DOCSLIB.ORG

Islamists, Left and Right' by Abdel Wahab El-Effendi, Vol 5

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Islamists, Left and Right' by Abdel Wahab El-Effendi, Vol 5 lslamists, Left and Right condemn the status quo, and to con- lslom hgs posited potlr. polilicol often been os being the middle ln demn is to go into battle. terms this is token to rneon o medion role between lhe left ond the Whet lkhwan emerged onto the right Abdel Wohob El-Affiendi delves into this contenlion. political arena in the mid-thfuties they shared the enthusiasm'pf most Egypt- ians for the ascension of young King Faruq to the throne in 1936. For a[ IN one of those now-ubiquitous semi- struggle they were wagng was futile. Egyptians at the time Farouq's reign nars on "Islamic fundamentalism" Avenues were blocked after the two appeared to signal a new golden era. held recentli at the School of Oriental and their associates won the hostility But for lkhwan this was even more so and African Studies (SOAS), Frof- of most Muslim rulers and after the because the King had as one of his essor A.K. Lambton of SOAS put British banned their paper, al-Urwa closest advibers Shaikh Mustafa al- forward the opinion that Islamic fun- al-Wuth4a from India and before that Maraghi, former Shaikh of al-Azhar, damentalism, and Islam itself for that Egypt, forcing it to cease publication. and Ali Mnher, who was later to matter, has a bias towards con- Abdu suggested that they take ten become prime minister. Both were servatism, lslnm, oS an "Ideology of young promising students, indoctrinate respectable personalities with known the Book" is per se fundamentalist, them with their way of thinking, and sympathy for the goals of the Islamic and it frowns on heterodoxy, creative hope that the group will multiply geo- movement. The King later disappoin- interpretation and new norms gener- metrically over the years. 'Afghani ted everybody, but the fact that the ally, and directs the people towards accused Abduh of being a defeatist Ikhwan feted and applauded him was the eternal infallible texts. There is and broke with him. The latter pro- later cited by opponents as evidence aething new in fact about the claim ceeded with his ov"n approach of edu- of the group's reactionary character. that Islam lavours conservatism. This cation in Syria and later in Egypt till This is a simplificatioR, not only be- allegation has been at the core of the he died in 1905. cause the accusation were made from debate that moved the whole.Muslim Abduh compromised even with the comfortable perspective of world relentlessly towards secularism Lord Cromer, the effective ruler of Nasser's revolutionary era. It is true in the last half cenhtry or so. The Egypt, but even then he earned the that Hassan al-Banna had kept hoping western-influenced elites bred under hostility of the Khedive because he the King will be saved one day and colonialism and the attendaot creeping refused to accommodate the latter's was until his last days pleading in vain westernisation have argued that tradit- desigls on Awqaf funds. His disciple for an audience with His Majesty. But 'ional Islamic authorities block their Rashid Rida gave him the same it also remains true that the internal ppns for modernisation and develop- advice he heard him offer before to dynamics of the movement has made ment and succeeded to a large extent Afghani regarding the latter's re- it a revolutionary force in Faruq's in sweeping Islam aside. This has en- lations with Sultan Abdelhamid: why Egypt, perhaps the only genuinely re- sured that the current Islamist move- not compromise with the monarch on volutionary one there was. Banna ment was in fact a movement against, these trivial matters to gain his sup- himself was murdered in 1949 on dir- and not for, the status quo in the port for the far reaching reforms that ect orders from the King himself. lands of Islam. And here we have, if he planned in education and mosque The movement suffered internal we accepted Lambton's thesis, the management? Abduh could no more tensions on the issue of revolution paradox of conservatism fighting accept this way of behaviour than his early in its history, when activists fiercgly to upset the status quo. The master could: apparently there is a from a rival group, (the Young Egypt issue, however, cannot be resolved limil feygpd which a "fundamentalist" party which later became the Socialist that easily. could not go. However, the argument party) went out smashing liquour It is true that the modern Islamic about where to draw the line still stores "to enforce Sharia" and defied movement, from its genesis in the remains a rich source of confusion. Ikhwan to emulate them. Banna cauti- activism of Sayed Jamal ad-Din al- The two major Islamic inovements oned his followers about the futility of Afghani in the 1870's was in ess€noe which emerged this century (Iamont this approach, but the debate ended in anti-establishment. It opposed in- Islami n India and the Ikhwan al- a split by the radical group which cumbent Muslim rulers as well as the Muslimoon in Egypt) inherited this formed the Shabab Muhammad western.dominated international ambivalent legacy. They shared with (Muhammad's Youth). That was back order. But even in that phase its atti- AMuh the belief that the Muslims in 1937 but the radical group, far from tude was ambivalent. Afghani co- have to be educated before they can creating a revolution lapsed into obli- operated with several Muslim rulers be made to change their political en- vion. However, the radicalisation of and even wanted a deal with Britain. vironment, but also inherited the mainstream mov€ment itself took His disciple Abduh, through whom Afghani's funpatience with this en- place as the Palestinian issue prom- the movement was perpetuated, broke vironment. The matter was complica- pted it to form a secret military wing with the master earlier precisely over ted even further by the fact you could which was then tempted to use its the latter's revolutionary approach. not always separate. education from force against local Jewish and foreign Abduh told the master that the subversion. To educate you have to targets in Egypt as well as against the u lnquiry, April 1988 -ffi$ f#;.r T- -: El+s !.