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ZOUIR OUII / RUTR
Political Ilam After the Ara pring
etween Jihad and Democrac
Olivier Ro
In This Review
T
he term “Ilamim” and it watereddown equivalent, “political Ilam,”
prang into widepread ue after the Iranian Revolution o 1979 and oon
ecame permanent xture o contemporar political dicoure. The were
coined to decrie an allegedl new phenomenon: political movement
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headed educated Mulim lamen who advocated the “reIlamization” o
this. Mulim
majorit countrie (and Mulim communitie elewhere) that had, in their ee, ceaed
to e u 23 21 34
cientl Ilamic. Thee movement promoted haria through modern form of
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popular moilization—for example, creating ranche peci call for oung people,
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women, and worker. The adopted a hrid organizational tructure, a cro etween
a traditional u rotherhood, in which memer pa through di erent tep of
initiation, and a modern political part, where an advior council appoint a leader
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who overee technical committee devoted to particular polic area. Ilamit worked
on two track: fotering a ocial movement that would partner with communit
organization and charitie and etalihing a political movement that would compete
in election while puhing it memer into the tate ureaucrac.
the 1970, uch organization were hardl novel. The rt and mot famou Ilamit
group wa the Mulim rotherhood, which wa founded in gpt in 1928 and later
etalihed ranche throughout the Ara world. Over time, imilar organization
cropped up elewhere in the unni Mulim world. ut the hiite Iranian clerg and
militant who took part in the overthrow o the hah o Iran in 1979 helped de ne
political Ilam in the pulic imagination—poil ecaue the were the rt
Ilamit to control a modern tate. Their rie helped popularize the term “Ilamit” in
the media, academia, and government.
ta informed.
Get the latet ook review delivered to our inox.
Toda, unfortunatel, journalit, cholar, and politician appl the phrae lierall,
attaching it to a road range o gure and group—from Rached Ghannouchi, the
leader o the nnahda Part o “Mulim democrat” in Tuniia, to Au akr al
aghdadi, the elfappointed caliph o the elfproclaimed Ilamic tate (or II).
Thi i akin to uing the term “ocialit” to decrie oth U.. enator ernie ander
and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Although terrorit group generate headline, more moderate Ilamit group enjo far deeper
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and roader upport in the Mulim world.
Hamid and McCant’ de nition leave out movement, uch a the outh Aia–aed
Talighi Jamaat, that eek to reIlamize ociet through proeltizing rather than
politic. It alo exclude extremit group, uch a al Qaeda, that advocate and practice
violent jihad. ut the ook’ focu on maintream Ilamit i warranted, ecaue
although terrorit group generate headline, more moderate group enjo far deeper
and roader upport in the Mulim world—and thu poe a more profound longterm
challenge to ecular tate o all kind. The are genuine ocial movement with
concrete, nearterm goal: i the upport the idea o a gloal caliphate, the conider
it a ditant dream. In the here and now, the eek accommodation with exiting
intitution and uild upport etting up charitie that ll the gap left poor
governance in much o the Mulim world. With the goodwill thi generate, the tr
to peruade people to “return” to Ilam through piet: attending moque, praing
openl in pulic pace, and, for women, wearing the veil. The do not overtl contet
the legitimac o ecular government ut intead tr to in uence them; the enter
into the electoral arena when allowed to do o and are open to joining political
coalition. The reject the practice o tak r (accuing other Mulim o apota) and
do not promote armed inurrection—except againt Irael. The take up arm rarel,
onl when under attack. And although the accue Wetern power o neocolonialim
and “cultural aggreion,” the alwa keep the door open to contact and negotiation.
(It hould e noted that critic and opponent o uch group have long accued them,
uuall without much evidence, o having hidden agenda and o practicing
doulepeak to diguie far more radical intention and elief.)
Thi i a omewhat familiar portrait. ut in recent ear, it ha een placed in an
unfamiliar frame, owing to what Hamid and McCant call “the twin hock”: the 2013
militar coup in gpt, which rought down a freel elected Ilamitled government
after it had pent arel a ear in power, and the 2014 emergence o an II tatelet in
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the wake o
this. the group’ rutal rampage through Iraq and ria. There wa, o coure,
an earlier hock, a well: the ocalled Ara pring o 2010–11, which rought
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maintream Ilamit more in
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uence and power than the had ever enjoed efore. 46 …
ut far from clarifing the nature and trajector o Ilamim, thee hock have
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eemed to onl further mudd the water. A Hamid and McCant write, “After
decade peculating on what Ilamit would do when the came to power, analt,
academic—and Ilamit themelve— nall have an anwer. And it i confuing.”
