Middle East Policy Council THE ROOTS OF MODERN ISLAMISM
Middle East Policy CouncilTHE ROOTS OFMODERN ISLAMISMBy Bram HubbellThe phrase "radical Islam" is frequently heard onnews broadcasts and is found in newspaperarticles to refer to a wide variety of individuals andgroups found across the Middle East and theMuslim world who support Islamism or politicalIslam. In using the term, journalists are oftenprojecting an image of a type of Islam that issomehow incompatible with, and possibly even achallenge to, Western or modern society.Comments about jihad and sharia are frequentlyincluded in these stories to highlight the allegedlyextremist nature of some of these movements.Among Islamists, there are some whom we cancomfortably call radicals, but for many the term ismore misleading than useful since it oftenobscures the reasons for supporting Islamism orthe varied nature of it.During the second half of the twentieth century adistinct interpretation of Islam has developed thatsees a more prominent role for Islam in culture,economics, law, politics, and society. Socialscientists frequently refer to this movement asIslamism or political Islam. As Islamism has beengaining adherents across the Muslim world,followers of other religious traditions have alsobeen reevaluating own religious beliefs and theirrelationship to society at large. We sometimes referto these groups as religious fundamentalists,because they all seem to emphasize a return toRoots of Modern IslamismChapter GlossaryFundamentalism: Belief that the sacred text(s)of a religion cannot be questioned and shouldbe interpreted literally to guide sociocultural,economic, & political life.Hadith: A collection of traditions collectedafter the death of Muhammad with accountsof his daily practice (Sunna)Islamism: Belief that the sacred texts of Islam(Qur’an, hadith) should be interpreted literallyand guide social, cultural, economic, andpolitical lifeJahiliyya: The period of “ignorance” in theArab world prior to Muhammad receiving theQur’anic revelation from Allah; used by someIslamists to refer to any society in which theprecepts of Islam are not fully implemented.Jihad: The struggle of Muslims to maintaintheir religion. Can be interpreted as the smallerand more personal struggle that Muslimsendure to practice their faith, but it can also beinterpreted as the greater struggle or theprocess of making a society Islamic.Qur’an: The recording of the recitation ofGod’s word to the Prophet Muhammadthrough the angel Gabriel. Most Muslimsbelieve that the Qur'an is the literal word ofGod, rather than being divinely inspired asmany other sacred texts are.Sharia: Islamic law based on the teachings inthe Qur'an and the Hadith; there are multiplecollections and competing schools ofinterpretation.1
Middle East Policy Counciltheir holy scriptures and a greater reliance on these texts as a way to live in the world today. Theterm fundamentalism is specific to the United States, where it first developed in the early twentiethcentury. The term has been used more broadly in recent years to talk about Hindus who believe inHindutva, Hasidic Jews, and Muslims supporting groups such as ISIS. While most these groupswould probably reject the term fundamentalist, there is a common trend around the world today ofrejecting secular world views in favor of a public life guided by religious principles.In the case of the Middle East, Islamism refers to idea of using the Qur'an and the Hadith as abasis for guiding one's life. While there are certainly political ramifications, such as the use of sharialaw, there are also many personal elements. Muslims who choose to closely follow these texts alsoapply them to how they dress, what they eat, when they pray, and how they engage in the local andglobal economy. Given the wide range of ways that the tenets of Islam can influence people's lives,the term Islamism is preferable to political Islam. Islamism, an ideology based on the principles ofIslam, encompasses a greater variety of activity than political Islam, a term which suggests just therelationship between politics and Islam.During the late nineteenth century, manyindividuals across the Ottoman Empire beganto advocate for the inclusion of Islamicprinciples in the shaping of the state. The mostwell known of these, Sultan Abdulhamid II (r.1876-1908), was known for restoring the title ofCaliph to the Ottoman Sultan and promotingthe Hijaz railroad to link the holy cities ofMedina and Mecca to the rest of the empireand facilitate the hajj. Many of the policies ofAbdulhamid encouraged the idea that Islamand politics were intertwined in the OttomanEmpire.The broader modern Islamism first developedin the Middle East in Egypt during the 1920s.The British had granted Egypt a form of limitedindependence in 1922 and modern Egyptianpolitical parties emerged during the decadeadvocating different visions for the Egyptianstate. At the end of the decade, a Muslimschool teacher, Hassan al-Banna, founded theMuslim Brotherhood in the Suez Canal city ofIsma'iliyya. Instead of focusing on the same political issues thatEgypt's political parties were addressing, al-Banna presented amore personalized response to the challenges posed by Westernculture and the establishment of an Egyptian state. He and the earlyRoots of Modern IslamismHassan Al-Banna, founder ofEgypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.2
