1Reviews and everything / In the Name of Islam GUIDE

In the Name of Islam GUIDE (continuation)

Basic Islamic Vocabulary

Jahiliyya (ignorance) – the domination of man over man, or subservience to man rather than to Allah

Dar al-Islam (Abode of Islam) – the homeland of a Muslim.

Dar al-Harb (the Abode of War) – any land that hampers the practice of Islam or fails to apply sharia law.

Jihad – 1) personal striving for a more perfect submission to the faith; 2) armed struggle against Islam’s enemies these enemies include both the far enemy and the near enemy (the impious or even apostate regimes of the Muslim world).

Pan-Arab nationalism – a social doctrine combined with the idea of uniting the Arab-speaking peoples in a single state.

Umma – the whole worldwide Islamic community of believers.

1. What ideas connect Qutb with modern Islamic terrorists, Osama bin Laden in particular?

to be under a double attack (Islam): a military attack from a hostile West; to undermine a Muslim by Western values; to resist an attack by Jihad; the forces to undermine Islam (capitalism, individualism, globalisation).

2. Why is there the growing tendency in the Islamic world to turn to religion as a solution to political, social and economic problems? Is political Islam sinking its roots into the debris of broken promises and shattered hopes?

to look to God for answers because other “gods” have failed them; the survival of absolute autocracies (only one out of five countries with a Muslim majority is a democracy); bogus elections; constraints on the media; a patriarchal social environment; a failed attempt to combine post-colonial states (pan-Arabic nationalism); to live on less than $2 a day (one in five Arabs); out of 280 million Arabs 65 million are illiterate.

3. What are the two opposing theories around which the analysts of political Islam are grouped?

a) the optimistic theory: the failure of political Islam; to fail to capture majority support; to no longer view Islamism as the source of Utopia (the Taliban); to become a dead-end (violence); to reform society using Islam to make one’s message more appealing; to be pragmatists inspired by the progressive values

b) the pessimistic theory: to gain strength; to pose a great threat to the political order of Muslim states; landslide victories of some Islamist parties; to adopt democratic values; to turn out to be Trojan horses; to oppose secular liberalism

4. As far as the power of opposition goes, is it always necessary for the Islamists to win it in order to get their way?

Secular regimes, snap at one’s heels, throw tidbids; present oneself as a devout Muslim; bow to Islamists; put bits and pieces of sharia into the law of the state; say Islamic law one source for national law;

5. How, according to some Islamists, can they be better off as for winning the hearts and minds of Muslims?

Cultivate grassroot networks on the ground, better off opposing, being in power.

6. What are the sources of what is loosely called sharia?

The sunna (the teachings of the prophet); ijma (the consensus of religious scholars); qiyas (legal reasoning);

7. As far as the interpretation of some Islamic laws goes (ijhitad), is it sctrictly followed?

Explicit laws; routinely circumvented; Islamic judges; thieves; hudud punishments; seldom if ever carried out;

8. How many states have created the Organisation of the Islamic Conference?

Fifty-six; Muslim states; permanent headquarters; Saudi Arabia.

9. What is the problem with Muslims in the West?

Apocalyptic view, post-9/11 world; offer a ready pool of recruits for al-Qaeda; superficial westernization; blend into the local environment; dastardly plots.

10. Why is the proposal to switch sides – support the democrats in the Muslim world is too simple? What are the two reasons?

Voters of a democratic Muslim countires; support policies and values; conflict with the West; put solidarity with umma above helping; war on terrorism.

2