An interesting topic in Boubekeur’s article is “performing” Islamic modernity, and how these performers (i.e. Muslim athletes, comedians, rappers) contribute to representing a form of secularization, while at the same time making Islam a competitive faith. Its very interesting that they do these two things at the same time. It seems more and more that secularization is not really the act of taking religion out of politics, but rather re-organizing or re-balancing religion to benefit certain groups of people. The secularization in France is not so much allowing freedom to practice religion as it is “picking and choosing” which religion can be practiced (not allowing the head scarf). I don’t understand how that is considered secularism because it directly involves government interference in the citizens right to practice their religion in a way that doesn’t harm others.

Back to this article by Boubekeur, I can make many connections with what he speaks about because I am familiar with many Muslim actors, comedians, singers, rappers (My favorite entertainer is Lupe Fiasco). This article makes me look at them in a different light and think about the effect they have and the effect they are trying to have, on western Islamic culture. As Boubeker states, they “give a positive image of the success of the new Muslim elites”. Traditional Muslim thinkers and figures of authority, who often have an oppositional view, can be “replaced for many by these new cultural elites whose notoriety and economic success serve as their religious credentials.

I found an article in the Chicago Tribune titled “Islam’s Diverse Faces Take Center Stage” about a festival aimed at uniting a diverse group of Muslim Americans nationwide in Chicago to “celebrate their often-misunderstood faith and spiritual identity in America”. The headline performer at this festival, which is the only event of its kind in America put together by Muslim citizens of the U.S, is none other than Lupe Fiasco. To the audiences at this festival, what draws them to Lupe is that he appears to be a devout Muslim who incorporates Islam into his songs, and in a way this symbolizes the “jihad” or struggle that the youth of American Muslims face as they try to find their spiritual identity and place in American society at the same time. Lupe performs songs such as “Muhammad Walks” which uses the instrumental from world-famous rapper Kanye West’s single “Jesus Walks”, which exposed listeners to aspects of Islam in a “cool” way that the youth could easily grasp. The song was so popular that it spread worldwide, solely through word or mouth and Internet.

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-31347741_ITM

This weeks readings are about the question of what is becoming of Islam and whether a transformation of it is taking place. As Dale F. Eickelman states in his report, for the billion of Muslims in the world, “this may be a time of change as profound as the Protestant Reformation was for Christendom”. He notes the important spread of mass education in countries like Turkey, Indonesia, and Malaysia. This is critical because it means that the number of people who hold the ability to converse intelligently with religious and political authorities has increased dramatically, helping the problem of lack of understanding in Political Islam. I think that with time, the role Islam plays in politics will expand and mold to fit whats best for the situation during that time period. After all, Islam is still the fastest growing religion in America. Many times leaders have tried to bring Islam back to the original form and standards during the birth of the religion when the Prophet (PBUH) was alive, but these efforts have for the most part failed. Often the supporters of this type of reversion to Islam in its original standards are fundamentalists who are too corrupt to gain a large enough following.

I believe that Islam is changing in the sense that it is being revived, as many have argued. More and more people talk about modernizing Islam, being more open-minded on the road to Political Islam. Not having a central authority like a Pope, is  a barrier some times because it makes it herder to solve problems regarding Islam. However, this aspect of Islam is one of the things about it which gives it so much potential to expand and progress forward, because it can become what we make of it. There is also the aspect of Pluralism in Islam and it seems that each different area, type of religious belief or group of practices in Islam (i.e. Arab nationalist upbringing, or Shi’a being the primary audience in Damascus for Shi’I thinkers) has followers who have their own best interest in mind, but as Eickelman notes, as reformers in the Muslim world recognize this and “that different religious beliefs and practices exist, and that they should be tolerated and debated, is one reason to be hopeful about the eventual outcome of the Islamic Reformation” (59).

The article I found is from last month’s “State Department’s Religious Freedom Report” which expresses an international need for more inter-faith tolerance. In the report, it is noted by  John Espositio (Professor of Georgetown University) that in our globalized world there is a need to strengthen religious puralism “as well as to transform an outmoded notion of tolerance based simply on co-existance to one based on mutual understanding and respect”. Esposito is the founding director for Center for Muslim –Christian Understanding, and organizations like these are important for the incorporation of Islam in politics. Understanding Islam is key for tolerating and incorporating it, and a report like this which calls for increased inter-faith tolerance as well as speeches by Barack Obama to parliament at Cairo about strengthening U.S. relations and bond with the Muslim world, are important baby-steps towards the huge climb of “Islamic Reformation” which Eickelman mentions.

