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The limits of tolerance: Islam as counter-hegemony?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2010

TONY EVANS
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Abstract

Following recent acts of terrorism in many parts of the world, Islam has become an object of fear. While the threat of violence is undoubtedly an element that inspires this fear, Islam's counter-hegemonic threat is not limited to violence alone. Given its 1.2 billion following, Islam also offers a challenge to the central values that describe the dominant neo-liberal world order, particularly those values that legitimate the global political economy. Although tolerance is an important value in liberal thought, tolerance cannot be exercised where counter-hegemonic threats include challenges to the central tenets of liberalism. This article argues that the current fear of Islam is motivated by just such a challenge. By looking at four central concepts where liberal and Islamic thought diverge – reason and revelation, private property, rights and duties, and government and state – this article seeks to gain a more nuanced insight into current attitudes towards Islam and the fear of counter-hegemony.

Type
Research Article
Information
Review of International Studies , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , October 2011 , pp. 1751 - 1773
Copyright
Copyright © British International Studies Association 2010

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References

1 For an example of American attitudes towards Islam published before 9/11 see, Fawaz A. Gerges, Journal of Palestine Studies, 26:2 (1997), pp. 68–80. See also, Cheryl Benard, Civil Democratic Islam: Partners, Resources, and Strategies, Report by the RAND Corporation 2003.

2 Mutua, Makau, Human Rights: A Political and Cultural Critique (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002)CrossRefGoogle Scholar .

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4 Aziz Al-Azmeh, ‘Postmodern Obscurantism and ‘The Muslim Question’, Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, 5 (2003), pp. 20–47.

5 Malcolm D. Brown, ‘An Ethnographic Reflection on Muslim-Christian Dialogue in the North of France: The Context of Laicite’, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 13 (2002), pp. 5–23.

6 Peter Mandaville, Transitional Muslim Politics (London: Routledge, 2001). To sustain this view, intellectual and political authority engaged in the politics of globalisation posits a monolithic Islam, opposed in every respect to the values that describe some equally monolithic version of the ‘West’.

7 Nancy Fraser, ‘From Redistribution to Recognition: Dilemmas of Justice in a “Post-Socialist” Age’, New Left Review, 212 (1995b), pp. 68–93; Nancy Fraser, ‘Rethinking Recognition’, New Left Review (May–June 2000), pp. 107–20.

8 T. Butko, ‘Revelation and Revolution: A Gramscian Approach to the Rise of Political Islam’, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 31:1 (2004), pp. 41–62.

9 For an analysis of the ‘Battle in Seattle’ see, for example, J. A. L. Alves, ‘The Declaration of Human Rights in Postmodernity’, Human Rights Quarterly, 22:2 (2000), pp. 478–500. M. Chossudovsky, ‘World Trade Organisation (WTO): An illegal organisation that violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ [Electronic Version] (1999); E. Paine, The Road to the Global Compact, Global Policy Forum Report (2000).

10 The history of Islam indicates that the globalisation of the faith has long been a goal for Muslims. This is a theme regularly explored by Islamic scholars. For a good introduction to this theme see W. Montgomery Watt, Islamic Political Thought: The Basic Concepts (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1968).

11 International Herald Tribune (11 March 1996). See also Edward Said, Orientalism (London, Routledge, 1976) and Kegan Paul.

12 See, among other reports of this instance, {http://mediamatters.org/items/200612060001}.

13 Andrew O'Hagan, ‘Fear is Ruining Our Chance of Peace, The Daily Telegraph (8 April 2008).

14 Recent research conducted at Cardiff University has show that a fear of Islam is prevalent in the UK, citing both the fear of terrorism and the challenge to social values as the main reasons. See the Guardian (4 July 2008). The outrage expressed following the speech of the Archbishop of Canterbury's in February 2008, in which he expressed the view that it was ‘inevitable’ that some shari'a law would be accepted in the UK, and the subsequent speech by the most senior Judge in the UK, Lord Phillips, expressing similar views, gives some indication that the fear of value change is central to the populations thought on Islam. See, the Guardian (7 July 2008).

15 Antonio Gramsci, ‘Selections from the Prison Notebooks’ edited by Quinton Hoare and Geoffrey Smith (London: Lawrence and Wisehart, 1996).

16 Ibid.

17 Nancy Fraser, ‘Foucault on Modern Power: Empirical Insights and Normative Confusions’, in Barry Smart (ed.), Michel Foucault (2): Critical Assessment (London: Routledge, 1995a), pp. 133–48.