Middle East Policy Councilmembers of the Muslim Brotherhood founded schools and clinics to provide services to MuslimEgyptians. For them, this assistance to Egyptians was a way of embodying zakat, one of the pillarsof Islam. Zakat is often referred to as alms-giving, but it more broadly represents how all Muslimsshould help other Muslims address inequalities and injustices in their societies.Despite the efforts of the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamism had only marginal success until the 1970s.For much of the middle of the twentieth century, secular nationalist ideologies associated withcharismatic leaders, particularly Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser and Turkey’s Mustafa Kemal Ataturkwere more popular across the Middle East. These movements actively discouraged Islam as apublic practice and promoted a far more secular vision of life. In some Middle Eastern states, suchas Turkey, leaders went so far as to discourage hijab in public. Laws based on secular principleswere the norm.Even during this more secular period inthe Middle East, some individualscontinued to promote a more Islamistview of the modern world. The most wellknown of these was Sayyid Qutb(1906-1966). Qutb had been born inUpper Egypt, lived in Cairo during the1920s and 1930s, and then traveled inthe United States from 1948 to 1950.Having experienced the rapid changesof this period, Qutb returned to Egyptand began to develop a more Islamistview of the world. He was especiallyshocked by American culture and whathe perceived as a lack of spirituality.Sometime in the early 1950s, Qutbjoined the Muslim Brotherhood andquickly became an influential member of the organization.At the time Qutb was becoming involved with the Muslim Brotherhood, theorganization had cooperated and worked with the Free Officers Movementthat overthrew the British-supported monarchy in Egypt in 1952. As Nasserextended his influence over the new Egyptian government, it became clearto Qutb and the Muslim Brotherhood that Nasser was promoting a secularvision of Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood then attempted to assassinateNasser in 1954, which resulted in the imprisonment of Qutb and manyother members of the organization.Sayid Qutb on trial afterbeing arrested in AbdelNasser’s Egypt in 1965. Hewas found guilty of theattempted assassination ofEgypt’s president Nasserand was sentenced to thedeath penalty, which wascarried out in 1966.While in prison, Qutb wrote extensively, including Milestones, anddeveloped many of the key ideas that have influenced modern Islamism. He viewed any society notRoots of Modern Islamism3
Middle East Policy Councilliving according to the principles of Islam as similar to Arab society before Muhammad had receivedhis revelations from God. For Muslims, this period of ignorance was known as jahiliyya, and Qutbredefined that concept to refer to any society in which Muslims could not live fully in accordancewith Islamic principles. He also promoted an activist vision of jihad in which all Muslims should beconsciously working to make society more Islamic through allmeans necessary.“As it becameincreasingly clearthat ArabNationalism wasnot going to fulfillthese promises,peoples across theMiddle East beganto look to othersocial visions.”Qutb and other Islamists’ ideas gained relatively few followersbefore 1970. For much of the 1950s and 1960s, ArabNationalism was the dominant popular ideology, but in recentdecades Islamism has gradually come to exert a significantinfluence across the Middle East. At the most basic level, thepopularity of Arab Nationalism had begun to wane after the1967 Arab-Israeli War. The success of the Israelis againstEgyptians, Jordanians, and Syrians raised major questionsabout the viability of Arab Nationalism to confront the challengeof Israel. It also did not help that Arab Nationalist leaders, suchas Nasser, had made many promises about improving the livesof Arabs. As it became increasingly clear that Arab Nationalismwasnot going to fulfill these promises,people across the Middle East began tolook to other social visions.Arab Nationalism was also weakenedby states, such as the United Statesand Saudi Arabia, which viewed it as athreat, and often gave support toIslamists as a counterweight. Thesecularism of Arab Nationalismchallenged the Islamic ideals of theKingdom of Saudi Arabia. For theUnited States, the socialist tendenciesand willingness of Arab Nationalistleaders to work with Communist statesmade Arab Nationalism seem a threat tocapitalism. To confront these challenges, both the UnitedStates and Saudi Arabia, sometimes working together,promoted Islamism. In the late 1970s, the United Statesoffered generous amounts of aid to President Sadat ofEgypt in exchange for releasing many Islamists fromprison, liberalizing the Egyptian economy, and makingRoots of Modern IslamismSecretary of State Hillary Clinton meets withMohamed Morsi, the first democraticallyelected President of Egypt and a member ofthe Muslim Brotherhood, in July 2012, oneyear before his contentious the followingsummer.Photo by the U.S. Department of State.4
