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Islam dan Pembuatan Power Negara

vali reza Seyyed Nasr

Di 1979 Jenderal Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, penguasa militer Pakistan, menyatakan bahwa Pakistan akan menjadi negara Islam. nilai-nilai Islam dan norma akan menjadi dasar identitas nasional, hukum, ekonomi, dan hubungan sosial, dan akan menginspirasi seluruh pembuatan kebijakan. Di 1980 Mahathir Muhammad, perdana menteri baru malaysia, memperkenalkan rencana berbasis luas yang serupa untuk menjangkar pembuatan kebijakan negara dalam nilai-nilai Islam, dan untuk membawa hukum negaranya dan praktik ekonomi sejalan dengan ajaran Islam. Mengapa para penguasa ini memilih jalan “Islamisasi” untuk negara mereka?? Dan bagaimana negara-negara pascakolonial sekuler yang pernah menjadi agen Islamisasi dan pertanda negara Islam "sejati"??
Malaysia dan Pakistan sejak akhir 1970-an–awal 1980-an mengikuti jalur unik menuju pembangunan yang menyimpang dari pengalaman negara-negara Dunia Ketiga lainnya.. Di kedua negara ini identitas agama diintegrasikan ke dalam ideologi negara untuk menginformasikan tujuan dan proses pembangunan dengan nilai-nilai Islam.
Upaya ini juga telah menghadirkan gambaran yang sangat berbeda tentang hubungan antara Islam dan politik dalam masyarakat Muslim. Di Malaysia dan Pakistan, itu telah menjadi lembaga negara daripada aktivis Islam (mereka yang menganjurkan pembacaan politik Islam; juga dikenal sebagai revivalis atau fundamentalis) yang telah menjadi penjaga Islam dan pembela kepentingannya. Ini menunjukkan
dinamika yang sangat berbeda dalam pasang surut politik Islam—setidaknya menunjukkan pentingnya negara dalam perubahan fenomena ini..
Apa yang harus dilakukan dari negara-negara sekuler yang menjadi Islam?? What does such a transformation mean for the state as well as for Islamic politics?
This book grapples with these questions. This is not a comprehensive account of Malaysia’s or Pakistan’s politics, nor does it cover all aspects of Islam’s role in their societies and politics, although the analytical narrative dwells on these issues considerably. This book is rather a social scientific inquiry into the phenomenon of secular postcolonial states becoming agents of Islamization, and more broadly how culture and religion serve the needs of state power and development. The analysis here relies on theoretical discussions
in the social sciences of state behavior and the role of culture and religion therein. More important, itu menarik kesimpulan dari kasus-kasus yang diperiksa untuk membuat kesimpulan yang lebih luas yang menarik bagi disiplin ilmu.

WANITA IRAN SETELAH REVOLUSI ISLAM

Ansiia Khaz Allii


Lebih dari tiga puluh tahun telah berlalu sejak kemenangan Revolusi Islam di Iran, namun tetap ada sejumlah pertanyaan dan ambiguitas tentang cara Republik Islam dan hukumnya menangani masalah kontemporer dan keadaan saat ini, terutama berkaitan dengan perempuan dan hak-hak perempuan. Makalah singkat ini akan menyoroti isu-isu tersebut dan mempelajari posisi perempuan saat ini di berbagai bidang, membandingkan ini dengan situasi sebelum Revolusi Islam. Data yang andal dan diautentikasi telah digunakan sedapat mungkin. Pendahuluan merangkum sejumlah studi teoretis dan hukum yang memberikan dasar untuk analisis selanjutnya yang lebih praktis dan merupakan sumber dari mana data diperoleh.
Bagian pertama membahas sikap kepemimpinan Republik Islam Iran terhadap perempuan dan women’s rights, and then takes a comprehensive look at the laws promulgated since the Islamic Revolution concerning women and their position in society. The second section considers women’s cultural and educational developments since the Revolution and compares these to the pre-revolutionary situation. Itu third section looks at women’s political, social and economic participation and considers both quantative and qualitative aspects of their employment. The fourth section then examines questions of the family, yang relationship between women and the family, and the family’s role in limiting or increasing women’s rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Wanita dalam Islam

