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Other traditions

Other traditions. Islamic systems. What is Islam?. Is Islam really a unitary concept? The areas where people who follow the Islamic religion live are far apart and have different cultures and histories. What is Islam?. Is Islam really a unitary concept?

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Other traditions

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  1. Other traditions Islamic systems

  2. What is Islam? • Is Islam really a unitary concept? • The areas where people who follow the Islamic religion live are far apart and have different cultures and histories

  3. What is Islam? • Is Islam really a unitary concept? • The areas where people who follow the Islamic religion live are far apart and have different cultures and cultures • In what sense can religious identity be said to be more important than class, gender, nation, culture or history, especially when discussing a political system?

  4. 5 Pillars of Islam • Shahada: there is no God but God and Mohammed is his Prophet • Salat: prayer to be performed 5 times a day • Zakat: the giving of alms • Sawm: fasting during Ramadan • Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca • But what about Jihad?

  5. Islam and politics • Is it true that there is no separation between religion and politics in Islam? • What is the role of the shari’a? • And what is the shari’a? • Is it laws derived from the Koran? • Or is it the body of laws developed over time by Muslim jurists/sages? • Shari’a fairly limted in scope: personal status, inheritance and some types of taxation • What is the status of laws that cannot be referred back to the Koran?

  6. Different types of Islam • Sunni: associated with the Caliphs and the Ummayad dynasty. Majority of Muslims • Shia: followers of Ali. Minority of Muslims • Kharjites. Early fundamentalists • Ahmadiya/Qadia not regarded by other Muslims as Muslim. Modern • Alawi in dispute • Druze likewise • Ismaili • Nation of Islam US group Farakhan • Salafy • Sufi: mystics • Wahhabi first modern fundamentalists

  7. Some important historical dates • 571 birth of Mohammed [the Prophet] • 622 the Hegira • 632 death of the Prophet. Creation of the Caliphate [khalif=successor] • Koran produced under second and thir Caliphs 634-656 • 656 Ali became Caliph. Ummayad rebellion. Split into Sunni and Shia branches

  8. More important historical dates Abbasid dynasty 758-1258. Umayyads fled to Spain 1258 Mongols captured Baghdad. Abbasids fled to Egypt Ottomans captured Egypt 1517 and held caliphate as sultans until abolished 1924 With dismembering of Turkish/Ottoman Empire, today’s “states” emerge

  9. Some contemporary significant dates • Soviet “liberation” of Afghanistan • Iranian revolution 1978-9 • Hamah uprising and massacre in Syria 1982 • Assassination of Sadat 1981 • FIS electoral success in Algeria 1990-91 then covil war • Attack on World Trade Centre 1992 and 2001

  10. Western perceptions • Tendency to think of Islam as a phenomenon of the Middle East. Untrue Indonesia largest Islamic state by population, followed by Pakistan and, surprisingly, India • Tendency to think of Islam as violent religion: assassains and terrorism • Since feminism, position of women unacceptable • Islam is somehow “international” in character [Al Qaeda is everywhere!]

  11. “Islamism” • To distinguish between Muslims and violent sectarians the term “islamist” has been coined • This is regarded as a totalitarian ideology by many commentators • Islamists are concerned about social differences and poverty • They feel their culture is under threat from the West • They wish to recreate the Golden Age, but without rejecting modern technology • Iran and Sudan the type states

  12. More on Islamists • Important movements in Jordan [where they are the majority party], Algeria, [where the military expelled them from government] • Began by calling for return to the Sharia, but have had to make ideas more concrete and modern. • Like market-oriented social democrats, but Old Labour in their attitudes to women. Definitely not “New Men” • “Islam reformulated as a modern ideology” Middle East Quarterly debate • Urban dwellers, not tribalists

  13. Rise of Islamist Movements • Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt early in 20th Century the first • Others emerge in the 1970s • Are they primarily religious? • Or primarily social or protest movements? • Or as Ulam suggests of Marxism-Leninism, ways of coping with rapid industrialistaion and modernisation?

  14. Institutions • Caliphate. First four “the Patriarchs” –direct followers of Mohammed himself. Then the Ummayad dynasty • Tribes • Imam: spiritual leader originally Ali and his successors • Emirs: local governors who usurped the secular authority of the caliphs from the fall of the Abbasids in the 12th century.

  15. Government of Saudi Arabia • Chief of State and Head of Government: the monarch • Crown Prince, Deputy PM and Heir apparent chosen by the monarch • Council of Ministers appointed by Monarch • Legislature: 90 member consultative council and chair[man] appointed by monarch • Constitution based on Shari’a and basic law of 1993

  16. Government of Iran • Head of state: Leader of the Islamic revolution Ayatollah Khamenei, appointed for life by Assembly of Experts • President elected for four-year term by universal suffrage: Khatami • Legislature: 290 seat Islamic Consultative assembly [elected] • Guardian Council [responsible for ensuring all laws and practices are in accordance with Islam

  17. Government of Sudan • Govt an alliance of the military and the National Congress Party [formerly the national islamic Front] • Chief of State and Head of Govt. Lt. Gen Bashir • Majority of Cabinet from NCP • Legislature: 270 popularly elected, 90 appointed. Elections widely regarded as rigged

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