Civil Society in the Muslim World

civil society in the muslim world The Institute of Ismaili Studies The Institute of Ismaili Studies Civil Society in the Muslim World Contemporary Perspectives The Institute of Ismaili Studies Edited by amyn b. sajoo I.B.Tauris Publishers london • new york in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies london Published in 2002 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Rd, LondonThe Institute w2 4bu of Ismaili Studies 175 Fifth Avenue, New York ny 10010 www.ibtauris.com in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies 42–44 Grosvenor Gardens, London sw1w 0eb www.iis.ac.uk In the United States of America and in Canada distributed by St Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York ny 10010 Copyright © Islamic Publications Ltd, 2002 All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. isbn 1 86064 858 4 A full cip record for this book is available from the British Library A full cip record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress catalog card: available Typeset in itc New Baskerville by Hepton Books, Oxford Printed and bound in Great Britain by mpg Books Ltd, Bodmin The Institute of Ismaili Studies The Institute of Ismaili Studies The Institute of Ismaili Studies was established in 1977 with the object of promoting scholarship and learning on Islam, in the historical as well as contemporary contexts, and a better understanding of its relationship with other societies and faiths. The Institute’s programmes encourage a perspective which is not confined to the theological and religious heritage of Islam, but seek to explore the relationship of religious ideas to broader dimensions of society and culture. The programmes thus encourage an interdisciplinary approach to the materials of Islamic history and thought. Particular attention is also given to issues of moder- nity that arise as Muslims seek to relate their heritage to the contemporary situation. Within the Islamic tradition, the Institute’s programmes pro- mote research on those areas which have, to date, received relatively little attention from scholars. These include the intellectual and literary expressions of Shi™ism in general, and Ismailism in particular. In the context of Islamic societies, the Institute’s programmes are informed by the full range and diversity of cultures in which Islam is practised today, from the Middle East, South and Central Asia and Africa to the industrialised societies of the West, thus taking into consideration the variety of contexts which shape the ideals, beliefs and practices of the faith. These objectives are realised through concrete programmes v vi the institute of ismaili studies and activities organised and implemented by various departments of the Institute. The Institute also collaborates periodically, on a programme-specific basis, with other institutions of learning in the United Kingdom and abroad. The Institute’s academic publications fall into a number of in- terrelated categories: 1. Occasional papers or essays addressing broad themes of the relationship between religion and society, with special refer- ence to Islam. 2. Monographs exploring specific aspects of Islamic faith and culture, or the contributions of individual Muslim figures or writers. The Institute of Ismaili Studies 3. Editions or translations of significant primary or secondary texts. 4. Translations of poetic or literary texts which illustrate the rich heritage of spiritual, devotional and symbolic expressions in Muslim history. 5. Works on Ismaili history and thought, and the relationship of the Ismailis to other traditions, communities and schools of thought in Islam. 6. Proceedings of conferences and seminars sponsored by the Institute. 7. Bibliographical works and catalogues which document manuscripts, printed texts and other source materials. This book falls into category six listed above. In facilitating these and other publications, the Institute’s sole aim is to encourage original research and analysis of relevant issues. While every effort is made to ensure that the publications are of a high academic standard, there is naturally bound to be a diversity of views, ideas and interpretations. As such, the opinions expressed in these publications are to be understood as belong- ing to their authors alone. Contents The Institute of Ismaili Studies Foreword by Azim Nanji ix Editor’s Note xiii About the Contributors xv 1. Introduction: Civic Quests and Bequests amyn b. sajoo 1 2. Locating Civil Society in Islamic Contexts mohammed arkoun 35 3. Self, Society, Civility and Islam aziz esmail 61 4. Debating Women: Gender and the Public Sphere in Post-Revolutionary Iran ziba mir-hosseini 95 5. Soviet Legacies and Western Aid Imperatives in the New Central Asia olivier roy 123 6. Prospects for Civil Society in Tajikistan shirin akiner 149 7. Religiosity and Civic Culture in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan: A Sociological Perspective tair faradov 194 8. Ethics in the Civitas amyn b. sajoo 214 9. State and Civil Society in Turkey: Democracy, Development and Protest ersin kalaycıo•lu 247 10. Between Identity-Politics and Authoritarianism in Pakistan iftikhar h. malik 273 11. State, Society and Creed: Reflections on the Maghreb abdou filali-ansary 294 The Institute of Ismaili Studies Bibliography 319 Index 331 Foreword The Institute of Ismaili Studies The evolving phases of what in our time is called globalisation are felt and conceived rather differently across the world. Muslim societies have begun increasingly to inquire into what culturally, religiously and socially relevant civic ideals might mean within their own highly diverse contexts. The interest and focus by Mus- lims on issues relevant to civil society reflect, in part, the perceived absence of sustainable institutions that respond to strongly felt needs for social and economic development, poverty reduction and proper governance in their societies. These questions also relate to the role of the state as an agent for change and as custo- dian of social justice. The papers in this volume offer perspectives on many of the questions that engage the Muslim world today in the quest to de- lineate the form and substance of modern civil society. There is, of course, an elaborate history of discussion and debate in Mus- lim thought and praxis about the moral content of society, and its diverse expressions through political and legal governance. Mus- lim philosophers such as al-Farabi (d.950 ce) and the Ikhwan ix x foreword al-Safa (late 10th century ce) extensively debated an issue posed much earlier by Plato, namely the nature of the ‘good society’. Building further on the Platonic and Aristotelian legacy, they underscored the necessity of ‘community’ and ‘ethics’ to reflect what in their view was a matrix where individuals pursued virtue and created an ethos of equilibrium and excellence in society. They argued for the greater good of all as a moral imperative in which the state and citizens were both engaged, because they be- lieved that in the Muslim polity, interdependence and authority were a shared reality. This philosophical tradition not only raised universal issues of intellectual significance, but also represented for Muslim Thesocieties Institute of the oftime Ismaili a practical Studies quest for consensus among several strands of thought linking intellectual, legal, theological and community concerns. In the spirit of that deliberative tradition, the Institute of Is- maili Studies invited during the 2000–01 academic year a number of leading scholars to explore the idea of civil society in compara- tive Muslim contexts. Of late, the Institute has accelerated its efforts to take account of new opportunities for academic collaboration and educational activity in Central Asia. Building on its continu- ing interest in developments in Muslim societies in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America – and consistent with the diverse com- position of its students and faculty – the Institute seeks to foster dialogue on how one might envision values of civil society that reconcile larger concerns with understanding and respect for in- herited convictions, institutions, and practices. While addressing Muslim contexts, the authors of the articles in this book have tried to avoid homogenised or reductive views of Islam and its impact on plural Muslim societies. A great deal of oversimplification about Islam, particularly in the popular media and some academic writings, has ignored the fact that the plural- istic character of Muslim societies needs to be taken seriously as a premise in analysing issues of civil society. The role of culture has also been similarly underestimated, by treating it as prescriptive or formulaic; again, the interaction of cultures within Muslim societies, as illustrated in contemporary Central Asia (and elsewhere in South and Southeast Asia) has too often been ignored in favour foreword xi of a narrowly-defined theological and deterministic definition of Islam. In consequence, some of the attributes of Muslim society are erroneously thought to be inhospitable to the building of civic cultures. Religious traditions have often found extremist expres- sion in world history, a tendency to which Muslims are no exception. Yet there is abundant evidence of Muslim teaching, thought and experience

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