Amira Burghul

Despite major consensus amongst a large number of philosophers and historians that the

prinsip dan ajaran Islam menyebabkan perubahan mendasar dalam posisi perempuan

dibandingkan dengan situasi yang berlaku di negara-negara di Timur dan Barat pada saat itu, dan meskipun

kesepakatan sejumlah besar pemikir dan legislator bahwa perempuan pada masa

Nabi (AS) diberikan hak dan hak istimewa hukum yang tidak diberikan oleh hukum buatan manusia sampai

baru-baru ini, kampanye propaganda oleh orang Barat dan orang-orang dengan perspektif kebarat-baratan

secara konsisten menuduh Islam tidak adil terhadap wanita, memberlakukan pembatasan pada mereka, dan

meminggirkan peran mereka dalam masyarakat.

Situasi ini diperburuk oleh suasana dan kondisi yang lazim di

dunia muslim, dimana kebodohan dan kemiskinan telah menghasilkan pemahaman yang terbatas tentang agama

dan hubungan keluarga dan manusia yang menghalangi keadilan dan cara hidup yang beradab, khususnya

antara pria dan wanita. Sekelompok kecil orang yang telah diberikan kesempatan untuk

memperoleh pendidikan dan kemampuan juga telah jatuh ke dalam perangkap keyakinan bahwa mencapai keadilan

bagi perempuan dan memanfaatkan kemampuan mereka tergantung pada penolakan terhadap agama dan ketakwaan dan

mengadopsi cara hidup Barat, sebagai hasil dari studi dangkal mereka tentang Islam di satu sisi

dan efek dari pengalihan hidup di sisi lain.

Hanya sejumlah kecil orang dari kedua kelompok ini yang berhasil melarikan diri dan diusir

jubah kebodohan dan tradisi mereka. Orang-orang ini telah mempelajari warisan mereka secara mendalam

dan detail, dan telah melihat hasil pengalaman Barat dengan pikiran terbuka. Mereka punya

membedakan antara gandum dan sekam di masa lalu dan sekarang, dan telah berurusan

secara ilmiah dan objektif dengan permasalahan yang muncul. Mereka telah menyangkal yang salah

tuduhan yang dibuat terhadap Islam dengan argumen yang fasih, dan telah mengakui kekurangan yang tersembunyi.

Mereka juga telah memeriksa kembali ucapan dan kebiasaan Yang Sempurna untuk

membedakan antara apa yang mapan dan suci dan apa yang telah diubah dan diselewengkan.

Perilaku bertanggung jawab dari kelompok ini telah membentuk arah baru dan cara baru dalam menangani

dengan pertanyaan tentang perempuan dalam masyarakat Islam. Mereka jelas belum menangani semua masalah

dan menemukan solusi akhir untuk banyak kesenjangan dan kekurangan legislatif, tetapi mereka telah meletakkan

landasan bagi munculnya model baru bagi wanita Muslim, yang keduanya kuat dan

berkomitmen pada landasan hukum dan efektif masyarakat mereka.

Dengan kemenangan Revolusi Islam di Iran dan restu para pemimpinnya, yang mana

otoritas keagamaan utama untuk partisipasi perempuan dan politik dan sosial mereka yang efektif

partisipasi, ruang lingkup perdebatan sengit tentang perempuan dalam Islam telah diperluas secara signifikan.

Model Muslimah di Iran telah menyebar ke gerakan perlawanan Islam di Lebanon,

Palestina negara-negara Arab lainnya dan bahkan dunia Barat, dan sebagai hasil, propaganda

kampanye melawan Islam telah mereda sampai batas tertentu.

Munculnya gerakan Islam Salafi seperti Taliban di Afghanistan dan sejenisnya

Gerakan Salafi di Arab Saudi dan Afrika Utara, dan cara fanatik mereka dalam memperlakukan wanita,

telah memprovokasi penonton yang gugup karena takut akan kebangkitan Islam untuk meluncurkan propaganda baru

kampanye menuduh Islam mengilhami terorisme dan menjadi terbelakang dan tidak adil terhadap

perempuan.

