Political Islam: Theory

Abstract

This essay focuses on questions that pertain to the ideological, normative, symbolic, and epochal aspects of political Islam. Political theorists, historians, sociologists, and anthropologists have disagreed on whether political Islam is an exclusively modern political phenomenon or is indebted to longstanding Islamic religious commitments. More specifically, they have also disagreed on whether the shape and ambitions of political Islam are entirely determined by the powers and institutions of the modern, bureaucratic state, particularly its secular desire to control, regulate, and reshape religion. These interpretive debates have often sat uneasily with ongoing normative debates about what kind of secularism democracy requires and whether democracy has priority over liberal rights and freedoms.

State Capacity and Terrorism in the Developing World

“…Shari'a is regarded by Muslims as an expression of God's will (Peters 2005) but with the rise of the state has become a challenging issue across the Islamic world in balancing the application of shari'a with the modern bureaucratic expectations of the state. During the colonial era, European states imposed their own systems of governance and in many cases replaced the local system that included shari'a but in others it remained, with shari'a courts receiving authorization from the state and codification of Islamic law into parts of the legal system (March 2015). Peters offers four categories that developed over time.…”

“…In others such as Egypt, this inclusion has been purely symbolic or adopted to appease internal Islamist opposition movements. In short, some states in the developing world have in general Islamized their legal systems since independence and found ways to make aspects of shari'a compatible with their system of governance (Brown 1997;Fadel 2003;Lombardi 2006;Moustafa 2007;March 2015).…”

“…Tensions over the role of the state and the role of shari'a law in society have become increasingly prominent with efforts to democratize the Islamic world. March (2015) argues that the more populist and democratic Muslim countries become, the more we should expect them to reflect the dominant religion of the state (p. 105). Others have suggested that democratization in states with deeply religious Muslim majorities has been possible because of a great degree of negotiation between the religious entities in the state and the secularists pursuing democracy With democratization however, the debate moves from a "two-sided struggle between 'secular' and 'Islamic' actors to a much more fluid and open debate about what the content of democracy should be in a Muslim society" (p. 47).…”

“…At the same time, democratization may also create opportune moments for hardline religious groups within the Muslim community to gain influence over the direction of the country and criticize democracy itself (Villalon 1999;Soares & Otayek 2007;March 2015). As in the case of the Arab Spring, the factors that led to mass protests across several states in the developing world has created post-authoritarian instability while different factions struggle over what direction the country should develop.…”

“…In 2010 after a street vendor immolated himself in protest of the Tunisian regime, the previously described movements of the Arab Spring occurred (Haas & Lesch 2013). While there was widespread expectation in the beginning that Islamist groups would take power and enforce constitutional democratic norms, internal divisions in several cases resulted in instability and setbacks for democratization (March 2015). The 2013 military coup in Egypt is a prominent example.…”