+]4i* H+t*il;l oqry under Tllmlsanl (lelt) the movement crated by Hassan AFBanna (left) has movcd declrlvely to tl€ rlght British and those accused of support,, were backed by comrpt cliques, as ing them. who quit the party after being The outcome of thii un- long as he payed lip-service to Fytrt planned this or informed that to be a Communisi confrontation was defeat for that Islamic goal and promised a hard- meant not to believe in God. The the movement and suppression. It was line stance on the British occupation. mov€ment was thus radical from also the catalyst that hastened the But the if this wils so in Egypi, things start. The group, which was founded 1952 revolution of which Ikhwan wete were different with the branch in in 1949, suffered a split in 1953-4 and active backers and ardent supporters. Syria. There lkhwan took a very mili- the radicals were ousted year. Up to the time of the revolition the that tant socialist stanc€ from the late Babikir Karrar, the actual Ikhwan appeared hardly conscious of founder, 194O's. They attisd lfosmselves with lcd the radicals out to form aLfana'a social issues, apart from decrying the populists and left-wing goup6 op al-Islamiyya (the Islamic group). In decline of morals and foreign control to co-operation 'posed with the West. 1965 the group formed the Islamic of the eoonomy. They based their One the of Syrian lkhwan leaders, Socialist party, which made [ttle isr- alliances with other forces in societv Muhammad al-Mubarak, even went so pact on Sudanese politics. In the Z0's on the sole criterion of their Islamil as far to say that his movement was memben of the group, including pronounc€ments. They supported the Kar- offering "Marxism in the Islamic cup." rar, left for Libya where unpopular regime of Ismael Sidqi in they are said In 1949 the lkhwan formed in" to have played an important 1945 because he promised some role in Islamic Socialist Front as their political formulating Qadhafi's brand Islamic reforms, while they fought the forum, of and continued to spearhead Islamic socialism. The main group of very popular Wafd party for no the fight against apparent western influence. Sudanese Ikhwan drifted gaOualy reason other than the This culminated in the publication reasons in away from its radical socialist pasi, for which rival football sup- 1959 of the book by Musrafa porters champion al-Siba,i, embracing what it thought to be the their respective leader of the Syrian lkhwbn, entitled teams. Thus they did truly Islamic middle ground. not seem part- Islamic Socialism, which continued to icularly concerned about In Jordan, the lkhwan who started the dynamics be an influential work in the Islamic of social identification as anti-royalist rebels soon made a or political movement for quite a time. choice. reapproachment with the Hashemite It did not matter whether the In Sudan the founder of the group family, to the extent that the move- regime or individual they supported which eventually dominated the move-- ment's leader was offered the pre- were popular, lacked legitimacy or ment was actually a former Com- miership in 1957. A similar ac@rnmo- lnquiry, April 1988 dation was reached between Ikhwan squabble. As it happened, it was indelible mark on the subconscious of groups and monarchies in the Gulf, Nasser who ingeniously lumped his the movement.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Alternative Narratives for Preventing the Radicalization of Muslim Youth By
    Spring /15 Nr. 2 ISSN: 2363-9849 Alternative Narratives for Preventing the Radicalization of Muslim Youth By: Dr. Afzal Upal 1 Introduction The international jihadist movement has declared war. They have declared war on anybody who does not think and act exactly as they wish they would think and act. We may not like this and wish it would go away, but it’s not going to go away, and the reality is we are going to have to confront it. (Prime Minister Steven Harper, 8 Jan 2015) With an increasing number of Western Muslims falling prey to violent extremist ideologies and joining Jihadi organizations such as Al-Qaida and the ISIS, Western policy makers have been concerned with preventing radicalization of Muslim youth. This has resulted in a number of government sponsored efforts (e.g., MyJihad, Sabahi, and Maghrebia (Briggs and Feve 2013)) to counter extremist propaganda by arguing that extremist violent tactics used by Jihadist organizations are not congruent with Islamic tenets of kindness and just war. Despite the expenditure of significant resources since 2001, these efforts have had limited success. This article argues that in order to succeed we need to better understand Muslim core social identity beliefs (i.e., their perception of what it means to be a good Muslim) and how these beliefs are connected to Muslims perceptions of Westerners. A better understanding of the interdependent nature and dynamics of these beliefs will allow us to design counter radicalization strategies that have a better chance of success. 1 Dr. M Afzal Upal is a cognitive scientist of religion with expertise in the Islamic social and religious movements.
