Short Answer Questions
Briefly describe the main contentions of the Wahhabi movement and the two main ways this movement differed from other revivalist movements.
The Wahhabi movement is a movement that is popular in radical, fundamentalist Islam. The movement is a subsection of Sunni Islam, although there is much contention surrounding the issue-- many people, including Islamic scholars, debate heavily about whether or not Ibn Wahhab, the theological father of the Wahhabi movement, could himself be considered a Sunni Muslim.
Theologically, the Wahhabi movement differs significantly from other revivalist movements in modern Islam. Firstly, the Wahhabi movement denies the legitimacy of all texts and works on Islam other than the Koran and the Hadith. There is also a significant denial of legitimacy of all other religious groups and movements that is fundamental to the beliefs of the Wahhabi movement. Interestingly, the Wahhabi movement also denies the legitimacy of religious figures such as priests, as well as religious scholars-- especially strange in Islamic religious movements, as Islamic scholars and their interpretations on the Koran and Hadith carry significant weight in the Islamic tradition.
What are the origins of the American University in Beirut, and what are its connections to the rise of Arab nationalism?
The American University of Beirut was founded in the mid 1800s by American missionaries. However, the university’s educational focus shifted quickly from that of a missionary school to that of a liberal arts university early in its inception; over time, the diversity of the student body increased significantly, as well. Perhaps most notably, the university witnessed its first protests before the turn of the twentieth century; it began admitting women earlier than many other institutions as well. Some sources state that the American University of Beirut began to diversify its student body as early as 1920.
The changing face of the Arab world meant that students in the American University of Beirut were in a different place politically and culturally than their American counterparts overseas. They participated in a number of activist activities to ensure that the education they were receiving at the university reflected both the liberal arts tradition that the American universities promised and a practical skill set for use in the Arab world.
Who were the Young Turks, and what did they do?
The Young Turks were a group of individuals led by a man named Cenk Uygur. These individuals, reacting to what they perceived as the almost extreme radicalization of American media, began a talk show that was aired on YouTube. Politically, the content of the show was extremely liberal and progressive, often taking on a sarcastic and satirical slant. The producers and personalities responsible for the Young Turks became more well-known when they aired a 99-hour filibuster, protesting the appointment of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The Young Turks was formed and aired during a time when many Muslims and Muslim-Americans were facing harsh judgments from the American people as a whole; hearing a liberal/progressive/leftist viewpoint from Muslims-- especially since one of the regular contributors was both a female and a feminist-- was somewhat unusual.
How did the neorevivalist Muslim Brotherhood (Jamaat al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin) and Islamic Society (Jamaat-i-Islami) regard the Western concept of separation of church and state?
The Muslim Brotherhood, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, is extremely concerned with the concept of the separation of church and state. The Muslim Brotherhood feels that it is the duty of the Islamic people to live holy lives that are governed by the Koran; for this reason, the Muslim Brotherhood supports governments that are Islamic in nature. The Muslim Brotherhood does not believe in the secularization of Islamic states, and as such works to ensure that the Arab world incorporates the Koran and Islam into both the fabric of its society and the text of its laws. Sharia law is the highest form of law in the eyes of the Muslim Brotherhood, and instilling Sharia law into every Islamic and Arab state is one of the goals of the organization.
The Islamic Society, on the other hand, strives for governance by Sharia law, but also for the existence of democracy within Islamic society. Capitalism, socialism, and secularism (such as the state of affairs in Turkey) are frowned upon by the Islamic Society. The Islamic Society is generally less hard-line than the Muslim Brotherhood, but strives for some of the same ideals within the Arab and Muslim world.
What were six principles of reform in Turkey known as Ataturk's "six arrows"? Which of these do you think had the potential to clash with traditional Islamic beliefs?
Turkey is somewhat unique for a country that is primarily a Muslim country, as it is a fiercely secular nation. When the modern-day Turkish political system was formed six tenets were put into place to ensure the formation of a solid society. The first tenet was republicanism, which moved the power away from a monarch and towards the people. The second tenet was nationalism, which gave the Turks a newfound sense of unity and pride in their collective heritage. The third and fourth tenets were populism and revolutionism, which promised a society less governed by class and more apt to change, respectively. Lastly, the fifth and sixth tenets were secularism and statism, which promised a movement away from religiously-based political systems and encouraged the state-led development of economy.
Many of these tenets are fundamentally at odds with traditional Islamic society, but none so much as the tenet of secularism. Islamic law is meant to be woven in the the very fabric of society; separating Sharia law from political law is difficult and frowned upon by many Islamic scholars. In addition, the idea of having a nationalistic tilt to the government is different from traditional Islamic tradition: in Islam, all Muslims are meant to be proud of their identity as Muslims, not of their ethnic identity. However, the six arrows seem to have worked well in Turkey, and have led to the creation of a relatively stable state.
