Other%20traditions

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Other traditions

• Islamic systems

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What is Islam?

• Is Islam really a unitary concept?
• The areas where people who follow the Islamic
  religion live are far apart and have different
  cultures and histories

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What is Islam?

• Is Islam really a unitary concept?
• The areas where people who follow the Islamic
  religion live are far apart and have different
  cultures and cultures
• In what sense can religious identity be said to
  be more important than class, gender, nation,
  culture or history, especially when discussing a
  political system?

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5 Pillars of Islam

• Shahada there is no God but God and Mohammed is
  his Prophet
• Salat prayer to be performed 5 times a day
• Zakat the giving of alms
• Sawm fasting during Ramadan
• Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca
• But what about Jihad?

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Islam and politics

• Is it true that there is no separation between
  religion and politics in Islam?
• What is the role of the sharia?
• And what is the sharia?
• Is it laws derived from the Koran?
• Or is it the body of laws developed over time by
  Muslim jurists/sages?
• Sharia fairly limted in scope personal status,
  inheritance and some types of taxation
• What is the status of laws that cannot be
  referred back to the Koran?

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Different types of Islam

• Sunni associated with the Caliphs and the
  Ummayad dynasty. Majority of Muslims
• Shia followers of Ali. Minority of Muslims
• Kharjites. Early fundamentalists
• Ahmadiya/Qadia not regarded by other Muslims as
  Muslim. Modern
• Alawi in dispute
• Druze likewise
• Ismaili
• Nation of Islam US group Farakhan
• Salafy
• Sufi mystics
• Wahhabi first modern fundamentalists

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Some important historical dates

• 571 birth of Mohammed the Prophet
• 622 the Hegira
• 632 death of the Prophet. Creation of the
  Caliphate khalifsuccessor
• Koran produced under second and thir Caliphs
  634-656
• 656 Ali became Caliph. Ummayad rebellion. Split
  into Sunni and Shia branches

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More important historical dates

• Abbasid dynasty 758-1258. Umayyads fled to Spain
• 1258 Mongols captured Baghdad. Abbasids fled to
  Egypt
• Ottomans captured Egypt 1517 and held caliphate
  as sultans until abolished 1924
• With dismembering of Turkish/Ottoman Empire,
  todays states emerge

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Some contemporary significant dates

• Soviet liberation of Afghanistan
• Iranian revolution 1978-9
• Hamah uprising and massacre in Syria 1982
• Assassination of Sadat 1981
• FIS electoral success in Algeria 1990-91 then
  covil war
• Attack on World Trade Centre 1992 and 2001

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Western perceptions

• Tendency to think of Islam as a phenomenon of the
  Middle East. Untrue Indonesia largest Islamic
  state by population, followed by Pakistan and,
  surprisingly, India
• Tendency to think of Islam as violent religion
  assassains and terrorism
• Since feminism, position of women unacceptable
• Islam is somehow international in character Al
  Qaeda is everywhere!

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Islamism

• To distinguish between Muslims and violent
  sectarians the term islamist has been coined
• This is regarded as a totalitarian ideology by
  many commentators
• Islamists are concerned about social differences
  and poverty
• They feel their culture is under threat from the
  West
• They wish to recreate the Golden Age, but without
  rejecting modern technology
• Iran and Sudan the type states

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More on Islamists

• Important movements in Jordan where they are the
  majority party, Algeria, where the military
  expelled them from government
• Began by calling for return to the Sharia, but
  have had to make ideas more concrete and modern.
• Like market-oriented social democrats, but Old
  Labour in their attitudes to women. Definitely
  not New Men
• Islam reformulated as a modern ideology Middle
  East Quarterly debate
• Urban dwellers, not tribalists

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Rise of Islamist Movements

• Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt early in 20th Century
  the first
• Others emerge in the 1970s
• Are they primarily religious?
• Or primarily social or protest movements?
• Or as Ulam suggests of Marxism-Leninism, ways of
  coping with rapid industrialistaion and
  modernisation?

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Institutions

• Caliphate. First four the Patriarchs direct
  followers of Mohammed himself. Then the Ummayad
  dynasty
• Tribes
• Imam spiritual leader originally Ali and his
  successors
• Emirs local governors who usurped the secular
  authority of the caliphs from the fall of the
  Abbasids in the 12th century.

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Government of Saudi Arabia

• Chief of State and Head of Government the
  monarch
• Crown Prince, Deputy PM and Heir apparent chosen
  by the monarch
• Council of Ministers appointed by Monarch
• Legislature 90 member consultative council and
  chairman appointed by monarch
• Constitution based on Sharia and basic law of
  1993

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Government of Iran

• Head of state Leader of the Islamic revolution
  Ayatollah Khamenei, appointed for life by
  Assembly of Experts
• President elected for four-year term by universal
  suffrage Khatami
• Legislature 290 seat Islamic Consultative
  assembly elected
• Guardian Council responsible for ensuring all
  laws and practices are in accordance with Islam

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Government of Sudan

• Govt an alliance of the military and the National
  Congress Party formerly the national islamic
  Front
• Chief of State and Head of Govt. Lt. Gen Bashir
• Majority of Cabinet from NCP
• Legislature 270 popularly elected, 90 appointed.
  Elections widely regarded as rigged