ISLAM, DEMOKRASI & THE USA:

Yayasan Cordoba

Abdullah Faliq

pengantar ,


Terlepas dari itu menjadi perdebatan abadi dan kompleks, Arches Quarterly memeriksa kembali dari dasar teologis dan praktis, perdebatan penting tentang hubungan dan kompatibilitas antara Islam dan Demokrasi, seperti yang digemakan dalam agenda harapan dan perubahan Barack Obama. Sementara banyak yang merayakan naiknya Obama ke Oval Office sebagai katarsis nasional untuk AS, yang lain tetap kurang optimis terhadap perubahan ideologi dan pendekatan di arena internasional. Sementara sebagian besar ketegangan dan ketidakpercayaan antara dunia Muslim dan AS dapat dikaitkan dengan pendekatan mempromosikan demokrasi, biasanya mendukung kediktatoran dan rezim boneka yang memberikan lip service pada nilai-nilai demokrasi dan hak asasi manusia, gempa susulan 9/11 telah benar-benar memperkuat keraguan lebih jauh melalui posisi Amerika tentang Islam politik. Itu telah menciptakan dinding negatif seperti yang ditemukan oleh worldpublicopinion.org, yg mana 67% orang Mesir percaya bahwa secara global Amerika memainkan peran "terutama negatif".
Tanggapan Amerika dengan demikian telah tepat. Dengan memilih Obama, banyak di seluruh dunia menggantungkan harapan mereka untuk mengembangkan perang yang tidak terlalu agresif, tetapi kebijakan luar negeri yang lebih adil terhadap dunia Muslim. Ujian bagi Obama, saat kita berdiskusi, adalah bagaimana Amerika dan sekutunya mempromosikan demokrasi. Apakah itu memfasilitasi atau memaksakan?
Lagi pula, dapatkah itu menjadi broker yang jujur ​​di zona konflik yang berkepanjangan?? Mendaftar keahlian dan wawasan produktif
c ulama, akademisi, jurnalis dan politisi kawakan, Arches Quarterly mengungkap hubungan antara Islam dan Demokrasi dan peran Amerika – serta perubahan yang dibawa oleh Obama, dalam mencari kesamaan. Anas Altikriti, CEO Yayasan Th e Cordoba memberikan langkah awal untuk diskusi ini, di mana dia merefleksikan harapan dan tantangan yang ada di jalan Obama. Mengikuti Altikriti, mantan penasihat Presiden Nixon, Dr Robert Crane menawarkan analisis menyeluruh tentang prinsip Islam tentang hak atas kebebasan. Anwar Ibrahim, mantan Wakil Perdana Menteri Malaysia, memperkaya diskusi dengan realitas praktis penerapan demokrasi di masyarakat yang mayoritas Muslim, yaitu, di Indonesia dan Malaysia.
Kami juga memiliki Dr Shireen Hunter, dari Universitas Georgetown, AS, yang mengeksplorasi negara-negara Muslim yang tertinggal dalam demokratisasi dan modernisasi. Hal ini dilengkapi oleh penulis terorisme, Penjelasan Dr Nafeez Ahmed tentang krisis postmodernitas dan
matinya demokrasi. dr. daud abdullah (Direktur Pemantau Media Timur Tengah), Alan Hart (mantan koresponden ITN dan BBC Panorama; penulis Zionisme: Musuh Sejati Orang Yahudi) dan Asem Sondos (Editor mingguan Sawt Al Omma Mesir) berkonsentrasi pada Obama dan perannya dalam mempromosikan demokrasi di dunia Muslim, serta hubungan AS dengan Israel dan Ikhwanul Muslimin.
Menteri Luar Negeri, Maladewa, Ahmed Shaheed berspekulasi tentang masa depan Islam dan Demokrasi; Cllr. Gerry Maclochlainn
– seorang anggota Sinn Féin yang menjalani empat tahun penjara karena kegiatan Republik Irlandia dan juru kampanye untuk Guildford 4 dan Birmingham 6, merefleksikan perjalanannya baru-baru ini ke Gaza di mana dia menyaksikan dampak kebrutalan dan ketidakadilan yang dijatuhkan terhadap warga Palestina; Dr Marie Breen-Smyth, Direktur Pusat Kajian Radikalisasi dan Kekerasan Politik Kontemporer membahas tantangan mengkaji secara kritis teror politik; Dr Khalid al-Mubarak, penulis dan dramawan, membahas prospek perdamaian di Darfur; dan akhirnya jurnalis dan aktivis hak asasi manusia Ashur Shamis melihat secara kritis demokratisasi dan politisasi umat Islam saat ini.
Kami berharap semua ini menjadi bacaan yang komprehensif dan sumber refleksi tentang isu-isu yang mempengaruhi kita semua dalam fajar harapan baru..
Terima kasih

