Islam is a religion, which started in the 7th century in the Arabian Peninsula, precisely in Mecca. Its believers trust in the existence of Mohammad. It is believed to have originated from Prophet Mohammad, who was visited by Angel Gabriel for about 23 years. In this period, he received revelations with which the Quran is composed. In general, the Islam religion is revealed to mean ‘the one who submits to Allah' (“What Is Islam? - Political Islam”). Most importantly, they believe in the five pillars of faith, prayer, giving, fasting and pilgrimage. It is also a monotheistic religion, but they reject the belief in the trinity.
In the Islam religion, some laws are strictly followed by the believers; they are regarded as Sharia laws. Political Islam, which is also termed as Islamism, is a revival movement whose main aim is to implement various Islamic values in the different spheres of life. Islamism is embodied by the aspects of liberalism and moral conservatism. Islamism can be looked at in a different perspective, though at the end of the day, they would lead to the same end game if not a similar one. According to the Islamic faith, their belief in Islam is the aspect that would help them avoid hell and enter paradise (“What Is Islam? - Political Islam”). They believe that Islam’s relationships with unbelievers otherwise known as ‘kafir’ cannot be religious and is highly forbidden. Therefore, political Islam has been set as an avenue to communicate to the unbelievers of the Islam religion.
Islamism is an important aspect to the Muslims because the Trilogy attests to the superiority of the Islamic people over the unbelievers. In essence, they believe in a political and not religious domination over the kafir. 61 percent of the Quran has its text dedicated to the non-believers. This shows that Muslims are highly devoted to the non-believers of the Islamic religion. In the time of Mohammed, he converted about 150 people to the Islamic faith; he was later made a king and a warrior to the people; he led Arabia for ten years (“What Is Islam? - Political Islam”). Therefore, the Islamic doctrine is majorly based on how to treat the kafir, which is the political aspect of the religion, hence Islamism.
Islamism is indeed a controversial issue not just because it is the political dimension of the Islamic faith, but because the supporters of the Islamic faith themselves believe that Islamism is Islam (“What Is Islam? - Political Islam”). The aspect of political Islam is not an element that started in the recent past, it started close to a century ago, as it is expected of any political aspects of politics. Islamism has evolved over the years, many scholars both in the past and now have had their fair share, as thinkers and leaders, to analyze various aspects of political Islam regarding its history and its impact on the medieval times to the current times.
In the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire had substantially declined, and most of its territories had been taken into control by the European colonies. The European powers had brought in their way of life, their government and their values. It goes without saying that the Muslims at that time regarded this as encroachment and were very bitter with the colonial powers. As a result, some reformists and Islam political movements were formed to defeat the European rule in their land (Hussain). Among the prominent reformists was Muhammad Abduh, who was a student at that time, Rashid Rida among others. They acknowledged the fact that some aspects of Western culture were beneficial as a way of ensuring progress to their territory, but on the same note, they advocated for truly following the Islamic religion. The advised against imitating taqlid, the earlier authorities. They believed that they did not follow the true Islam. This can be viewed as the birth of Islamism, which has evolved over the years to date.
Rashid Rida is one of the instrumental reformists of his time. He was a great follower of Abduh and in 1897, he started a magazine that mainly attacked weak Muslim societies (Hussain). He believed that they did not approach various economic, social and political factors with the expected vigor. He shunned them that their weaknesses could only be surmounted to Islam, which is purged with western influence that was seen to be pagan in nature. In this case, the Islamism aspect is brought out in that he did not want the real Islamic culture to be diluted by kafir hence Islamism is the avenue applied to reduce such effects.
In the early 1920s, Rida’s magazine gained popularity and attracted the attention of writers like Al-Banna, who had the same sentiments as earlier reformists. He believed that the best key to reform would be to promote Islam as a political ideology; this is another evidence of the origins of political Islam. He later decided to form The Muslim Brotherhood, which was based on the concern that it was necessary that governmental rule is based on Sharia laws hence eliminating the imperialist influence in the Muslim world. Al-Banna worked relentlessly to propagate the objectives of the movement; its influence had spread to the various communities and by 1948 it had millions of members in Egypt and other parts of the Middle East (Hussain). He was later assassinated at the height of his career, though it is paramount to note that his death might have caused a depression to his movement, it did not end his ideas and concepts on Islamic political ideologies. His work had inspired many and his movement and can be regarded as the most influential movements of its time. Al-Banna work made a huge impact in the direction political ideologies of Islamism have taken up to date. After his death, more and more movements were still formed, and the people’s hope did not die.
