A senior scholar of Islamic politics, providing a corrective to a dangerous gap in understanding, explores the true nature of contemporary Islamism and the essential ways in which it differs from the religious faith of Islam.
Political Islam and the New World Disorder
Long before the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Islamic fundamentalism was exerting a significant influence in nearly every corner of the world. Bassam Tibi, a widely recognized expert on Islam and Arab culture, offers an important and disquieting analysis of this particular synthesis of religion and politics. A Muslim and descendant of a famous Damascene Islamic scholar family, Tibi sees Islamic fundamentalism as the result of Islam's confrontation with modernity and not only--as it is widely believed--economic adversity. The movement is unprecedented in Islamic history and parallels the inability of Islamic nation-states to integrate into the new world secular order.
Focusing on the anthropological perspective of Clifford Geertz, this work examines social change within Islam by presenting religions as dynamic cultural systems. It explores the interplay between cultural influences and religious practices, highlighting how each shapes and is shaped by the other. Through this lens, the author provides a nuanced understanding of the complexities surrounding Islam and its evolution in response to societal changes.
Emphasises on the philosophical and political conflict in Europe between an Islamist agenda and democratic values. This book shows that the problem is not Islam as a religion, but its politicization as a belief system. It is useful for students and scholars of Middle East politics, Political Islam, and politics and international relations.
Bassam Tibi offers a radical solution to the problems faced by Islam in a rapidly changing and globalising world. He proposes a depoliticisation of the faith and the introduction of cultural reforms to embrace secular democracy, pluralism, civil society and individual human rights. The alternative to this is the impasse of fundamentalism. The pivotal argument is that Islam is being torn between the pressure for cultural innovation and a defensive move towards the politicisation of its symbols for non-religious ends.
Eine Analyse der Entstehungsbedingungen, Ideologie und Strategie des politischen Islam im Kontext der Globalisierung und ein Plädoyer für eine auf Demokratie und Menschenrechten beruhende internationale Moralität, die von allen Religionen geteilt werden kann.