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OLIVIA HARRI / RUTR
CONTXT V. NC
To illuminate the uject, the contriutor to Rethinking Political Ilam wiel et aide
theoretical deate aout Ilamit ideolog and examine the practice and policie of
Ilamit partie in recent ear. The ook devote chapter to development in nine
countrie in the Middle at, North Africa, and Aia. Their experience run the
gamut. After the 2010–11 revolution, Ilamit won election in gpt, Morocco, and
Tuniia, wherea in Lia, ria, and Yemen, the were immediatel emroiled in
me civil war. No upriing took place in Jordan or Kuwait, ut Ilamit partie in
oth place—which have a long tradition o participating in election and working
within exiting intitution—were nonethele energized the upheaval elewhere.
The ame wa true o Ilamit partie in Pakitan and outheat Aia.
Depite thi variet, anale o political Ilam in thee place tend to fall into two
categorie. The rt might e called “the contextualit view,” which hold that the
policie and practice o Ilamit movement are driven le ideolog than event
and ee uch group a reactive and adaptive. o, for example, the harh repreion
faced the gptian Mulim rotherhood in the 1960 produced a more cautiou
approach from the movement’ leaderhip, coupled with radicalization on it fringe.
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this.
In turn, the political opportunitie upplied the 2010–11 revolt led the group to
enter into the electoral game, a the political cientit teven rooke note in hi
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contriution to Rethinking Political Ilam. Contextualit elieve that Ilamit group
eek to adapt to circumtance and countrpeci c norm (for example,
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recognizing the monarchie in Jordan and Morocco). The group’ main goal i to
urvive a coherent organization and political actor. And their ue o religiou
rhetoric i often little more than “Mulimpeak” (in the word o the French political
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cientit Françoi urgat)—a wa to expre a unique identit and articulate
grievance, epeciall againt the Wet.
The econd chool o thought might e called “the eentialit view.” It hold that
Ilamit are fundamentall ideological and that an conceion the make to
ecularit principle or intitution are purel tactical: their participation in electoral
politic hardl preclude them from calling for violent jihad, a well. According to thi
view, the true Ilamit conception o democrac i “one man, one vote, one time.” In
other word, Ilamit ee the allot ox a little more than a path to power; once
there, the would replace democrac with theocrac. A corollar to thi argument i
the idea—extolled critic o Ilamim ut alo ome o it adherent—that Ilamic
theolog recognize no eparation etween religion and politic, and therefore an
authentic Ilamit cannot renounce hi ideological agenda in favor o a more pragmatic
or democratic approach.
In man place, Ilamit partie have realized that the do not enjo a monopol on religiou
politic.
In recent ear, however, maintream Ilamit have frequentl done jut that. The
did o in the wake o victor, a in Tuniia, and defeat, a in gpt. In oth cae,
political contraint overrode ideological commitment. gptian and Tuniian
Ilamit realized that their contituent cared far le aout, a, the role o Ilam in
the contitution than jo, food, and houing. In gpt, the learned thi leon the
hard wa. At rt, the government headed Mohamed Mori, who had previoul
erved a a enior leader o the Mulim rotherhood, appeared willing to work within
the con ne o exiting intitution—indeed, that willingne i part o what got the
Ilamit elected. ut when Mori increaed hi own authorit and failed to deliver
economic growth and ecurit, pulic upport for hi government plummeted, and
mot gptian welcomed the return o militar rule after Adel Fattah elii, the
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defene miniter, took power in a coup in 2013. In Tuniia, the maintream Ilamit of
this.
the nnahda Part adapted more deftl, a the cholar Monica Mark dicue in her
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contriution to the ook, diolving their ruling coalition in 2013 in the wake o
0:00 46 pulic…
anger over ecurit lape and economic intailit—a tep that prevented a
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confrontation with ecularit who might have threatened the part’ longterm
urvival.
In man place, Ilamit partie alo realized that the do not enjo a monopol on
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religiou politic: in gpt in 2012, the hitherto quietit ala t formed their own
part and won a lice o the devout electorate. Meanwhile, clerical intitution, uch a
Cairo’ AlAzhar Univerit, did not endore the Ilamit. And even ecularit partie,
uch a Tuniia’ Nidaa Toune, often promoted ome Ilamic norm to reinforce their
cultural authenticit. In outheat Aia, a the political cientit Joeph Chinong
Liow how in hi chapter, almot all political partie and gure have incorporated re
Ilamization into their platform, undermining the Ilamit rand.