In 1953, Taquiddin al Nabhani formed a political party called Hizb ut –Tahrir since he was unhappy with the creeping Western political ideas (Hussain). The primary aim of the formation of this party was not only to regard Islam as a political ideology, which had been done by reformists before him. It was also to form an Islam state as a way of resisting the western ideological reforms. He, therefore, outlined the various political, social, economic and judicial systems of the Islamic state he wanted to form; he later produced a blueprint of his ideas. This discouraged many members since it was not inclusive of the ideas of other individuals, hence to some extent the party did not yield so much success.
Sayyid Qtub is also a phenomenal member in Islamism; he was an influential thinker in the Muslim world, and he was mostly concerned that the entire Muslim community had ceased to exist. He believed in a peaceful conversion of individuals to Islam (Hussain). Sayyid was also radical on militant jihad so as to eliminate a power structure that had posed challenges to the Islam political ideologies. As a thinker, he is seen as the founding father of modern jihadists like Osama Bin Laden.
In 1979, the Soviet Union attacked Afghanistan to suppress Islamic rebellion. In 1989, the Soviet Union withdrew their attack on Afghanistan, many jihadists felt victorious, among them was Zawahiri and Bin Laden (Hussain). The Soviet Union later collapsed in 1991, and more victory was considered since they believed that it fell at their hand. Many other jihadists rallied bin Laden and Zawahiri to form what is now known as the Al Qaeda (Hussain). This movement attracted many other jihadists from all over and trained them to be part of it and its leadership. The Al Qaeda adopted an extremist strategy where they could now use suicide bombings to claim the lives of kafir; as aforementioned, the Muslims would only interact with unbelievers through Islamism. In the past, they invoked the idea of Islam as a political idea; others wanted to form Islamic states like Iran and Iraq. In the new phase, Islamic leaders have changed their tactics and are using extreme methods to make their objectives and agenda known to the unbelievers.
Alamma Azmi is an influential thinker of the new phase of political Islam. He is the idea that religion and politics between the Islamic society and the secular society can coexist but are not compatible. He also agrees to the fact the idea that being a non-Muslim or an unbeliever being irreligion is totally wrong (Hussain). More interestingly, he is the notion that each religion should acknowledge one another even with their differences, and coexist as citizens of one country with equal rights. This is indeed a turn of political ideologies as compared to those of the past; in that the leaders and thinkers of the past did not even think about coexisting with kafir, but in this era, leaders have accepted the differences that come with different religions and have also agreed to live with each other in peace.
The Al Qaeda went on with their agenda, but in the first decade of the 21st century, the Arab world was indeed tired of the wars and the loss of lives, this because even if they attacked people who were non-believers in the Islamic religion, nations like the US retaliated in their defense. This would mean that lives of the Arabs were lost too. In 2007, in the anniversary of 9/11, Sheikh Salman Al Oudah, who had been a mentor and a role model to bin Laden, heavily denounced the actions of Al Qaeda and its leaders (Hussain). He was very touched by the lives that had been lost as a result of extremist methods used by jihadists.
Despite the good leaders and thinkers in the Islamic politics, there are also those in the 21st century who rule like the ones in the past, with an iron fist and greatly detest unbelievers of the Islamic religion. They still believe in getting rid of non-Islamists. Mohammad Gaddafi is one of such leaders of our time; he started serving as president in 1969 until his death in 2011. Though he died, his effects are still felt to date. He is the typical negative kind of leader. As a dictatorial leader, he declared his political system would unleash full war on capitalism and socialism. He led coups and terrorist attacks; he is the kind of leader that stuck with the political ideologies of the past. His religion and sharia laws were more important to him in his leadership. He also did not mind using extremist methods in exercising his rule.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared that he was not going to leave office even after the end of his term. This portrays a negative picture of Islamic politics since due to his refusal, the citizens and other movements rebelled against him and his rule. It is quite sad that as a leader he launched chemical weapons on his people. The ISIS joined the war and took the larger part of Syria; this gave the government an extra task of defending the country and fighting the ISIS at the same time (“Politicians As Theologians”). Just recently, he was accused of launching chemical bombs on refugees. This is an actual depiction of a leader who is ruthless and leads with an iron fist. This is indeed what various other Islamic leaders greatly discourage.
