Beyond Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: a Decolonial Critique of Postcolonial Muslim Ontology
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
COPYRIGHT AND CITATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THIS THESIS/ DISSERTATION o Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. o NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. o ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. How to cite this thesis Surname, Initial(s). (2012). Title of the thesis or dissertation (Doctoral Thesis / Master’s Dissertation). Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/102000/0002 (Accessed: 22 August 2017). Beyond Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: A Decolonial Critique of Postcolonial Muslim Ontology by Alexander Marwan Abbasi 216082122 Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters in Research in the Department of Religion Studies of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Johannesburg supervised by Professor Farid Esack st 31 May 2018 i Acknowledgements I like to firstly thank my supervisor and mentor, Professor Farid Esack, for all that he has done for me in my life, South Africa and in writing this dissertation (far too much bears mentioning to even beginning writing it in this acknowledgements section!). Without Prof Esack, I would not be where I am today. I would like to thank the Department of Religion Studies at UJ, and all of the lecturers, professors, colleagues, comrades and workers who have made my time there bearable. Of special mention is Dr Ashraf Kunnummal – through his comradeship, friendship and providing me an extensive tarbiyyah into the politics and philosophy of Muslim struggles I have learned so much; Dr Nadeem Mahomed – a dear friend and colleague whose intellectual partnership, organizational skills and professionalism has provided me so much. I would also like to express thanks to Dr. Shahid Mathee, Gadija Anjum, Jabu Sithole, Jameel Asani, Mawlana Mthokozisi, Shaykh Ali Masud, Safiyyah Surtee, Muna Bilgrami, Masnoenah Kamalie, Tashmeer Esack, Muhammed Desai and the BDS-SA family - and all the other mujahids who have struggled along the path with me at UJ and in Joburg – you all have left an imprint on me I will hold dearly. To all the mothers in my life – to umi, Mama - my biological mother and the one who raised me as a single mother through all that patriarchy throws at a woman who is trying to provide for her son. Without your love and support, I am nothing. To Nunik jaan (and Haykis – may he rest in eternal peace), my second mother, whose Armenian khorovats, radishes and chai were the first foods to nourish my soul. You, Zara, Arman and the whole Grigoryan/Arapetyan/Manukyan clan will always be in my heart for providing me a family and a village. To my ‘amti Maysoon, yislamu idayk for all that you have done for me. To Baba - I deeply appreciate all that you continue to provide for me, and would not be where I am today with your care and support. To the colleagues, mentors, activists and friends I have made through the Critical Muslim Studies network in Granada and Cape Town – Professors Santiago Slabodsky, Ramon Grosfoguel, Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Salman Sayyid, Farid Alatas, Roberto Hernandez, Houria Bouteldja, and the many others – thank you for inspiring me to be a radical committed to better worlds. To my former family at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles – Professors Amir Hussain, Gil Klein, Jessica Viramontes, Lorianne Harrison-Reyes and others – you birthed me down the path of Religion/Islamic Studies and social activism, for that I am forever grateful. To my ancestors in al-Quds (the capital of Palestine!); the land of the Tongva which I grew up on; the spirit of Ali Shariati; and to all mustad’afun who have fought against oppression throughout time – I love and hold you close in the struggle for more just and benevolent worlds. Lastly, but definitely not least, I would like to express shukr and hamd to Allah – without my faith in the Creator, I would have been without a guide through life’s ups and downs and the intellectual jihad of writing this work. ii Abstract The aim of this thesis is to redefine 1) how decoloniality relates to the figure of the Muslim and 2) how decoloniality relates to postcolonial Muslim thinking. The field of Decolonial Studies has done substantial archival work on revealing the underside of modernity; what decolonial scholarship calls coloniality. Many of the thinkers whom have formed the canon of Decolonial Studies have been located in Latin America, the Caribbean and North America though, and have not fully explored the depth of the