Political Islam

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Political Islam
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Islam

• 2nd largest religion in the world, after
  Christianity.
• 1 billion adherents
• 44 countries with large Muslim populations.

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Why Political Islam?

• Five Major Issues
• Israel 1948
• Price of oil
• Iranian revolution
• Decolonization
• Infidels in the Holy Land

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Terms (153)

• Islam
• Allah
• Muslim
• Jihad (155)
• Sharia (155)
• Quran

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Two Main Divisions

• Sunnis (85)
• Shiites (15)
• The division stems from who succeeds after the
  fourth Caliph (171).

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Sunni and Shiite Demographics
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Community of Believers Dar al-Imam (170)

• Five Uniting Pillars
• No God but God
• Pray five times a day
• Give to the poor
• Ramadan
• Pilgrimage

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Islamic Law (170)

• Sharia- path or way based upon the Quran,
  the Sunna or the life of Muhammad, legal
  reasoning, and the consensus of the community.
• Fundamentalists want Sharia to be the law of the
  land.
• Tension who interprets the law?

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Islamic Fundamentalism (174)

• See modernization and Westernization as
  corrupting basic Islamic values.

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Shiites (155-156)

• Main sect (branch), known as the Twelvers,
  believes that the Twelfth Caliph will return and
  bring justice to the earth and overthrow all
  oppression.

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Sunnis (156)

• Do not have a problem with the succession after
  the fourth Caliph.
• Believe that leadership should be chosen by
  consensus.

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Wahabism (156)

• Saudi Arabia is ruled by the House of Saud, who
  are followers of a Wahabism.
• Believe that no two religions may exist in Arabia
  because the presence of the two holy cites Mecca
  and Medina.
• Intolerant of other sects and religions.
• Osama bin Laden was influenced by this sect.
• For a good study see Malise Ruthven, A Fury for
  God The Islamist Attack on America

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Individual Freedom and Rights (172)

• No concept in Islam
• Government should protect people but this is not
  seen as a right.
• However, some find rights appealing.
• Thus, the clash between liberalism and
  conservatism is alive even within the Muslim
  world.

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Islamic Liberalism (172-4)

• Central Issue is Democratization
• Freedom, equality, and rights of women.
• Is Democracy compatible with Islam?
• Qamaruddin Khan argues that Islamic values can
  be developed within different political and
  social conditions and under different political
  systems (Bonney, 2004, 32).

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Islamic Fundamentalism (174-176)

• Want to establish society based upon strict
  interpretation of Sharia.
• Root out corruption brought about by the West.
• Create a theocratic state
• However, Islamic scholars disagree the Prophet
  was appointed only as Prophet he received no
  assignment from God also to build a state
  (Bonney, 2004 42).

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Politics

• Major division who should rule?
• Sunnis believe that a Caliph should rule.
• Shiites believe that the 12th Imam should rule,
  or a monarch or Sultan.

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Social Organization (175)

• Man is at the center.
• Women live and work in the private sphere.
• Men have power over both public and private.
• Womens three privileges.

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The Taliban

• Religious Students Movement
• Seek to create a pure Islamic state.
• Came to power in Afghanistan in 1996 and have
  obviously lost it since 2001.

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Islam in the USA (176-178)

• War in the Arab World has contributed the largest
  emigration to the United States of Muslims.
• Not all Arabs are Muslims and not all Muslims are
  Arabs.
• The first wave came from Syria.
• The second and third came mostly from
  Palestine/Israel.

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African-American Islam

• Most notable is the Nation of Islam.
• Leader Elijah Muhammad

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Current Trends

• Status of women
• Civil society
• Sharia