POLITICAL ISLAM: POLITICS AS USUAL

Matt White

November 17, 2015

Liberty University PPOG 640 – Middle East Laws and Policy

            As general governance is performed by those that seek to maintain social order, the delineation between the public roles of politicians and clergy in Political Islam is blurred. To many Muslims, Islam is a comprehensive way of life, with no distinction between personal and civil realms. Political Islam uses Islamic religious principles to uphold social order through civil governance. In essence, Political Islam is the incorporation of Islam into the political arena, though each Islamic government incorporates religion in varying degrees, reflecting diverse legal systems and national domestic and foreign policies. In actual application, the governmental duties of promoting progress, stability, law and order, and economic interests are influenced by religious principles, and religious principles are likewise promoted to carry out personal or partisan political agendas.

Political Islam

            Islam is an Arabic term meaning “submission,” specifically submission to the will of Allah.[1] To many Muslims, Islam offers all-encompassing guidelines for living a life of submission to Allah, in both public and private life.[2] The total comprehensiveness of Islam cannot help but encompass governance and politics, giving rise to the prominent Islamist creed, al-Islam din wa dawla, meaning “Islam is [both] religion and state.”[3] Political Islam can be defined as this blending of church and state. Political Islam cannot be bound within a single universal mold, as Muslim countries blend Islam into their political systems to varying degrees specific to each individual nation and demographic.[4]

            Governments that are classified as Islamist share a common legal foundation of Shari’a law. Shari’a is the legal system based on law found within interpretations of the teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. The Qur’an is the ultimate authority, as the text was directly dictated from Allah to the prophet Muhammad, straight from the mouth of God in the Arabic language.[5] The Sunnah is the collection of hadith, or writings about the life of Muhammad as recorded by his followers. Muslims believe that Muhammad lived his life in accordance with the perfect will of Allah, so to emulate Muhammad’s actions, behaviors, and situational precedent as described in the Sunnah is to live in closer harmony to Allah.[6]  

The majority of Muslims are Sunnis. The Islamist Shari’a system established in Saudi Arabia and several other Sunni Islamist states more closely reflect the political establishments of the historical Middle Eastern Sunni empires.[7] Iran, in contrast, has a majority Shi’a population, and the Iranian theocracy is a manifestation of the Shi’a denominational view of Islamic hierarchy.[8] Traditional Islamist governments can be contrasted with secular Muslim states such as Turkey. Democratic Turkey, with a European-style civil law system, is not Islamist by this definition.[9] However, Political Islam in Turkey exists in the form of Civil Islam. Embraced by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Civil Islam is a humanistic governmental approach aimed at promoting Muslim virtues, morality, and service to society.[10] Though Turkey is nominally a secular state, Turkish Civil Islam still blends din wa dawla, reflecting Islam’s all-encompassing nature.  

Political Islam and the Impact on Law and Policy

            Shari’a is not a codified book of statutes as in a civil law system. Shari’a judiciaries consist of religious and legal scholars (ulama) that interpret the Qur’an and Sunnah and make applications to specific cases.[11] Islamic judges, qadis, preside over the courts, investigate facts and apply the law to specific cases. Qadis work in consultation with muftis, religious experts that interpret Shari’a in developing legal opinions, or fatwas.[12] Usul-i-fiq is the Sunni legal practice that in addition to the Qur’an and Sunnah, uses analytical reasoning, or ijtihad, to apply Islamic principles to real-world situations, and consensus, or ijma among the ulama coming to agreement on their human interpretations.[13] One difference between Shari’a and English common law systems is that in Shari’a, past legal rulings hold no formal precedent in making conclusions on separate issues.[14] Important to note is that the Qur’an and Sunnah do not mandate any specific legal structure, rather, this system evolved over the centuries in the dominant Islamic empires.[15] Though there are broad commonalities, there is also diversity among the various Islamist legal systems in the modern Middle East, augmenting Shari’a with codified civil and common law in various degrees.

