Islamic Political Utopianism (original) (raw)
"Taking People as They Are: Islam as a ‘Realistic Utopia’ in the Political Theory of Sayyid Qutb"
This article presents an interpretation of Sayyid Qutb’s political theory based on a prominent feature of his thought: the claim that Islamic law and human nature (fitra) are in perfect harmony, and that the demands of Islamic law are easy and painless for ordinary human moral capacities. I argue that Qutb is not only defending Islamic law as true and obligatory, but also as a coherent “realistic utopia”—a normative theory that also contains a psychological account of that theory’s feasibility. Qutb’s well-known fascination with the earliest generation of Muslims (the salaf) is an integral part of this account that serves two functions: (1) as a model of the fesibility and realism of an ideal Islamic political order, and (2) as a genealogy of the political origins of moral vice in society. Qutb’s project is thus an account of exactly why and how Islam requires politics, and how modern humans can be both free and governed.
The Utopian Dimension of a (Possible) Islamic Philosophy of History
This chapter deals with a sensitive issue in Islamic thought: that of the relationship between past and present, between counter-utopia and utopia. The Moroccan historian ' Abdallāh Laroui said that the past, or, in other terms, history, weighs heavily on Muslim consciousness. The mythologisation of the past has produced counter-utopia and a distortion of the philosophical view of history. Counter-utopia means that Muslims must look at the pristine glory of the Golden Age of the Prophet Muhammad and the first four Rightly Guided Caliphs in order to build the future: exactly the opposite of Ernst Bloch's 'principle of hope'. This outlook led many Sunni 'ulamā' to negate and refuse progress, because that Golden Age was and is considered-against the historical reality, at least regarding the caliphs, of whom three out of four were assassinated-the insuperable model of politics and associated life to be reproduced without changes. This distortion, as it were, of historical time involves a huge difficulty in projecting a philosophy of history, especially in Sunnism. In the Middle Ages, philosophers like al-Fārābī and Averroes theorised political utopias while on the other hand, Shiism is waiting for the return of the occulted Imam Mahdī, who will realise the kingdom of justice on earth. Therefore, Shiism seems more inclined than Sunnism towards a positive consideration of historical development. The troubled present of the Islamic world and thought needs, however, a utopia which looks at the future, recovering the correct dimension of the 'principle of hope'. In Hegelian terms, it would mean to find out a teleology of history. This outlined dialectics is the backbone of the present chapter. In recent times a number of Sunni reformers, like Khaled Abou el-Fadl and Tariq Ramadan among others, proposed a balanced re-negotiation and implementation of ideal sharī'a as a straight path in order to renew Islamic society and thought. Their work will be discussed thoroughly.
Introduction: Rethinking an 'Islamic Utopia'
Religion and Society: Special section 'Muslim Youths and Their Utopian Visions', 2022
This article argues for a non-normative and pluralistic approach to the study of utopia among Muslim people. The authors employ the contributions to this special section as a starting point to redress a number of ethnocentric biases clouding the relationship between utopia and Islam. They criticize arguments that deny Muslims the ability to produce ‘genuine’ utopias, highlighting commonalities between a religious culture and the secular culture in the West that has endorsed the notion of utopia. At the same time, the contributors show how in scholarly research a normative and prejudicial concept of ‘Islamic utopia’ has obscured the variety of forms that utopianism assumes among Muslim people, particularly the youth. This article envisages an inductive approach that takes into account both the different positionalities from which the concepts of Islam and utopia are appropriated and the diverse political outcomes that are produced.
Fictionalising the Utopian Impulse as Postsecular Islam: An East-West Odyssey
2011
This essay offers a counterview to the postulation that humanity’s utopian propensity is a secular undertaking bereft of divine inspiration. This domin- ant interpretation in utopian theory renders utopianism in the religious non-Western world inconceivable. Invoking Islam’s post-secular leanings, I argue that the utopian desire is replete with theological underpinnings. Engaging first with pro-religious discourses on the utopian impulse by Ernst Bloch and Nurcholish Madjid, I will then theorise a literary mode of reading framed by Fredric Jameson’s ‘utopology’ and Bloch’s ‘concrete utopia’. I will demonstrate in faith-based fiction an interpretation of Islam that is ‘this-worldly’ and ‘rational’—qualities that uphold utopianism as a secular, European phenomenon. Finally, I posit that Islam’s post-secular condition must also be seen as a postcolonial one.
