Abstract
This chapter asks not if Islam can engage with democracy but how, specifically via religiously inspired parties. There exists no “normative” Islamism, and “the state” in Islamic political philosophy grafts the notion onto pre-modern concepts of authority. As the Arab uprisings develop, Islamic political theologies will develop, creating contemporary queries: whether Islamist parties are “centrist,” whether Muslim communities’ default is Islamist, or whether only Islamists desire religion in the public sphere. With Egypt as a case study, evidence shows religion as an important identity marker, but not necessarily a support for political Islamism. Regardless of whether governments instrumentalize religion, delivery of tangible progress is most likely to ensure state stability. With religion remaining a significant force, progressive religious expression must support comprehensive individual and societal development.
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Notes
- 1.
John Esposito and John Voll, Islam and Democracy. New York: Oxford University, 1996; Ahmet Kuru and Alfred Stepan, Democracy, Islam and Secularism in Turkey. New York: Columbia University Press, 2012; Saad Eddin Ibrahim, ed., Egypt, Islam and Democracy. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2002; Khaled Abou El Fadl, Islam and the Challenge of Democracy. Boston, MA: A Boston Review Book, 2004.
- 2.
S. Naquib Al-Attas, Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam: An Exposition of the Fundamental Elements of the Worldview of Islam. Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC, 1995; S. Naquib Al-Attas, Islam and Secularism. Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC, 1993.
- 3.
Jeremy Bowen, The Arab Uprisings: The People Want the Fall of the Regime. London: Simon and Schuster, 2013; Barbara Zollner, The Muslim Brotherhood: Hasan al-Hudaybi and Ideology. London: Routledge, 2011.
- 4.
Al-Attas, Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam; Al-Attas, Islam and Secularism; Abdel-Wahab El-Affendi, Who Needs An Islamic State? 2nd edn. London: Malaysia Think Tank, 2008.
- 5.
John Hoffman, “Is there a case for a feminist critique of the state?” Contemporary Politics 4, no. 2 (1998), pp. 161–76.
- 6.
Peter Mandaville, Global Political Islam. New York: Routledge, 2007.
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Charles Kurzman, ed., Modernist Islam, 1840–1940: A Sourcebook. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
- 8.
Robert W. Hefner and Muhammad Qasim Zaman, ed., Schooling Islam: The Culture and Politics of Modern Muslim Education. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007; Muhammad Qasim Zaman, The Ulama in Contemporary Islam: Custodians of Change. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.
- 9.
Hisham A. Hellyer, “The battle for al-Azhar.” Foreign Policy, August 2, 2012, foreignpolicy.com/2012/08/02/the-battle-for-al-azhar/ (accessed July 6, 2015).
- 10.
Robert Leiken and Steven Brooke, “The moderate Muslim Brotherhood.” Foreign Policy 86, no. 2 (March/April 2007), pp. 107–21.
- 11.
Further elaboration may be found in H. A. Hellyer, Rendering unto the State. London: Royal United Services Institute, 2013.
- 12.
“Grand Mufti to 50-Member committee: I reject idea of theocratic state.” State Information Service, September 12, 2013, www.sis.gov.eg/En/Templates/Articles/tmpArticleNews.aspx?ArtID=69976#.VUrDrKZjqxI (accessed July 6, 2015).
- 13.
Disclosure: the author was a Senior Practice Consultant at Gallup during the period 2011–12.
- 14.
TahrirTrends, www.tahrirtrends.tahrirsquared.com (accessed October 28, 2014).
- 15.
Ibid.
- 16.
“Egypt from Tahrir to transition.” Gallup, www.gallup.com/poll/157046/egypt-tahrir-transition.aspx (accessed October 28, 2014).
- 17.
Ibid.
- 18.
H. A. Hellyer, “Al-Azhar’s shake-up has ramifications far beyond Egypt.” The National, February 15, 2013, www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/al-azhars-shake-up-has-ramifications-far-beyond-egypt (accessed July 6, 2015).
- 19.
H. A. Hellyer, “Egyptians shifted to Islamist parties as election neared.” Gallup, January 24, 2012, www.gallup.com/poll/152168/egyptians-shifted-islamist-parties-elections-neared.aspx (accessed July 6, 2015).
- 20.
TahrirTrends.
- 21.
Ibid.
- 22.
“Egypt: Abdul Fattah al-Sisi profile.” BBC News, May 16, 2014, www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19256730 (accessed October 28, 2014).
- 23.
TahrirTrends face-to-face poll in 2013. For further analysis see H. A. Hellyer, “Rendering unto the state: What role do Egyptians want for religion?” Tahrirsquared.com, September 25, 2013, tahrirsquared.com/node/5794 (accessed October 28, 2014).
- 24.
Ibid.
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Hellyer, H. (2016). Islam, Islamism, Muslims, and Governance: Beyond “Islam and Democracy”. In: Saikal, A. (eds) The Arab World and Iran. Middle East Today. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55966-1_5
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