    [Show full text]
  • Sing 2018 Tempestuous Affair.Pdf
    Muslims and Capitalism – An Uneasy Relationship? Edited by Béatrice Hendrich KULTUR, RECHT UND POLITIK IN MUSLIMISCHEN GESELLSCHAFTEN Herausgegeben von Thomas Bauer, Stephan Conermann, Sabine Damir-Geilsdorf, Gudrun Krämer, Anke von Kügelgen, Eva Orthmann, Anja Pistor-Hatam, Irene Schneider, Reinhard Schulze Band 39 ERGON VERLAG Muslims and Capitalism – An Uneasy Relationship? Edited by Béatrice Hendrich ERGON VERLAG Gedruckt mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Fritz Thyssen Stiftung, Köln Umschlagabbildung: Claudia Bülbül, Feldforschung 2014, AKM Şura, Ort: KA-MU-DER Vakfı Fatih İstanbul Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. © Ergon – ein Verlag in der Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden 2018 Das Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb des Urheberrechtsgesetzes bedarf der Zustimmung des Verlages. Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen jeder Art, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und für Einspeicherungen in elektronische Systeme. Gedruckt auf alterungsbeständigem Papier. Umschlaggestaltung: Jan von Hugo Satz: Thomas Breier www.ergon-verlag.de ISBN 978-3-95650-463-1 (Print) ISBN 978-3-95650-464-8 (ePDF) ISSN 1863-9801 Table of Contents Béatrice Hendrich Introduction: Exalting the Past, Rebelling against the Present, and Struggling for a (Better) Future? ............................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Book Review: ISLAM and the MORAL ECONOMY: THE
    Journal of Indonesian Economy and Business Volume 29, Number 3, 2014, 283 ± 286 Book Review: ISLAM AND THE MORAL ECONOMY: THE CHALLENGE OF CAPITALISM Sumiyana Universitas Gadjah Mada ([email protected]) BOOK CONTENT the self-interest. The productive refers to the Tripp (2006) presents a book titled: —Islam imaginative transformation of all the factors and and the Moral Economy: the Challenge of the process of creating value added. The Capitalism“. This book revealed that the productive leads imaginative transformation to development of sharia economic grows rapidly, the high and satisfying economic growth. The depicting an evidence of a rejection of entire system of social and economic life is conventional capitalism. However, the growth referred to the high technology-based product‘s is still hampered by the argument in the form of innovation to achieve the disparity of production economic development of world‘s capitalism costs and profits. The institutional creates the that has rooted in the politic and economic imaginative and the productive into the high structure. According to the contradictions, the market competition, financial institutions, legal author presents a framework of arguments to and regulatory system and state area. identify and investigate the actions of Islamic Tripp (2006) continues the arguments of the economic actors in order to anticipate, respond system of social and economic capitalism. and act against the phenomenon. Furthermore, Market is not only a place to exchange goods Tripp (2006) elaborates the Islamic economics‘ and services through the financial system, but responses to the economy of capitalism as also it becomes a supreme institution and a follows.
