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Islam, Political Islam and America

Arapski uvid

Is “Brotherhood” with America Possible?

khalil al-anani

“there is no chance of communicating with any U.S. administration so long as the United States maintains its long-standing view of Islam as a real danger, a view that puts the United States in the same boat as the Zionist enemy. We have no pre-conceived notions concerning the American people or the U.S. society and its civic organizations and think tanks. We have no problem communicating with the American people but no adequate efforts are being made to bring us closer,” said Dr. Issam al-Iryan, chief of the political department of the Muslim Brotherhood in a phone interview.
Al-Iryan’s words sum up the Muslim Brotherhood’s views of the American people and the U.S. government. Other members of the Muslim Brotherhood would agree, as would the late Hassan al-Banna, who founded the group in 1928. Al- Banna viewed the West mostly as a symbol of moral decay. Other Salafis – an Islamic school of thought that relies on ancestors as exemplary models – have taken the same view of the United States, but lack the ideological flexibility espoused by the Muslim Brotherhood. While the Muslim Brotherhood believes in engaging the Americans in civil dialogue, other extremist groups see no point in dialogue and maintain that force is the only way of dealing with the United States.

Iraq and the Future of Political Islam

James Piscatori

Sixty-five years ago one of the greatest scholars of modern Islam asked the simple question, “whither Islam?, where was the Islamic world going? It was a time of intense turmoil in both the Western and Muslim worlds – the demise of imperialism and crystallisation of a new state system outside Europe; the creation and testing of the neo- Wilsonian world order in the League of Nations; the emergence of European Fascism. Sir Hamilton Gibb recognised that Muslim societies, unable to avoid such world trends, were also faced with the equally inescapable penetration of nationalism, secularism, and Westernisation. While he prudently warned against making predictions – hazards for all of us interested in Middle Eastern and Islamic politics – he felt sure of two things:
(a) the Islamic world would move between the ideal of solidarity and the realities of division;
(b) the key to the future lay in leadership, or who speaks authoritatively for Islam.
Today Gibb’s prognostications may well have renewed relevance as we face a deepening crisis over Iraq, the unfolding of an expansive and controversial war on terror, and the continuing Palestinian problem. In this lecture I would like to look at the factors that may affect the course of Muslim politics in the present period and near-term future. Although the points I will raise are likely to have broader relevance, I will draw mainly on the case of the Arab world.
Assumptions about Political Islam There is no lack of predictions when it comes to a politicised Islam or Islamism. ‘Islamism’ is best understood as a sense that something has gone wrong with contemporary Muslim societies and that the solution must lie in a range of political action. Often used interchangeably with ‘fundamentalism’, Islamism is better equated with ‘political Islam’. Several commentators have proclaimed its demise and the advent of the post-Islamist era. They argue that the repressive apparatus of the state has proven more durable than the Islamic opposition and that the ideological incoherence of the Islamists has made them unsuitable to modern political competition. The events of September 11th seemed to contradict this prediction, yet, unshaken, they have argued that such spectacular, virtually anarchic acts only prove the bankruptcy of Islamist ideas and suggest that the radicals have abandoned any real hope of seizing power.

