Post-Islamist

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Post-IslamistReligious Secularismin the
Muslim WorldLily Zubaidah RahimDepartment of
Government and International RelationsUniversity
of Sydney
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The Muslim World
http//www.islam101.com/dawah/muslim_world_map.htm
l
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Muslim Majority Countries
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim-majori
ty_countries
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Muslim Majority Countries (continued)
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim-majori
ty_countries
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Freedom in the World 2011 Table of
Muslim-Majority Countries

• PR and CL stand for political rights and civil
  liberties, respectively 1 represents the most
  free
• and 7 the least free rating.
• ? ? up or down indicates an improvement or
  decline in ratings or status since the last
  survey.
• ? ? up or down indicates a trend of positive or
  negative changes that took place but were not
  sufficient to result in a change in political
  rights or civil liberties ratings.
• indicates a countrys status as an electoral
  democracy.
• NOTE The ratings reflect global events from
  January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2010.

Freedom House 2011
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Freedom in the World 2011 Regional Data
Freedom House 2011
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Egypt, Democracy and Islam 2011
Egypt, Democracy and Islam (Pew Research Centre
Publication, 2011)
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Muslim Perceptions of Islams Influence in
Politics 2011
Islam was seen as a positive rather than negative
influence in politics by equally impressive
margins in Indonesia (91 to 6), Nigeria (82 to
10), Jordan (76 to 14) and Pakistan (69 to
6). In Lebanon and Turkey, close to a third
said that Islam had a negative influence in
politics, but in both nations more believed
Islam's influence was positive than said it was
negative. Respondents who had a positive view of
Islam's influence included both those who said
Islam was playing a large role in their country's
political life and saw this as a good thing and
those who said Islam was playing a small role and
saw this as a bad thing. The reverse was true for
those respondents who had a negative view of
Islam's influence.
Egypt, Democracy and Islam (Pew Research Centre
Publication, 2011)
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Egyptian Priorities 2011
Egyptians Embrace Revolt Leaders, Religious
Parties and Military (Pew Research Centre
Publication, 2011)
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State-Religion Regimes
State-Religion Regimes in 46 Muslim Countries
Islamic States States with an Established Religion (Islam) Secular States Antireligious States
11 15 20 0
Ahmet T. Kuru, Secularism and State Policies
Towards Religion (200918)
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State-Religion Regimes
Continuum of State-Religion Regimes and Secularism
Passive secularism Assertive secularism
Islamic state State with established religion Secular state Antireligious state
Ahmet T. Kuru, Secularism and State Policies
Towards Religion (200931)
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Key findings of the Gallop World Poll
2001-2007Muslim perceptions of democracy and
secularism

• An overwhelming number of Muslims support
  democracy believing that it is the key to a more
  just society and to progress.
• Muslims indicate that the lack of political
  freedom is what they least admire about the
  Islamic and Arab world.
• The majority of Muslims would like to see a
  religious form of democracy with the sharia as
  one source of legislation, albeit a restricted
  source.
• Most Muslims desire a system of government in
  which religious principles and democratic values
  co-exist.
• A significant majority in many Muslim countries
  say religious leaders should play no direct role
  in drafting a countrys constitution, writing
  national legislation, determining foreign policy,
  deciding how women dress in public or what is
  published in newspapers.
• Most Muslims do not want a rigidly secular or
  Islamic state.
• Refer to John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, Who
  Speaks for Islam What a Billion Muslims Really
  Think, (NY Gallup Press, 2007), p.29-63.

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Political moderation thesis J. Schwedler
(2006) Vali Nasr (2005) - inclusion of Islamist
parties/movements leads to moderation Schwedler
on political inclusion - radicals become
reformers - fence-sitters become moderates -
moderates become even more moderate - moderates
have opportunities to increase their visibility
and efficacy
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