UTOPIA KHILĀFAH ISLĀMIYYAH: Studi Tafsir Politik Mohammed Arkoun
Jurnal THEOLOGIA, 2017
This paper aims to study Muhammed Arkoun's political interpretation thought about the ideal state. He shows that each political contestation often uses religion as a legitimation of political interest. Many of discourses in Qur'an, such as old narratives of Qur'an (amtsal al-Qur'an), is often presented to modify the existing political conditions. Moreover, some of the terms of Quranic discourse, like as 'Muslim' or 'Kafir' (infidel), is always in a binary position to create sharp differences between the militant and the opposition. The Qur'anic discourses, intentionally or not, since the time of revealing of the Qur'an has been dragged into the political territory as well the theological territory, so it is able to change the profane history into the sacred story with the great power of sacralization. Although the Qur'an is within the dialectic area, some of Islamist always reduces the meaning of Qur'an to support their agenda in realizing the Islamic State (Khilafah Islamiyah). For Arkoun, that desire is a utopian politics idea and nothing more than an interpretation of religious texts. There is no agreement among the people about the ideal state concept. Therefore, Arkoun offers the concept of ideal state is if religious authorities and political authorities apply their function professionally yet integrated. Abstrak: Tulisan ini menggagas pemikiran tafsir politik Muhammed Arkoun tentang negara ideal. M. Arkoun menggambarkan bahwa dalam setiap kontestasi politik sering menyeret agama sebagai legitimasi pemangku kepentingan. Wacana-wacana dalam al-Qur'an seperti teladan-teladan kuno (amthāl al-Qur'an) sering dihadirkan untuk memodifikasi kondisi politik yang ada. Selain itu, beberapa istilah dalam wacana al-Qur'an, seperti 'Muslim' dan 'kafir', diposisikan biner untuk menciptakan perbedaan tajam antara kelompok militan dan oposan. Wacana-wacana qur'ani tersebut, dengan sengaja atau tidak, sejak masa turunnya ayat telah diseret masuk ke dalam wilayah politik sekaligus wilayah teologis, sehingga mampu mengubah sejarah yang profan menjadi kisah sakral dengan kekuasaan sakralisasi yang besar. Meskipun al-Qur'an berada dalam ruang dialektis yang bebas, oleh sebagian kelompok Islamis pemaknaan al-Qur'an direduksi dan dibawa untuk mendukung agenda mewujudkan Islamic State (negara Islam). Bagi Arkoun, keinginan tersebut merupakan gagasan politik yang utopis dan tak lebih dari sebuah interpretasi atas teks agama. Tidak ada kesepakatan di kalangan umat mengenai konsep negara ideal. Karena itu, Arkoun menawarkan konsep negara ideal adalah jika otoritas keagamaan dan otoritas politik berlaku sesuai dengan fungsinya namun tetap terintegrasi.
From Islamic Modernism to Theorizing Authoritarianism
American Journal of Islam and Society
Since the beginning of the twentieth century, modernist Islamic reformers have proposed more “objectives of Islamic law” or maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah and argued that the maqāṣid-oriented approach indicates that Islamic priorities include the modern principles of democracy, social justice, human rights, and government accountability. This paper considers the evolution of maqāṣid and its relationship with the traditional framework of uṣūl al-fiqh. Subsequently, it addresses how the new maqāṣid discourse has been politicized. It analyzes the use of maqāṣid by Shaykh ‘Abdullah Bin Bayyah in his recent declarations concerning the UAE’s policies against regional democracy. This paper argues that Bin Bayyah’s interpretation of maṣlaḥah (legal benefit) and his adoption of the idea of absolute obedience to the ruler (walī al-amr) are not based on the traditional interpretation of the sacred texts that have been adopted by Salafists and Traditionalists. Rather, it is deeply rooted in the maqāṣid di...
Classical Islamic Political Thought and its Contemporary Relevance
Islam and civilisational renewal, 2018
This paper focuses on a critical review of three themes: the historical caliphate, rule of law, and democracy. The shift from the first theme to the other two is indicative, to some extent, of a certain disruption and departure exhibited by the dynastic caliphate from the normative guidelines of scripture and the precedent of the orthodox Caliphate of the 30 years (632-661CE) following the Prophet's demise. The rest of the paper identifies significant lines of convergence between the Islamic system of rule and government under the rule of law and the basic postulates of a democracy. No direct analogies are proposed, only a comparative presentation and review of the juristic and historical evolution of Islamic political jurisprudence.
Problems of Islamic Political Philosophy in Classical and Modern Texts 1
This study examines the approaches of Islamic political texts to social and political issues, both in classical and modern ages. The classical texts can be classified in two different traditions; namely, those which adopt a Greek-style discourse, such as al-Fārābī's political works and those which prefers al-fiqh traditional and bureaucratic style, such as al-Māwardī's and Nizām al-Mulk's works. On the other hand, Islamic political texts of modern era entertain mainly reflexive and defensive strategies, presupposing an ideal age in the past as a point of departure and return. This is the case in al-Mawdūdī's and Sayyid Qutb's works. The thoughts of Niccolò Machiavelli, Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes and especially those of John Rawls are taken as analyzing criteria in this study. In the scope of epistemology and political philosophy, the Anglo-Saxon tradition has some corresponding cultural goods which can be appropriated for the political needs of modern Islamic societies. On that note, it appears that there are two main approaches in the political philosophy, namely " the conceptualistic approach " and " the experimental approach ". The political works of al-Fārābī, al-Mawdūdī and Qutb employ the conceptualistic approach. While the works of al-Māwardī, Nizām al-Mulk, Niccolò Machiavelli, Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes and especially John Rawls use the experimental approach.
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 2015
The article sheds light on the core realist assumptions-regarding international anarchy, the centrality of power to international relations and human nature-that underpin the international relations perspectives of two leading contemporary Islamist thinkers, Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi (1926-) and the late Sayyid Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah (1935-2010). It further asserts that the law of mutual restraining-which Qaradawi and Fadlallah derive from the Qur'an-bears a major affinity to realism's balance of power principle. It argues that Qaradawi and Fadlallah articulate a non-western variant of realism that this article refers to as Islamic realism. After defining Islamic realism, the article compares it to four strands of realism: structural, neoclassical, classical and Christian realism. The conclusion suggests that realism should not be viewed as exclusively a product of European experiences and western 'secular' thought, but as a mode of theorizing about international relations that transcends cultural boundaries. In addition, it underscores the links between religion and realism, calling for research into the likely sources of realism in the three Abrahamic religions.