18 Robert Cox, ‘Democracy in hard times: economic globalization and the limits to liberal democracy’, in Anthony McGrew (ed.), The Transformation of Democracy (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1997), pp. 49–75.

19 Duncan Ivison, ‘The Disciplinary Moment: Foucault, Law and the Reincription of Rights’, Jeremy Moss (ed.), The Later Foucault: Politics and Philosophy (London: Sage, 1998), pp. 129–48.

20 Stephen Gill, ‘Globalization, Market Civilisation, and Disciplinary Neoliberalism’, in Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 24 (1995), pp. 399–423.

21 Andrew Linklater, The Transformation of Political Society (Cambridge: Polity, 1998).

22 Herbert Marcuse, ‘Repressive Tolerance’, in R. P. Wolff, Barrington Moore and Herbert Marcuse (eds), A Critique of Tolerance (Boseon: Beacon Press, 1969).

23 Ibid.

24 Mustapha Kamel Pasha and David L. Blaney, ‘Elusive Paradise: The Promise and Perils of Global Civil Society’, Alternatives, 23 (1998), pp. 417–540.

25 Barry Hindess, ‘Power and Rationality: The Western Conception of Political Community’, Alternatives, 17 (1992), pp. 149–63.

26 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 2.

27 Herbert Marcuse ‘Repressive Tolerance’, in R. P Wolff, Barrington Moore and Herbert Marcuse (eds), A Critique of Tolerance (Boseon: Beacon Press, 1969).

28 Ibid., p. 82.

29 President George W. Bush was fond of using the phrase ‘evil-doers’ in speeches following the events of 9/11.

30 Antonio Gramsci, ‘Selections from the Prison Notebooks’, edited by Quinton Hoare and Geoffrey Smith (London: Lawrence and Wisehart, 1996).

31 Robert W. Cox, ‘Gramsci, hegemony and international relations: An essay on method’, in Stephen Gill (ed.), Gramsci, Historical Materialism and International Relations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993). Cox argues that the tradition of International Relations, which seeks to express world order as the relations between states, has masked the exercise of power in its historically social class form.

32 R. W. Cox, ‘Gramsci, hegemony and international relations: An essay in method’ in S. Gill (ed.), Gramsci, Historical Materialism and International Relations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), pp. 49–66; J. H. Mittelman and C. B. N. Chin, The Globalization Syndrome: Transformation and Resistance (Princeton University Press: Princeton, 2000).

33 Quoted in T. Butko, ‘Revelations or Revolution: A Gramscian Approach to the Rise of Political Islam’, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 31:1 (2004), pp. 41–62.

34 Antony Black, ‘Classical Islam and Medieval Europe: A comparison of Political Philosophies and Culture’, Political Studies, 41(1993), pp. 58–69.

35 The term ‘reason’ is not used here in the Orientalist sense, which contrasts Western rationality and its application to science, philosophy and social organisation with non-Western irrationality and ignorance. Instead, ‘reason’ and revelation are understood here as equally valid modes of rationality, each dedicated to discovering truths about the natural world and humankinds place within it. The will of God revealed through Islamic theology is as rational for Muslims as the empirical world revealed through scientific method is for western thought.

36 Ali Mohammadi, ‘The culture and politics of human rights in the context of Islam’, in Al Mohammadi (ed.), Islam and Encountering Globalization (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002), pp. 111–30.

37 Of course, neo-liberal political economy does not satisfy the material needs of all. Rather, it meets the needs of those who possess the purchasing power. It cannot therefore be claimed that neo-liberalism provides security in the broad sense of the term, which includes economic security.

38 Ronald. A. T. Judy, ‘Sayyid Qutb's Fiqh al-waqi'i, or New Realist Science’, Boundary 2, 31 (2004), pp. 113–49.

39 J. Plamentaz (ed.), Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan (London: Fontana, William Collins, 1969).

40 Secularism does not imply that a society lacks religious conviction, as is seen in the US, with its millions of ‘born-again’ Christians. Instead, secularism implies the separation of religious beliefs from the political, social, and economic decision-making. For example, Article 1 of the US Bill of rights states categorically that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.’ Article IV of the US constitution states that ‘no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States’, explicitly forbids the adoption of a state religion and the practice of religion in schools.

41 Qutb quoted in Ronald A. T. Judy, ‘Sayyid Qutb's Fiqh al-waqi'i, or New Realist Science’, boundary 2, 31 (2004), pp. 113–49.

