Pursuing the International Relations of Islam: a Critique of IR Theory
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Pursuing the International Relations of Islam: A critique of IR theory Faiz Ahmed Sheikh Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Politics and International Studies September 2013 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that the appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement © 2013 The University of Leeds and Faiz Ahmed Sheikh The right of Faiz Ahmed Sheikh to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. ii Acknowledgements The PhD has been a long journey which could only be completed thanks to the input of innumerable people over the years, be it discussions about the research, or morale boosting company when it was most needed. So, mentioning no names (*cough* Levon Ouzounian, Gordon Clubb, Aree Phothiyarom, Terry Hathaway, Egle Cesnulyte, Simonida Kacarska, James Worrall, Dan Watson, Anne Flaspoeler *cough*), many thanks to my friends, past and present, at the University of Leeds and elsewhere. To my supervisors, Clive Jones and Jonathan Dean, and earlier Brad Evans also, I owe a huge debt of gratitude for keeping me on the straight and narrow in regards to both my PhD work and wider career prospects. Who knows what dark corner of the library I would have found myself in, rocking back and forth and mumbling to passers by about Foucaultian ideas, if it were not for the clear, consistent, and always beneficial guidance of my supervisors, Clive Jones especially. Also to Helen Philpott and Caroline Wise I must say thanks for their support throughout my time at Leeds, patiently helping me with my many queries. Finally to my family I owe the greatest debt, for without their total support this thesis would not have been possible. Who would have thought my little brothers would be getting jobs before me, and then supporting me to do further study! Thanks Cash and Junaid for being so gracious and compassionate brothers. My mum and dad too have gone above and beyond with their support, material and moral, always making me believe I can strive to achieve the highest goals. So thank you, Shafia and Ibrar; it goes without saying that without you, none of this would be possible. iii Abstract This thesis aims to develop an embryonic theory of Islamic international relations (IR). Rather than attempt to fully articulate an Islamic concept of IR, a task that will be argued to be unachievable, the thesis will instead use the case of Islamic IR, loosely defined, to challenge certain central concepts in IR that are seen as immutable. In this way, the thesis is using the case of Islam as an example of a tradition on the margins of IR, to critique the ‘centre’. The research will therefore pursue dual themes: 1) Exploring what an Islamic construction of IR looks like and 2) Analysing the impediments that an Islamic IR faces when interacting with other, more dominant paradigms and concepts in the discipline. The above goals are explored by using a two stage analysis. In the first stage, the thesis examines the dominant concepts in IR which prevent the articulation of religious politics generally and Islamic politics specifically, in the international sphere. The thesis will argue that these otherwise immutable IR concepts are secularism in the discipline and the continuing centrality of the state. The thesis frustrates the immutability of these concepts given the specific cultural and religious setting of their genesis. After the first stage of this analysis the thesis will have created a space in which alternative theories, which do not sit well with secularism or the state, can develop; in the Islamic example this is represented by the concept of the umma (community of Muslims). In the second stage of analysis the thesis will construct, as much as is possible, a notion of IR derived from an Islamic heritage. This construction of IR will be communally and rationally based, as opposed to being based on theological guidance or abstract rationality. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ iii Abstract ................................................................................................................... iv List of tables .......................................................................................................... viii List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................. ix Glossary of Arabic Terminology ............................................................................ ix Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 Background ..................................................................................................... 2 Islam and politics ................................................................................................ 2 Warming Up: The State vs. The Umma .............................................................. 4 The Main Event: Liberalism vs. Islamism vs. Poststructuralism .......................... 6 Research Questions ........................................................................................ 9 Academic contribution and originality ................................................................. 9 Chapter Outlines ........................................................................................... 10 Chapter 1: Islam in International Relations Scholarship .................................... 14 Defining political Islam ................................................................................... 17 Unique Politics in early Islam? .......................................................................... 20 Taking Issue with din-wa-dawla ........................................................................ 23 The Third Perspective: Normative Political Islam .............................................. 28 IR Applied to Islam in Middle East Region .................................................... 32 Marxist Inspired Study of the Middle East ......................................................... 33 Constructivist Inspired Study of the Middle East ............................................... 36 Theoretical Pluralism: FPA and Realist Inspired Study of the Middle East ....... 40 The Westphalian Narrative in International Relations Scholarship ................... 45 The Legacy of Westphalia ................................................................................ 47 Liberal Individualism, the Umma and Communitarianism .............................. 50 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 56 v Chapter 2: Exploring the Interaction Between Islam and IR: A Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................................... 57 Epistemological Foundations ........................................................................ 59 A Note on Terminology ...................................................................................... 62 Islam, Postcolonialism and Modernity ........................................................... 65 Postcolonial Critiques of Modernity .................................................................... 66 Poststructuralism and Islam: A Shared Agenda? .............................................. 71 The Study of Religion in IR ............................................................................ 72 Unpacking Political Islam using Constructivism ............................................ 77 Problems and Limitations .............................................................................. 80 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 83 Chapter 3: Sovereignty and Normative Political Islam ........................................ 86 Political Islam and the State .......................................................................... 89 Islamic Philosophy and Political Islam ........................................................... 95 Gnosticism and the Shi’ism of Ayatollah Khomeini ............................................ 97 Exotericism in Sunni Islam ............................................................................... 102 Exotericism and Politics ................................................................................... 106 Ibn Khaldun, Exotericism and Sovereignty in Islam .................................... 108 Synthesising the Sovereignty of God and Exotericism in Normative Political Islam ................................................................................................................ 110 Deriving Political Sovereignty via an Exoteric Method ..................................... 113 Conclusions ................................................................................................. 119 Chapter 4: Islamic Community and International Relations ............................. 122 Islam as Community? Islam as Citizenship? ............................................... 124 Liberalism and Communitarianism .............................................................