    [Show full text]
  • Egypt's Socialism and Marxist Thought
    University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Faculty Publications Political Science, Department of 4-1975 Egypt's Socialism and Marxist Thought: Some Preliminary Observations on Social Theory and Metaphysics Shahrough Akhavi University of South Carolina - Columbia, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/poli_facpub Part of the Political Science Commons Publication Info Published in Comparative Studies in Society and History, Volume 17, Issue 2, 1975, pages 190-211. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=css © 1975 by Cambridge University Press This Article is brought to you by the Political Science, Department of at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Egypt'sSocialism and MarxistThought: Some PreliminaryObservations on SocialTheory and Metaphysics SHAHROUGH AKHAVI Universityof South Carolina I. THE PRIOR SIGNIFICANCE OF UNITY Since 1952 the elaboration of Egyptian ideology has constituted a source of conflict between the regime and the left/right opposition. In trying to capture the ideological center, the regime has inevitably drawn itself into the maelstrom of public contention characterized by mass conformity, intimidation, purges, arrests, show trials and incarceration of all who fundamentally question the principles of the leadership. Democratic cooperative socialism ('Arab socialism') is the official ideology, and a spate of books and articles have been published on its significance for Egyptian politics. Despite all these efforts, confusion still tends to reign over this concept, both among Egyptians themselves, and outsiders studying it. It is essential to build toward a definition of Arab socialism in its Egyptian variant.
    [Show full text]
  • Indonesian Colleagues, but It Is Impossible to Mention Every One of Them Here
    INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submii. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while athers may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print Meedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reprodudion. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sedions with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6' x 9" black and Mite photographic prints are avail- for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional chafge. Contact UMI didyto order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 481061346 USA 8W521-0600 THE ROLE OF MU8LIbd GROUPS IN CONTEMPORARY INDONE8IM NATIOHALISM: A STUDY OF THE NAHDLATUL ULAMA UNDER THE NEW ORDER 1980s- l99b A thesis submitted to the Faculty af Graduate Studier and Research in partial fdilhent of the
    [Show full text]
  • DOI: 10.7596/Taksad.V8i2.2042 Emerging the Concept of Islamic Socialism in Pakistan: Historical Analysis on Political Debates Of
    Journal of History Culture and Art Research (ISSN: 2147-0626) Tarih Kültür ve Sanat Araştırmaları Dergisi Vol. 8, No. 2, June 2019 DOI: 10.7596/taksad.v8i2.2042 Citation: Sanghro, R. R. & Chandio, J. A. (2019). Emerging the Concept of Islamic Socialism in Pakistan: Historical Analysis on Political Debates of 1970-1971 Election Campaign. Journal of History Culture and Art Research, 8(2), 51-61. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7596/taksad.v8i2.2042 Emerging the Concept of Islamic Socialism in Pakistan: Historical Analysis on Political Debates of 1970-1971 Election Campaign Rafi Raza Sanghro1, Jalil Ahmed Chandio2 Abstract Islamic Socialism was the concept propounded by Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto during the 1970-71 general election campaign. This ideology was new to Pakistani state as the country was founded on the concept of the Two Nation Theory. Mr. Bhutto's ideology in Pakistan was viewed as against the basic concept of the religion (Islam) by the Islamists parties. The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) was the main political opponent of his ideology. Mr. Bhutto believed that the socio-economic condition of the country was deteriorated and this new ideology will infuse a better life for everyone in the country. On the other hand, the Amir (chief) of the JI, Maulana Maudoodi, believed it as an atheist ideology and would diminish Islam from Pakistan. This paper is designed to investigate why political elites envisaged such ideology i.e. Islamic Socialism, in 1970 election? Whether this new ideology changed economic conditions of the common man as was envisaged or further worsened the political situation in the country? Further, the paper will investigate what role religious parties played particularly the JI, in countering the Islamic Socialism ideology which it was believed as atheist ideology? Keywords: Socialism, Islamic Socialism, Two-Nation Theory, Political Islam, Sharia, Pakistan.