Budaya Politik Islam, Demokrasi, dan Hak Asasi Manusia

Daniel E. Harga

Telah berpendapat bahwa Islam memfasilitasi otoriterisme, bertentangan dengan nilai-nilai masyarakat Barat, dan signifikan mempengaruhi hasil politik penting di negara-negara Muslim. Karenanya, sarjana, komentator, dan pejabat pemerintah sering menunjuk ke''''fundamentalisme Islam sebagai ancaman ideologis di samping demokrasi liberal. This view, Namun, is based primarily on the analysis of texts, Islamic political theory, and ad hoc studies of individual countries, which do not consider other factors. It is my contention that the texts and traditions of Islam, like those of other religions, can be used to support a variety of political systems and policies. Country specific and descriptive studies do not help us to find patterns that will help us explain the varying relationships between Islam and politics across the countries of the Muslim world. Karenanya, a new approach to the study of the
connection between Islam and politics is called for.
I suggest, through rigorous evaluation of the relationship between Islam, demokrasi, and human rights at the cross-national level, that too much emphasis is being placed on the power of Islam as a political force. I first use comparative case studies, which focus on factors relating to the interplay between Islamic groups and regimes, economic influences, ethnic cleavages, and societal development, to explain the variance in the influence of Islam on politics across eight nations. I argue that much of the power
attributed to Islam as the driving force behind policies and political systems in Muslim nations can be better explained by the previously mentioned factors. I also find, contrary to common belief, that the increasing strength of Islamic political groups has often been associated with modest pluralization of political systems.
I have constructed an index of Islamic political culture, based on the extent to which Islamic law is utilized and whether and, jika begitu, how,Western ideas, institutions, and technologies are implemented, to test the nature of the relationship between Islam and democracy and Islam and human rights. This indicator is used in statistical analysis, which includes a sample of twenty-three predominantly Muslim countries and a control group of twenty-three non-Muslim developing nations. In addition to comparing
Islamic nations to non-Islamic developing nations, statistical analysis allows me to control for the influence of other variables that have been found to affect levels of democracy and the protection of individual rights. The result should be a more realistic and accurate picture of the influence of Islam on politics and policies.

Mencari Konstitusionalisme Islam

Nadirsyah Celana

Sementara konstitusionalisme di Barat kebanyakan diidentifikasi dengan pemikiran sekuler, Islam konstitusionalisme, yang mencakup beberapa elemen keagamaan, telah menarik minat tumbuh dalam beberapa tahun terakhir. Misalnya, the Bush administration’s response to the events of 9/11 radically transformed the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, and both countries are now rewriting their constitutions. Seperti
Ann Elizabeth Mayer points out, Islamic constitutionalism is constitutionalism that is, in some form, based on Islamic principles, as opposed to the constitutionalism developed in countries that happen to be Muslim but which has not been informed by distinctively Islamic principles. Several Muslim scholars, among them Muhammad Asad3 and Abul A`la al-Maududi, have written on such aspects of constitutional issues as human rights and the separation of powers. Namun, in general their works fall into apologetics, as Chibli Mallat points out:
Whether for the classical age or for the contemporary Muslim world, scholarly research on public law must respect a set of axiomatic requirements.
Pertama, the perusal of the tradition cannot be construed as a mere retrospective reading. By simply projecting present-day concepts backwards, it is all too easy to force the present into the past either in an apologetically contrived or haughtily dismissive manner. The approach is apologetic and contrived when Bills of Rights are read into, say, the Caliphate of `Umar, with the presupposition that the “just” qualities of `Umar included the complex and articulate precepts of constitutional balance one finds in modern texts