42 Mohmood Monshipouri, ‘Islamic Thinking and the Internationalization of Human Rights’, The Muslim World LXXXIV (1994), pp. 217–39.

43 This is not to argue that a clear division can be made between the freedoms claimed by the individual and those claimed by the community. Indeed, Enlightenment thinkers were concerned with investigating questions of how the individual can be free within community. However, the liberal focus on the individual is widely accepted. See Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, trans. Maurice Cranston (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1983).

44 Ronald A. T. Judy, ‘Sayyid Qutb's Fiqh al-waqi'i, or New Realist Science’, boundary 2, 31 (2004), pp. 113–49.

45 Ankie Hoogvelt, Globalization and the Postcolonial World: The New Political Economy of Development (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001), emphasis in original.

46 Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah, vol. 2 (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967).

47 Maxime Rodinson, Islam and Capitalism (London: Alan Lane, 1974).

48 Zakat is usually calculated at a minimum of 2.5 per cent of wealth, not income. While this may be achievable during times of growth and prosperity, in times of depression it may strain any economy. A general fall in profits makes zakat less sustainable at a time when there is growing unemployment.

49 Suhrub Behdad, ‘Islamization of Economics in Iranian Universities’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 27 (1995), pp. 193–217.

50 Nikhil Aziz, ‘Human Rights Debate in an Era of Globalization: Hegemony of Discourse’, in Peter Van Ness (ed.), Debating Human Rights: Critical Essays from the United States and Asia (London: Routledge, 1999), pp. 32–55.

51 For a brief outline of Ali Shariati's work see Suhrub Behdad, ‘Islamization of Economics in Iranian Universities’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 27 (1995), pp. 193–217.

52 Of course, the sacred texts of all religions have always been open to particular interpretations. The case of the Mujahedine is no different in this respect.

53 Karen Pfeifer, ‘Political Islam: Essays from the Middle East Report’, Report by the Middle East Research and Information Project (1997).

54 M. Umer Chapra, ‘Islamic Economics: What Is It and How It Developed’, in Economic History Net, edited by Economic History Association: Economic History Association (2006).

55 The Constitution of the Republic of Iran can be found at {http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/ir00000_.html}.

56 Karen Pfeifer, ‘Political Islam: Essays from the Middle East Report’, Report by the Middle East Research and Information Project (1997).

57 M. Conley and D. Livermore, ‘Human Rights, Development and Democracy’, Canadian Journal of Development Studies XIXI (1996), pp. 19–26.

58 Mary A. Tetrault, ‘Regimes and Liberal World Order’, Alternatives, 13 (1988), pp. 5–26.

59 Mustapha Kamel Pasha and David L. Blaney, ‘Elusive Paradise: The Promise and Perils of Global Civil Society’, Alternatives, 23 (1998), pp. 417–540.

60 Norani Othman, ‘Grounding Human Rights Arguments in Non-Western Culture: Shari'a and the Citizenship Rights of Women in a Modern Islamic State’, in Joanne R. Bauer and Daniel A. Bell (eds), The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 169–92.

61 Ann Elizabeth Mayer, Islam and Human Rights: Tradition and Politics (London: Pinter, 1995).

62 Ernst cites the Niche for Lamp of al-Khatib alTabrizi (d. 1337) as another useful and widely drawn upon source that functions as a source of ethical behaviour. See Carl W. Ernst, Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World (London: University of Carolina Press, 2003).

63 The 10th Century Ijtihad saw an agreement that all important interpretations of the Qur'an and the hadith were settled and that no further argumentation would be countenanced. See, Monshipouri, 1998).

64 For a recent commentary on Khomeini's conception of freedom see, Susan Siavoshi, ‘Ayatollah Khomeini and the Contemporary Debate on Freedom’, Journal of Islamic Studies, 18:1 (2007), pp. 14–42.

65 Sheik Salih Bin Abdullah Bin Humied, ‘Friday Sermon in the Holy Mosque – Human Rights (Mecca, 2000).

66 Ibid.

67 Azzam Tamimi, ‘Islam and Human Rights’, Institute of Islamic Political Thought (2001).

68 Kees van der Pijl, ‘Transnational Class Formation and State Forms’, in Stephen Gill and James Mittelman (eds), Innovation and Transformation in International Studies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp. 105–33.

69 Ronald A. T. Judy, ‘Sayyid Qutb's Fiqh al-waqi'i, or New Realist Science’, boundary 2, 31 (2004), pp. 113–49.

70 Suhrub Behdad, ‘Islamization of Economics in Iranian Universities’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 27(1995), pp. 193–217.

