How To Defeat Political Islam With Reason — And Religion

-Analysis-

CAIRO — It is time to challenge our understanding of those Islamist groups that adopt religion as a political ideology based on false perceptions. We must first remember that at the time the Prophet Muhammad was spreading his message, Islam was developing a relationship with a “state” whose features were not yet fully mature.

Such relationships did not exceed the traditional link between the tribe’s leader and its members, or between the chief of the tribal leaders and all people of the region in a search for some way to establish justice and organize relationships among people. And Arabs would come to largely master this challenge.

But these initial features would eventually be transformed into a more cohesive framework during the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, followed by the Ottomans. Those who’ve come since have also been convinced that the objective was necessarily to weave politics into Islam, as the direct and correct expression of the text of the Quran in public life.

Therefore, we must deal seriously and scientifically with the problem created by the misinterpretation of the Quran and the subsequent practices in the years, decades and centuries that followed the death of the Prophet — with a particular focus on the current religious groups that espouse this view.

These more recent groups have made it their mission to restore the Muslim Caliphate, otherwise known as the construction of the Islamic state or the “state in Islam” under comprehensive slogans. They believe that the solution to contemporary problems lies in restoring supposed ancient visions. And they reject those who hold different ideas.

​Impossible extraction

Islamic political groups were able to formulate an ideology that attracted people to its call for radical change, which sometimes included a call to violence.

Those groups exploited people’s attraction to religion, often stepping into the vacuum resulting from the absence of integrated national projects that could guide the public on procedures, programs and decisions meant to solve the problems of daily life.

Calls for the immediate separation of religion and politics pure fantasy

This makes calls for the immediate separation of religion and politics pure fantasy. The reality is that religion, any religion, whether it is Islam, Christianity, Judaism, or even Buddhism, cannot be separated from politics in the sense of “public affairs.”

Two paths

What instead is possible, and desirable, is the separation or distinction between Islam and political authority. This can be done through two paths:

The first is related to building legitimacy, so that it refers to the will of nations (people), not the claim that rule comes from heaven, or the ruler’s claim that he governs the state affairs in the name of Allah.

The second is that religion should never transform from a belief into an ideology, carrying the misery of other ideologies such as stagnation, unilateralism, rejection of pluralism, non-acceptance, and sometimes even hatred, of others.

Such a perception of the separation between religion and political authority is even more beneficial to religion than politics. That is because linking worldly rule to God’s will, or His sovereignty, has historically led to establishing theocracies that protect those in power from accountability, where the tyranny of an authority disrupts clear thinking about managing worldly livelihood on a modern basis.

​Criticism, not denunciation

But the Islamic political groups also claim a “divine” legitimacy over all others, whether those based on tribal links or the social contract represented in a constitution approved by a nation, or an achievement accomplished by an inspiring, charismatic leader, or even the legitimacy of political revolution.

All of these alternative legitimacies are shunned, hated, or disagreed with by the followers of Islamic political groups, who have crafted another form of rule that they cling to as a formula for facing the reality of life. They also insist that political Islam can extricate Muslim countries from the ravine of backwardness, tyranny, and corruption.

The discourse of political Islam groups continues to be capable of attracting followers.

Without a doubt, the discourse of political Islam groups continues to be capable of attracting followers, whether we like it or not. What is therefore necessary is the dismantling of all traces of “historical Islam” included in this discourse, which arose in the name of the tendency to possess, dominate and control.

It is a necessary deconstruction and even criticism, but it should not be a denunciation. It must use the methods of modern science and intellectual persuasion. It must not be based on emotions. It must not fall into the trap of political sentiment, nor the struggle over power, wealth, and status. It must not be inhabited by the spirit of condescension and exclusion, or guided by inadequate security measures

Thus it must be assigned, first and foremost, to scholars in religion and various human sciences. They should be joined by those working to advance our societies, those involved with politics and public administration, economics, and community affairs, and any intellectual searching for a solution to the public inquietude of our times.