Islam dan Islamisme di Afghanistan

Christine Mendoza

The last half-century in particular has seen the recurrent use of religious Islam as

ideologi, often referred to as political Islam or Islamism, in groups espousing the

establishment of an Islamic state. Attention was drawn to Afghanistan when it became

the rallying point for Islamists in the 1980s. Namun, the earlier appearance of an

Islamist movement in Afghanistan in the 1960s and its subsequent development offer an

instructive, unique lesson in understanding Islam and Islamism in Afghan society.

This overview of the Islamist movement in Afghanistan is divided into three

parts: It begins by defining the differing manifestations of Islam in Afghanistan,

indicating how Islamism differs from or draws upon each manifestation in constructing

its own vision. Kemudian, the broader context of Islamism elsewhere in the Muslim world is

discussed and analyzed. Although the theoretical basis for Islamism was constructed in

the 1960s by Abu ‘Ala Mawdudi in Pakistan and Sayyid Qutb in Egypt, this paper will

show that the Islamist movement in Afghanistan did not mirror those in either of these

countries. To this end, this paper reviews the thought of the above-mentioned

theoreticians of Islamism, and outlines historical and social conditions that colored the

implementation of their models in their respective countries. This leads back to a

discussion of the Afghan context, which makes up the final part of the paper. It is

necessary to review salient aspects of the traditional structure of Afghan society, dan

role Islam has historically played in Afghanistan to understand how the Islamist

experience was shaped and constrained by this structure, as well as how the Islamist

experience has altered it.
As Afghanistan is now faced with the monumental task of rebuilding a state and

legal system, Islamists are attempting to influence the reconstruction. This overview will

underscore for those observing and participating in this process the importance of

understanding the Afghan Islamist perspective, its historical underpinnings, and current

demands.


Mesir di Tipping Point ?

David B. Ottaway
Pada awal 1980-an, I lived in Cairo as bureau chief of The Washington Post covering such historic events as the withdrawal of the last
Israeli forces from Egyptian territory occupied during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war and the assassination of President
Anwar Sadat by Islamic fanatics in October 1981.
The latter national drama, which I witnessed personally, had proven to be a wrenching milestone. It forced Sadat’s successor, Hosni Mubarak, to turn inwards to deal with an Islamist challenge of unknown proportions and effectively ended Egypt’s leadership role in the Arab world.
Mubarak immediately showed himself to be a highly cautious, unimaginative leader, maddeningly reactive rather than pro-active in dealing with the social and economic problems overwhelming his nation like its explosive population growth (1.2 million more Egyptians a year) and economic decline.
In a four-part Washington Post series written as I was departing in early 1985, I noted the new Egyptian leader was still pretty much
a total enigma to his own people, offering no vision and commanding what seemed a rudderless ship of state. The socialist economy
inherited from the era of President Gamal Abdel Nasser (1952 untuk 1970) was a mess. The country’s currency, the pound, was operating
on eight different exchange rates; its state-run factories were unproductive, uncompetitive and deep in debt; and the government was heading for bankruptcy partly because subsidies for food, electricity and gasoline were consuming one-third ($7 billion) of its budget. Cairo had sunk into a hopeless morass of gridlocked traffic and teeming humanity—12 million people squeezed into a narrow band of land bordering the Nile River, most living cheek by jowl in ramshackle tenements in the city’s ever-expanding slums.

