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Thin Description: Seeking Diversity in Middle East Studies THIN DESCRIPTION: SEEKING DIVERSITY IN MIDDLE EAST STUDIES by Sean Joseph Rooney B.A., The University of West Florida, 2001 A thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology College of Arts and Sciences The University of West Florida In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 2009 © 2009 Sean Joseph Rooney ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT......................................................................................................................iv CHAPTER I. THE SUNNAH: A BRIEF OVERVIEW..................................................1 A. Qur’an: Islamic Doctrine ....................................................................1 B. The ahadith: Words and Deeds of Muhammad...................................5 C. The Sira and al-Tabari: Earliest Biographies of Muhammad..............8 D. The Doctrine of Abrogation: A Closer Look ....................................17 CHAPTER II. JIHAD AND DHIMMI STATUS...........................................................22 A. Classical Jihad...................................................................................22 B. Contemporary Jihad Theory..............................................................26 C. Dhimmi Status....................................................................................38 D. Jihad and Dhimmitude in Practice… Today.....................................56 CHAPTER III. THE UNIVERSITIES: INTELLECTUAL JIHAD ..................................59 A. The Legacy of Edward Said: Who Are We to Judge? ......................59 B. Deforming Logic to fit Political Prejudice ........................................76 REFERENCES CITED....................................................................................................92 iii ABSTRACT THIN DESCRIPTION: SEEKING DIVERSITY IN MIDDLE EAST STUDIES Sean Joseph Rooney With only a cursory look at most courses labeled “Islamic” or “Middle Eastern” Studies or the like, one may be shocked to learn that there may be little “Islam” in the syllabi. In most courses, Islamic holy texts are conspicuous by their absence. For scholars who wish to present Islam in the most innocuous terms possible, this makes perfect sense. For all of the Classical Islamic texts agree that perpetual violence towards unbelievers is incumbent upon every healthy Muslim. The motives of some scholars are most likely well-intentioned; they wish to further interreligious dialogue by skirting certain issues that have long been used as a vehicle for attacking Islam. Other scholars’ motives may not be as noble. Such obfuscation is fundamentally wrong, in addition to being judgmental to an extent that is, to say the least, open to debate on the basis of available evidence. Moreover, this coddling leads to further confusion among Western students who know little or nothing about Islam to ask, for example, why, if violence in Islam has no validity, is the doctrine of violent jihad so influential in the Muslim world? Why indeed. iv CHAPTER I THE SUNNAH: A BRIEF OVERVIEW Qur’an: Islamic Doctrine Nadia Abu-Zahra notes “The fieldwork data [collected in Tunisia] would have been incomprehensible had I not consulted the Qur’an and the Arabic works of the commentators on the prophet’s traditions [ahadith and Sira]” (Abu-Zahra 1997:4; parenthetical mine). She is correct, for although the anthropologist is not likely to study Islamic theology in order to determine its spiritual truth, “it is almost nonsensical that an ethnographer would attempt to study Muslims without knowing seminal texts like the Qur’an, hadith collections, and relevant legal [and historical] texts” (Abu-Zahra 1997:4; parenthetical mine). Unfortunately, according to anthropologist Daniel Martin Varisco, “The majority of anthropologists who have worked with Muslims probably have not read the entire Qur’an”… (Varisco 2005:152). Varisco’s contention is, of course, highly debatable. However, in order to study Muslims and Islam, it is necessary to read, and understand, the Islamic theological texts—at least strive to understand them in the way that the overwhelming majority of Muslims understand them cross-culturally. Islam (note: not “fundamentalist” Islam or “radical” Islam) is both fully political and fully religious. Islam is a political system, a culture, and a religion—there is no separation between church and state. The core features of “Religious Islam” (the “Five Pillars”) are prayer to Allah, charity to other Muslims (charity to non-Muslims is not required), fasting during Ramadan, pilgrimage to Mecca, and declaring Muhammad the 1 final prophet of Allah. Islam also has a complete legal code, the Sharia (The Center for the Study of Political Islam [CSPI] 2006:vii; parenthetical mine). The