Essay Questions
Discuss the importance and tradition of tajdid (renewal) and islah (reform) in Islam and summarize how this manifested itself in the Muslim community during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Islam has a long history of both renewal and reform within the community and religion itself. In the west, recent experiences with radicalized Islam have given many people a negative and unrealistic view of what Islam looks like, and what it has traditionally looked like over the centuries. Until recently, Islam could have been considered the most liberal of the Judeo-Christian faiths; it was only in recent years that a variety of different socio-political factors changed the face of Islam substantially.
The 18th and 19th centuries were a particularly tumultuous time for Europe and the Arab world. Although the world did not yet know the destructive power of a world war, the quickly-increasing technical capabilities and westernization of the world over was beginning to take its toll on cultures around the world. As with many cultures, certain parts of the Muslim world reacted by reverting to its “roots.” During this time, a great number of thinkers-- perhaps the most famous of which is Ibn Abd Al-Wahhab-- began to postulate that the only way for Islam to survive is to replace Muslim society as it existed at the time with a society more similar to that of Muhammad’s time.
This philosophy of revivalism and reverting back to the old ways is not a new narrative. This is a philosophical and human reaction to change, and one that can be seen in many different cultures during many different time periods. However, Islam as a whole is somewhat more susceptible to wide overhauls and overarching change because the culture and religion carry with it these ideas of tajdid and islah-- renewal and reform.
Tajdid and islah are, like many of the concepts that exist within the Muslim faith, difficult to truly translate to English. “Renewal” and “reform” are good approximations, but there are almost certainly gaps in the translation. Tajdid, or renewal, refers to the Islamic idea that the duty of the Muslim is to continue to renew society, and to encourage it to move towards a purer form of Islamic society; a person who strives to fulfill the ideal of tajdid in his or her life is striving to improve the Islamic community in every way, but particularly in terms of the underlying equity and justice of the society. Tajdid can be paired with the idea of islah, or the idea that Muslims have a duty to reform themselves and their cultures to encourage people to live more harmoniously together.
As liberal as these philosophies sound, they can and have been commandeered to radicalize Islam. The most notable name in the radicalization of Islam during the 18th century was Wahhabi, but all throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, great scholars proposed a return to the strict interpretation of the texts of Islam, encouraging a movement away from the scholarly nature of the religion. Unlike other Judeo-Christian religions, the scholarly tradition in Islam is high; interpretation of the Koran by jurists and community leaders is seen as one of the most important aspects of scriptural interpretation by many. During the 18th and 19th centuries, fear of a changing world led some Islamic scholars to derail some of the more liberal policies of Islam for the purposes of radicalizing and returning the religion to more fundamentalist beliefs and practices.
Discuss Western involvement in the Middle East as a result of the decision by the Ottoman Empire to enter World War I as allies of Germany. What were the long-term consequences of this involvement?
There were many reasons that the Ottoman Empire entered the fray during World War I, but the actions of the Allied forces in the Middle East was one of the key factors in instigating their involvement. One of the major concerns on the part of the Allied forces during the course of World War I was the safety of the oil fields in the Middle East. During World War I, the Ottoman Empire was still one of the most powerful forces in Europe, and the Allied forces--particularly the British-- feared that the Ottomans would capture the oil fields in the Middle East, effectively shutting down the war effort for the British and their allies.
The Germans received a number of benefits for allying with the powerful Ottoman Empire. They had essentially unlimited access to troops that they could send wherever troops were needed, and the Ottoman Empire formed a barrier between Russia and Western Europe; a barrier that they would need to cross to enter German territory. The Young Turks, the liberal-leaning political party that led the country, the Ottoman Empire reformed its military, albeit poorly.
There is no doubt that both sides during World War I would have benefited from Ottoman support, but by and large, the Ottoman Empire was not ready to enter a full-scale military conflict. The fear of the Ottoman Empire was that the Allied forces would win the war and return Constantinople to Russia; similarly, they Ottoman Empire wished to expand their borders, particularly into Asia Minor. The Russians, who were already making overtures regarding Ottoman territory, were threatening the Ottoman Empire with eventual military action if the Allies won the war; similarly, the British obsession with the oil fields in the Middle East made the Ottoman Empire’s leadership highly uncomfortable with the way the tides of war seemed to be turning.
The Ottoman Empire had grown so large by the time World War I started, and encompassed so many different peoples and states that it was fracturing down ethnic and cultural lines. The Ottoman Empire was involved in three different wars over territorial disputes in three years; it viewed the actions of the Allied forces in Europe as dangerous and threatening, while the Germans offered somewhat more stability. In addition, the Germans stood to lose much more if the Russians acquired land and resources in Asia Minor-- the Germans would have to deal with war on both fronts, which could have been disastrous for them in terms of the outcome of the war.
However, the Ottoman Empire and their recent radicalization by the Young Turks could not withstand the trials of a third war. Entering the war rattled the foundations of the already-shaky Ottoman government; the Young Turks were a war-hungry and impetuous bunch, particularly the Ottoman Minister for War. A series of rash military decisions led to a chain of events that led to widespread ethnic cleansing throughout the Ottoman Empire, particularly of people of Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian descent. Similarly, the rash decisions and poor planning displayed by the Ottoman military contributed significantly to the downfall of the Ottoman Empire in the years following their engagement with the Germans in World War I.
