Transcript Political Islam - UCI History Project

Political Islam
What is Political Islam in the
contemporary Middle East?
How do we define political Islam?
WE WILL SEE SOME IMAGES ABOUT
POLITICAL ISLAM
Political Islam
Given the images you just saw, what
are some ideas you can share about
the concept of Political Islam?
Political Islam
Political Islam, or Islamism, is the phrase used to
discuss associations, parties, and governments
dedicated to the transformation of state and society
so as to make them "Islamic.” These movements
are a response to the contemporary world of
nation-states. For this reason, some Islamists work
within parliamentary democracies as part of the
state (like Turkey). Others groups, are radical and
seek to overthrow the state or impose a transnational order often referred to as a Caliphate (like
Isis).
Shadi Hamid, “What most people get wrong
about political Islam” September 24, 2015, PBS
Newshour
“Islamism” has become a bad word, because the Islamists
we hear about most often are those of ISIS and al-Qaeda.
Most Islamists, however, are not jihadists or extremists;
they are members of mainstream Islamist movements
like the Muslim Brotherhood whose distinguishing
feature is their gradualism (historically eschewing
revolution), acceptance of parliamentary politics, and
willingness to work within existing state structures, even
secular ones. Contrary to popular imagination, Islamists
do not necessarily harken back to seventh century
Arabia…
How does Hamid’s definition of Political Islam compare
and contrast with the one above?
DEVELOP A CLASS DEFINITION OF
POLITICAL ISLAM
Shadi Hamid, “What most people get wrong about
political Islam” September 24, 2015, PBS Newshour
…If you go into the study of Islamism trying to compare Islamists to some
liberal ideal, then that will distort your analysis. Islamists, after all, are
products of their own political context, not ours.
To us, democracy and liberal democracy might seem interchangeable, but, in
the Middle East (as well as many other places), they’re not. In our own history
as Americans, we followed a particular sequencing: first, the foundations of
constitutional liberalism were established and only then did democracy — in
the sense of universal suffrage, popular sovereignty, and full political equality
of all citizens — become a reality (eventually). In many Muslim-majority
societies, the tensions between liberalism and democracy are constantly on
display. We might not like it — and, in some sense, we shouldn’t like it – but
what if a majority of citizens in a given country want to pass legislation that
bans alcohol, segregates the sexes at various levels of public schooling,
empowers clerics, or “Islamizes” the educational curriculum? These are all
things that, at some level, restrict or constrain individual freedom and
liberty...
What are some examples of Political Islam that Hamid presents?
How are these representative of “Islamic” values?
If citizens in vote for Islamic parties and/or approve of legislation that limit
freedom, is that undemocratic?
What do opinion polls of Muslims in the Middle East
(and beyond) tell us about attitudes toward
democracy?
What do opinion polls of Muslims in the Middle East
(and beyond) tell us about attitudes toward
democracy?
What do opinion polls of Muslims in the Middle East
(and beyond) tell us about attitudes toward
democracy?
What do opinion polls of
Muslims in the Middle
East (and beyond) tell us
about attitudes toward
democracy?
Work with a partner to answer the
question using data from the charts.
POLITICAL ISLAM CASE STUDIES:
IRAN, ISIS, AND TURKEY