Domestic governance and public policy in general is typically aimed at maintaining social order, national stability, and fostering the economy. The distinction between religion, practical governance and national self-interest can become quite blurred in Islamist systems. Pragmatically, Islamist governments require the use of more than just Shari’a to accomplish political goals. Many Islamist governments blend Shari’a with elements of civil and common law in order to achieve policy objectives. As an example, though the Saudi Constitution is in entirety the Qur’an and Sunnah, the Saudi king, and not the clergy, holds ultimate authority over judicial, executive, and organizational power, per article 44 of the Basic Law.[16] Additionally, the king and executive authorities issue codified civil regulations, or nizams, for practical administrative governance, though theoretically subordinate to Shari’a. To some degree, legislation is developed based on Muslim teachings, but religious legal opinions and interpretations can be spun to promote specific policy objectives. Saudi authoritarianism in enforcing strict moral conformity to Shari’a serves to promote both Wahhabism as the official state religion, and to secure the political power of the Saudi king.

Civil Islam is a growing phenomenon in Turkey, increasingly gaining prominence against the historically strictly secular Kemalist system. Civil Islam promotes pragmatic governance based on Islamic moral principles, though with a civil legal system, not Shari’a. Turkey remains a secular state with constitutionally-guaranteed religious freedom, but not in the Western understanding, as the government under the ruling AKP maintains a large religious influence. The Directorate of Religious Affairs, or Diyanet, has grown exponentially under the AKP and has developed into both a religious and political tool of the ruling party. The Diyanet runs Islamic schools, appoints imams, and oversees all Sunni mosques.[17] Civil Islam in Turkey sprung from the Hizmet Movement, founded by Fetullah Gülen in the late 20^th century. Hizmet has been spreading across Muslim nations, but has primarily taken root in Turkey. The goal of Hizmet is to promote a form of Civil Islam that improves society and the human condition through Muslim faith, spirituality, and piety. The Hizmet form of Political Islam rejects Shari’a and religious state authoritarianism, and believes that spirituality can be expressed through progressive democracy and political involvement.[18]

The elevation of Islam as the ultimate guide for the political realm has ramifications for public policy towards non-Muslims. Saudi Basic Law establishes Islam as the official state religion and the Qur’an and Sunnah as the constitution. Religious freedom is not legally protected, though non-Muslims are generally allowed to practice strictly in private. [19] The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) enforces Islamic morality among all citizens, and has conducted raids against non-Muslim private religious meetings.[20] Non-Muslim testimony is worth less in the courts.[21] The sizable Shi’a minority is largely suppressed, faces legal discrimination, and is underrepresented in Saudi government.[22] Sunni blasphemy and conversion from Islam are punishable by death.[23] In the Islamic Republic of Iran, Twelver Shi’a is constitutionally the official religion. Though Zoroastrians, Christians and Jews are constitutionally protected religious minorities in Iran, these and all non-Shi’a are routinely harassed.[24] Unlike in Saudi Arabia, these specifically recognized minorities are allowed to meet in private churches and run private schools in Iran. However, members must register with the government, and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security closely monitors facilities and meetings, ensuring no Muslims are permitted inside.[25] As in Saudi Arabia, conversion from Islam is potentially punishable by death.[26] In Turkey, legal rights for the 1% non-Muslim minority are protected in the state’s secular constitution. However, Turkish national identity cards contain a line for listing religion, and those that do not list themselves as Muslim regularly face discrimination and harassment in employment and other areas.[27]

Political Islam and the Impact on International Relations

            Foreign policy in Political Islam must be viewed with an understanding of the historical Islamist caliphate, the Islamist kingdom ruling over the global Muslim community, or ummah. Muhammad founded the original united Muslim caliphate, and was succeeded in leadership by a series of caliphs. A dispute over Muhammad’s rightful heir led to the split between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims during the Umayyad Dynasty, with Sunnis emphasizing the most qualified candidate, and Shi’a emphasizing a hereditary title.[28] In Shi’a Islam, there can only be one true caliph, the Twelfth Imam that disappeared without leaving an heir. Any Sunni claim to the caliph title amounts to apostasy to Shi’i, furthering Sunni-Shi’a animosity. Throughout the centuries, the Muslim world was not run by a single caliphate, but by a series of Muslim dynasties, sultanates, and ultimately, the Ottoman Empire, many laying claim to a caliphate to some degree. Many modern radicalized groups seek to erase borders and return to their version of the ideal global caliphate as established by Muhammad.[29]