Middle East Policy Councilpeace with Israel. In a similar fashion, the Israeli government in the 1970s and 1980s allowedIslamist organizations in Palestine to establish themselves in the local community as a way toundermine the influence of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Saudi Arabia activelypromoted Islamism across the Middle East and the broaderMuslim world by funding mosques and schools that taughtIslamist ideals.“[Al-Qaeda’s andISIS’] use of violenceBeginning in the 1970s, the United States and othercontrasts with thecapitalist states supported neoliberal economic policypeaceful andaround the world. As with Egypt in 1978, the United Statesreformist methods encouraged the increasing liberalization of nationaleconomies, which meant that the interventionist economicthat many Islamist policies of Arab Nationalism were gradually weakened. As aorganizations use.” result, states across the Middle East were opened up to a fargreater variety of Western-made products and providedfewer resources to improve people’s standards of living. Islamist organizations, such as the MuslimBrotherhood in Egypt or Hamas in Gaza, began to fill the void. By building clinics and schools, theybegan to provide the basic services that states hadformerly supplied. This community outreach helpedIslamist organizations connect to people.Another reason for the spread of Islamism was itsindigenous appeal. Unlike many other ideologies,such as Communism or Arab Nationalism, whichwere rooted in Western ideologies and culture,Muslims often saw Islamism as a more authenticand local ideology. Seeming more authentic andhomegrown was especially beneficial to the spreadof Islamism at the same time as the United Stateswas seen as increasingly pursuing its own agendain the region. American support for authoritarianleaders such as President Mubarak in Egypt, andfor Israel, undermined the appeal of Western ideologies and benefittedIslamism.An Arabic graffiti tag spells outHamas, the Islamist party thatprovides many social services toPalestinians. Hamas won adecisive victory in parliamentaryelections in 2006, and arecurrently the dominantgoverning power in the GazaStrip.Islamism has also spread across the Middle East because of itsadaptability. Organizations such as al-Qaeda or ISIS (which attract adisproportionate share of media attention due to their violent tactics)represent a type of universalism that attempts to reach all Muslimsregardless of nationality. Most Islamist organizations are notuniversalist, but instead focus on Muslims from one national background. Hamas reaches out toPalestinian Muslims, Hezbollah to Lebanese Muslims, and the Muslim Brotherhood to EgyptianRoots of Modern Islamism5
Middle East Policy CouncilMuslims. One of the key features of Islamism is itsability to be either broad and universalist or morenarrowly focused on a single nationality.Following Turkey’s Justice andDevelopment party electoral victory in2007, posters all over the country stated“Thank you, Turkey.” While stillinfluential, the party recently lost itsparliamentary majority in 2015.Islamism has also shown its adaptability throughthe range of tactics used to spread its message. AlQaeda and ISIS were able to garner lots of mediaattention because of their use of violent andrevolutionary tactics. The 9/11 attacks or ISIS’scapture of cities in Syria and Iraq reflect one way inwhich Islamism has spread. This use of violencecontrasts with the peaceful and reformist methodsthat many Islamist organizations use. For example,the Justice and Development Party in Turkey, whichdeveloped out of earlier Islamist parties, has wonmultiple parliamentary elections in Turkey since itsfounding in 2001. Additionally, Mohamed Morsi andthe Muslim Brotherhood won the democraticEgyptian presidential elections in 2012 followingHosni Mubarak’s ouster.Photo by Ekim CaglarThese contrasts—universalist/nationalist and revolutionary/reformist—highlight the varied nature ofIslamism. Many Islamist organizations also do not fit neatly into these dichotomies. Hamas, forexample, not only has participated in Palestinian elections, but has also made use of violent tacticsagainst Israeli civilians to advance its goal of an independent Palestinian state. The ways in whichmany Islamist organizations work within established nationalist frameworks or participate inelections for representative governments suggest that Islamism is not inherently anti-Western oranti-modern. Instead of representing a challenge to western and modern ideas about state andsociety, Islamism can also be understood to reflect a way of adapting Islamic culture and values tomodern society.Roots of Modern Islamism6
