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'Islam Versus the West' and the Political Thought of Abdolkarim

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'Islam Versus the West' and the Political Thought of Abdolkarim The Fletcher School Online Journal for issues related to Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization Spring 2006 “Islam versus the West” and the Political Thought of AbdolKarim Soroush1 Hassan Abbas philosophy of science in United Kingdom before Introduction returning to Iran immediately after the 1979 Revolution. There, he became part of an effort to reform the education system. His relationship with Interaction between Islam and the West, at the establishment was short–lived, as he became various levels and in different forms, is a centuries- critical of the political role played by the Iranian old phenomenon. In the post-September 11 context, clergy. His lectures and writings became very however, the discourse is increasingly framed in popular in Iran, and since the early 1990s, he has terms of “us versus them,” an “Islam versus the emerged as one of the leading moderate revisionist West” issue. Terrorist attacks in Spain and United thinkers of the Muslim world. Since 2000, Soroush Kingdom in the last two years and the recent has taught at Harvard, Yale, Princeton and most cartoon controversy have further exacerbated this recently at Wissenschaftkolleg in Berlin. confrontational discourse. Within the Muslim The major focus of this paper will be on the world today, the conservative elements largely political thought of Soroush vis-à-vis his views on understand interactions with the West as “Muslims Muslims’ interaction with Western culture. To versus Christians,” including an element of Jewish understand his work, it will be looked at in the conspiracy as well. Most Muslims see America’s Iranian political and religious context as well. military campaign in Afghanistan in October 2001; its so-called “preemptive attack” on Iraq in early 2003 and its bloody aftermath; and media West-toxication: Soroush: Coming to Terms disclosures about U.S. police profiling of Muslims with Western Culture2 as reflective of an American war on Islam rather than as components of a war on terror. Many Truth Versus Identity westerners also view ordinary Muslims as potential terrorists and as adherents of a religion While briefly referring to Samuel that is orthodox in its approach and violent in its Huntington’s “clash of civilizations” argument, worldview, an excessively sweeping and Soroush maintains that there are two kinds of profoundly incorrect assessment. Tragically, these Islam: the Islam of identity and the Islam of truth. In perceptions have generated a gulf of estrangement the former, Islam is a guise for cultural identity and between Islam and the West. a response to what is considered a “crisis of This paper represents an effort to understand identity.” The latter refers to Islam as a repository these trends and shifts in perception and approach of truths that direct believers toward the path of of both Muslims and the West (primarily the worldly and outwardly salvation. The Prophet of United States) in the light of how AbdolKarim Islam, he argues, was recognized as a messenger of Soroush, a leading and influential Muslim scholar those truths, and his intention was not merely to from Iran, analyzes this matter. Soroush was born build a new civilization. Soroush interestingly in Tehran in 1945. He studied chemistry and then maintains that “the term civilization is a construct Hassan Abbas is a Ph.D. candidate at The Fletcher School of the historians,” and expresses his concern that and a research fellow at the Belfer Centre for Science and Muslims in “their confrontation with the Western 3 International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, civilization wish to turn to Islam as an identity.” Harvard University. © The Fletcher School – Al Nakhlah – Tufts University 160 Packard Avenue – Medford, MA 02155-7082 USA – Tel: +1.617.627.3700 2 Al Nakhlah For Soroush, this identity-based Islam represents applicable to other Muslim-majority regions, such one of the greatest theoretical plagues of the Islamic as the Arab world. However, in the Indian sub- world. His proposed solution is that “Islam of continent there was a resistance of sorts, identity should yield to spearheaded by the religious groups, against the For Soroush, there are the Islam of truth.” British imperialist project. In addition, it can be Soroush argues that Islam argued that between these two encounters there two kinds of Islam: the as truth can co-exist with was regular interaction between Islam and the Islam of identity and other truths, while Islam West, and that it did not always take the form of the Islam of truth. Islam as identity is by its very conflict. nature belligerent and can be a guise for bellicose: “Two identities Iranian Reactions: West-toxication and cultural identity and a would fight each other, Westernization while two truths would response to a “crisis of 4 cooperate.” Soroush further expands the above thesis by identity.” Or it can be a This