Saturday, April 05, 2008

Sadik Al-Azm on Islamism

Sadik Al-Azm
Recipent of 2004 Erasmus Prize
(Image from erasmusprize.org)

One of the students in my Islamism class found an extended definition of Islamism by Sadik Al-Azm (صادق العظم). I don't usually quote an entire document, but I will this time -- giving due credit to Dialogues on Civilizations, which hosts Al-Azm's page on "Islamism":
Islamism is a highly militant mobilizing ideology selectively developed out of Islam's scriptures, texts, legends, historical precedents, organizational experiences and present-day grievances, all as a defensive reaction against the long-term erosion of Islam's primacy over the public, institutional, economic, social and cultural life of Muslim societies in the 20th century.

This ideology is put in practice by resurrecting the early concept of Islamic Jihad (Holy War) in its most violent and aggressive forms against an environing world of paganism, polytheism, idolatry, godlessness, infidelity, atheism, apostasy and unbelief known to that ideology as the Jahiliyyah [Arabic for "Ignorance"] of the 20th century.

The ultimate goal for Islamism is to save the contemporary world from this Jahili condition -- imposed on it by the modern West -- pretty much the way the rise and rapid spread of Islam 13 centuries ago saved the world from the very similar Jahili condition that dominated it at that time.

The proceedings of this grand salvivic project are already manifestly evident: (1) In the re-Islamization processes presently underway in currently "nominally" Muslim countries and societies, (2) in the internal armed Jihad against the apostate regimes dominating at present all so-called Muslim states and ruling all so-called Muslim countries and (3) in the external grand Jihad against the global unholy alliance of Western Crusaderism with world Jewism, Zionism and Israelism.

Islamism as ideology and practice is:

(a) Fundamentalist, because it presents itself as the authentic movement of return to and retrieval of the now forgotten "fundamentals" (usul) and "basics" (usus) of Islam, with special emphasis on the lapsed imperative and duty of Jihad itself.

(b) Revivalist, because it presents itself as the primary agent of the double process of reviving those fundamentals, as active beliefs and efficacious practices, in the lives of Muslims and of reviving the currently hibernating masses of the Muslim World by injecting into their lives, hearts, minds and institutions those neglected fundamentals.

(c) Integralist, because its immediate goal is to re-integrate all autonomous aspects, areas and spheres of modern society and life -- such as the social, the economic, the political, the cultural, the scientific, the aesthetic, the domestic, the personal, the religious, the spiritual etc. -- under Allah's religion and rule as manifested in his Shari'a Law.

(d) Theocratic, because its manifest program is to restore Allah's Hakimiyyah, Sovereignty or Dominion[,] over his rebellious human creatures during the modern period in general and the 20th century in particular via the establishment of truly Muslim states and state apparatuses.

(e) Theonomist, because its immediate aim is the direct, literal and comprehensive implementation and application of Allah's Shari'a Law[,] which is absolute, indivisible and subject to no human debate.

(f) Terrorist, because of its declared despair of any other method and/or means of furthering its goals and programs other than the immediate and direct attack on both the internal and the external enemy -- as violently, extravagantly, spectacularly and destructively as possible -- heedless of the longer-term chances of success or failure of such attacks, contemptuous of their self-destructive consequences and dismissive of their social, political and economic fall out even on Islamism itself. For, the point is to hit the enemies where it hurts most, and what can hurt more than blowing up their innocent civilians and passersby wholesale.
This is quite good, so far as it goes, but I find Al-Azm's emphasis on Islamism as "a defensive reaction" -- and the italics are mine -- to be not quite adequate. Since he notes that Islamism "is put in practice by resurrecting the early concept of Islamic Jihad (Holy War) in its most violent and aggressive forms," then I think that we have to ascribe to Islamism an offensive aspect. Early jihad was not merely a defensive reaction against aggressive enemies; it actively sought to extend the realm of Islam, first under Mohammad, then under the first four caliphs, and continuing on so successfully that within 120 years of Mohammad's death, an Islamic empire ruled by a caliph stretched from Spain to India.