Dari Akar Nasionalisme di Dunia Islam

Shabir Ahmed

Dunia Muslim telah ditandai oleh kegagalan, perpecahan, pertumpahan darah, penindasan dan keterbelakangan. Pada ini, tidak ada negara Muslim di dunia benar dapat mengklaim untuk menjadi pemimpin dalam setiap bidang kegiatan manusia. Memang, the non-Muslims of the East and the West
now dictate the social, economic and political agenda for the Muslim Ummah.
Selanjutnya, the Muslims identify themselves as Turkish, Arab, African and Pakistani. If this is not enough, Muslims are further sub-divided within each country or continent. Misalnya, in Pakistan people are classed as Punjabis, Sindhis, Balauchis and
Pathans. The Muslim Ummah was never faced with such a dilemma in the past during Islamic rule. They never suffered from disunity, widespread oppression, stagnation in science and technology and certainly not from the internal conflicts that we have witnessed this century like the Iran-Iraq war. So what has gone wrong with the Muslims this century? Why are there so many feuds between them and why are they seen to be fighting each other? What has caused their weakness and how will they ever recover from the present stagnation?
There are many factors that contributed to the present state of affairs, but the main ones are the abandoning of the Arabic language as the language of understanding Islam correctly and performing ijtihad, the absorption of foreign cultures such as the philosophies of the Greeks, Persian and the Hindus, the gradual loss of central authority over some of the provinces, and the rise of nationalism since the 19th Century.
This book focuses on the origins of nationalism in the Muslim world. Nationalism did not arise in the Muslim world naturally, nor did it came about in response to any hardships faced by the people, nor due to the frustration they felt when Europe started to dominate the world after the industrial revolution. Agak, nationalism was implanted in the minds of the Muslims through a well thought out scheme by the European powers, after their failure to destroy the Islamic State by force. The book also presents the Islamic verdict on nationalism and practical steps that can be taken to eradicate the disease of nationalism from the Muslim Ummah so as to restore it back to its former glory.

IMAN ISLAM di AMERIKA

JAMES A. Beverley

AMERICA BEGINS A NEW MILLENNIUM AS ONE OF THE MOST RELIGIOUSLY diverse nations of all time. Nowhere else in the world do so many people—offered a choice free from government influence—identify with such a wide range of religious and spiritual communities. Nowhere else has the human search for meaning been so varied. In America today, there are communities and centers for worship representing all of the world’s religions.
The American landscape is dotted with churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques. Zen Buddhist zendos sit next to Pentecostal tabernacles. Hasidic Jews walk the streets with Hindu swamis. Most amazing of all, relatively little conflict has occurred among religions in America. This fact, combined with a high level of tolerance of each other’s beliefs and practices, has let America produce people of goodwill ready to try to resolve any tensions that might emerge. The Faith in America series celebrates America’s diverse religious heritage.
People of faith and ideals who longed for a better world have created a unique society where freedom of religious expression is a keynote of culture. The freedom that America offers to people of faith means that not only have ancient religions found a home
sini, but that newer ways of expressing spirituality have also taken root. From huge churches in large cities to small spiritual communities in towns and villages, faith in America has never been stronger. The paths that different religions have taken through
American history is just one of the stories readers will find in this series. Like anything people create, religion is far from perfect. Namun, its contribution to the culture and its ability to help people are impressive, and these accomplishments will be found in all the books in the series. Sementara itu, awareness and tolerance of the different paths our neighbors take to the spiritual life has become an increasingly important part of citizenship in America.
Hari ini, lebih dari sebelumnya, America as a whole puts its faith in freedom—the freedom to believe.

Pihak Oposisi Islam dan Potensi Engagement Uni Eropa

Toby Archer

Heidi Huuhtanen

In light of the increasing importance of Islamist movements in the Muslim world and

the way that radicalisation has influenced global events since the turn of the century, dia

is important for the EU to evaluate its policies towards actors within what can be loosely

termed the ‘Islamic world’. It is particularly important to ask whether and how to engage

with the various Islamist groups.

This remains controversial even within the EU. Some feel that the Islamic values that

lie behind Islamist parties are simply incompatible with western ideals of democracy and

hak asasi manusia, while others see engagement as a realistic necessity due to the growing

domestic importance of Islamist parties and their increasing involvement in international

affairs. Another perspective is that democratisation in the Muslim world would increase

European security. The validity of these and other arguments over whether and how the

EU should engage can only be tested by studying the different Islamist movements and

their political circumstances, country by country.