Modern Middle Eastern nation states were artificially carved out and borders drawn by Britain and France following WWI and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Anti-colonialism significantly factors into the mindset of politicians and the people in the modern Middle Eastern foreign policy realm. Islamic political and religious leaders preach against Western values and culture such as democracy and commercialism, labeling them as corrupting influences, and as such, an attack on Islam. Thus, shouts of “Death to America” are not as much of an offensive attack as it is a defensive rallying cry against the perceived attack on Islam by the West.[30]  However, such rallying cries are common tools of political demagoguery used to promote a personal political agenda. Muslim extremists under this mindset use the defense of Islam as the excuse for waging offensive terrorist jihad against the West.

As in domestic policy and law, Muslim foreign policy is influenced by religion, and conversely, religion can be wielded to promote specific foreign policy objectives. Geopolitical tensions exist not only along the Islamic-Western civilizational fault line, but also between resource-rich Muslim neighbors of different sects. Ayatollah Khomeini commonly preached his interpretation of Shi’a Islam to promote nationalistic goals, territorial and economic interests by equating the defense of the country with the defense of Shi’a Islam. The Iran-Iraq war was a nationalistic fight to capture Iraqi oil rich territory under the additional guise of recapturing Shi’a holy sites and overthrowing Saddam’s secular (Sunni) government. Khomeini often used jihad and the defense of Islam as rallying cries for the troops in support of his nationalistic goals and Iran’s economic interests. [31]

             In contrast to the prevalent anti-Western notions throughout Muslims nations, Turkey and the AKP seek to further engage with the West. Civil Islam proponents within the AKP continue to advocate for Turkey’s admittance into the European Union.[32] Rejecting Islamist isolationism, Hizmet philosophy teaches that Muslim spirituality can be achieved and enhanced through engagement with the world, particularly in selfless service to others.[33] With or without claimed religious advantages, free trade and engagement with the E.U. are in Turkey’s economic self-interest. Additionally, the Diyanet has become a foreign policy tool, expanding its reach into the Central Asian nations of greater Turkestan, building mosques and training imams in the ethnically and linguistically Turkish trans-Caucasian nations.[34]

Conclusion

            To adherents of Political Islam, the universality of the Islamic religion makes it impossible for Islam to be extracted from public life. Political Islam blends Muslim principles with legal principles and governance in varying degrees throughout Muslim nations. The infusion of Islam in governance ranges the spectrum from goals of extra-national Islamist insurgent groups, to the authoritarian enforcement of Shari’a in monarchial Saudi Arabia and theocratic Iran, to Middle Eastern nations with mixed Shari’a and civil law systems, to the system of Civil Islam in democratic Turkey. One element of Political Islam is the altruistic promotion of Islamic piety among citizens and the expansion of the religion in the service of Allah.  Also among the goals of any national government are stability, peaceful social order, economic security and national foreign policy interests. In Political Islam, there is an element that these national goals can be achieved through the principles of Islam, but also that principles of Islam can be spun to promote personal political agendas.

References

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Shawamreh, Cynthia. “Islamic Legal Theory and the Context of Islamist Movements.” Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law, (2012): 197-223. Accessed November 14, 2015. http://www3.nd.edu/~intlaw/V2I2/Shawamreh.pdf.

United States Central Intelligence Agency. “The World Factbook – Iran.” Last Updated October 28, 2015. Accessed November 14, 2015. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html.

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United States Department of State. “SAUDI ARABIA – State.” Accessed November 14, 2015. http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/171744.pdf.

United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. “Turkey.” International Religious Freedom Report for 2011. 2011. Accessed November 13, 2015. http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/193083.pdf.