five pillars in and of themselves do not tell us a lot about the faith or what a Muslim is supposed to believe or how he or she should act. The second through fifth pillars—prayer, almsgiving, fasting, pilgrimage—are aspects shared by many religions. The finality of the prophethood of Muhammad, however, is unique to Islam. To understand Islam and what it means to be a Muslim, we must come to understand Muhammad as well as the revelations given through him by Allah, which make up the Qur’an, ahadith, and the Sira. The Five Pillars, the Sharia, and literally every other aspect, both public and private, of a true believer’s life are laid out in the Qur’an, the ahadith, and the Sira— again, anthropologists must, at least, familiarize themselves with the Qur’an before beginning any endeavor involving Islam or Muslims (this notion of an all-encompassing personal doctrine is more complicated than it seems at this point because the Qur’an, as we shall see, cannot be understood in and of itself). The Qur’an, even for the average, unphilosophical Muslim, remains the perfect, eternal, universal, final, infallible word of Allah. For the believer, the Qur’an is: The immediate word of God sent down, through the intermediary “spirit” or “holy spirit” or Gabriel, to Muhammad in perfect, pure Arabic; and every thing contained therein is eternal and uncreated. The original text is in heaven. The angel dictated the revelation to the Prophet, who repeated it after him, and then revealed it to the world. Modern Muslims also claim that these revelations have been preserved exactly as revealed to 2 Muhammad, without any change, addition, or loss whatsoever. [Warraq 1995:105] In other words, the Qur’an is a part of God. It is His perfect, eternal, and living word in every Arabic version of the holy book. Moreover, it was brought to men by Muhammad who embodies the ideal pattern for all behavior of all peoples for all times. The Qur’an is divided into 114 chapters (suras or surahs) and about 6,200 verses (ayah; plural, ayat). It contains approximately 80,000 words. Each sura, except the ninth (called the “Chapter of the Sword” by many critics) and the first (the Fatihah), begins with the words “In the name of the Merciful, the Compassionate.” The suras are arranged in order of length, from longest to shortest, not in chronological order (with the notable exception of the brief Fatihah). Because of its arrangement, the Qur’an jumps from topic to topic, and stories are often repeated. The Center for the Study of Political Islam makes this analogy about Qur’anic storytelling: [I]magine that you took a mystery novel and cut off the spine. Then you rebound the book starting with the longest chapter and so on down to the shortest chapter. As you read it you would jump back and forth in time and be completely confused. The story would be lost. Likewise, when you turn a page of the Koran, it could move forward or backward in time, and the reader is completely lost. [CSPI 2006:viii-ix] Moreover, the Qur’an is riddled with contradictions. However, the Doctrine of Abrogation (al-naskh wa al-mansukhthe; abrogating and the abrogated) solves this puzzle; Muslim theologians have concluded that certain passages of the Qur’an (early passages revealed in Mecca) are abrogated by verses with a different or contradictory meaning 3 revealed later (in Medina). This was taught by Allah through Muhammad in Qur’anic sura 2:105-2:106: “Whatever verses we [Allah] cancel or cause you to forget, we bring a better or its like. Know you not that Allah is able to do all things?” It seems that 2:105- 2:106 was revealed in response to skepticism directed at Muhammad that Allah’s revelations were not entirely consistent over time. Muhammad’s rebuttal was that “Allah is able to do all things”—even change his mind. Unfortunately for unbelievers, all the passages recommending preaching tolerance are found in the early Meccan suras (when Muhammad was weak), and all the passages recommending killing, decapitating, and maiming infidels are later Medinan revelations (when Muhammad became a warrior- prophet). For example, according to Islamic scholar Ibn Warraq, “. .the famous verse at sura 9:5, ‘Slay the idolaters wherever you find them,’ is said to have canceled 124 verses that dictate toleration and patience” (Warraq 1995:115; parenthetical mine). So how can one understand the Qur’an in an Islamic (or any other) context? The key to its understanding lies in the life of Muhammad; and Muhammad’s life is compiled in the Sira and hadith collections. A common misconception by unbelievers (including many anthropologists, be they believers or not) is that the Qur’an is the basis of Islam. However, Islam is founded upon the words of Allah (the Qur’an) and the Sunnah (the words and deeds of Muhammad found in the Sira and
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