is an arguing that that during this “second encounter,” repository of truths attractive argument Muslims in Iran had two different kinds of theoretically, but the reactions. One reaction was to lament Muslims who that direct believers reality is that Islam has had been captured by gharb zadegi (West- 7 toward the path of generated a civilization toxication). West-toxication is a perjorative term and a sense of Islamic for the vast influence of Western customs, manners, worldly and outwardly identity. Islamic and technology, often at the cost of local and Islamic salvation civilization has different cultural assets and historical legacies, that is shades in different parts of frequently used to urge Muslims “back to the world, with distinctive traditions.” However, the other reaction (though colors in Iran, South Asia and Turkey for instance also framed as gharb zadegi) was that Islamic and that are influenced by pre-Islamic cultures of these native cultures were long past their prime and, regions. In many ways, Muslims in these states are having been superseded by the west, were as influenced by Islam as by their historic local incapable of revival or cultures in everyday life. Secondly, for millions of cultural renewal. For this For Soroush, identity- Muslims living in Europe and North America, group gharb zadegi meant their religious orientation is a matter of identity for sharing in the historical based Islam is one of them, in addition to their national origins. destiny of the West. the greatest theoretical Soroush concludes that the Early Encounters former interpretation of plagues of the Islamic the events and its world: “the Islam of Soroush believes that the initial encounter proposed reaction (i.e. that between Islam and the West—and between Islam Western influences must identity should yield to and classical Greek thought—during Islam’s early be carefully examined but the Islam of truth.” years of expansion represented a dynamic and vigorously resisted) was fruitful interaction. This was the case because Islam flexible because it was Islam as truth, says possessed ample power to absorb and entice, while based on a critical Soroush, can co-exist “[Islam’s] attitudes about foreign ideas was that of a approach to Western 5 victor dealing with the vanquished.” However, culture. By contrast, the with other truths, while during the early twentieth century, when Muslims later version was passive Islam as identity is by faced Western culture as an “invading culture and smacked of defeatism. its very nature armed with weapons of science and technology” Soroush infers that the the Muslims were weak and drained. He also terms Westernizing bent belligerent and this encounter as one between a strong culture became the more popular bellicose (Western) and a stagnant and feeble one (Islamic), version in Iran and though he is specifically referring to the case of Iran maintains that “Western and to the constitutional revolution of 1905-11. customs, rites, worldviews and philosophies wafted Consequently, Western culture witnessed little through us and were enthusiastically received” resistance and proceeded to “enchant and with the consequence that “walls crumbled as 6 8 mesmerize all.” Here Soroush cites examples from exchanges intensified.” It is debatable whether Reza Khan’s era in Iran, along with that of Ataturk this was the case in the rest of the Muslim world as in Turkey. well, although it can be argued that Muslim elites His argument and logic arrests on in the Middle East and the Indian Sub-continent generalizations, but they are nonetheless largely © The Fletcher School – Al Nakhlah – Tufts University Spring 2006 – Hassan Abbas 3 were also undergoing a similar transition or at least religion in governance gained momentum and pretending to be influenced by similar trends. became more public. Despite their disagreements, both groups had favored a constitutional path for Prescriptions Iran with the aim to “limit the power of uncontrolled autocrats who were selling Iran to the 10 Finally, Soroush argues that Islamic Western powers.” Reformist thought in Iran was civilizations should engage in a constructive not a consequence of its interaction with the West. cultural exchange with the West instead of Iran has always had reformists in the fields of 11 adopting Western culture uncritically as a means to religion, politics, poetry, and politics. The debate develop and progress. Soroush distinguishes went through many phases, though by and large between servile and dignified varieties of the clergy remained confined to Qom, which exchange, while lamenting the shortsightedness of housed the most prominent Iranian seminaries, Muslims who view every while the “enlightened” regimes of Reza Khan Soroush’s lectures in encounter through the and his son Reza Shah Pehlavi established secular prism of “us versus foundations of Iran. Tehran, once routinely them.” Soroush offers the The most popular democratic leader produced covered by state examples of Muslims who by Iran, Mohammad Mossadegh, was also a secular feel that, to justify person.
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