^{http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/2009/11/state-departments-religious-freedom.php}

Islam in Indonesia was one of the main subjects for our readings this week. Although it has a history of Islamic fundamentalism to some extent,  it is one of the few Muslim majority countries which has led the way for Democratic reform and can serve as a role model for Muslims beginning to do the same. Amy McCreedy mentions in the report “Piety and Pragmatism: Trends in Indonesian Islamic Politics” that studies show increasing support for Islamic law within Indonesia, however, “average Indonesians have a looser definition of such law than do religious leaders and scholars”.  An interesting point was brought up by Mohamad Ihsan Alief, one of the members of the Liberal Islam Network. He believed that the political disaffection in Indonesia had more potential to be severely detrimental than religious extremism itself.  He is concerned that the Western world exaggerates the negative effects of this radicalism, and in doing so they could “polarize society and hinder democracy building”.  Their solution in this report was to expand the Justice Party which would adhere to Islamic values.

Baswedan mentions in her article “Political Islam in Indonesia: Present and Future Trajectory”,  the country had six “Islam-friendly political parties”. The author describes why a secular, nationalist party can also represent political Islam. Indonesia has a more contemporary take on Islam compared to other countries; the laws are not executed as harshly.  They follow the laws and hold on to their traditions.  They have shown, as Baswedan states in he article, that “Political Islam is not only represented by political parties that use Islam as their formal platform but also by Islam-friendly parties that are politically multicolored: Islamist, Islamist-inclusive, or secular-inclusive” (21).

Another way this country is different is in the emergence of Islam coming to power – it was not due to failed colonialism, i.e. in Lebanon and Afghanistan.  It is easier to see why the emergence of fundamentalism was accepted by some because it was used by groups such as the Taliban and Hezbollah to promote continuity and spread violence, but they provided law and order, though it was harsh and led to oppression and other downfalls. Indonesia did not have to deal with something like this, although it still has issues regarding this. The article I chose discusses the execution of Indonesian men for their involvement in a bombing which took place in 2002 at an after-hours club. This relates to the issue of fundamentalism and whether or not it will forever be entrenched in political Islam. The article mentions how an imam and a couple followers planned and blew up a bomb in the dance club. The article said that their purpose was to send the idea to the Western world that they do not excuse those aspects of our culture when they happen in the Middle East and Asia. However, there were also suspicions and claims that it might have been CIA who set up the explosion, which I doubt is true. The bombers encouraged people to retaliate if they were executed, so after they were, there was an increase in Indonesian security forces.

This incident and others like it can be used to argue that fundamentalism is  going to be inherent in Islam even in an innovative country such as Indonesia, but  I believe it is wrong to judge the potential of a religion to play a prominent role in the body of law in a country, based on incidents carried out by individual people. Many instances of jihad have been given much attention while trying to prove the fundamentalist aspect entrenched in Islam, but some times desperate times call for desperate measures, I believe now the debaters of this subject should focus on damage control rather than focus on pointing fingers.

ttp://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24624425-12377,00.html

The past couple class discussions were focused on Islamic fundamentalism movements, such as those in Palestine and Iran. The perspective of the West is clear in that it sees the movements as detrimental and backwards compared to their own standards. Though empathy may be shown for Palestine, that is an exception among most fundamentalist Islamic movements – while different Islamic movements affect their countries in different ways. However, the way they are received by people in their own country is not always black and white – for example in Iran many Iranians are proud of their Government, policies and the way their country is led. That is what my article is about, which I will discuss after I touch on our readings.

In Klein’s article “HAMAS in Power”, he discusses the fundamentalist group in Palestine and mentions their forms of representation and jurisdiction as an opposition party. Though they strongly oppose and have been known to take violent action towards the state of Israel, which in turn increases the violence of Israel towards the Palestinians, HAMAS also does work which benefits communities in Palestine that need help the most. Sympathy for HAMAS comes from this and also from the fact that the Israelis took the Palestinian lands for their own throughout the past century which led to the oppression of the Palestinian people in their own land. Keeping this in mind, and the idea that HAMAS would likely not have even formed if it wasn’t for the oppression of the Palestinian people, it is clearer why there is more sympathy for this fundamentalist group although they have been known to resort to violence in a detrimental way to their own people as well.

In relation to the emergence of Islamic fundamentalism that does not get as much sympathy, in Iran, as discussed in Roy’s article and our readings in Political Islam.

There is currently a bigger debate on whether Ahmadinejad’s policies are benefiting or detrimental to the citizens of Iran. It has become widespread belief that Ahmadinejad has strong allies and does not tolerate any type of opposition. Some citizens express discontent in the country while others have grown too accustomed to do so.

In its beginning stage in the 1970s, the revolution it was viewed differently as Roy mentions the importance of Shi’ism in Iranian society and how the fundamentalist movement planted the seed for this. Religious leaders such as Ayatollah Khomeini are thus viewed as deserving and righteous. Prior to his leadership, the Shah of Iran seemed to mostly concentrate on material wealth and ties to the West, rather than the well-being of Iranians.