Middle East Policy CouncilTeaching ToolAn Excerpt from Sayyid Qutb's Milestones, 1964Qutb was a key figure in the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and 1960s. He was imprisoned andexecuted for his involvement in a plot to assassinate Nasser.“If the actual life of human beings is found to be different from this declaration of freedom, then itbecomes incumbent upon Islam to enter the field with preaching as well as the movement, and tostrike hard at all those political powers which force people to bow before them and which rule overthem, unmindful of the commandments of God, and which prevent people from listening to thepreaching and accepting the belief if they wish to do so. After annihilating the tyrannical force,whether it be in a political or a racial form, or in the form of class distinctions within the same race,Islam establishes a new social, economic and political system, in which the concept of the freedomof man is applied in practice.It is not the intention of Islam to force its beliefs on people, but Islam is not merely “belief.” As wehave pointed out, Islam is a declaration of the freedom of man from servitude to other men. Thus itstrives from the beginning to abolish all those systems and governments which are based on therule of man over men and the servitude of one human being to another. When Islam releases peoplefrom this political pressure and presents to them its spiritual message, appealing to their reason, itgives them complete freedom to accept or not to accept its beliefs. However, this freedom does notmean that they can make their desires their gods, or that they can choose to remain in the servitudeof other human beings, making some men lords over others. Whatever system is to be establishedin the world ought to be on the authority of God, deriving its laws from Him alone. Then everyindividual is free, under the protection of this universal system, to adopt any belief he wishes toadopt. This is the only way in which “the religion” can be purified for God alone. The word “religion”includes more than belief; “religion” actually means a way of life, and in Islam this is based on belief.But in an Islamic system there is room for all kinds of people to follow their own beliefs, whileobeying the laws of the country which are themselves based on the Divine authority.Anyone who understands this particular character of this religion will also understand the place ofJiaad bis saif (striving through sword), which is to clear the way for striving through preaching in theapplication of the Islamic movement. He will understand that Islam is not a “defensive movement” inthe narrow sense which today is technically called a “defensive war.” This narrow meaning isascribed to it by those who are under the pressure of circumstances and are defeated by the wilyattacks of the orientalists, who distort the concept of Islamic Jihad. It was a movement to wipe outtyranny and to introduce true freedom to mankind, using resources according to the actual humansituation, and it had definite stages, for each of which it utilized new methods.If we insist on calling Islamic Jihad a defensive movement, then we must change the meaning of theword “defense” and mean by it “the defense of man” against all those elements which limit hisfreedom. These elements take the form of beliefs and concepts, as well of political systems, basedRoots of Modern Islamism7
Middle East Policy Councilon economic, racial or class distinctions. When Islam first came into existence, the world was full ofsuch systems, and the present-day Jahiliyyah also has various kinds of such systems.When we take this broad meaning of the word “defense,” we understand the true character ofIslam, and that it is a universal proclamation of the freedom of man from servitude to other men, theestablishment of the sovereignty of God and His Lordship throughout the world, the end of man’sarrogance and selfishness, and the implementation of the rule of the Divine Shari‘ah in humanaffairs.As to persons who attempt to defend the concept of Islamic Jihad by interpreting it in the narrowsense of the current concept of defensive war, and who do research to prove that the battles foughtin Islamic Jihad were all for the defense of the homeland of Islam—some of them considering thehomeland of Islam to be just the Arabian peninsula—against the aggression of neighboring powers,they lack understanding of the nature of Islam and its primary aim. Such an attempt is nothing but aproduct of a mind defeated by the present difficult conditions and by the attacks of the treacherousorientalists on the Islamic Jihad.”Discussion Questions1.2.3.4.What does Qutb think should be the nature of humans’ relationship to their governments?How does Qutb understand the role of jihad?What does he mean when he contrasts the narrow and the broad meanings of jihad?How would Qutb’s underst
MODERN ISLAMISM By Bram Hubbell The phrase "radical Islam" is frequently heard on news broadcasts and is found in newspaper articles to refer to a wide variety of individuals and groups found across the Middle East and the Muslim world who support Islamism or
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