Smrt političkog islama

Jon B. Alterman

Počele su se pisati osmrtnice političkom islamu. Nakon godina naizgled nezaustavljivog rasta, Islamske stranke su počele posrtati. U Maroku, Stranke pravde i razvoja (ili PJD) prošli daleko lošije od očekivanog na izborima u rujnu prošle godine, i jordanska Fronta islamske akcije izgubila je više od polovice svojih mjesta u prošlomjesečnim izborima. Željno iščekivani manifest egipatskog Muslimanskog bratstva, čiji se nacrt pojavio prošlog rujna,nije pokazao ni snagu ni smjelost. Umjesto toga, sugeriralo je da je skupina opsjednuta intelektualnim proturječjima i obuzeta unutarnjim sukobima. Prerano je proglasiti smrt političkog islama, jer je bilo preuranjeno proglasiti rođenje liberalizma u arapskom svijetu u 2003-04, ali njegovi se izgledi čine osjetno slabijima nego prije godinu dana. Nekima, pad iz milosti bio je neizbježan; politički islam se srušio pod vlastitim proturječjima, oni kažu. To tvrde, u objektivnom smislu, politički islam nikada nije bio više od dima i ogledala. Religija se odnosi na vjeru i istinu, a politika je oko kompromisa i prilagodbe. Ovako gledano, politički islam nikada nije bio sveti pothvat, već samo pokušaj da se potaknu politički izgledi jedne strane u političkoj raspravi. Poduprt vjerskim autoritetom i legitimitetom, protivljenje volji islamista prestalo je biti samo političko - postalo je krivovjerje - a islamisti su imali koristi. Ovi skeptici vide politički islam kao koristan način zaštite političkih pokreta,kravlji politički neprijatelji, i podršku skupa. Kao strategija vladanja, međutim, oni tvrde da politički islam nije polučio nikakve uspjehe. U dva područja u kojima je nedavno porastao, palestinske vlasti i Iraka, upravljanje je bilo anemično. U Iranu, gdje su mule bile na vlasti gotovo tri desetljeća, Svećenici se bore za poštovanje, a zemlja izlijeva novac u Dubai i druga prekomorska tržišta s predvidljivijim pravilima i pozitivnijim povratima. Najizrazitije religiozna država na Bliskom istoku, Saudijska Arabija, ima znatno manje intelektualne slobode od mnogih svojih susjeda, a tamošnji čuvari pravovjerja pažljivo ograničavaju religioznu misao. Kao francuski učenjak islama,Olivier Roy, zapamćeno prije više od desetljeća, stapanje vjere i politike nije posvetilo politiku, politiziralo je religiju. Ali dok islam nije pružio koherentnu teoriju upravljanja, a kamoli univerzalno prihvaćen pristup problemima čovječanstva, the salience of religion continues to grow among many Muslims.That salience goes far beyond issues of dress, which have become more conservative for both women and men in recent years, andbeyond language, which invokes God’s name far more than was the case a decade ago. It also goes beyond the daily practice ofIslam—from prayer to charity to fasting—all of which are on the upswing.What has changed is something even more fundamental than physical appearance or ritual practice, and that is this: A growingnumber of Muslims start from the proposition that Islam is relevant to all aspects of their daily lives, and not merely the province oftheology or personal belief.Some see this as a return to traditionalism in the Middle East, kada su različite mjere praznovjerja i duhovnosti upravljale svakodnevnim životom. Točnije, iako, ono što vidimo je uspon “neotradicionalizma,” u kojoj se upisuju simboli i slogani prošlosti u težnji za bržim ulaskom u budućnost. Islamske financije — što će reći, financije koje se oslanjaju na dionice i povrate, a ne na kamate—cvjetaju, a elegantne bankovne poslovnice imaju odvojene ulaze za muškarce i žene. Uglađeni mladi teleevanđelisti oslanjaju se na tropove posvećivanja svakodnevice i traženja oprosta, privlačeći desetke tisuća na svoje sastanke i milijunsku televizijsku publiku. Music videos—viewable on YouTube—implore young viewers to embrace faith and turn away froma meaningless secular life.Many in the West see secularism and relativism as concrete signs of modernity. In the Middle East, many see them as symbols ofa bankrupt secular nationalist past that failed to deliver justice or development, freedom or progress. The suffering of secularism ismeaningless, but the discipline of Islam is filled with signficance.It is for this reason that it is premature to declare the death of political Islam. Islam, increasingly, cannot be contained. It is spreadingto all aspects of life, and it is robust among some of the most dynamic forces in the Middle East. It enjoys state subsidies to be sure,ali države nemaju puno veze s kreativnošću koja se javlja na vjerskom polju. Opasnost je da će ova islamizacija javnog života odbaciti ono malo tolerancije što je preostalo na Bliskom istoku, nakon stoljeća asa—u osnovi islamsko—multikulturalno poduzeće. Teško je zamisliti kako islamizirana društva mogu cvjetati ako ne prihvate inovacije i kreativnost, različitosti i različitosti. “Islamski” nije samorazumljiv koncept, kao što je moj prijatelj Mustapha Kamal Pasha jednom primijetio, ali ne može biti izvor snage u modernim društvima ako je vezan za okoštale i parohijalne predodžbe o svojoj prirodi. Suočavanje s razlikama u osnovi je politički zadatak, i tu će se politički islam suočiti sa svojim pravim ispitom. Formalne strukture vlasti na Bliskom istoku pokazale su se izdržljivima, i malo je vjerojatno da će se raspasti pod valom islamskog aktivizma. Da bi politički islam uspio, treba pronaći način da ujedini različite koalicije različitih vjera i stupnjeva vjere, ne samo govoriti svojoj bazi. Još nije pronašao način za to, ali to ne znači da ne može.