Islam and Politics - The Stimson Center

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Amit Pandya | 91 Contemporary Global Challenges: Muslim History and Islamic Guidance Islam’s vision has from the outset been a universal one. It has always aspired to create a transnational community, and its political history has allowed it the scope to embody this transnational vision. Intellectuals and historians, Muslim and non-Muslim, also note that the orientation and evolution of the early Muslim community under the Prophet’s guidance was at once both spiritual and pragmatic, with public utility as an overarching principle. This provides a point of departure for contemporary discussion in the Muslim world about the extent to which Islamic principles provide direction for addressing contemporary global challenges such as environmental degradation, migration, narcotics and crime, or disease outbreaks. Some Muslims suggest that the instrumental and invasive frame of mind that has produced environmental degradation and its secondary consequences reflects Western ethics and social philosophy. This point of view finds Islam a particularly useful antidote, pointing to principles of natural stewardship found in the Quran and other Islamic sources. Other Muslims note that migration is intrinsic to early Muslim history, beginning with the flight to Abyssinia and to Madina, as well as early instances of the spread of Islam through trade and peaceful settlement. It is suggested that the scriptural and other early sources of ideological guidance, and Islam’s intrinsically inclusive, global, and fluid sense of identity, may also offer ideological guidance and render Muslim sensibility and tradition more responsive to contemporary challenges. Muslim economists have articulated Islamic principles for their discipline. One Islamic approach to poverty and economic development suggests thinking of society as a unified—not an atomized— entity; adopting an adaptive approach to policy formulation; recognizing the rapidly changing technological and knowledge environment; preserving the principles of individual freedom and dignity and rejection of coercion; and recognizing that all assets, whether owned/managed by private or public entities, have a social aspect. A more skeptical Muslim view suggests that specific Islamic guidance on modern challenges is limited because the currently dominant theology was elaborated to answer a very different set of questions in the Middle Ages. However, the application of fundamental Islamic principles in the spirit of the Quranic injunction to observe and acquire knowledge, and the principle of Ijtehad, could yield a dynamic tradition, though such thinking is in its early stages and there remains a need for an issuebased and more specific approach. Some have suggested that the Organization of the Islamic Conference constitute working groups on the principal global natural, economic, developmental, and governance challenges of the day. Even where the Quran or other religious sources offer useful guidance about matters such as crops, animals, and water; the treatment of migrants; economic justice; or the probity of governments; it is commonly agreed that the behavior of Muslims falls short of these precepts. Many Muslims look to religion to play a critical role in educating citizens on basic issues and civic duties, and as a source of legitimacy it can act as a tool for civil society to hold elites and political leaders accountable.
92 | Faith, Justice, and Violence: Islam in Political Context Islam and Environmental Protection Jumaina Siddiqui The United Arab Emirates is constructing Masdar City, designed to be zero waste and carbon neutral, but the majority of countries in the Muslim world are not taking innovative steps to address environmental degradation. Many lack the financial resources and political will to do so even if it was on their agenda. However, even the wealthier countries of the Muslim world, such as those in the Gulf Cooperation Council, have spent little on research and development of green technologies. In agreement with other developing nations, Muslim governments make the case that since wealthy, developed countries have had the largest impact on the Earth’s environment, they should be the ones investing in solutions. Since Islamic principles play a role in the governance of many countries of the Muslim world, an emerging body of scholarly literature that highlights Qur’anic guidance on the duties of Muslims to protect the Earth from environmental degradation could motivate governments to address these issues. For example, in Islam humans are seen as trustees of the Earth and are responsible to sustain and protect it. Surah 6:165 of the Qur’an states that “It is He Who hath made you (His) agents, inheritors of the earth.” Additionally, Surah 2:11 states “Do not cause corruption on the earth.” Furthermore, Surah 2:60 states that man should “… eat and drink the sustenance God has provided and do not act wrongfully in the land, causing corruption.” One Islamic scholar notes that by protecting the Earth a Muslim is serving God because “to Allah belong all things in the heavens and on earth: And He it is that Encompasseth all things” in Surah 4:26. He also notes that Surah 15:19–22, calls upon mankind to maintain balance and moderation when utilizing Earth’s resources: And the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance. And We have provided therein means of subsistence, for and society, not religion and the state. This in turn suggests that principles for the conduct of the state were elaborated by subsequent rulers for practical reasons of state, indistinguishable from reasons of state found in the non-Muslim world. These principles therefore do not reflect strictly to religious values, but rather the political values of the early Muslim societies. According to this view, Madina in the time of the Prophet constitutes the model of Islamic governance. Since Madina had no paid police or army, and no other indicia of a modern state, the role of Islamic ethics was to guide and imbue social behavior, not to inform the shape of formal state government. The authoritative model of Islamic precepts of governance was thus elaborated in a setting where Muslims coexisted with non-Muslim communities, did not enjoy undisputed political authority, and yet had preeminent moral authority through the role played by the Prophet: in other words, a civic model of Islam.
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Islam and Politics Renewal and Resi
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Contents Preface...................
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Preface Stimson’s Regional Voices
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Acknowledgments This volume would n
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Introduction In the past two years,
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Introduction | xi radicalize, prefe
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Perspectives from the Regions
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4 | Political Islamist Movements: T
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Role of Religion in Afghan Politics
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Prakhar Sharma | 35 The Changing Ro
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Prakhar Sharma | 37 advent of Afgha
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Prakhar Sharma | 39 Afghanistan, wi
Page 54: Prakhar Sharma | 41 Religious leade
Page 57 and 58: 44 | Ethnoreligious and Political D
Page 70 and 71: Madrassas in Pakistan: Role and Eme
Page 72 and 73: Khalid Rahman | 59 number of studen
Page 74 and 75: Khalid Rahman | 61 at colleges and
Page 76 and 77: Khalid Rahman | 63 to pay the expen
Page 78 and 79: Khalid Rahman | 65 • While there
Page 80 and 81: Khalid Rahman | 67 • Many madrass
Page 82 and 83: Khalid Rahman | 69 Outreach The omn
Page 84: Khalid Rahman | 71 Interpreting the
Page 87 and 88: 74 | Faith, Justice, and Violence:
Page 103: 90 | Faith, Justice, and Violence:
Page 120 and 121: Appendix 1: Author Biographies Amit
Page 122 and 123: Appendix 2: Experts Consulted Saadi
Page 124 and 125: Appendix 2: Experts Consulted | 111
Page 126 and 127: Appendix 3: Partner Institutions Mi
Page 128 and 129: Appendix 3: Partner Institutions |
Page 130 and 131: Notes Political Islamist Movements:
Page 132 and 133: Notes | 119 term “secularized Bud
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