Democratisation is a central theme of the EU’s common foreign policy actions, as laid

out in Article 11 of the Treaty on European Union. Many of the states considered in this

report are not democratic, or not fully democratic. In most of these countries, Islamis

parties and movements constitute a significant opposition to the prevailing regimes, dan

in some they form the largest opposition bloc. European democracies have long had to

deal with governing regimes that are authoritarian, but it is a new phenomenon to press

for democratic reform in states where the most likely beneficiaries might have, from the

EU’s point of view, different and sometimes problematic approaches to democracy and its

related values, such as minority and women’s rights and the rule of law. These charges are

often laid against Islamist movements, so it is important for European policy-makers to

have an accurate picture of the policies and philosophies of potential partners.

Experiences from different countries tends to suggest that the more freedom Islamist

parties are allowed, the more moderate they are in their actions and ideas. In many

cases Islamist parties and groups have long since shifted away from their original aim

of establishing an Islamic state governed by Islamic law, and have come to accept basic

democratic principles of electoral competition for power, the existence of other political

competitors, and political pluralism.

Politik Islam di Timur Tengah

Apakah Knudsen

This report provides an introduction to selected aspects of the phenomenon commonly

referred to as “political Islam”. Laporan ini memberikan penekanan khusus untuk Timur Tengah, di

particular the Levantine countries, and outlines two aspects of the Islamist movement that may

be considered polar opposites: demokrasi dan kekerasan politik. In the third section the report

reviews some of the main theories used to explain the Islamic resurgence in the Middle East

(Figure 1). In brief, the report shows that Islam need not be incompatible with democracy and

that there is a tendency to neglect the fact that many Middle Eastern countries have been

engaged in a brutal suppression of Islamist movements, causing them, some argue, to take up

arms against the state, and more rarely, foreign countries. The use of political violence is

widespread in the Middle East, but is neither illogical nor irrational. In many cases even

Islamist groups known for their use of violence have been transformed into peaceful political

parties successfully contesting municipal and national elections. Namun, the Islamist

revival in the Middle East remains in part unexplained despite a number of theories seeking to

account for its growth and popular appeal. In general, most theories hold that Islamism is a

reaction to relative deprivation, especially social inequality and political oppression. Alternative

theories seek the answer to the Islamist revival within the confines of religion itself and the

powerful, evocative potential of religious symbolism.

The conclusion argues in favour of moving beyond the “gloom and doom” approach that

portrays Islamism as an illegitimate political expression and a potential threat to the West (“Old

Islamism”), and of a more nuanced understanding of the current democratisation of the Islamist

movement that is now taking place throughout the Middle East (“New Islamism”). This

importance of understanding the ideological roots of the “New Islamism” is foregrounded

along with the need for thorough first-hand knowledge of Islamist movements and their

adherents. As social movements, its is argued that more emphasis needs to be placed on

understanding the ways in which they have been capable of harnessing the aspirations not only

of the poorer sections of society but also of the middle class.

ISLAM, Islamis, DAN PRINSIP PEMILU DI TIMUR TENGAH

James Piscatori

For an idea whose time has supposedly come, ÒdemocracyÓ masks an astonishing

number of unanswered questions and, di dunia Muslim, has generated

a remarkable amount of heat. Apakah ini budaya tertentu jangka, reflecting Western

European experiences over several centuries? Do non-Western societies possess

their own standards of participation and accountabilityÑand indeed their own

rhythms of developmentÑwhich command attention, if not respect? Does Islam,

with its emphasis on scriptural authority and the centrality of sacred law, allow

for flexible politics and participatory government?

The answers to these questions form part of a narrative and counter-narrative

that themselves are an integral part of a contested discourse. The larger story

concerns whether or not ÒIslamÓ constitutes a threat to the West, and the supplementary

story involves IslamÕs compatibility with democracy. The intellectual

baggage, to change the metaphor, is scarcely neutral. The discussion itself has

become acutely politicised, caught in the related controversies over Orientalism,

the exceptionalism of the Middle East in particular and the Muslim world in general,

and the modernism of religious ÒfundamentalistÓ movements.