Muslim Question in relation to coloniality. The first half of this work deals with redefining the narrative of coloniality with regards to systems of Islamophobia and anti- Muslimness which shed further light on the complexities of Western ontology. The second half deals with postcolonial Muslim thinkers who have provided necessary decolonial insights into the ways Muslims have sought to resist and move beyond the confines of coloniality while also perpetuating neo/colonial divides. This work argues for a process of critique and appraisal of postcolonial reflections on Muslim ontology with the ultimate aim of decolonizing Muslim being. The concept of the good Muslim – bad Muslim binary is also investigated as one of the main ways which the political disciplines Muslim ontology; by making Muslims friends through Islamophilia or enemies through Islamophobia, the good Muslim – bad Muslim binary is a discourse and function of power which must be reconceptualized in order to account for the longue durée of coloniality and the persistence anti-Muslim/Islamist social orders. Ultimately, I argue that in order to move beyond the good Muslim – bad Muslim binary and the neocolonial snares of postcolonial Muslim thought, we must more deeply reconstruct what it means to decolonize Muslim political ontology. iii Table of Contents Abstract Acknowledgements Index Introduction 6 Structure and Chapter Summary 8 Note on Transliteration 10 Chapter 1- Reframing the Coloniality of Being in Relation to the Muslim: An Appraisal and Critique of Maldonado-Torres 12 1.0. Introduction 12 1.1. Coloniality, Being, Power 13 1.3. The Muslim Question 16 1.4. Islamophobia in the Old and New Worlds 18 1.5. The Religious and Secular in the Racialization of the Muslim 21 1.5.1. Revisiting People without Souls and Religion 25 1.5.2. Towards a Postsecular Theoanthropological Understanding of Racism 28 1.6. Columbus, Las Casas and the Transfer of Islamophobia in Conquest 30 1.6.1. Valladolid Debates and the Muslim 31 1.7. Islamophobia, Black Muslims and Africa 33 1.8. Conclusion 35 Chapter 2 – The Crusading Spirit/The Coloniality of the Spirit: An Indigenous Muslim Unit of Analysis 37 2.0. Introduction 37 2.1. Ten Centuries of the Crusading Spirit – Situating the Crusades and the Muslim 39 2.1.1. A New Millennium - From Inclusive to Exclusive Western Christian Identity 40 2.1.2. From Defensive to Offensive through Crusades 43 2.1.3. Consolidation of Muslim Ontological Otherness through Crusades 45 2.1.4. Before Europe and Beyond – The (Post)Modern is Medieval 49 2.1.5. Early Modern Christian Humanism – A Crusading Commonplace 51 2.1.6. Late Modern Crusading, Secular or Religious? 54 2.1.7. Crusading Spirit in Film, Fiction and Fanfare 56 2.1.8. The Latest Crusades of Terror 59 2.2. The Crusading Spirit – An Indigenous Muslim Unit of Analysis 62 2.2.1. Malabaris and Moriscos in the Early Modern/Colonial World-System 63 2.2.2. Late Modern Crusade-Naming, Secular & Religious 66 2.2.3. Palestine, the Holy Land and Neo-Crusades 67 2.2.4. Islamist Crusade-Naming 69 2.3. The Crusading Spirit – El Espiritu Cruzado 71 2.3.1. Hegel and the Coloniality of the Spirit 72 2.4. Conclusion 75 iv Chapter 3 - Redefining the “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim” Framework: A Critique of Mahmood Mamdani’s Approach 79 3.0. Introduction 79 3.0.1. Good Muslim-Bad Muslim, Islamophobia, Islamophilia 80 3.1.0. Reframing Mamdani’s Good Muslim-bad Muslim binary and Cold War Narrative 83 3.1.1. Mamdani’s Cold War Historiography: A Critique 85 3.1.2. The Cold War as Intra-Western Reform - Religious and Secular, Capitalist and Communist 87 3.2. Russia and the Muslim Problem 91 3.2.1. Soviet Islamophobia, Coloniality and the Good Muslim-bad Muslim Divide 97 3.3. Reframing Cold War Historiography in Relation to the Muslim 101 3.3.1. The Political and Politics, Ontology and the Ontic 101 3.3.2. Kemalism and Islamism 104 3.3.3. Beyond Kemalist Understandings of Afghanistan and the late Cold War 106 3.4. Conclusion 111 Chapter 4 – Decolonizing Postcolonial Muslim Ontology: Beyond Good and Bad Muslims 113 4.0. Introduction 113 4.1. Dabashi and the Muslim Revolutionary 117 4.1.2. Dabashi’s Historiography – Clearing 119 4.1.2.1. Why Difference Matters: Towards a Decolonial Muslim Historiography of Coloniality 123 4.1.3. Dabashi’s Historiography – Dreaming 125 4.1.3.1. Being a Bad Muslim, Becoming a Decolonial Muslim 128 4.1.4. Dabashi’s Language – Clearing 130 4.1.4.1. Visiting Dabashi’s Islam and anti-Islamism 130 4.1.4.2. Reading Against Dabashi’s Malcolm 136 4.1.5. Dabashi’s Language – Dreaming 139 4.1.5.1. Dunya of Death, Dunya of Life 141 4.2. Daulatzai and the Muslim International 146 4.2.1.