Formation of Al Qaeda was just the beginning of the impacts of Islamism. In 2001, one of their impacts was felt in the 9/11 attack. 19 terrorists attacked four passenger airlines, two of which crashed into the south and north towers of the World trade center in the US. The third plane later crashed in the Pentagon headquarters in Virginia, yet the fourth one eventually crashed in Pennsylvania. This attack claimed about 3,000 lives and in the US responded vigorously by attacking Afghanistan to get rid of the Taliban group, who were believed to have harbored the Al Qaeda group (“Politicians As Theologians”). Most interestingly, in 2004, Osama bin Laden took responsibility for the attacks.
Another significant impact would be the formation of caliphates and Islamic states, a good example being Iran (“Politicians As Theologians”). Islamism resulted in the formation of these nations, which were evidently modeled against non-Muslim believers. They are governed by Sharia laws and also royal decrees. Their formation in the past had failed but due to the determination of Islamic political leaders, more than one Islamic state was formed. They can be viewed as instruments to ensure that the Islamic ideologies as indicated by various movements are made possible.
Islamic politics in many countries like Egypt and Iran, allows one to be an Islamic democracy, precisely under the Sharia laws. Despite the state ruling independently, there is still an Islamic figure in the leadership position. This factor has resulted in adverse effects in some countries by destabilizing them. For example, in Egypt, there is a President, and yet again there is the Muslim Brotherhood, who have great power in the country and are consulted in the deliberations of the state (“Politicians As Theologians”). Iran is also affected in that despite the position of the president and the government being an independent entity, there is the supreme leader who has to sanction various government policies. In essence, the president needs the backing of the supreme leader to operate. This is quite a challenge in the delegation of different functions of the government since it polarizes the country and in the case of Egypt, such laws have been accused in the recent past of contributing to the lack of democracy in the country.
The greatest impact of dictatorial Islamic politics is the Arab spring of 2011, which has resulted in a great number of historical activities. It began in Tunisia, then later spread to Egypt. Other Arab countries affected include Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the Jordan (“Politicians As Theologians”). In Tunisia, it resulted in the emergence of an Islamist party called Ennahda, which was committed to the Western style of liberal democracy. It also vowed to ensure that the people got equal opportunities in education and employment whether man or woman.
In Egypt, the Arab spring resulted to Hosni Mubarak giving up power to the army and he was sentenced to life incarceration on the grounds of killing unarmed protestors. Amendments were made to ensure that leaders stay for a limited time in office and not as long as Mubarak did. In Libya, the protest was more violent, and the Libyan government tried to cripple the activities of the protesters to no avail. These protests led to the death of Gaddafi in his home in Surt. In 2012, elections were held and Mahmoud’s party is said to have taken the majority seats. The protests in Jordan led King Abdullah to fire the acting government as a method of politically reforming the country; he later appointed prime minister Awn Khasawneh, who later resigned without apparent reason, and hence there was Fayez Tarawneh who was then appointed as prime minister. In Bahrain, there was the formation of five parties, which opposed the Sunni reign and demanded a reformation of the constitution (“Politicians As Theologians”).
In Palestine, the protest led to a new era where people were granted the right to govern themselves. In Saudi Arabia, women were given the right to vote, which was quite surprising. In Syria, there were sanctions passed to punish the government for some crackdowns against its citizens (“Politicians As Theologians”). The Arab Spring indeed caused a great impact and historic changes that will make history in many years to come.
In conclusion, political Islam has come a long way and has significantly evolved from the time when only war was the only way for the Islamists to pass their concerns regarding political ideologies to a time when even leaders advocate for coexistence and acknowledging the differences in religion and policy approaches. Despite the fact that many people in this age advocate for peace, there is still a good percentage that would not accept westernized ideas. It is only advisable to facilitate real leadership and peaceful living among the people.
Works Cited
"Allama Azmi | Great Religious Leader Of The 21St Century." Allamaazmi.com. N.p., 2010.
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"Politicians As Theologians." The Economist. N.p., 2014. Web. 9 May 2016.
"What Is Islam? - Political Islam". Political Islam. N.p., 2016. Web. 9 May 2016.
Hussain, Ghaffar. Brief History of Islamism. N.P., 2010. Web.9 May 2016
