POL 454 ARAB NATIONALISM POLITICAL ISLAM

POL 454 ARAB NATIONALISM & POLITICAL ISLAM

ARAB NATIONALISM & POLITICAL ISLAM I. ARAB NATIONALISM a. Rise b. Fall II. POLITICAL ISLAM a. Rise b. Varieties Terms to Know New Mardin Declaration Gamal Abd’al-Nasir pan-Arabism UAR Michel Aflaq Sati al-Husri ibn Taymiyya Hasan al-Banna jihad Baath Party Taliban

Legitimacy in the Middle East n Egypt: 1922 or 1953? n Iraq: 1932 or 1952?

Ia. Rise of Arab Nationalism (Anderson, Dawisha) n The nation: an “imagined community” which seeks self-determination and autonomy. Limited: “finite if elastic boundaries beyond which lie other nations” n “the gage and emblem of a free nation is the sovereign state” n n “the absence of a state has not been a barrier to nationalist imaginings, but…all these groups are adamantly, vociferously desirous of a state”

Sati’ al-Husri n ex-Ottoman official turned theorist and advocate of Arab nationalism (1920 s). n Germany’s Prussian model of nationalism, in which individual's national affiliation is inevitable and predetermined. http: //www. meforum. org/article/171

The Arab League n Founded in 1945 n Created PLO in 1964 n HQ in Cairo http: //www. arableagueonline. org/las/english/level 1_en. jsp? level 1_id=1

The Baath Party (1947) n Founded by n Syria & Iraq (1963) Michel Aflaq n “renaissance” n 1966 split: n “resurrection” n Iraq’s Qawmi socialist n Anti-colonial n Pan-Arab n (Nationalist) n Syria’s Qotri (regionalist)

NASSERISM Gamal Abd’al Nasir n Led Free Officer’s coup in Egypt n Anti-colonial (1952) nationalism n Arab socialism n Pan-Arabism

PAN-ARABISM n United Arab Republic n Arab Federation of Iraq & Jordan Aug. 2, 1958) http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Arab_Federation (Feb. 12 -

May 30, 1967 "The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel. . . to face the challenge, while standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab nation. This act will astound the world. Today … the Arabs are arranged for battle, the critical hour has arrived. We have reached the stage of serious action and not of more declarations. ” - Gamal Abdel Nasser

Ia. Fall of Arab Nationalism: 1963 -1991 n UAR failure n Arab Cold War n n n (Yemen) Six Day War, 1967 Nasser dies, 1970 Sadat’s “separate peace”, ‘ 77 -79 Iran-Iraq War, 1980 -88 Gulf War, ‘ 90 -91

II. POLITICAL ISLAM n Political Islamist: one who believes that Islam as a body of faith has something important to say about how politics and society should be ordered, and who seeks to implement this idea in some fashion.

IIa. THE RISE OF POLITICAL ISLAM n UMMA & CALIPHATE n REACTION: n CRUSADERS & MONGOLS n n INTERNAL DECAY n n Ibn Taymiyya Al-Wahhab and The Taliban WESTERN IMPERIALISM & HEGEMONY n n n EUROPE: Hassan al-Banna & Muslim Brotherhood SOVIET INVASION: Mujahideen & the Arab Afghans THE “ZIONIST-CRUSADER ALLIANCE”: Al Qaeda

IIb. VARIETIES OF POILTICAL ISLAM n COMMON THEMES n DIFFERENCES n Reactive to perception of external threat (physical or intellectual) n n Fueled by anti-colonial sense of injustice and western exploitation Reactive to perception of internal decay and decline n n Secularization of society has left Middle East weak, physically and spiritually Islam is a “purifying force to drive out corrupt ideas and practices” n Focus on state politics vs. restoration of caliphate n Authority & method of jihad (violent or not? Toward whom? Who decides? ) n Whether state must become “Islamic” or merely reflect Islamic law n Conceptions of law n n Liberal, moderate & “literal” (conservative) Sunni-Shi’a

Salafism (‘pious ancestors’) n Sunni puritanical movement n Only sources of religious knowledge are the Quran and hadith n The original Medinan community established by Muhammad is the ideal worthy of emulation by Islamic society n Modernists v. fundamentalists

Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyya (1268 -1328) n Salafist code) n literalism (conservative, Hanbali 'man made laws’ = jahiliyya (pre- Islamic pagan ignorance) n World divided: Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb n n accusations of heresy or apostasy against fellow Muslims Jihad: obligation to fight infidels (Mongols) and allied apostates and heretics

http: //www. memri. org/report/en/0/0/0/4670. htm The New Mardin Declaration n 2010 Conference of Islamic scholars reinterprets ibn Taymiyya: n Division of the world into the "Abode of Islam" and the "Abode of War" is no longer valid, because mankind is bound by international treaties that guarantee security, peace and religious, ethnic and national rights for all n Ibn Taymiyya's fatwa cannot be grounds for: n n n leveling the charge of kufr (heresy) against Muslims rebelling against rulers terrorizing and killing Muslims or non-Muslims n Authorizing and carrying out armed conflict is the exclusive right of heads of state, not individual Muslims or Muslim groups n Only highly qualified religious scholars can issue fatwas n It is the responsibility of Muslim religious scholars to condemn violence and extremism clearly and explicitly.

IIb. VARIETIES OF POLITICAL ISLAM Goals and Means Radical Goals Transnational Radical Means national Al Qaeda Moderate Goals Islamonationalists: ? ? Taliban, GIA Moderate Means Islamonationalists: ? ? Hizb’allah, FIS Reformists: Pak Governor Salman Taseer (Pakistan People’s Party), Jordan’s Islamic Action Front, AKP