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Islam and Modern European Ideologies1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Bassam Tibi
Bassam Tibi
Affiliation:
Department of Political ScienceGeorg-August-UniversityGöttingen, West Germany
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Extract

Islam is a faith as well as a cultural commitment. Whether Islam also provides a framework of political ideology is still questionable. Some sociologists employ the notion “the politicization of the sacred” to depict this claim. Ideology is a very modern notion that Muslim thinkers have adopted from Western culture. The suggestion of the Moroccan philosopher Lahbabi, at a conference of C.E.R.E.S., that the arabized term “fikrologia” be employed as a substitute for “ideology,” (in Arbaic: al-ideologiyya) nevertheless does not change this situation.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , February 1986 , pp. 15 - 29
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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References

NOTES

2 See the contribution of M. A. Lahbabi included in the respective proceedings of C.E.R.E.S., ed., Les Arabes face à leur destin/al-⊂Arab amam masirahum (Tunis, 1982), pp. 13–50.Google Scholar See also Laroui, Abdallah, L'Idéologie Arabe contemporaine (Paris, 1967).Google Scholar The “target” of Lahbabi's critique is the book of his Moroccan colleague Laroui, just cited. Laroui published a new book in Arabic in which he suggests a new Arabization of the notion “ideology”: “al-idloga” (arabic grammar: ⊂f ⊂ula) instead of al-ideologiyya. Laroui, Abdallah, Mafhum al-ideologiyya- al-idloga (Casablanca and Beirut, 1980).Google Scholar

3 Enayat, Hamid, Modern Islamic Political Thought (Austin, Texas, 1982), p. 2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

4 Sivers, Peter von, Khalifat, Königtum und Verfall. Die politische Theorie Ibn Khalduns (Munich, 1968, originally Ph.D. Thesis, University of Munich, 1967), p. 139.Google Scholar

5 SeeSchacht, Joseph, An Introduction to Islamic Law (Oxford, 1964), pp. 49ff., 57ff.Google Scholar

6 SeeLambton, Ann K. S., State and Government in Medieval Islam: An Introduction to the Study of Islamic Political Theory—The Jurists (Oxford, 1981).Google Scholar

7 Badr, Gamal, “The Recent Impact of Islamic Doctrine on Constitutional Law in the Middle East,” Paper delivered to the VIII International Symposium of CCAS/Georgetown University (Washington, D.C., 04, 1983), p. 4.Google Scholar

8 Ibid., p. 3.

9 Nassur, Adib, Qabl fawat al-awan (Beirut, 1955), p. 100.Google Scholar

10 See the anthology ofKarpat, K., ed., The Political and Social Thought in the Contemporary Middle East, 2nd revised and enlarged ed. (New York, 1982).Google Scholar

11 Enayat, p. 3.

12 See for instance Sa'b, Hassan, Al-Islam tijah tahaddiyat al-hayat al-'astriyya (Beirut, 1965), pp. 121–142.Google Scholar

13 Shaltut, Mahmud, Al-Islam, 'aqidah wa shari'a, 10th ed. (Cairo, 1980), p. 442.Google Scholar

14 See part II of Tibi, B., Arab Nationalism: A Critical Inquiry (New York, 1981), p. 33ff. and 47ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

15 See for instance Khadduri, Majid, Political Trends in the Arab World: The Role of Ideas and Ideals in Politics (Baltimore and London, 1970), pp. 146ff.Google Scholar

16 For a historical survey see Owen, Roger, The Middle East in the World Economy 1800–1914 (London and New York, 1981)Google Scholar for an overview of the employed framework. For the understanding of underdevelopment see the respective contributions included in Tibi, B. and Brandes, V., eds., Unterentwicklung (Cologne and Frankfurt a. M., 1975).Google Scholar

17 See the most valuable reader of Lenk, Kurt, ed., Ideologie, Ideologiekritik und Wissenssoziologie, 5th ed. (Neuwied, 1971).Google Scholar

18 See Mannheim, Karl, Ideologie und Utopie, 4th ed. (Meisenheim a. Glan 1965).Google Scholar See also my article on Mannheim, , “Von der Wissenssoziologie zur Planungsideologie,” Neue Politisché Literatur, 18, 1 (1973), 8–30.Google Scholar

19 Plessner, Helmuth, “Abwandlungen des Ideologiegedankens,” reprinted in Lenk (see note 17), p. 265ff., here p. 281.Google Scholar

20 Horkheimer, Max, “Ideologie und Handeln,” reprinted in M. Horkheimer and T. Adorno, Sociologica II, 3rd ed. (Frankfurt a. M. 1973), p. 38ff.Google Scholar, here especially p. 38. For an evaluation of the contribution of the “Frankfurt School,” to which this author belongs, see the monograph of Jay, Martin, The Dialectical Imagination: A History of the Frankfurt School and the Institute of Social Research (Boston, 1973).Google Scholar