As such, then, "the external grand Jihad against the global unholy alliance of Western Crusaderism with world Jewism, Zionism and Israelism" should be understood not merely as ridding the Muslim world of these "Crusaders and Jews" but as ridding the entire world of these and other 'anti-Islamic' forces, which include everybody except those whom the Islamists recognize as true Muslims.

In other words, missing from Al-Azm's definition is an explicit statement of Islamism's imperialist program, namely, conquest of the non-Islamic world.

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8 Comments:

At 9:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

As such, then, "the external grand Jihad against the global unholy alliance of Western Crusaderism with world Jewism, Zionism and Israelism" should be understood not merely as ridding the Muslim world of these "Crusaders and Jews" but as ridding the entire world of these and other 'anti-Islamic' forces, which include everybody except those whom the Islamists recognize as true Muslims.

In other words, missing from Al-Azm's definition is an explicit statement of Islamism's imperialist program, namely, conquest of the non-Islamic world.


As you know, Islam recognizes the People of the Book as long as they accept their status as dhimmis under Islamic rule. Accordng to classical Islam, believers of non-monotheistic faiths or religions that post-date Islam must convert or be killed. When the Moguls took over India, they expanded their definition of People of the Book to include the polytheistic Hindus, who were too numerous to slaughter. Indonesia requires its citizens to declare membership in one of five official religions: Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.

The Bahais were rounded up and killed as heretics in the early days of the Islamic Republic, and the Ahmadiyya Muslims are risk of similar persecution should an Islamic government come to power in countries where they reside.

S.

 
At 10:14 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Yes, Sonagi, that's true of classical Islam, but I'm not sure that it's true of Islamism. Many Islamists -- the scholars' cover term for radical Muslims -- consider moderate Muslims to be apostates, so they would hardly be willing to recognize actual non-Muslims as followers of a legitimate religion. Bin Ladin considers Christians to be infidels. And Jews are beneath his contempt.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 11:34 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"(c) Integralist, because its immediate goal is to re-integrate all autonomous aspects, areas and spheres of modern society and life -- such as the social, the economic, the political, the cultural, the scientific..."

Jeffery, I got to this last word, "scientific" and I have to say I was somewhat surprised. And I have to admit taken aback. It was the Islam of the past that saved and indeed added to the knowledge base of Science during Europe's Dark Ages. At least as I understand it.

Might you take a crack at expanding on what you consider this means? I find this somewhat curious. Does this equate to an Islamic form of some of Christianity's "Intelligent Design" uh, theory, well I'm not sure theory is the right word, but you know what I mean?

It would seem to me that modern terrorism (Islamism) makes wide use of modern Science's manifestations. Something seems amiss. Perhaps it is just certain Science?

JK

 
At 4:44 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

JK, Islamists would certainly insist on subordinating science to Islam. I suspect that some, perhaps most, of them would be what we call "Creationists" but with others perhaps leaning toward "Intelligent Design."

I don't think that one would find many "Darwinians," not even of the theistic sort who speak of "guided evolution."

But I've not seen much on this topic, so I'm just giving an educated guess . . . maybe not even such an educated one.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 5:19 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jeffery,

I don't know that this might be clear but anyway, there's science involved in wiring a garage door opener to trigger an IED.

I'd be comfortable (well more so) with a really scientific Islamic fundamentalist. Not exactly "with" mind.

JK

 
At 6:29 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Well, there is that use made of Western technology...

But in a Shariah state, 'science' would not be what we would think of as real science.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 3:07 AM, Blogger Ojalanpoika said...

Could you comment, whether my details are correct in my essay in
http://www.helsinki.fi/~pjojala/Expelled-Jews-statistics.htm ?

