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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, September 2004, page 77 Muslim-American Activism Mohammed Ayoob on “Political Islam: Image and Reality”Dr. Mohammed Ayoob, professor of international relations at James Madison College, Michigan State University, discussed the preconceived notions of political Islam and its realities in the Muslim world at a June 15 lecture at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC. The author of 11 books and more than 80 papers, Ayoob broke down three common assumptions held by the West since the last decade: that political Islam is “monolithic, violent, and [that] the intermingling of religion and politics is unique to Islam.” Tracing the origins of the term in order to show its societal context, Ayoob pointed out that “The phenomenon of political Islam is a modern one, not a recent one. Its roots lie in the social-political conditions of the 19th and 20th centuries.” He attributed its development to two shifts in power; the West grew more powerful than the East as it gained more economic, political, and military influence, and there was an internal power shift within Muslim countries. “This is why you see Islamist political formation taking center stage as the only avenue for political opposition against repressive regimes,” explained Ayoob. Addressing the widespread association of political Islam with violence, Ayoob pointed to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which has used various means to achieve their goals. “Most political activism has been channeled through parliamentary, democratic, and constitutional means available to them,” he said. Ayoob cited other ideologies that intertwine politics with religion, and asked why Islam is “singled out as the unique culprit that permits and demands mixing. Zionism is basically political,” he pointed out. “Hindu nationals are political.” Ayoob attributed the negative reception of political Islam to Islamists’ similar attitude toward the West. “Most other religious-political [groups] that emanate from Western societies do not challenge Western hegemony,” he argued, “but form an alliance with it.” According to Ayoob, Islam’s challenge of Western control dates back to the 18th century. In comparison to other civilizations, Islam’s relations with the West is a product of a reversal of power which put Muslims on a continuous “quest for dignity,” Ayoob said. Currently, he noted, this has perpetuated a certain sentiment toward the United States. “Muslims’ sense of outrage at dignity being violated usually takes the form of anti-Americanism,” he stated. “For most Muslims, the antipathy of America is based on America’s foreign policy, especially the blatant uses of double standards in relation to the Middle East. “Many of these concerns relating to dignity come together on the issue of Palestine,” Ayoob elaborated. “You hear this over and over again: most politically conscious Muslims believe all Muslims are potential Palestinians.” However, he pointed out, “the justice of the cause is always dismissed by the West as irrational fanaticism.” Ayoob offered a way to develop friendlier relations between the Muslim world and the West. “No doubt Islamists’ rhetoric resonates with Muslim peoples for material reasons relating to inequities of domestic and international distributions of power,” he acknowledged, and concluded by suggesting that much of the wind can be taken out of Islamists’ sails if they are brought into the political process. For more information on Carnegie Endowment events and lectures, visit <http://www.ceip.org/>. —Mahin Ibrahim |