Pluralism: Could old Islam build a new bridge to the West?

Last updated on: February 5, 2009 at 6:00 am by Guest Contributor

Pluralism: Could old Islam build a new bridge to the West? 2009-02-05T06:00:39-04:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Giving it a go

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Catholic Church’s department for interfaith contacts, publicly thanked Muslims last year for demanding “space for God in society” in Europe. We are certainly living in interesting times when a senior member of a Church that has been bemoaning the absence of the Divine in the public sphere thanks members of another religious group – particularly the group with which it is in competition for converts in a number of countries.

But he was right. It is the Muslims of Europe who have been calling for a renewed sense of the sacred in the public sphere with more vigour than any other group, although they are not alone. The different Christian churches in Europe have been suggesting this for a long time, but as European secularism developed deliberately in opposition to the existing religious institutions of Europe, their calls lost resonance. Muslim communities, who were simultaneously predominantly of immigrant extraction, were able to call for a re-assessment of secularism within the context of multiculturalism and equal treatment for minorities.

It’s a fascinating development, because traditionally the main proponents of an increased sense of the sacred in the public sphere naturally lay with the right-wing parts of the political spectrum in Europe. Much of that part of the political spectrum has not historically been known for its support of minority groups in Europe, least of all Muslim communities. These politicians believe there is a “hole” in society caused by contemporary secularism.

In the Muslim world, the discussion takes an entirely different form. A sense of the sacred in the public sphere is ever present, and frankly with sometimes rather unsacred consequences, but there is still a call for a different type of politics – Islamisation.

That loaded term is particularly linked to the legacy of colonialism in the Muslim world; this is probably the only thing that all those who call for Islamisation can agree on. When the Muslim world was colonised, their frameworks for working out issues in the public sphere were radically changed, and in the aftermath of that period all things were influenced by a colonial westernisation. The response: Islamise, and so return to a more indigenous way of doing things.

Objectively speaking, it sounds logical. But travelling in the Muslim world I have seen interesting paradoxes. In Egypt, for example, Islamisation is really about trying to make the society more conservative, and the laws on a statutory level more similar to Sharia. The Muslim Brotherhood makes this quite clear: they have no problem with the essential basis of the state in Egypt – a state that is essentially a western construct.

Other groups, such as the Hizb ut Tahrir, active in many parts of the Muslim world, have other ways of looking at Islamisation: they are far more “radical” (not in a violent sense, but in an intellectual one) than the Brotherhood. But in looking at their political manifesto, you see a lot of similarities with western notions of the state, intentionally or not. Again: western ideas are still involved. Other writers point out that bin Laden’s al Qa’eda is a very modern, and essentially western, movement, if you really analyse its structure and how it operates.

Then you can see a different model in the writings that came out of an international coterie of scholars, particularly in the 1990s. Their model, led and formulated by the Muslim philosopher Naquib al Attas, was far more philosophical, and thus deeper, than other models of Islamisation I have seen. In this formulation, Islamisation was supposed to be a reassessment of all the assumptions that went into building post-colonial Muslim societies. Nothing was to be left unturned, whether in education, politics or society as a whole.

There would not be an “Islamic University” –that would essentially be a western-style university with a few Islamic subjects. No, there would be a genuine Islamic University that would derive its entire philosophy of education on the basis of pre-modern Muslim notions of what constituted a culturally sophisticated intellectual – the inclusion of arts, history, philosophy and so forth, before allowing specialisation (British readers might sigh nostalgically: the old grammar schools in the UK were supposed to do part of this before the late 20th century educational reforms). They based all of this on the philosophy of al Ghazali of the medieval Islamdom, or Algazel as he was known in the West – not Marx or Hobbes.

This is rather different from Islamisation activities that simply grafted themselves on to existing structures that were essentially non-Islamic in the first place.

But the students of the neo-Ghazalian school were transformed entirely: they were not resentful of the West, nor did they ape it. Part of their education was to understand the West on its own terms – but they understood the Muslim world on their own terms as well.

I wonder which model is going to be more productive in terms of coming to an understanding between the Muslim world and the West. One is tempted to think that perhaps Islamist political parties might be the best way to go, since they are so essentially western anyway (despite their protestations). But then, the bridges being built will be between the West and “neo-West”, in some ways.

The bridges must be built between differerences, not commonalities. Maybe the neo-Ghazalian approach could score a double goal – healing the rift between the contemporary Muslim world and its past, caused by colonialism and modernity, and also establishing a sophisticated understanding between the Muslim world and the West. We’ve tried so much already – this could not be any worse.

Dr H A Hellyer is a Fellow of the University of Warwick and Founder-Director of the Visionary Consultants Group. He is a signatory to the Amman Message and the Common Word. This article was originally published in The National.

Commentary

Hisham Hellyer

Previous Post

February 2, 2009

Non-violent resistance: An eye for an eye?

Next Post

February 9, 2009 The Muslim consumer: The overlooked $170 billion

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2012 Elections 30 Dayd 30 Writers (2017) 30 Days 30 Writers 30 Days 30 Writers (2015) 30 Days 30 Writers (2016) 30 Days 30 Writers (2018) 30 Days 30 Writers 2017 Ali Asadullah Ali Eteraz Alper Bilgili Arthur Richards Asides Asma Uddin Black History Month Briefings Charles Turner Commentary Cyrus McGoldrick Eman H Aly Fatimah Popal Hajj Hajj and Dhul Hijjah Hesham Hassaballa Hisham Hellyer Ibrahim Abusharif Inas Younis Irfan Yusuf Jalal Baig Junaid Afeef Laila Alawa Laila Alwala Mas'ood Cajee Muqtedar Khan Nakia Jackson Newsmakers Parvez Ahmed Podcasts Rabia Chaudry Rafia Zakaria Ramadan Reviews Safiyyah Ally Saud Inam Shahed Amanullah Svend White The Opinionated Oncologist Visions Wajahat Ali Zahed Amanullah Zahir Janmohamed Zainab Khan

Select a Month November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I am a seller of purple cloth from Thyatira. My heart was opened to respond to Paul's message, and I became the first European convert. Who am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mary Lydia Priscilla Phoebe