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Introduction: Understanding Political Islam Post-September 11
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- By K.S. Nathan, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Professor of Islamic Law and Jurisprudence at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in Gombak, Kuala Lumpur
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- Book:
- Islam in Southeast Asia
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 03 November 2017
- Print publication:
- 21 March 2005, pp xi-xxiii
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Summary
The process of globalization has taken us out of isolation and brought us into a truly new phase of human co-existence which, for the present, is unsettled and dangerous. Globalization initially promised to be a vehicle for promotion of human development and democracy addressing issues like freedom and opportunities for progress. However, it seems to have brought greater concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the industrialized West. September 11 further accentuated the negative dimensions of globalization. The U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq heightened the sense of insecurity over the prospects of world peace and people were alerted to the stark reality of the militarist overtones of globalization. Terrorism is heinous and frightening wherever it occurs and when it extends to suicide bombing and becomes an engaging theme of world civilizations, its negative repercussions are bound to overshadow every other aspect of East-West relations, especially relations between the Muslim world and the United States.
The West's relentless drive to fight terrorism with military means has brought espionage activities and intelligence agencies to a new prominence that is reminiscent of similar tendencies following WWI when fifth columnist activities overshadowed the climate of understanding among countries and nations. Mutual suspicion has became dominant and the world has seen, as per Subroto Roy, “a collapse of the global conversation”. The crimes of September 11 were ones of political protest, but they were not something inexplicable or sui generis. They symbolized a total breakdown of the centuriesold cosmopolitan conversation with Islam. There exists today a fundamental disconnect in communication between the United States and Muslims around the world. At its root lies the inescapable truth that each side sees the world through a very different prism. That basic misunderstanding brought into sharp relief by September 11 has widened ever since by an increasingly polarized media on both sides. The unilateralist tendencies in U.S. foreign policy, exhibited not just in its relations with Muslims, but also with its allies in Europe and elsewhere often stand in the way of genuine dialogue. This may not be easy to penetrate in the face of the entrenched American selfimage of the supremacy of its values and vision, and the expectation therefore that others must accept them and comply.
Preface
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- By K.S. Nathan, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Professor of Islamic Law and Jurisprudence at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in Gombak, Kuala Lumpur
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- Book:
- Islam in Southeast Asia
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 03 November 2017
- Print publication:
- 21 March 2005, pp ix-x
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Summary
This book is a revised version of the proceedings of the Conference on “Islam in Southeast Asia: Political, Social, and Strategic Challenges for the 21st Century” held at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore on 2–3 September 2002. To the extent possible, all chapters have been revised and updated to include recent developments that highlight the role, relevance and challenges, as well as the political and strategic dimensions of Islam in contemporary Southeast Asia.
In producing this special volume, we wish to express our deep appreciation and gratitude to several individuals whose support, assistance and co-operation have in no small measure contributed to the materialization of this publication. Firstly, the former ISEAS Director, Professor Chia Siow Yue who played a key role in initiating the idea of this seminar, and Mr. K. Kesavapany, the present Director whose enthusiastic commitment has enabled the final stages of editing and publication to proceed without a hitch. Our thanks are also due to the valiant efforts of three Research Associates whose editorial assistance has been crucial to the completion of this project: Ravi A. Menon, Graham Gerard Ong, and S. Thyaga Rajan. In the final stages, Thyaga worked very diligently with both of us in tying up loose ends and in improving the technical quality of the final drafts.
We wish to thank all the contributors for their fine papers and their full co-operation in responding promptly to requests for chapter revisions. We are also grateful to Mrs. Triena Ong, Head of the Publications Unit in ISEAS for providing valuable suggestions and handling production and marketing of this book, Ms Ch'ng Kim See and staff of the ISEAS Library for extending research support, and Mrs. Y.L. Lee and her staff in the Administration for their kind assistance.
