Political Islam

Political Islam
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Introduction
Political Islam is a term that was coined within the academic realm to refer to the wider body of political systems that are Islam oriented. Most of the states that draw on the Islamic teaching to influence political and social elements of the society are said to be practicing political Islam. Most of the practices will seek guidance from the Islamic traditions and the Muslim scriptural background to make decisions that affect the entire state and how it relates to the rest of the world. While the term may not be as old, political Islam or Islamism are old concepts dating back to the 1920s. Groups such as the Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood formed in 1927, are some of the earliest factions that used the Islamism ideologies to drive their political agendas in Egypt and even influenced how the country and it leaders interacted with the rest of the world (pg 468). In reality, political Islam covers a very wide array of tendencies that range from nationalities, Muslim sects, terror groups, leftists and sub-sects (pg 24). In light of the extreme ideologies that are sometimes applied by these groups as they seek to drive political gains, the concepts surrounding political Islam draws a lot of controversial commentary across the globe making it one of the most controversial topics at this point in time (pg737). This is mostly the case especially when considering terrorist groups that use the ideology to drive their heinous acts, while hiding behind the Islamic religion.The idea borne of ideologies that were introduced by the likes of MaulanaMaudoodi and Jamaat, were poised to make Islam a recipe that would guide the contemporary life, policies and law in a rigorous and pure form, some of the basic elements still remain while in general there are some subtle distortions especially with terrorism. As such, political Islam has a lot of effects on policies within the Middle East where Islam is a core religion. At the same time the basic elements of political Islam also control thehow the laws of the states are developed alongside the way the states in the Middle East interact with the rest of the world.
Thesis statement: Political Islam is influential in the Middle East countries, controlling how lows, policies and international relationships are managed.
Political Islam
Political Islam or Islamism is more of a political outfit as the name suggests rather than a religious construct. According to Ayoob in the paper Political Islam: Image and Reality(2004), most of the people that adherents of the ideology believe that it is actually a body of faith, which has something important to say about the order of the society and politics in a contemporary Muslim society and the fashion to be used to implement the same. For most of this people it is the guide to living the ultimate Islamic life (pg 1). However this is quite general when trying to uncover the true nature of political Islam and the activities that are taken in the name of Islam as a religion and the Koran and the Hadiths as the guide. In reality political Islam is the instrumentation of the Islamic faith by persons, groups or organizations that want some political gains. It envisions the future with Islamic ideals by looking at the basic struggle in the society with a mythical notion of the golden age. Relative to the fact that different nations and regions will have different issue to deal with, while the aspect of political Islam is common among the Middle East nations, there are different versions of the same. This is to mean that the kind of political Islam that is practiced in Turkey is quite different from what is practiced in Iran or Saudi Arabia and Syria. While the base model of political Islam is in theory the same, the application across the regional and state divides are context specific. This is relative to the differences in the socioeconomic characteristics, political systems, intellectual development trajectories and the cultures that bind the elements to the specific society. In the recent past, the world has woken to a faction of Islamists that view political Islam as a platform to advance their tainted ideas of an Islamic state. This has been followed with efforts to Islamize some of the Muslim world states, where they can be turned into a single caliphate under the Islamic laws some of which are a negation and quite extreme (pg 50). Like Marxist ideologies most of the political ideologies are enveloped with decolonization ideals from the western cultures and practices. However, most extreme political Islamists are not after socioeconomic changes in the society, but rather concentrate on moral and cultural changes. However, it is important to note at this point that not all the Islamist formations are extreme and use force to adjudicate their ideologies, as most of the media houses and media personalities particularly in the western countries would lead people to believe (pg953).
Political Islam on laws and policy
Most off the Muslim world states that are governed by political Islam have most of their laws also influenced. Islamic law or sharia law forms the basis for most of the political Islam laws. Personal and social aspects such as marriages, divorce, custody and inheritance are highly regulated using the sharia laws.However other than personal and social aspects, the Islamic laws have had a lot influence on criminal aspects of the states where it is applied (pg 35).Most of the influences of political Islam on the laws are aimed at creating closed group political systems that are under the guidance of Islamic laws. One of the central influences of political Islam on the laws relates to elimination of the secular oppositions. This is mostly due to the fact that most of the secular systems in these states have failed to address the needs of the Islamic people in their context and beliefs. Contrary to popular belief that religion and the state cannot be separated, history claims otherwise as the various civil wars that have erupted sincethe death of the prophet.However, political Islam has tried to bring about the link between the state and religion.Aspects such as punishments and the laws governing how people should conduct themselves in the public and private spaces are governed by Islamic laws. Even countries that are entirely Muslim in nature, there are laws that govern the Islam societyand the secular society.In countries like Kenya and Tanzania there is a dual system of governance, with a secular and an Islamic system.In the western nations such as the UK Islamic laws are also applied especially in areas concerning financial and familial disputes. Tribunals are a common place in light of family issues such marriages, inheritance and divorce. In such systems however, the criminal cases are governed by the secular laws.All states are not as supportive, as seen in the 2010 in Oklahoma, where the state passed a ballot measure barring the use of Islamic laws in the court cases. In other countries where the religion of Islam is the core religion, such as Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, the Islamic law is the source of the law. These are countries where political Islam has had quite the influence on the laws and the policies. Governments and their agendas draw on the religious teachings and the Islamic laws from the formation to their mode of operation. Political Islam and its influence on the states are as varied as the context of its application and the country in question. In places such Saudi Arabia, strict sharia laws almost everything, while in places such as the UAE, the system is quite lenient. In other states, political Islam has not had much influence and the governments and the laws are largely informed by secularknowledge such as Somali, chad, Senegal and Tajikistan among others. All the same, the influence of political Islam on laws and policies is bound to increase as more states within the Muslim world develop separatist group.
International relations in the Middle East
It is important to point out the importance of the gulf War, Iranian Revolution and the Arab-Israel war and the part that they play in the geopolitical arena in the Middle East. This is not just reliant on the geographical proximity of the Middle East countries, as it is tied to the Arab nationalism and the aspects of political Islam. It is important to note that most of the countries especially in the west are concerned with the Middle East foreign policies. Much of these hostilities between the Middle East towards the non-Arabs, such Israel, the western nations such as the USA and nations such as Iran are driven by the various acts of terrorism that have been targeted at the west (pg 42). One of the external aspects towards Islam relates to the international relations with reference to foreign policies. It is also important to note that most of the western ideologies about democracy are highly criticized in the Middle East (pg 119). This is an element that is also resonated in the bible in Titus 3:1 which states ‘Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work’. This is further supported by yet another verse from Psalms 22:28 stating that leadership comes from God; ‘For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.’As such, it is common for the leaders to cite Islamic laws and policies that shun away from all manner of western democracies. To reduce the influence of the western nations most of the leaders will develop closed political systems, where they impose strict laws and policies that will see little or no resistance from the opposition (pg 9).Ideologies such Islamic decline is also used to instigate the formation and implementation of strict anti-western democracies, citing the fact that they are eroding the elements of Islam. Most leaders have argued that taking Islam to its former glory will see Muslim states compete with t...