All but the easternmost provinces of the Islamic realm had been taken from Christian rulers, and the vast majority of the first Muslims west of Iran and Arabia were converts from Christianity. North Africa, Egypt, Syria, even Persian-ruled Iraq had been Christian countries, in which Christianity was older and more deeply rooted than in most of Europe. Their loss was sorely felt and heightened the fear that a similar fate was in store for Europe. In Spain and in Sicily, Muslim faith and Arab culture exercised a powerful attraction, and even those who remained faithful to the Christian religion often adopted the Arabic language."William Cantwell Smith observes that
until Karl Marx and the rise of communism, the Prophet organized and launched the only serious challenge to Western civilization that it has faced in the whole course of its history ... Islam is the only positive force that has won converts away from Christianity – by the tens of millions ...
Division of Muslim world into many separate states
According to the Ayatollah Khomeini and other Islamists, one glaring example of an attempt by the West to weaken the Muslim world was the division of theThe more general claim that imperialism and colonialism divide in order to rule is, in broad terms, simplistic: the overall record of colonialism has been to merge and unite previously disparate entities, be this in 16th century Ireland, 19th-century India and Sudan or 20th century Libya and Southern Arabia. The British supported the formation of the League of Arab states in 1945 and tried, in the event unsuccessfully, to create united federations first in Southern Arabia (1962–67) and then in the Gulf states (1968–71). AsSami Zubaida Sami Zubaida was born in 1937 in Iraq. He left Iraq in 1953 at the age of sixteen.has pointed out in his talks, imperialism in fact tends to unite and rule. It is independent states such as India and Pakistan (later Pakistan and Bangladesh), as well as Ireland, Cyprus and indeed, the USSR and Yugoslavia, that promote fragmentation." Halliday, ''100 Myths'', 2005: pp. 102–03
Sami Zubaida. He is now an ...
Antisemitism
Islamists, according to Robert S. Wistrich, are the primary force behind 21st century antisemitism.Alleged Jewish conspiracies against Islam
Islamists from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood on the moderate end ("Such are the Jews, my brother, Muslim lion cub, your enemies and the enemies of God"), to the bin Laden at the extreme ("Jews are masters of usury and leaders in treachery"), have issued powerful and categoricalAt the beginning the enemies of the Muslim community did not fight openly with arms but tried to fight the community in its belief through intrigue, spreading ambiguities, creating suspicions.And goes on to say, "the Jews are behind materialism, animal sexuality, the destruction of the family and the dissolution of society." Khomeini mentions the "Jews of Banu Qurayza", who were eliminated by Muhammad, as an example of the sort of "troublesome group" that Islam and the Islamic state must "eliminate." and explains that "from the very beginning, the historical movement of Islam has had to contend with the Jews, for it was they who first established anti-Islamic propaganda and engaged in various stratagems." Qutb's anti-Judaism has been criticized as obsessive and irrational by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon who quote him saying
that `anyone who leads this community away from its religion and its Quran can only be Jewish agent` – in other words, any source of division, anyone who undermines the relationship between Muslims and their faith is by definition a Jew. The Jews thus become the incarnation of all that is anti-Islamic, and such is their supposed animosity that they will never relent `because the Jews will be satisfied only with destruction of this religionslam Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements * S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe * SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...` The struggle with the Jews will be a war without rules, since `from such creatures who kill, massacre and defame prophets one can only expect the spilling of human blood and dirty means which would further their machinations and evilness.`
Alleged Jewish conspiracy against Muhammad
But specifically there is the issue of Jews conspired against Muhammad, those Jews being theThe execution of the Banu Qurayza was not, as it has so often been presented, reflective of an intrinsic religious conflict between Muhammad and the Jews. This theory, which is sometimes presented as an incontestable doctrine... is founded on the belief that Muhammad ... came to Medina fully expecting the Jews to confirm his identity as a prophet ... To his surprise, however the Jews not only rejected him but strenuously argued against the authenticity of the Qur’an as divine revelation. Worried that the rejection of the Jews would somehow discredit his prophetic claims, Muhammad had not choice but to turn violently against them, separate his community from theirs,Aslan believes this theory is refuted by historical evidence: * The Banu Qurayza were not executed for being Jews. Non-Jews were also executed following the Battle of the Trench. "As Michael Lecker has demonstrated, a significant number of the Banu Kilab – Arab clients