Egypt After 2025: Navigating a Critical Inflection Point    Spot Gold, futures slips on Thursday, July 17th    Egypt's EHA, Huawei discuss enhanced digital health    Egypt expresses condolences to Iraq over fire tragedy    Egypt, Oman discuss environmental cooperation    Egypt's Environment Minister attends AMCEN conference in Nairobi    At London 'Egypt Day', Finance Minister outlines pro-investment policies    Sukari Gold Mine showcases successful public–private partnership: Minister of Petroleum    Egypt's FRA chief vows to reform business environment to boost investor confidence    Egyptian, Belarusian officials discuss drug registration, market access    Syria says it will defend its territory after Israeli strikes in Suwayda    Pakistan names Qatari royal as brand ambassador after 'Killer Mountain' climb    Health Ministry denies claims of meningitis-related deaths among siblings    Sri Lanka's expat remittances up in June '25    EU–US trade talks enter 'decisive phase', German politician says    Egypt's Health Min. discusses drug localisation with Sandoz    Needle-spiking attacks in France prompt government warning, public fear    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Korea Culture Week in Egypt to blend K-Pop with traditional arts    Egypt, France FMs review Gaza ceasefire efforts, reconstruction    CIB finances Giza Pyramids Sound and Light Show redevelopment with EGP 963m loan    Greco-Roman tombs with hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered in Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Post-Islamism: Reconciling liberal democracy with Islam
Published in Daily News Egypt on 06 - 12 - 2007

Muslim dictatorships have caused a lot of frustration. These days Islamists - individuals and groups who believe that their system of government should be based on Islamic principles - are one of the leading groups challenging dictators. Unfortunately, while Islamists do want to usher in democracy, many then want to appoint a body of clerics to strike down legislation they don t approve of. Thankfully, today we see the emergence of a post-Islamist order among Muslims.
A new crop of Muslims has figured out how to reconcile liberal democracy with Islam. They have given up on creating religious organizations devoted to da'awa (Islamic evangelism) and have become organized as civil-political parties with platforms based on equality and pluralism. Part of the credit for the popularity of post-Islamism goes to theocratic Islamists. In their eagerness to merge religion with politics, they thought the result would be religion. Instead, the devout middle class realized that religion alone could not provide for their social concerns. Post-Islamism, thus, is the recognition that while religion may provide salvation in the next life, politics is what provides for welfare in this one.
Today, post-Islamist groups are at work in places like Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan.
One of Egypt s main post-Islamist parties is called Hizb ul-Wasat (the Center Party). It was founded in 1996, breaking away from the Muslim Brotherhood. The reasons for the split included the Brotherhood s unwillingness to accept non-Muslims as members of the party or as citizens of Egypt, unwillingness to cease splitting the world between the Abode of War and the Abode of Islam , and unwillingness to change their focus away from Islamic evangelism. Wasat calls itself an Islamic party but it is open to Christians and secularists. Rafiq Habib, a Protestant intellectual in Egypt, was among its founding members and is on its five-man board of operations.
The fundamental point that makes Wasat post-Islamist is that instead of defining Islam as a religion, it defines it as a culture, or civilization, which is inclusive of minorities. Thinking of Islam as a culture is similar to how certain people in the West refer to the West as Judeo-Christian while still leaving room for Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and others to practice freely therein.
The Wasat party s platform assures the separation of powers, rejects religious or gender-based discrimination, explicitly calls for pluralism and equality between men and women, and makes space for unions and syndicates. Most importantly, unlike the Brotherhood s platform it does not set up an extra-constitutional body of clerics who can veto legislation (like they do in Iran).
Although Wasat is a key example of a post-Islamist party, perhaps the most successful post-Islamist group is Turkey s ruling AK (Justice and Development) party which, like Wasat, originated by breaking away from an Islamist organization.
Three important benchmarks - women, the West and Israel - show that the AKP s breakaway from regular Islamists is conclusive. One of the first things that the AKP declared upon its election in 2002, as reported by the New York Times, was that secularism is the protector of all beliefs and religions. We are the guarantors of this secularism, and our management will clearly prove that.
Pakistan s Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party is also developing a post-Islamist alternative. It has emerged only during the Musharraf years, led by cricketer-turned-politician, Imran Khan. One of the most notable elements about it is that it seeks to provide free education for women, legislation against sexual harassment, and affirmative action towards women, by utilizing Islamic welfare.
Just as Wasat has antagonized the Brotherhood in Egypt, Tehreek has criticized Pakistan s hard-line Islamist organizations for collusion with anti-democratic forces, again showing that post-Islamists are more concerned with the democratic pie than with appeasing Islamists. While Tehreek is nascent, it should be monitored closely, because it has increasing support among Pakistan s youth and expatriate communities. It should be remembered that it took Turkey s AKP barely 10 years from formation to become the ruling party.
Political Islam is in its third phase. The first round was revolutionary. The second round, still with us, became methodical but was still supremacist. The forthcoming post-Islamist push is committed to the democratic process and has ceased to think of itself as a religious movement, instead adopting a civil-political platform.
When post-Islamist groups come to power, they will be social conservatives focused on family and spirituality. A post-Islamist politician will sound somewhere between John Edwards and Mike Huckabee, i.e., faith informs one s legislation but is ultimately personal. In their foreign policy, they will reject intrusions upon their sovereignty from all foreign groups, including Nato on the one hand, and Al-Qaeda and the Taliban on the other. Because of their middle-class support base, they will generally abide by international norms and not launch themselves into international conflicts, finding them to be fiscally and socially expensive.
Just as Europe s Christian democratic parties gave birth to liberal democrats, it is likely that after consolidating power, post-Islamist parties will create space for openly secular parties to gain more traction.
Ali Eteraz is a social commentator and free-lance journalist. His website is alieteraz.com. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.


Clic here to read the story from its source.