    [Show full text]
  • Anatomy of the Islamic State
    The Marxist, XXX 3, July–September 2014 VIJAY PRASHAD Anatomy of the Islamic State ISLAMIC STATE Execution of Western journalists and aid workers and a threat to the US allies in Iraqi Kurdistan brought the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) onto the concern list of the West, and subsequently to the world. That the IS had already seized the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi and the Syrian cities of Raqqa and Deires-Zor almost a year beforehand had not sent up the amber light of caution. Already Iraq and Syria had been seriously threatened by the IS, which had captured land that straddle the two countries and had been in control of the Omar and Tanakoil fields in eastern Syria from where it had begun to accumulate its revenues. In January 2014, two ambassadors from western European countries told me that my reports had greatly exaggerated the influence of ISIS. They wanted to maintain the view that the Syrian civil war was between the forces of Freedom (the rebels) and Authoritarianism (the Syrian government). That Cold War derived framework had not been applicable to Syria at least since early 2012, when dangerous forces had inserted themselves into the emergent chaos in northern Syria. By 2014, those forces had seriously threatened not only Damascus, but the entire region, from the borders of Iran to the borders of Saudi Arabia. As his forces spread themselves across this land, the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi did something audacious: he anointed himself the Caliph of Islam and dropped the geographical limitation to his organisation.
    [Show full text]
  • Egypt's Socialism and Marxist Thought
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Scholar Commons - Institutional Repository of the University of South Carolina University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Faculty Publications Political Science, Department of 4-1975 Egypt's Socialism and Marxist Thought: Some Preliminary Observations on Social Theory and Metaphysics Shahrough Akhavi University of South Carolina - Columbia, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/poli_facpub Part of the Political Science Commons Publication Info Published in Comparative Studies in Society and History, Volume 17, Issue 2, 1975, pages 190-211. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=css © 1975 by Cambridge University Press This Article is brought to you by the Political Science, Department of at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Egypt'sSocialism and MarxistThought: Some PreliminaryObservations on SocialTheory and Metaphysics SHAHROUGH AKHAVI Universityof South Carolina I. THE PRIOR SIGNIFICANCE OF UNITY Since 1952 the elaboration of Egyptian ideology has constituted a source of conflict between the regime and the left/right opposition. In trying to capture the ideological center, the regime has inevitably drawn itself into the maelstrom of public contention characterized by mass conformity, intimidation, purges, arrests, show trials and incarceration of all who fundamentally question the principles of the leadership. Democratic cooperative socialism ('Arab socialism') is the official ideology, and a spate of books and articles have been published on its significance for Egyptian politics.
    [Show full text]
  • Indonesian Islamic Socialism and Its South Asian Roots*
    Modern Asian Studies , () pp. –. © Cambridge University Press doi:./SX First published online July Indonesian Islamic Socialism and its South Asian Roots* KEVIN W. FOGG Faculty of History, University of Oxford Email: [email protected] Abstract Islamic socialism was a major intellectual and political movement in Indonesia in the twentieth century, with ongoing influences until today. However, this movement did not follow the most common narratives of Indonesian intellectual history, which trace religious influences to the Middle East and political movements to anti-colonial reaction in terms framed by the Dutch. Rather, the first major Indonesian proponent of Islamic socialism, H. O. S. Tjokroaminoto, took his thinking on Islamic socialism directly from the English-language work of a South Asian itinerant scholar, Mushir Hosein Kidwai, in a process that most likely had the minority Ahmadiyyah community as intermediaries. Future Islamic socialist thought, much of it influenced by Tjokroaminoto, continued to echo through Indonesian secular nationalism, political Islam, and even Islamism. Studying the intellectual origins of Islamic socialism in Indonesia, then, shows not only the roots of an important strand of Southeast Asian politics in the last century, but also the importance of alternative currents of thought (South Asian, outside the mainstream, Anglophone) in Southeast Asian Islam. Introduction As nationalist movements broke out across Southeast Asia in the first half of the twentieth century, religion and socialism were very common * The author would like to thank Faizah Zakaria, Syahrul Hidayat, Rémy Madinier, Adeel Malik, Ibrahim Amin, Megan Robb, Fouzia Farooq, Francis Robinson, and Michael Feener; audiences at the Annual International Conference of Islamic Studies in Mataram (), Universitas Darussalam-Gontor, the Yale Council on Southeast Asia Studies, Metropolitan University Prague, and the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies; and the two anonymous reviewers for their contributions to improving this article.