14 - The Islamic State: Origins, Definition, and Salient Attributes
- from PART THREE - MODERNIZATION, GLOBALIZATION AND THE ‘ISLAMIC STATE’ DEBATE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
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- By Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Professor of Islamic Law and Jurisprudence at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in Gombak, Kuala Lumpur
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- Book:
- Islam in Southeast Asia
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 03 November 2017
- Print publication:
- 21 March 2005, pp 278-298
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Summary
INTRODUCTION
This chapter begins with an introductory section which sets out some of the uncertainties concerning the concept and definition of an Islamic state, a brief history of developments, and a literature review. The remaining part of the discussion focuses on the salient attributes of an Islamic state: whether the Islamic state proposes a limited as opposed to a totalitarian government, whether it can be characterized as a civilian state as opposed to a theocracy, and whether it would be justified to characterize the Islamic state as a qualified democracy. The last section of this paper briefly addresses the Islamist demand for the establishment of Islamic state, and some comments on recent developments in Malaysia. What is attempted here is a selective account of some of the characteristic features of an Islamic state and does not claim to be exhaustive.
PREVAILING UNCERTAINTIES
Much of the ambiguity concerning the basic concept of an Islamic state is due to the under-developed state of Islamic constitutional law when it is compared to the private and personal law branches of the shari'a. This was in turn a result of the prevalence of dictatorship and dynastic rule in much of the Islamic history which stifled the natural development of ideas on politics and government. Scholarly attention was consequently focused on matters of worship, matrimonial law, property and inheritance, etc., which are far more developed when compared to constitutional law and government. What is more is that most of what happened in the centuries following the fall of the Righteous Caliphate represented a departure from the normative principles of Islam.
A former Mufti of Egypt, Shaykh Ahmad Huraydi wrote that the political order that prevailed in the Muslim lands from the Umayyad rule down to the end of the Ottomans did not, on the whole, comply with the principles and teachings of Islam. Those who wrote on Islamic government and administration often focused their attention on dynastic practices which did not reflect the Islamic principles of government but mainly expounded the history of government in those times and “there is a huge difference between the two”.
CONCLUSION: Addressing the Challenge of Political Islam in Southeast Asia
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- By K.S. Nathan, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Professor of Islamic Law and Jurisprudence at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in Gombak, Kuala Lumpur
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- Book:
- Islam in Southeast Asia
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 03 November 2017
- Print publication:
- 21 March 2005, pp 347-354
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Summary
Political Islam as an issue affecting our present and future, will remain a matter of great concern to Muslims as well as non-Muslims in this region, and the world as well. Parts I and II have highlighted the complexity involved, and the problematique associated with translating theory and doctrine to reality. Indeed, this is the biggest challenge facing all Muslims: to adapt, modernize, reform, and reinvent their social systems in as much as the non- Muslims too are doing the same — to develop relevant models of economic, political, social, cultural and religious life — that can empower us without undermining our freedom to choose, while at the same time enabling us to positively address the multi-faceted challenges confronting humanity in the twenty-first century. In this conclusion, the focus is not on “doctrinal Islam” but on “applied Islam”, that is, the political and strategic dimensions of Islamic activity as it affects Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
A question naturally arises whether Islam is inherently political or whether politicization of Islam is a historical phase and a circumstantial development brought into sharp relief in the latter part of the twentieth century. Political Islam emerged partly as a reaction to European colonialism and partly as an aspect of the nationalist movement that struggled for independence in the former colonies. For Islam is basically a faith and a state of mind founded on its renowned five pillars, namely, prayer, fasting, the hajj, the zakat obligation to help the poor, belief in God and the hereafter. These are not inherently political and Muslims can practise their religion without any political engagement in a party or government, or even in the absence of a government. Islam admittedly does not preclude government from the scope of its teachings, yet it remains to be said that state and government are not essential to the religion.
The question whether Islam is a religion (din) only, or both religion and state (din wa dawla) was addressed in the early decades of the twentieth century by Shaykh ‘Ali ‘Abd al-Raziq, a former judge and professor of the famous Al-Azhar Universityin Cairo, and at one time also Minister of Awqaf (religious endowments) of Egypt, who published a book bearing the title al- Islam wa Usul al-Hukm (Islam and the Principles of Government) in 1926.