Memikirkan Kembali Teori Hubungan Internasional dalam Islam

Mohammad Abo-Kazleh

The legal foundation of foreign relations in Islam is based on Sharīy’ah. The original sources ofSharīy’ah are the Quran and the Prophetic traditions (Sunnah). Derived from Sharīy’ah is theFiqh or Islamic jurisprudence which covers the myriad of problems and issues that arise in thecourse of man’s life. (al-Mawdūdī, 2002) Among the main issues which the contemporaryIslamic jurisprudence attempt to deal with are foreign relations in Islam. Muslim jurists havedeveloped different opinions about the organizing principle of foreign relations in Islam. Some(hereafter referred to as traditionalists) who were influenced by the realistic tendency of Islamicstate, particularly during the periods of Conquest, believe that foreign relations in Islamoriginally depend on the attitude of non-Muslim groups or states toward Islam and Muslims.Therefore, the basis of foreign relations of Islamic state is fight, but under certain conditions. Incontrast, other jurists (hereafter referred to as pacifists or non-traditionalists) believe that theorigin of foreign relations in Islam is peace, because the Quran unambiguously states “there isno compulsion in religion.”(2: 256) Demikian, the principle of war advocated bytraditionalists is, non-traditionalists believe, not compatible with this unrelenting Quranic rule.The differences over the original principle of foreign relations in Islam are usually attributed tothe fact that exegetes of the Quran most often diverge in their approach to analyze andunderstand the related Quranic verses, and this create a dilemma in Islamic jurisprudence. Theproblem is complicated because proponents of both approaches depend on Quranic verses tojustify their claims.

Orang Jerman Masuk Islam dan Hubungan Ambivalen Mereka dengan Imigran Muslim

Esra Ozyurek

“I would never have become a Muslim if I had met Muslims before I met Islam.” I heard these words over and over again during my yearlong ethnographic research among ethnic German converts to Islam in Berlin.1 The first time, it was uttered by a self-declared German imam who had converted to Islam while trying to convert Arabs and Turks to Christianity. The second time, the speaker was a twenty-five-year-old former East German woman who came to Islam through her Bosnian boyfriend, whose family never accepted her. The third time, the comment was made by a fifty-year-old man who converted to Islam about thirty years ago after meeting Iranians who came to Europe to collect money and organize for the Iranian revolution. After that I stopped counting. Although all of the several dozen German converts I talked to (and the dozens of converts whose narratives I read on the internet) claim that they embraced Islam in a context of significant personal relationships with Muslims,2 a substantial portion of German Muslims are quite discontented with born Muslims, especially those of immigrant backgrounds. This paper is an attempt to comprehend the paradoxical feelings of love and hate for Islam and Muslims that many German Muslims experience. My aim in exploring this issue is to understand what it takes to be a (supposed) Islamophile in a political and social context that is highly Islamophobic.

Pemikiran Progresif dalam Islam Kontemporer

Prof. Dr. Christian W. Troll

It seems sensible to start by shedding light on the background context and then to define the broader framework within which theprogressive thinkingin contemporary Islam which we want to discuss is embedded. The movements and trends which are shaping the contemporary Islamic world can be analyzed and assessed in the light of two conflicting forces, namely the notions of authenticity on the one hand and modernity on the other.
Such an approach perceives contemporary Islam as being torn between the authenticity in matters of life and doctrine which it derives from its past and the modernity which refers it to a present (and a future) in which Muslims no longer hold the reins of power and are therefore no longer able to control the development of thought.
Islam is centred on a scripture which it holds in faith to be the revelation of God. This scripture, the Qur’an, is believed to be eternal and immutable in form and content and thus to be valid for every place and time, to contain a truth which obtains for ever. Modernity, by contrast, is characterized by the relativity and the progressive nature of all truth. For the modernists there is nothing, spoken or written, which cannot be construed and questioned, which cannot and indeed should not be further refined by the human mind.
Islam thus sees itself positioned between the authenticity of a truth – that of the Qur’an as a – so to speak – naked, irrefutable fact – and a modernity whose knowledge in all fields is constantly being reconstructed. Is the solution to be found in modernizing Islam or in Islamizing modernity? It is the task of the Muslims to answer this question.