    [Show full text]
  • Size 12; Bold; Times New Roman
    Journal of Social Studies Education Research SosyalBilgilerEğitimiAraştırmalarıDergisi 2020:11 (1),192-212 www.jsser.org Teaching Values of Islamic Communism in Surakarta: Issues in the First Quarter of the 20th Century Syamsul Bakri1 Abstract This study explores teaching values of Islamic Communism in the colonial era in Surakarta Indonesia in the 20th century. As Islam and communism are generally viewed as being incompatible, this looked at the distinctive and uncommon fusion of these two ideologies and the main ideas behind Islamic communism. Using content analysis this study examined three popular magazines in this era whose news affected political and social changes in the overall Java. Four steps of historical methods were applied including: heuristic, source critic, interpretation, and historiography. Results show that the history of the Indonesian movement and its ideologies included a blend of ideas from Islam and communism, which later led to the notion of Islamic communism. To achieve this, its proponents sought to find the matching points between the two ideologies and erase any notion that might disassociate them allowing syncretism ideology. The two ideologies, when combined, were employed in the struggle against capitalism and colonialism. Islam was perceived as defending the rights of the indigenous people being oppressed by colonialism. The emergent of communists then claimed that their doctrine, which rejected colonialism and capitalism, was wholly in line with Islamic Jihadism idea in terms of fighting the negative effects of the above two ideologies. Keywords: Islamic communism, ideology of resistance, theology of liberation, revolution, anti-capitalism Introduction Mainstream Muslims view Islam and communism from a polarized point of view.
    [Show full text]
  • Fundamentals of an Islamic Economic System Compared to the Social Market Economy a Systematic Overview
    11|2010 KAS INTERNATIONAL REPORTS 75 Fundamentals oF an IslamIc economIc system compared to the socIal market economy a systematIc overvIew Volker Nienhaus Underlying the scholarly interest in comparing economic systems is often a tacit suspicion that, in view of the arrested development of many Islamic countries, this religious worldview is seemingly incompatible with a market economy that promotes development. However, if we consider the attitude of the founders of the religions, Jesus and Mohammed, towards the economy and the teachings and practices during the early phase of the Prof. Dr. Volker Nien- Christianity and Islam, it is actually quite surprising that haus was President of the University of Christians raise doubts about the compatibility of Islamic Marburg. He is now a teaching with the market economy – from an historical visiting professor at perspective, the reverse would have seemed more appro- the ICMA Centre, Henley Business priate. On the other hand, we must remember that the School, University of social market economy is a concept that was created for Reading (United highly developed and structurally differentiated economies Kingdom). only in the twentieth century in the Western world, where it has proved itself. In Islamic countries, most of which only gained their independence in the middle of the twentieth century, this concept was rather unknown. In the light of the lasting development problems of many countries of the Muslim world – stretching from North Africa, across the Middle East to Southeast Asia – these states have by no means ruled out the search for economic concepts that promote development. Not least as a result of disappointment with the results of the capitalist and socialist economic systems, since the mid-1970s people have been progressively formulating ideas about an Islamic economic system, propagating them as an alternative to the unsatisfactory status quo.
    [Show full text]
  • Rediscovering the Capitalist Tradition of Islam
    EUROZONE, FINANCE AND ECONOMY REDISCOVERING THE CAPITALIST TRADITION OF ISLAM www.europeanreform.org @europeanreform Established by Margaret Thatcher, New Direction is Europe’s leading free market political foundation & publisher with offices in Brussels, London, Rome & Warsaw. New Direction is registered in Belgium as a not-for-profit organisation and is partly funded by the European Parliament. REGISTERED OFFICE: Rue du Trône, 4, 1000 Brussels, Belgium. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Naweed Khan. www.europeanreform.org @europeanreform The European Parliament and New Direction assume no responsibility for the opinions expressed in this publication. Sole liability rests with the author. INTRODUCTION by Aminah Koshul Researcher at Arab Center for Scientific Research and Humane Studies his brochure serves to establish a connection time, Western media’s portrayal of the Muslim world between Islam and capitalism by methodically grossly misrepresented the role of religion in the War T refuting the claims behind their incompatibility. on Terror without giving consideration to political, The following collection of articles draws on analyses economic and historical factors. The Middle East of religious texts as well as sayings from the Prophet’s and North Africa have effectively been rendered life (hadith) to prove that the teachings of Islam synonymous with cultural backwardness and civil call for an economic environment conducive to unrest, in which Islam is considered complicit. capitalism. Historically, the relationship between Such misrepresentation inevitably results in an Islam and capitalism has eluded thorough analysis incomplete surface-level analysis of the economic due to the absence of overlap between disciplines, situation of Muslim majority countries, in which such as religion and economics.
    [Show full text]