71 Ronald A. T. Judy, ‘Sayyid Qutb's Fiqh al-waqi'i, or New Realist Science’, boundary 2, 31 (2004), pp. 113–49.

72 A. Soroush, Reason, Freedom, & Democracy in Islam, trans. M. Sadri and A. Sadri (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 62.

73 For a recent exposition on individualism, see Tibor R. Machan, Classical individualism: the supreme importance of each human being (London: Routledge, 1998).

74 Fatima Mernissi, The Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Women's Rights in Islam (New York: Basic books, 1991).

75 Khaldun notes that slavery is a permitted commercial transaction, a tradition which according to Lewis was accepted until very recently. See I. Khaldun, The Muqaddimah, trans. F. Rozenthal, vol. 2 (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967); B. Lewis, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror (London: Phoenix, 2004).

76 A. Mohammadi, ‘The culture and politics of human rights in the context of Islam’, in A. Mohammadi (ed.), Islam and Encountering Globalization (London: Routledge Curzon, 2002), pp. 111–30. This is not entirely true. The Universal Declaration was drafted at a time when Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were members of the UN. However, the Saudi representative on the Commission for Human Rights was a Lebanese Christian, and the overwhelming majority of member states were Christian. See also, Mohamed Berween, ‘International Bills of Human Rights: An Islamic Critique’, International Journal of Human Rights, 7 (2003), pp. 129–42; Tony Evans, US Hegemony and the Project of Universal Human Rights (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996).

77 Fred Halliday, Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics in the Middle East (London: Tauris, 2003).

78 Mustaph Kamel Pasha and David L. Blaney, ‘Elusive Paradise: The Promise and Perils of Global Civil Society’, Alternatives, 23 (1998), pp. 417–540.

79 Ibid.

80 James Keeley, James, ‘Towards a Foucauldian Analysis of International Regimes’, International Organization, 44 (1990), pp. 83–105.

81 Barry Hindess, ‘Power and Rationality: The Western Conception of Political Community’, Alternatives, 17 (1992), pp. 149–63.

82 Fatima Mernissi, Islam and Democracy: Fear of the Modern World (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Persius Publishing, 1992).

83 Abdolkarim Soroush, Reason, Freedom, & Democracy in Islam (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002).

84 Sheik Salih Bin Abdullah Bin Humied, ‘Friday Sermon in the Holy Mosque – Human Rights’ (Mecca, 2000).

85 Ahmad Vaezi, Shia Political Thought (London: Islamic Centre of England, 2004).

86 Ibid.

87 See the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran at: {http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/ir00000_.html}.

88 Ahmad Vaezi, Shia Political Thought.

89 Diane K. Mauzy, ‘The Human Rights and ‘Asian Values’ Debate in Southeast Asia: Trying to Clarify the Key Issues’, Pacific Review, 10 (1997), pp. 201–36.

90 Ahamd Vaezi, Shia Political Thought.

91 Robert Cox, ‘Democracy in hard times: economic globalization and the limits to liberal democracy’, in Anthony McGrew (ed.), The Transformation of Democracy (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1997), pp. 49–75.

92 Abdolkarim Soroush, Reason, Freedom, & Democracy in Islam. Introduction by the editors and translators, Mahmoud Sadri and Ahmad Sadri, xvi (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002).

93 Ibid.

94 Ankie Hoogvelt, Globalization and the Postcolonial World: The New Political Economy of Development (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001), ch. 9.

95 Abdolkarim Soroush, Reason, Freedom, & Democracy in Islam.

96 Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror (London: Phoenix, 2004).

97 Quoted in Ali Mohammadi, ‘The culture and politics of human rights in the context of Islam’, in Al Mohammadi (ed.), Islam and Encountering Globalization (London: Routledge Curzon, 2002), pp. 111–30.

98 Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror (London: Phoenix, 2004).

99 Fatima Mernissi, Islam and Democracy: Fear of the Modern World (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Persius Publishing, 1992).

100 Ibid.

101 For example, see UNDP, Human Development Report–2000.

102 Ankie Hoogvelt, Globalization and the Postcolonial World: The New Political Economy of Development.

103 Fatima Mernissi, Islam and Democracy: Fear of the Modern World (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Persius Publishing, 1992).

104 Malcolm D. Brown, ‘An Ethnographic Reflection on Muslim-Christian Dialogue in the North of France: The Context of Laicite’, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 13 (2002), pp. 5–23.

105 Fatima Mernissi, Islam and Democracy: Fear of the Modern World.