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MOQU AND TAT
Ultimatel, the contriutor to Rethinking Political Ilam are intereted in going eond
the longrunning, familiar deate aout the incerit o Ilamit. Thee cholar eek
to undertand what it will mean for religiou partie to tranform from fringe actor
con ned to the oppoition into genuine political plaer. The quetion i no longer,
What doe Ilam a aout politic? ut, How will Ilamit practice politic?
nnahda’ anwer to that quetion wa a dramatic change in it tructure and identit:
in 2016, the group o ciall ceaed to de ne itel a an Ilamit part. nnahda “no
longer accept the lael o ‘Ilamim’—a concept that ha een di gured in recent
ear radical extremit—a a decription o it approach,” Ghannouchi wrote in
thi magazine. He continued: “Tuniia i nall a democrac rather than a
dictatorhip; that mean that nnahda can nall e a political part focuing on it
practical agenda and economic viion rather than a ocial movement ghting againt
repreion and dictatorhip.”
ut i a part uch a nnahda top tring to hape civil law along haria line, in
what ene i it Ilamic at all? The anwer—till controverial for man memer—i
that although the movement (harakat) and the part (hiz) are now formall eparate,
the goal o the part’ participation in politic i to protect the movement from
politic. ecoming a normal political actor in a normal political tem, the
nnahda Part will help the nnahda movement carr out it miion o fotering a
ociet in which religion, although not enhrined in tate intitution, nonethele lie
at the core o dail life. The approach i akin to the Wetern lieral concept o the
eparation o church and tate—although cloer to the American conception of
hielding religion from tate interference than to the French idea o protecting the
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tate from religion. And in the Ilamic context, the eparation mut e enforced not
this.
onl tate intitution and the contitution ut alo at the graroot level,
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Ilamit partie themelve.
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That repreent a profound change, no le than the rede ning o religion to refer
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more narrowl to a et o elief and practice that exit in the framework o a ecular
ociet. nnahda ha recognized that although Tuniian ociet ma e culturall
Mulim, it i not detined to ecome ideologicall Ilamic. Ghannouchi gloed thi
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move declaring that nnahda had ecome “a part o Mulim democrat,”
intentionall inviting comparion to the Chritian democratic partie o urope.
ut the comparion onl goe o far. From the mid1940 until the mid1970,
Chritian democratic partie found wa to ecularize what had een primaril
religiou value in order to etter reach out to an ever more ecular electorate. In
predominantl Protetant and Catholic countrie alike, uch partie promoted value
drawn from the ocial doctrine o the church on iue related to the famil,
cooperation etween worker and uinee, and ocial ecurit. ut even though
thee partie till urvive (and even thrive in German), there i no Chritian
democratic ocial movement equivalent to the one that nnahda and other Ilamit
group ee a crucial to their miion. In countrie uch a German, Chritian
democrat have a hiz ut no harakat. And although Catholic ocial movement operate
in uropean countrie uch a Ital, the do not identif with political partie. In
urope, ecularim triumphed not onl in the political realm ut alo in the ocial one:
after World War II, Wetern countrie drifted further and further awa from
traditional Chritian view, epeciall on matter relating to exualit, gender, and the
famil. In thi ene, it’ triking that Ghannouchi and other maintream Ilamit
would encourage comparion to Chritian democrat, who hardl eem to preent a
model o ucce Ilamit tandard.
It eem unlikel that the ecularization o Ilamic politic will e accompanied a
drift awa from traditional value in Mulim countrie, at leat in the foreeeale
future. (Tuniia i not likel to legalize ga marriage antime oon.) ut eparating
moque and tate poe a more acute hortterm rik for Ilamit partie uch a
nnahda: it could provide an opening for jihadit extremit, who often refer to
themelve a “foreigner in thi world.” That phrae come from a wellknown chant,
or nahid, popularized during the trial o memer o the gptian Mulim
rotherhood in the 1960. It i an expreion o the idea that, in their ideological
purit and refual to accommodate ecular norm and intitution, jihadit repreent
the onl true Ilamit—and, perhap, the onl true Mulim. The danger i that if
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maintream Ilamit purchae incluion in the ecular tate at the price o
this. eparating
their political goal from their religiou and ocial one (a in Tuniia), or u er
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excluion from the tate owing to their own overreach and a repreive acklah
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againt it (a in gpt), oung Mulim eeking “authentic” religiou and political
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identitie might look elewhere. And the jihadit will e waiting for them.
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