21 Plessner (see note 19), p. 281.

22 See Sigmund, Paul E., ed., The Ideologies of Developing Nations, 2nd ed. (New York, 1967).Google Scholar

23 For an analysis of the structural constraints of Modern Islam see Tibi, B., Die Krise des modernen Islam. Eine vorindustrielle Kultur im wissenschaftlich-technischen Zeitalter (Munich, 1981);Google Scholar see the review by Stowasser, B., The Middle East Journal 37, 2 (1982), 284–286.Google Scholar

24 See Amin, Samir, La Nation Arabe (Paris, 1976),Google Scholar Engl. transl. The Arab Nation (London, 1978), especially chapt. 2.Google Scholar

25 This framework has been developed in my essay “Akkulturation, Modernisierung, Verwestlichung und auswärtige Kulturpolitik,” reprinted in Tibi, B., Internationale Politik… (see note 33), pp. 176–190.Google Scholar

26 Behrendt, R. F., Soziale Strategie für Entwicklungsländer. Entwurf einer Entwicklungssoziologie (Frankfurt a. M. 1965).Google Scholar

27 See the introduction to the reader of Paul E. Sigmund (note 22 above).

28 See the illuminating critique by the Frankfurt-school sociologist Brandt, Gerhard, “Industrialisierung, Modernisierung, gesellschaftliche Entwicklung. Anmerkungen zum gegenwärtigen Stand gesamtgesellschaftlicher Analysen,” Zeitschrft für Soziologie 1, 1 (1972), 5ff.Google Scholar

29 Binder, Leonard, The Ideological Revolution in the Middle East (New York, 1964).Google Scholar

30 Halpern, Manfred, The Politics of Social Change in the Middle East and North Africa (Princeton, N.J., 1965).Google Scholar

31 On this point see Abu-Lughod, I., Arab Rediscovery of Europe: A Study in Cultural Encounters (Princeton, N.J., 1963).Google Scholar

32 Braune, Walther, “Die Entwicklung des Nationalismus bei den Arabern,” in Hartmann, R., ed., Beiträge zur Arabistik, Semitistik und Islamwissenschaft (Leipzig, 1944), pp. 425ff., here especially p. 447.Google Scholar

33 On négritude see my essay, “Romantische Entwicklungsideologien in Afrika,” reprinted in Tibi, B., Internationale Politik und Entwicklungsländer-Forschung (Frankfurt a. M., 1979), pp. 32–66.Google Scholar

34 Keddie, Nikki, An Islamic Response to Imperialism (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1968)Google Scholar and her biography of Afghani: Sayyid Jamal ad-Din “al-Afghani” (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1972).Google Scholar

35 See the interesting interpretation of Peter von Sivers quoted in note 4 above, especially pp. 71ff., 136ff. See also my remarks about the use of Ibn Khaldun in modern Arabic writings on Arab nationalism (note 14 above), pp. 112ff.

36 Rodinson, Maxime, Mohammed (Luzern, 1975), p. 44.Google Scholar

37 Ibid., p. 45.

38 al-Husri, Sati⊂, Al⊂urubat auwalan, 5th ed. (Beirut, 1965)Google Scholar and see the interpretation of Cleveland, William, The Making of an Arab Nationalist: Ottomanism and Arabism in the Life and Thought of Sati⊂ al-Husri (Princeton, N.J., 1971), pp. 128ff.;Google Scholar see also my own interpretation of Husri's separation between Islam and nationalism included in my book on Arab nationalism (quoted in note 14 above), pp. 135ff.

39 For an elaboration of this statement see Abu-Lughod, Ibrahim, “Retreat from the Secular Path? Islamic Dilemmas of Arab Politics,” The Review of Politics, 28, 4 (1966), pp. 447–476;CrossRefGoogle Scholar see also the important contribution of Merad, Ali, Le réformisme musulman en Algérie (Paris, 1967).Google Scholar

40 See note 38.

41 An English translation is to be found in Hanna, S. and Gardner, G., ed., Arab Socialism: A Documentary Survey (Leiden, 1969).Google Scholar

42 On the Ba'th Party see Abu-Jaber, Kamel, The Ba⊂th Socialist Party: History, Ideology, Organization (Syracuse, N.Y., 1966)Google Scholar and Mahr, Horst, Die Baath-Partei. Porträt einer panarabischen Bewegung (Munich, 1971).Google Scholar An interesting interpretation of the political thought of the founder of this party, Michel ⊂Aflaq, has been provided by von Sivers, Peter, “Arabismus, Arabischer Nationalismus und Sozialismus seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg,” in: Büttner, B., ed., Reform und Revolution in der islamischen Welt (Munich, 1971), pp. 119–147.Google Scholar