The article’s focus is the idea that much of the West views contemporary Iran to be a threat since the 1979 Revolution. The Iranian people in their society, however, as mentioned before, see themselves not as a threat but as a country trying to grow. Many have just simply grown so comfortable and used to that way of life that they do not feel the need to oppose it.

http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10181134

“Companion or Enemy”.  Pakistan’s population consists of a population of about ninety-seven percent Muslims. In Husain Haqqani’s article “The Role of Islam in Pakistan’s Future”, he presents the question of whether Pakistan is considered a friend or a foe to United States and our intelligence system. Gen. Pervez Musharraf who has been very open in sharing intelligence and capturing Al Qaeda members persuades us to believe that Pakistan is an Ally of United States.

A country with majority Muslim population helping the westernized nations in struggle against the Islamist parties is a bit questionable. It makes more sense once you realize that Musharraf and his military request US financial and military aid in assurance of reform and change, but most of the military leaders and personal are also double dipping the chip and are doing the exact same thing and are getting economic support from Islamic radicals, consequentially forewarning a major civil war.

Reading an article online titled “Pakistan needs real democratic government” by Zia Mian also questions Pakistan and its current status. The article points out the lack of a strong authority by Musharraf, the need for improved commandments and regulations, and the influential harmful control by radical Islamists. The article foreshadows a civil war in Pakistan unless the army gives up control over the government and Pakistan’s economy.

I believe that Zia Mian has a good point in that the power of people and true Islamic values need to be interpreted and adopted by a new democratic and liberally elected government.  An administration based on Sharia law is preferred by the Pakistani citizen and is once again supported by a second website I visited, there was a poll financed by the U.S. Institute of Peace. In David Morgan’s article the poll shows that 60% of the people surveyed wanted a Muslim based Sharia Law to be the main role player in government and legal management.

http://www.sacw.net/pakistan/zia_aug07.html

Our readings for this week talk about Democracy in the Muslim world and comparing Islamic states vs. states in which Islam is present. Jillian Schwedler’s article “Democratization, Inclusion and the Moderation of Islamist Parties” supports that including Islamist groups in the Middle East politically would more likely lead to an “overall moderate political sphere” rather than excluding them. She also believes it is the more effective path to take to decrease radical opposition, even though it would not mean that all forms of radicalism would be eliminated. Whether a state is an Islamic state or a state in which Islam is present, Democracy can succeed in it. 

A news article by Michel Hoebink mentions that at a conference on “post-Islamism” in Leiden, it was concluded that Islamic political movements in the Middle East and Asia are becoming increasingly democratic. The question is again brought up – whether to include the Islamists and trust them, now that they are considering democracy. 

The country Hoebink focuses on is Turkey in its trend towards democratic Islamism. Used as an instrument to exclude the Islamists, researcher Ihsan Dagi states, the Turkish state promotes a radical form of secularism.  The ruling AK party responds to this claim by mentioning “the state has to be neutral with regard to religion”. Hoebick also brings up the question of whether or not the Islamists will continue to consider democratic principles after they come to power by democratic means. For example, one of the comments on this article was “To suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami and Ikhwan are now backing off from their goal of Sharia based Islamic States is wishful thinking”. 

http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/globaldevelopment/080923-islamists-democracy

Islamist New Thinking in Turkey is an article that discusses the AKP and its formation as an Islamist party in Turkey. Foremost it discusses how the AKP with their strong Islamist agenda brought itself to power in Turkey, an unlikely occurence considering the strong secularism that exists in Turkey, and at the same was able to pass controversial laws regarding women’s rights, voting etc. Cavdar lists the reasons that the AKP was able to come into power and these include the learning process of the party leaders, and the Islamist intellectual arena. Cavdar attributes their ability to be an effective Islamist regime in that he regards them as political Islamist, who he characterizes as a regime thats involved heavily in socioeconomical affairs and are also willing to negotiate their position. Furthermore Cavdar makes a point of the fact that the Turkish democratic system is secular and thus allows for the replacement of the current regime which can help solidify Islamist parties if the country is prospering under their governance.

Almost seven hundred miles from Turkey, Rutherford, an Egyptian author wrote an article titled “What do Egypt’s Islamists Want?”. It centers around the Muslim Brotherhood documents and the theoretical work of Egypt’s Islamic thinkers, Rutherford emphasizes on the importance of an Islamic constitution early in the article, and then later talks about the importance of the Shari’a, it’s legal principles and the path for a righteous life for all Muslims shall live in a Islamic land under the Islamic law also known as the law of government. According to a lot of the Islamic thinkers and contemporaries, all believers should live under the codes of Islamic ruling, known as hukm al-Islam. Many of these Islamic constitutionalists also believe that the Islamic view on the society is on a decline largely due to a large increase in Islamic countries straying away from the law of Shari’a. Some leaders that use the law of Shari’a control and operate solely for personal gain, wealth and power.

