Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives - Islamic Books ...

Islam after Empire 5 9In this country if you are a young man . . . you have only four choices: you can remainunemployed and celibate because there are no jobs and no apartments tolive in; you can work in the black market and risk being arrested; you can try toemigrate to France to sweep the streets of Paris or Marseilles; or you can join theIslamic Salvation Front and vote for Islam. (Quoted in Munson 1993, 173–174)Political repression, stale economies, and a pervasive sense of hopelessnessmake the bright promise of a moral and prosperous Islamic future attractive toyouth who were raised during a century in which Islam was framed not only asa tradition of worship but also as a social philosophy in a modern sense, comparableand even superior to capitalism or socialism, fascism, nationalism, orsecularism. Such views of Islam are reinforced by the conversion of leadersfrom secularist philosophies to Islam, a common occurrence throughout theregion during the 1970s and 1980s. Heads of unions, journalists, and otherswho rediscovered Islam brought with them the cadences of revolutionary socialism,whether of the French or the Eastern Bloc variety. Concern for theplight of the poor, opposition to hereditary monarchy, and the image of theWest as a source of political repression and moral corruption animate the writingsof some Islamic activists, who see Islam as a radical doctrine. Note the interplayof Islamic and Marxist vocabulary in this 1981 manifesto of the Moroccangroup Islamic Yo u t h :Our present and our future are caught between the hammer of American Imperialismand the anvil of its agents represented by the corrupt monarchialr e g i m e . . . . [We are], God willing, in the vanguard of an authentic Islamic revolutionin Morocco; a revolution that enlightens the horizons of this country andliberates its people to bring them back to the Islam of Muhammad . . . not the Islamof the merchants of oil and the agents of the Americans. (Quoted in Munson1993, 159)But popular Islamic movements are not always strident, violent, or explicitlyr e v o l u t i o n a ry. As more and more ordinary, educated Muslims take the time toread, think, and talk about their religious heritage, they come to appreciate itsachievements, its depth, and its relevance to their daily lives. Most Islamic organizationsare, in fact, explicitly nonviolent, focused solely on religious education,virtuous action, and spiritual growth (Mahmood 2001a, 2001b;Hirschkind 2001a, 2001b). Many are relatively small and loose-knit networks ofteachers, friends, and students that manage to avoid the attention of repressivegovernments, rather than highly visible hierarchical organizations like theMuslim Brotherhood (Wiktorowicz 2000). Others, outgrowths of Sufi organizations,stress personal piety and reflection on God. Despite the suspicion andcontempt that many educated Middle Easterners have for traditional Sufism,