of the Qurayza who allied with them as an auxiliary force outside Medina – were also executed for treason." Other Jews did not protest or side with the Banu Qurayza, and these Jews were left alone. * Most Jews were untouched. The 400 to 700 Banu Qurayza men killed were "no more than a tiny fraction of the total population of Jews who resided in Medina" who are estimated to have been between 24,000 and 28,000 These "remained in the oasis living amicably alongside their Muslim neighbors for many years" until they were expelled "under the leadership of Umar near the end of the seventh century C.E." along with all the other non-Muslims "as part of a larger Islamization process throughout the Arabian Peninsula."Aslan, (2005), p. 94 * "Scholars almost unanimously agree, the execution of the Banu Qurayza did not in any way set a precedent for future treatment of Jews in Islamic territories. On the contrary, Jews throve under Muslim rule, especially after Islam expanded into Byzantine lands, where Orthodox rulers routinely persecuted both Jews and non-Orthodox Christians for their religious beliefs, often forcing them to convert to Imperial Christianity under penalty of death. In contrast, Muslim law, which considers Jews and Christians `protected peoples` (dhimmi), neither required nor encouraged their conversion to Islam. ... In return for a special `protection tax` called jizyah, Muslim law allowed Jews and Christians both religious autonomy and the opportunity to share in the social and economic institutions ..." "Finally and most importantly, ... Jewish clans in Medina – themselves Arab converts – were barely distinguishable from their pagan counterparts either culturally or, for that matter, religiously." * They spoke a language called ratan, and " ere is no evidence that they either spoke or understood
Hopes for world success and mass conversion
The worldwide ambition for both Islam and Islamist systems by Islamist leaders is indicated by Maududi who describes Islam in one of his books asa comprehensive system which envisages to annihilate all tyrannical and evil systems in the world and enforces its own programme of reform which it deems best for the well-being of mankind.Mass conversion around the world of non-Muslims to Islam would greatly facilitate enforcing an Islamist program, and according to Olivier Roy, "today's Islamist activists are obsessed with conversion: rumors that Western celebrities or entire groups are converting are hailed enthusiastically by the core militants." Roy, ''Failure of Political Islam'', 1994: pp. 6–7 Aside from the complaint that pushing for mass conversion of non-Muslims to a different religion and culture is intolerant of their beliefs and aggressive, Olivier Roy argues it is simply unrealistic in an era where religious belief is considered a personal matter. " e age of converting entire peoples is past." Likewise, a strategy to gradually convert non-Muslims "until the number of conversions shifts the balance of the society," is also problematic. Conversion to Islam "in a Christian environment ... generally indicates a marginalized person, a fanatic or a true mystic," in any case people with little desire or ability to join or build "a mass movement." Pipes also argues many prominent conversions to Islam (at least in the US) appears to be part of a "recurring" pattern, rather than a mass movement. "Islam - in both its normative and Nation .e._ .e._Nation_of_Islam">Nation_of_Islam.html"_;"title=".e._Nation_of_Islam">.e._Nation_of_Islamvariants"_has_become_established_"as_a_leading_solace_for_African-Americans_in_need",_specifically_after_trouble_with_the_criminal_justice_system,_and_includes_a_"well-established"_oppositional_"pattern_of_alienation,_radicalism_and_violence."
See also
* Islamist terrorism * Liberal movements within Islam * Muslim Brotherhood *Books & organisations
* '' The Islamist''Further reading
* * Abu al-Fadl, Khaled, ''The Place of Tolerance in Islam'', Beacon Press, 2002 * Ankerl, Guy, ''Coexisting Contemporary Civilizations: Arabo-Muslim, Bharati,'' Chinese, and Western. INUPress, Geneva, 2000 * * Boulares, Habib, ''Islam, The Fear And The Hope'', Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Zed Books, 1990 * Fluehr-Lobban, Carolyn ed., ''Against Islamic Extremism: The Writings of Muhammad Sa'id al-Ashmawy,'' Gainesville: University Press of Florida, (1998) * * * * * Khomeini, Ruhollah. Algar, Hamid (translator and editor). ''Islam and Revolution: Writing and Declarations of Imam Khomeini''. Berkeley: Mizan Press, 1981 * Lewis, Bernard, ''Islam and the West'' by Bernard Lewis, Oxford University Press, 1993 * Maalouf, Amin, ''The Crusades Through Arab Eyes'' (1985) * Mawdudi, S. Abul A'la, ''Islamic Law and Constitution'', edited and translated into English by Khursid Ahmad, Jamaat-e-Islami Publications, 1955 * Meddeb, Abelwahab (2003). ''The Malady of Islam''. Basic Books. . * * * Schirazi, Asghar, ''The Constitution of Iran : politics and the state in the Islamic Republic / by Asghar Schirazi, London ; New York: I.B. Tauris, 1997 * Taheri, Amir, ''Holy Terror, the Inside Story of Islamic Terrorism'', Sphere Books, 1987 * Taheri, Amir, ''The Spirit of Allah : Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution'' by Amir Taheri, Adler and Adler, 1985References
{{Islamism Islamism Islam-related controversies Islamism