Reading an article online By Kevin McCandless titled “Shari’a Law Called ‘Racist, Backward’ at Meeting of Ex-Muslims” illustrates the rise of a new Islamic movement and religious authority in UK. More and more muslims are turning to religious courts to resolve civil issues. The Shari’a has dealt mostly with divorce cases of about 1,000. It seems very promising. Some Islamist courts have gotten a great deal of recognition and are recognized as a regular United Kingdome Court. Rutherford and Egyptian Islamic constitutionalist would refer to this situation as individuals that were able to create a hukm al-Islam in a westernized, foreign land.

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=37341

The compatibility and coexistence of Islam and Democracy has been an increasingly major political debate. Currently, there are Islamic Political movements which are regarded as anti-democratic. Prior to reading from the textbook Islam in Transition, I was more keen to believing that the two are not so compatible, because of the complications and unfamiliarities with Islam’s inferences on politics, it is common to generalize them as radical/unrelenting. Furthermore, present-day Muslim countries’ policies relating to human rights are weak and don’t offer much hope for the freedom of the constituents under those governments, such as Saudi Arabia. In comparison, countries with a Muslim majority population which claim to be secular, such as Turkey, more visibly execute democracy which gives a sense of freedom.

However I find nothing undemocratic  about the Quran which Sharia Law is based on,  I only find that the way it has been interpreted by many people who hold power has been undemocratic. This can be the result of many things, mainly a misunderstanding of the fundamentals if Islam. The legitimacy of the Sharia is important because it has potential to be a firm and successful body of law to run democratic Muslim majority countries.  In order for this to happen, the laws must not be twisted and used in a way to benefit the individual goals of authoritarian leaders.

One main focus in the debate on Islam and Democracy is popular sovereignty and secularism. Since political laws are to be drawn from the Quran, there is debate about the issue of popular sovereignty because it can be suggested that this means God has the total sovereignty and human beings have none. I believe this should not take away from the democratic values in Islam because even though God has  divine sovereignty, He has allowed for human beings to carry out sovereignty on earth.

As Fathi Osman notes on page 289 of Islam in Transition,  it is evident in Quran and Sunnah that human beings are granted free will,  though there are laws set to guide them, they still are trusted to make the best decisions for themselves and those around them.  He mentions Ijtihad and how it is necessary,  as long as the judticial discretion adheres to Islam. Likewise, as long as there is adherence to Islam, multi-party systems are also deemed acceptable. As women are seen as equal in Islam, they should be able to hold high positions in government. Furthermore, the community is encouraged to take part in doing what they can for the well-being of the community and to stay involved in a responsible way that ensures they can make well-informed decisions about their govt. These things are characteristics of both democracy and of Islam. The barriers standing between democracy and Islam do not have much to do with Islam itself but rather things like the difficulties some Islamic movements have in conveying their views and goals/slogans to the people, as Muhammad Salim al-Awa mentions. This is a problem because it prevents many people from grasping the real concepts and nature behind Islamic political thought. This  barrier often is a reason for the collective belief that Islamic reform is pro-tyranny.

In the articles by Wael B. Hallaq and Nathan James Brown the primary arguement is that between the role of Sharia and Modern Law. Both of the articles address the history of Sharia and moreover “modern reform” and furthermore Sharia’s conflict with law and legal systems after the coming of “modern reform.” The main argument that these articles pose is that Sharia is in fact guidelines in order to make laws.However as “modern reform” has come about most people are reverting back to old legal systems that were formed by Sharia and thus displacing current laws. The problem with this situation is that this reversion is causing a cultural conflict as well as other social conflicts. 

 This situation can be compared with one in Scotland as they are considering the formation of Sharia courts for Muslim communities there. This is a comparison in that a modern legal system is trying to incorporate Sharia law. As Noman Tahir states, Hysteria over sharia courts in Scotland is unjustified because more than anything ” Sharia deals with many aspects of day-to-day life, from business and banking to hygiene and social issues.” Thus again referring to the articles by Hallaq and Brown Sharia is only a foundation for laws to be built thus they can deal with anything and not necessarily interfere with current laws. 

I believe there is nothing wrong with tradition and sticking to the Qur’an, Sharia Law, and the sunnah but it depends how everything is carried out. These law giving bodies are actually legitimate and if implemented correctly could be great mechanisms to run Muslim majority countries. Unfortunately they are often skewed and manipulated to accommodate the desires of authoritarian rulers.

http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/Hysteria-over-39sharia-courts39-in.4583928.jp