Between Reformation and Restoration - PowerPoint Presentation

Between Reformation and RestorationBYHUSSEIN SOLOMON 1 April 2019 Political islam : between luther and lockE :

Muslim Martin Luther and reformation Muslim world lacks political freedom - as a result escalating conflictIslamist project to create a de facto political state as in Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt a failure, similar AKP in Turkey, Iran’s Ayatollahs, etc Prompted some to call for Muslim Martin Luther to spark an Islamic Reformation and lead Islam towards a political system modelled on that of the West Problematic – Luther challenged the monopoly of the Catholic Church over Christendom – in Islam no such monopoly exists – no equivalent of a Pope in Islam Also there have been several reformations in Islam – some good ( Mu’tazilites ), others bad (Islamists)

Islamic Reformation - not Ottoman Empire inadvertently provided support for Protestant reformationEarly Protestant Reformists found their inspiration in the Muslim world, specifically that of Ottoman Empire – more religiously tolerantMartin Luther wrote about Protestants: “…who want the Turk to come and rule because they think our German people are wild and uncivilized”. Those calling for an Islamic Reformation argue that secularism – a clear separation of faith and state - is the way forward But, Jurgen Habermas has pointed out that ideas of freedom, democracy and human rights emanate from the `Judaic ethic of justice and the Christian ethic of love’

The problem with secularism Barrack Obama: “Our law is a by definition a codification of morality, much of it grounded on the Judeo-Christian traditionResearch undertaken by Jonathan Fox proves that the so-called separation between religion and state hardly exists. Fox’s survey of 152 countries proved that a full separation of religion and state only exists in one country Surveys also demonstrate that the majority of Muslims reject secularism equating it with atheism and Westernization Secularism also equated with being anti-Islam (France – hejab -2004) Secularism also enforced by Baathists, Ataturk, Reza Pahlavi in Iran At same time, surveys show Muslims want to live in a democracy

John locke and an Islamic restoration Is an Islamic democracy possible?It is if one take one’s queue from John Locke who combined human reason and scripture to advance an argument for popular sovereignty and human rights Alfred Stepan and Juan Linz: “What was needed for both democracy and religion to flourish? The answer was a significant institutional differentiation between religion and state. This situation of differentiation Stepan summed as the “twin tolerations”. In a country that lives by the twin tolerations, religious authorities do not control democratic officials who are acting constitutionally, while democratic officials do not control religion so long as religious actors respect other citizens’ rights”.

Islamic democracy? Lockean position not alien to Muslim traditionDemocratic imperative within the faith can be traced to its originsIslamic concepts such as al- hurriyah (freedom), al- musawat (equality), al- adl (justice), and shura (consultation) all norms to be found in a democracy Rashidun were non-hereditary and elected by majority vote Their powers were circumscribed by both the Qur’an which deplored arbitrary rule and by pre-Islamic Arab tradition which held that the chief or sheikh ruled by the consent of his people Also an Islamic tradition of ijtihad which provided for believers to examine their faith in the light of reason and fluctuating circumstances – right given to all Muslims, Qur’an does not recognize a formal clergy

What to do with sharia? Sharia is regarded as problematic given its hostility to gays, alcohol, gambling, prostitution, etc.However it is not one but actually two independently operating systemsThe first set of laws is SIYASA and is made by rulers, whose only duty is to increase the common good whilst FIQH is made by competing religious schools SIYASA laws included things like taxes, regulation of markets and public safety and was not informed by scripture but by the public good (MASLAHA AMMA) On the basis of this two Muslim scholars at George Washington University ( Rehman and Hossein ) in the US came out with an Islamicity Index – based on 113 Quranic injunctions of the public good and correlating it with freely available data: Freedom House, AI, HRW, IMF, World Bank data

sharia According to this the most Islamic countries in the world are: Ireland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore, Finland and Norway (that these governments acted in the best interests (public good of their citizens) TOP 10 By contrast Muslim countries scored badly on the index (Saudi Arabia 91, Indonesia 104, Qatar 112, Morocco 120, Egypt 129, Algeria 131, Iran 139, Bangladesh 141, Pakistan 145, Sudan 190) A lot of what one perceives as tensions between Islam and democracy is as a result of a lack of understanding regarding the complexity of these issues At madrassahs there is rote learning without any nuance or critical scholarship introduced by poorly trained ustads (teachers) Bottom line: it is possible to be both Muslim and liberal democrat

