The Totalitarianism of Jihadist Islamism and its Challenge to Europe and to Islam

Abstract

This article highlights aspects of Islamism ignored in much conventional political science by applying to it a composite conceptual framework made up of Hannah Arendt's concept of totalitarianism as an ideology, movement and system of rule; political religion conceptualised both as a cultural system and as an ideology; the growing 'culturation' and 'religionisation' of politics; and the politicisation of Islam. When applied to Islamism this approach highlights the fact that its use of terrorism is one aspect of a much broader reaction to the threat of Islam society's radical secularisation under the impact of the universalisation of western values. At its core lies an imagined umma communitypostulated as an alternative model of civilisation to one offered by 'the West' -that claims global hegemony for its values. The analysis stresses that Islamism is not to be equated with Islam, or treated as a monolith, but rather as a religiously and culturally diversified phenomenon whose common denominator is adherence to din-wa-daula, i.e. the unity of Islamic religious principles as the legitimation of a totalitarian government. As a transnational force waging an irregular war fuelled by a fundamentalist interpretation of religion, it is resistant to attack by conventional military or security measures.In contemporary Islamism -to be distinguished from Islam -one finds two features united: a totalitarian movement combined with a political religion. It is unfortunate that only few people understand the phenomenon well. Why? It is the preoccupation with 'terrorism' 1 that has been prevalent since 9/11. One observes a mushrooming of unbalanced literature, whose authors mostly turn a blind eye to the roots of this phenomenon. Some ignore the need to investigate the historical factors that breed political violence, whereas those who do acknowledge the root causes often do little more than confirm the stereotype that world poverty and globalisation are the underlying causes of terrorism. Further, many of these authors leave us in the dark about the phenomenon and its social and ideological dynamics. One of the few intelligent pieces published in the western press was a commentary in the International Herald Tribune, published after the death of the Jordanian jihadist leader Musab al-Zarqawi, which acknowledged: 'The most important lesson of his reign of terror was the mirror it held up to our misunderstandings of the jihadist threat'. 2 As the authors of this commentary went on to note, the least understood issue is the fact that 'the jihadists comprise a social movement, not just a cluster of terrorist organisations'. Downloaded by [New York University] at 16:46 11 April 2015 36 B. TibiThis article sets out to expand on and substantiate this insight by presenting Islamism as a transnational movement that is based on a political religion. As such, it represents the most recent variant of totalitarianism. Its strength lies in its ability to draw on an ideology rooted not only in a real religious faith but also that has assumed a...

What Should This Fight Be Called?

“…''The jihadism that adopts terrorism as its most recent military strategy is only one branch of Islamism. This jihadism presents a new pattern for warfare, one that is no longer waged between organized state armies'' (Tibi, 2007).…”

Integrating European Muslims Through Discourse? Understanding the Development and Limitations of Euro-Islam in Europe

“…In his conceptualisation, Euro-Islam is an effort to reform the interpretation of Islamic teaching through a liberal understanding and principles fully adopted by European society (Tibi 2008). He further argued that in order for Islamic teaching to be consistent with the liberal principles of European society, there are two Islamic principles which need to be abolish: Sharia law and Jihad (Tibi 2007). Tibi argued that these two concepts must be removed from Islamic teaching in Europe since these concepts do not conform to the basic principles of modernity such as democracy, freedom of speech and human rights.…”

“…Tibi argued that these two concepts must be removed from Islamic teaching in Europe since these concepts do not conform to the basic principles of modernity such as democracy, freedom of speech and human rights. Through the abolishment of these principles, the Europeanisation of Islam or Euro-Islam can be completed (Tibi 2008). However, this does not mean that Tibi believes that the concept of Euro-Islam is a universal concept that should be implemented throughout the world.…”

“…In a nutshell, Euro-Islam is a variant of a liberal understanding of Islam that can be accepted by both Muslim and European society. The idea aims to reform Islamic teaching so that it can accommodate principles of European values such as secularity and individualism (Tibi 2008). There are two main European Muslim scholars that are devoted to developing Euro-Islam: Bassam Tibi and Tariq Ramadan.…”

Civilizational futures: Clashes or alternative visions in the age of globalization?

“…The concept of Jihad, which has violent as well as non-violent connotations, has been manipulated in political Islam to acquire a necessary instrument for the violent struggle for power. The first indication of the jihadist ideology came with Hassan Al-Banna's Risalat Al-Djihad (Essay on Jihad) published in 1930 [44]. Al-Banna and Qutb initially belittled the individualistic jihad as a concept.…”