Chapter 6 : Europe and the Study of Islamism
It is important at this juncture to stress that a number of well researched studies, done mainly in Europe, treat the subject of Islamism in its cultural and theological, and not only political, dimensions. One study is that of Olivie Carre's, Mystique et politique: lector revolutionnaire du Coran par Sayyid Qutb, frere musulmane radical, 36 which is an indispensable contribution to our understanding of the Qur'anic principles and contents of, what has been termed, the Qutbian discourse (the thought-structure of Sayyid Qutb). Carre, who bases his study on a thorough analysis of the principal themes of Sayyid Qutb's major exegesis, Fi zilal al-Qur'an, 37 adopts a comparative method of analysis. He, for instance, keeps referring to the major exegesis by the Syrian Rashid Rida, 38 Tafsir al-manar, and its impact, in terms of method and terminology, on Qutbian tafsir. The main difference between Rida's tafsir and Qutb's Zilal is that Rida presented a traditional Qur'anic commentary which was in line with traditional Islamic exegesis, whereas Qutb, who came from a secular background of learning, did not follow in the footsteps of traditional exegesis. This is the case mainly because Qutb was more effective than Rida in relating the Qur'anic reality [al-haqiqah al qur'aniyyah] 39 to the modern exigencies of life.Qutb's main goal, as Carre shows throughout his study, is to free the Qur'anic text from the obscurantism and scholasticism of the ulama' who emphasize the doctrinal at the expense of the social, and the ethical at the expense of the political. Qutb's interpretation is based primarily on (1) philological understanding; (2) the primary social and political context of the verses (circumstances of the revelation); (3) and the present meaning that can be derived from the above. As sums, his theoretical reflections gain a new significance; far from restricting himself to philology and past meaning, he is concerned about the relevance of the Qur'anic text to the present.
Carre explains correctly that Qutb's method rests on a number of interdependent principles: theology, philosophy, sociology, politics, and hermeneutics. Experience also plays a significant part in his methodological construct. Therefore, the expressions Qutb relates should be understood as part of a whole stream of consciousness emanating from the historical experience of a religious figure in a highly diversified intellectual context. Hence Qutb's formula of Qur'anic knowledge is understanding through experience and reflection. We witness the intersection of the personal and the epistemological from his early work, and thus we can not easily escape the methodological problematic as construed by Qutb. He was not objective; neither was he subjective. He was pragmatic and idealistic at the same time. His justification was marred by speculative idealism and social pragmatism.
We are here concerned with the theological, social, cultural, and ideological formulations of Sayyid Qutb as they appear in the Zilal. We believe that these formulations are culmination of his mature intellectual effort that began before his joining the Muslim Brotherhood in 1952. Therefore, Qutb's pre-Zilal ideas bear a direct relevance to what we are trying to study in the Zilal. That is to say, Qutb's oeuvre has to be considered in its totality before any sound judgement on the value of this work could be made. What we have in mind are two significant goals: (1) to study Qutb's Qur'anic weltanschauung; i.e., the ontology of his thought, and (2) to discuss his basic concepts in relation to the larger issues and problems that have preoccupied modern Arabic/Islamic thought, such as, revival, westernization, tradition, the role of the intelligentsia, sacred and profane theories of knowledge, and the place of religion in general in the modern world.
Carre proceeds in his discussion to argue that, "The author, Sayyid Qutb, does not interest us himself. But some elements of his life are uniquely utilized in order to comprehend certain fragments of discourse that make up the Zi1al." 40 The Zilal has furnished the theoretical framework of thinking and behaviour for Islamic movements, not only in Egypt, but throughout the Arab World, and in some other Muslim countries as well. In many passages in the Zilal, Qutb owes to the thought of two major Indian Muslim thinkers, Nadwi and Mawdudi.
Carre attempts to lay down the principal themes of Zilal: (1) questions of Qutbian method and discourse; (2) the normative foundations of Islamic society; (3) the political form of ideal Islamic state; (4) questions of peace and war; (5) Jahiliyyah vs. Islam; (6) the People of the Book, especially Jews and Christians; (7) proper Islamic economic system and social structure; (8) family structure and role of women in society. Thus one can see that the themes of the Zilal revolve around doctrinal, philosophical, and social issues and questions.
Chapter 7 : Modern Islamic Discourse: Themes and Arguments
Based on the above theoretical consideration, I would like to investigate, albeit briefly, the main themes and arguments of the modern Islamic discourse, especially that of resurgence. The following are some of the underlying presuppositions and claims of this method: (1) First, since the emergence of Islam, the interpretation provided by various scholars of this religious phenomenon has given rise to different discourses. Furthermore, within the Arabic language, the words used and the meanings of the words used differ from one discourse to another. (2) Second, these discourses have been conditioned by the concepts, mental formations, economic conditions, and political attitudes of their particular historical situation. Therefore, in rendering a judgement on somebody's work, one has to pose questions about the historical conditions in which that discourse was produced. (3) Third, one has to study the different Islamic discourses of modern Islam in relation to the West. (4) The West as a conceptual category should be historically and philosophically defined. (5) This comprehensive method proposed should elaborate on the possible connection between ideology and discourse. 41What is the relationship between modern Islam and the West?
Somebody may object to this formulation: how can we equate a theological construct with a purely political or geographic construct? The initial stage of this inquiry, however, is a matter of definition. What is the West? What is Islam?What is the West? In dealing with the modern West, we are to discuss five salient movements: (1) Renaissance, (2) Reformation, (3) Industrialization, (4) Enlightenment , and (5) post-Enlightenment. I want to stress here that these movements are in essence philosophical movements. The philosophical underpinnings of the Renaissance were: rationalism, humanism, secularization. The Reformation led to the resurgence of individuality and the annihilation of the communal Christian spirit.