Reimagining an islamic polity Using the Islamic tradition of ijtihad Muslims, like Locke, could embrace Islamic norms and reinterpret them in a way that can advance democratic governance Here, Muslims have been given a blank cheque because the Qur’an does not say anything about the formation of an Islamic state, or about the necessity and obligations on the part of Muslims to establish a Shar’ia or Islamic state Even talk of a caliphate is problematic since the caliphate is not only neglected by the Qur’an , which never so much as evoked it, but also by the Sunna which does not mention it at all No Muslim-majority democracy has made shar’ia its legal code

Islamists are wrong Islamists then do not know Muslim history or the Qur’an and the SunnahTheir notion of an anti-freedom Islamic theocracy is also rubbished if one considers that the Qur’an insists that the Prophet Muhammed has no political function but that he was simply a nadhir (warner) The Islamist notion that one can enact legislation to create the perfect Muslims by imposing a particular form of dress, prohibiting alcohol, etc runs counter the Qur’anic verse 2: 256 which declares, “There shall be no coercion in religious affairs”. In addition it does not work. Ask Iran. There are 84,000 prostitutes on the streets of Tehran, there are 250 brothels in the Islamic Republic’s capital and 40% of female drug addicts in Iranian prisons have AIDS

Tunisia Following overthrow of Ben Ali dictatorship, Muslim intellectuals and politicians used Qur’anic concepts of consensus, consultation and justice to argue that democracy will only be legitimate if speaks to the specificities of Tunisia’s histories and the needs of its citizensRashid Ghannouchi , leader of the Islamic Ennahda party categorically called for the emancipation of women given the historic specificity that for more than 60 years Tunisia had the Arab world’s most progressive and women-friendly family code Whilst rejecting secularism, Tunisians embraced the concept of a dawla madaniyah (civil state) one which respects the twin tolerations Stepan and Linz refers to

Malaysia Seeking to create a modern, democratic and inclusive state on Islamic Hadhari (civilizational Islam)First principle wasatiyyah (moderation) based on Prophet’s life – shunned extremes. Stemming from this, tolerance embraced, based on the Qur’anic injunction that “God gave each people a prophet speaking in its own language. Second principle just and trustworthy government. Justice based on Quranic verse: “And let not the hatred of others make you swerve to wrong and depart from Justice. Be just: that is next to piety”. Trustworthiness extolled by the Qur’an and linked to saying of the Prophet: “And there is no faith in him who is not trustworthy”

Indonesia Thought of Nurcholish Madjid – very important Rejects the idea of an “Islamic state” – believing this would corrupt Islamic ideals in the pursuit of political intrigue Supports the idea of maslaha – common good – for all. Makes sense – despite Indonesia being 88% Muslim, 17 000 islands, 300 ethnic groups/cultures etc Rejects Islamist position of creating an Islamist nirvana based on 7 th century Arabia – governance needs to be contextualized in specific circumstances – need to understand the spirit of the Qur’an as opposed literal text Rejects the Islamist position of sacralising everything pertaining to governance – need to termporalise & demythologize aspects of governance

Conclusion The dearth of democratic governance and concomitant stability is a reality throughout the Muslim worldIslamists demonstrate little grasp of Muslim history or Islam when they call for an essentially theocratic stateCalls for an Islamic Reformation is misplaced – analogy with Christian Reformation simply does not hold In the Lockean tradition it is possible to have a country which is both Islamic and democratic. Work by Stepan and Linz also reinforce this In the process, democracy is indigenized to a particular socio-cultural context