43 Tarabishi, George, “Sartre und die arabische Marx-Rezeption,” in Tibi, B., ed., Die arabische Linke (Frankfurt a. M., 1969), pp. 161ff., here especially p. 162.Google Scholar

44 See Tibi, B., Militär und Sozialismus in der Dritten Welt (Frankfurt a. M., 1973), especially chapters 3 and 4.Google Scholar

45 This view is indebted to the interpretation of Marx by the Frankfurt School (see note 20 above); see for instance the well-known introduction of the Frankfurt philosopher (now at the University of Hannover) Negt, Oskar, “Marxismus als Legitimationswissenschaft. Zur Genese der stalinistischen Philosophie,” in Kontroversen über dialektischen und mechanischen Materialismus (Frankfurt, 1969), pp. 7–48,Google Scholar and also Marcuse, Herbert, Soviet Marxism: A Critical Analysis (New York, 1958).Google Scholar A critical review of Soviet ideology toward non-Western societies, including the Islamic ones, from this intellectual background is to be found in Tibi, B., “Kritik der sowjetmarxistischen Entwicklungstheorie,” in Tibi, B. and Brandes, V., eds., Unterentwicklung (see note 16 above), pp. 105–147.Google Scholar

46 Morqus, Elias, “Die Lehren der Erfahrung,” in B. Tibi (note 43), pp. 46ff., here especially pp. 49f.Google Scholar

47 See Tibi, B., “Von der Selbstverherrlichung zur Selbstkritik. Zur Kritik des politischen Schrifttums der zeitgenössischen arabischen Intelligenz,” in Die Dritte Welt, 1, 2 (1972), 158–184.Google Scholar This essay includes a critique of the ideology (in the Frankfurt School sense of Ideologiekritik) of Arab political writings of the seventies. The most promising publication in Arabic of that time was al-⊂Azm, Sadiq Jalal, Al-naqd al-dhati ba⊂d al-hazima (Beirut, 1968).Google Scholar It was reprinted five times within two years after its first appearance. An earlier Arabic version of my German essay just cited was published in Beirut during that promising period, in Mawaqif, ed., Adonis 1, 3 (March–April 1969), 93–117. This interpretation still relates to a current issue, and it is for this reason that a slightly revised version of it had been submitted to the Arab conference Les Arabes face à leur destin held in Tunis in October 1979. (The published proceedings are quoted in note 2 above. My paper in Arabic on the “Ideologiekritik” of modern Arab writings is included there, pp. 177–216.)Google Scholar

48 See Tibi, B., “The Renewed Role of Islam in the Political and Social Development of the Middle East,” The Middle East Journal, 37, 1 (Winter, 1983), 3–13.Google Scholar

49 Two important German publications written by two Middle Eastern social scientists on the “Islamist” ideology of these movements should not be overlooked: Khalid, D., Re-Islamisierung und Entwicklungspolitik (Munich, 1982)Google Scholar and Kandil, Fouad, Nativismus in der Dritten Welt. Wiederentdeckung der Tradition als Modell für die Gegenwart (St. Michael, 1983), especially the chapter on “Islamic nativism,” p. 34ff.Google Scholar

50 The size of the literature on this topic in Arabic exceeds even that of the mounting Western publications on “Islamic resurgence.” But an early contribution (1971 and 1974) to the unfolding of “Islamist” ideology is worth mentioning, because it is still prominent: Yusuf Qardawi, Hatmiyat al-hal al-Islami (The Determined Islamic Solution), 2 volumes; vol. 1: Al-hulul al-mustawrada wa kayf janat ⊂ala ummatuna (The Imported Solutions, and How They Hurt Our Umma), new printing (Beirut, 1980, first published 1971); vol. 2: Al-hal al-Islami farida wa darura (The Islamic Solution, an Obligation and a Necessity), (Beirut, 1974).Google Scholar The “imported solutions” are, in Qardawi's view, liberalism, nationalism, socialism, Marxism, and democracy. The non-imported, i.e., the only authentic one is the Islamic order!

51 Rodinson, M., Islam und Kapitalismus (Frankfurt a. M., 1971), p. 261.Google Scholar German translation of Islam et capitalisme (Paris, 1966).Google Scholar

52 Ibid., p. 265.

53 Ibid., p. 266.

54 Ibid., p. 259.

55 Ibid., p. 261.

56 For an example of such a Eurocentric view, see the essays of the leading German anthropologist Mühlmann, Wilhelm E., Rassen, Ethnien, Kulturen. Moderne Ethnologie (Neuwied and Berlin, 1964), especially p. 353ff.Google Scholar A decisive critique of such views has been provided by the French anthropologist Leclerc, Gérard, Anthropologie et colonialisme (Paris, 1972).Google Scholar