What is Islam? It is impossible, of course, to give a precise linguistic meaning to the term Islam. For analytical purposes, one could talk of this universal religious phenomenon in the following terms: (1) Islam as metaphysics; (2) Islam as civilization (it means different things to different people); (3) Islam as the "other."
I would venture to argue that the history of the modern Muslim people has been highly intertwined with that of the West. And, therefore, modern Islam cannot be understood except in relation to the modern West and all the movements that constituted this modern West, be they philosophical, cultural, economic, political, and military.
We can delineate three moments or phases in the interaction between modern Islam and the West: (1) the first is the military conquest of Muslim lands by Western powers. Muslims were weak militarily and politically. Their only response was to seek refuge in Islam as the source of their strength.
(2) The second phase witnesses the translation of European hegemony into a cultural and religious system. This phase is distinguished by the building of Western educational, cultural, and legal institutions that begin to replace the traditional Islamic ones. This is the phase of westernization. The third phase is that of post-colonialism, one distinguishing feature of which is the rise of both nationalism and religious revivalism.
What are the main premises of "resurgent Islam?"
The following are some basic characteristics.(1) Islamic resurgence has emphasized the role of reason in Muslim legal theory, and called for a renaissance of Islam in the modern world on the basis of a reactivation of ijtihad in the religious and legal sciences. The Muslims can achieve the ideals of Islam as a religion, as a Shari'ah and as a state, by opening the door of ijtihad. Furthermore, the neglect of ijtihad led some Muslims to become ignorant of Islam, and others to be attached to westernization and atheism.
(2) Second, Islamic revivalism has called for the reconstruction of the notion of authority, of the Islamic nation, which is a gradual "reconstitution of the Muslim Ummah," and the building of a comprehensive system of Islamic law, government, education, and ethics in the modern world. The reconstitution of the Ummah in the modern world was possible, if there were "a return" to the original sources of Islam.
(3) Third, it has called for the reconstruction of the sources of knowledge. The Qur'an and the Sunnah were the only sources recognized. The moral, doctrinal, and linguistic superiority of the "grand ancestors" or the Companions of the Prophet furnished the sole criterion according to which new ethical and social rules would be judged. Therefore, Islamic theory of life is characterized by simplicity and doctrinal unity. Many came to define religious reform as a triple unification of doctrine, law, and ethics.
The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt was founded in 1928 by Hasan al-Banna 42 Al-Banna, who was greatly influenced by Rida, acted as a caliph in exile, as the supreme mujtahid in the community, as a political and spiritual leader and the interpreter par excellence of the rules of the Shari'ah.
From its inception, the Ikhwan movement aimed at finding "Islamic solutions" to the problems of education, economic organization, and social justice in society. It advocated an Islamic nation without separation of religion and state. Next, it proposed an Islamic educational system whose goal was to create the "Muslim individual, the Muslim house, the Muslim nation, and the Muslim government." Third, it created an economic infrastructure based on Islamic principles to solve social injustice.
In the midst of this heritage weighty with consequences, the mission of the Ikhwan was (1) to free the Islamic fatherland from all foreign domination, and (2) to help a free Islamic state arise in the Islamic fatherland. Al-Banna considered it the duty of each Muslim to help build such a state, "for as long as this state does not emerge, the Muslims in their totality are committing sin." In addition, they should work to reform the education system, wage war against poverty, ignorance, disease, and crime, and create an exemplary society which would deserve to be associated with the Islamic sacred law.
In conclusion, the above discussion has raised a number of questions that still await an answer. One way of passing sound judgement on the nature, growth, and current dispensation of Islamic resurgence is to study the theological and cultural underpinning of this phenomenon in addition to its political impact.
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36. Olivie Carre, Mystique et politique: lectur revolutionnaire du Coran par Sayyid Qutb, frere musulman radical (Paris: Editions du Cherf,1984).
37. Sayyid Qutb, Fi zilal al-Qur'an ('In the Shade of the Qur'an') (Beirut, 1974).
38. Rida was born in what is called today Lebanon. He died in 1937 in Egypt after becoming one of the most influential disciples of Shaykh Muhammad Abduh (d. 1905). See Albert Hourani's excellent analysis of part of Rida's life: Albert Hourani, Islam in European Thought (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991). A recent important book is: Emad Eldin Shahin, Through Muslim Eyes: M. Rashid Rida and the West (Herndon: The International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1993), especially chapter one.
39. On the elaboration of this term, see Martin Lings, What is Sufism? (London, Islamic Texts Society, 1993), and his Symbol and Archetype: A Study of the Meaning of Existence (London: Quinta Essentia,1991).
40. Carre, p.19.
41. An extensive analysis of these notions is to be found in: Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi, "Reflections on the Islamic Renaissance in the Modern Arab World: Some Methodological Questions," Islamic Culture, Vol. LXIII (3), July 1989, pp. 42-59, and his "Secularization, Islam and the Future of the Arab World: A Derivative Discourse," Peuples Mediterraneens, Issue Number 60 (July-September 1992), pp.177741.
42. On Hasan al-Banna see, Ishak Musal al-Hussaini, The Moslem Brethren: The Greatest of Modern Islamic Movements (Beirut: Khayat's College Book Cooperative, 1956); Charles Wendell, Five Tracts of Hasan al-Banna (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978); Sa id Hawwa, al-Madkhal ila Da'wat al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin (Amman, 1979); Ibrahim Ghanim, al-Fikr al-siyasi li al-Imam Hasan al-Banna (Cairo, 1992), and Rifa't al-Said, ,Hasan al-Banna: kayfa wa limadha? (Cairo, 1984).