E.g. "It is USA that profits from Israel, rather than the opposite. Israel gets nearly 2 billion euros from USA almost every year, that is true. But. US demands that Israel is not allowed to stop brain drain from Eretz Israel to the USA. Before the Second Intifada, there were 200 Israeli companies listed in the US High Tech Nasdaq, after the Intifaca the count had dropped to 70. At the moment, the number is back in 100, which is still greater than from all the European countries combined. Dollars are green since the yankees pull the down from the tree when still raw and fresh. Israel has not been allowed to let any of its companies to be scaled up in their homeland but most are imported straight from the garage. The scaling up of industrial production would mean jobs, to both Jews, Arabs and other ethnic groups. Israel is ordered to stay as some kind of innovation laboratory only, as the 51. state.

Astonishing number of 25% of the Israeli researchers have moved from Israel to the United States - and this figure does not yet even include the people with double citizenship! The next largest brain drain of researchers to US are 12.2% from Canada, 4.3% from Netherlands, and 4.2% from Italy.

One of the secrets of innovative success in Israel is the fact that cheating is minimized in the public funding: Money is not delivered according to research plans but steady income and thus the market analysis is emphasized. The support is designed so that the first 2-10 years a startup company does not have to pay taxes. But no direct funding without compensation is offered. Today, Israel draws Venture Capital (VC) more than the Europe.

A novel phenomenon is the strategy by which Israel has been able to claim victory over China and other Far-East countries regarding the most modern High Tech factories: As an example, the supranational Intel transferred the mass production of Centricon-processors to Israel, where 25% of citizens possess a higher decree from the university but where people respect patents and are not plagiating every item they produce for others. (China is a great country of thieves. The Empire of Pirates steals every moving article in your machine.) Intel was also offered an overall tax rate of 10%, which is about three times lower than that of US.

Also, the biggest generic drug factory in the world was recently established in Israel. Over half of the export from Israel are High tech products, compared to the 25% which is the average in the OECD countries.

Although the export of the agriculture has remained constant past the last 30 years, its relative amount has dropped from 70% to 3%. Out of the 3000 companies in Israel 80% are less than ten years old, and the average failure rate of these start ups is very low, less than 50%. In biotechnology and drug development, about 400 experimental drugs have been approved or accepted in clinical phases. The greatest portion of funding of research per capita is found in Israel. Israel also has the greatest ratio of researchers per square meter or population in the face of the world, far exceeding I.e. Japan: http://www.helsinki.fi/~pjojala/Indicator.htm"

Pauli.Ojala@gmail.com
Helsinki, Finland
Biochemist, drop-out (evolutionary critic)

PS. The Palestinian life expectancy increased from 48 to 72 years in 1967-1995. The population of the Palestinian Arabs has increased tenfold (10x) in 57 years, which might be the world record after the WWII. The death rate decreased by over 2/3 in 1970-1990 and the Israeli medical campaigns decreased the child deat rate from a level of 60 per 1000 in 1968 to 15 per 1000 in 2000. (An analogous figure was 64 in Iraq, 40 in Egypt, 23 in Jordan, and 22 in Syria in 2000). During 1967-1988 the amount of comprehensive schoold and second level polytechnic institutes for the Arabs was increased by 35%. During 1970-1986 the proportion of Palestinian women at the West Bank and Gaza not having gone to school decreased from 67 % to 32 %. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in West Bank and Gaza increased in 1968-1991 BKT from 165 US dollars to 1715 dollars (compare with 1630$ in Turkey, 1440$ in Tunis, 1050$ in Jordan, 800$ in Syria, 600$ in Egypt. and 400$ in Yemen).

The Second Intifada is called the Oslo War.

 
At 5:15 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Ojalanpoika, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that I wouldn't have the expertise to check the correctness of the details in your essay.

By the way, I'd prefer that you not paste long documents in the comments section to my blog, especially when a document has little to do with the blog entry.

Jeffery Hodges

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