Islam Instrumentalized: Religion and Politics in Historical Perspective

Cover
Half title
Series
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Preface
1 Introduction
	1.1 The Rising Interest in Religion
	1.2 The Central Storyline of the Book
	1.3 Methodological Approach
	1.4 Concerns with Quantitative Studies
		The Endogeneity Problem
		Additional Problems and Weak Results from Cross-Country Studies
		Historical Experiments
		Final Clarifications
	1.5 The Outline of the Book
2 Insights from Early Modern Europe
	2.1 A Skeptical View of the Role of the Protestant Reformation
		An Updated Critique of Weber’s Approach to Protestantism
		State and Religion in Western Europe before the Reformation
		State and Religion in Western Europe after the Reformation
	2.2 A Skeptical View of the Role of the Early Enlightenment
		The Early Enlightenment as the Decisive Breakpoint?
		Back to the Reverse Causality Problem
		The Stickiness of Religious Conventions
	2.3 Central Lessons from Early Modern European History
3 Conflation between Religion and Politics: The Case of Islam
	3.1 Conflation between Religion and Politics in Islam: Statement of the View
	3.2 Varied Aspects of the Islamic Doctrine
		Plurality of Sources of the Islamic Law
		Role of the Islamic Jurists
		Role of Local Customs: Islam as a Cultural Hybrid
		Encounters between High and Low Islams
		Shi’ism as a Mixture of Doctrinal Flexibility and Charismatic Leadership
	3.3 Conclusion
4 The Dominant System of Politico-Religious Relations in Islam: A Historical Perspective
	4.1 First Insights from the Early History of Islam
	4.2 The Archetypal Model of Politico-Religious Interactions in the Lands of Islam
		Subordination of Religious Authorities to Political Rulers
		Illustrations
	4.3 Islam in the Service of National Unification
		Examples from Old Imperial and Dynastic Regimes
		Afghanistan
		Illustrious Predecessors: Ibn Hanbal and Ibn Taymiyya
	4.4 Summary: Asymmetric Cooperation and Sanctuary Rights
		The Subordination of Religion to Politics
		The Moderately Counterbalancing Role of Islam
		Islam as a Banner for Political Unification and Nation-Building
	4.5 Analytics of Politico-Religious Interactions
		The Setup
		Results
		What about the Merchants?
5 The Rise of Islam in Conditions of State Crisis: The Case of Weak States
	5.1 Two Types of State Crisis
	5.2 Ottoman Egypt
	5.3 Post-Safavid Iran
		Successful Cooperation between State and Religion under the Safavid Rule
		The Post-Safavid Collapse of State-Religion Cooperation
		Linking the Change to Theory
	5.4 State-Appointed versus Self-Appointed Clerics
	5.5 Reaction to Foreign Domination
	5.6 Conclusion and Final Remarks about the Puzzle of Iranian Theocracy
6 The Rise of Islam in Conditions of State Crisis: The Case of Kleptocratic Despotism
	6.1 Instrumentalization of Islam in Support of Despotism
	6.2 Evidence
		Case Study 1: Egypt
		Case Study 2: Sudan
		Case Study 3: Pakistan
		Case Study 4: Algeria
		Case Study 5: Indonesia
		Baathism as Secular Religiosity in the Service of a Totalitarian State: A Prelude to the Study of Iraq and Syria
		Case Study 6: Iraq
		Case Study 7: Syria
		Glimpses at Palestine and Malaysia
	6.3 Conclusion
		Islamization of Political Debate
		Linking Results with the Theory
		Relationships between State Power and Puritanical Islamists
		The Exacerbating Role of Foreign Policies
7 Islamism in Historical and International Perspective
	7.1 The Birth and Spread of Islamic Puritanism
		The Influence and Spread of Wahhabism
		Islamic Reformism as Anticolonial Reaction
		The Doctrines of Mawdûdi and Qutb
		Political Shi’ism
	7.2 A Modernization Crisis Compounded by Military Defeats
		The Hard Dilemma Born of a Modernization Crisis
		Islamism as an Attempt to Reformulate the Project of Modernity
		Analogies with Europe
	7.3 Motives behind Recruitment into Islamist Movements
		Need to Restore a Damaged Self-Image
		Social Role of Islamist Movements
		Radical Islam as a Weapon in Class Struggles
		Islamist Leaders
		Islamism and the Low Islam
	7.4 Conclusion and Final Reflections
		Summing Up
		The Challenge of Civilizational Change
		The Role of Foreign Domination
8 Revivalist Movements in Other Religions
	8.1 Introduction
	8.2 The Puzzle of Hindu Fundamentalism in India
	8.3 Sikh Revivalism in Modern India
	8.4 Buddhist Revivalism in Sri Lanka and Myanmar
		Sri Lanka
		Myanmar
	8.5 Conclusion and Discussion
9 Enlightened Despotism Examined
	9.1 Legal Reforms in the Lands of Islam
	9.2 Kemalist Reforms in Modern Turkey
		Kemalism as a Revolutionary and Nationalist Project
		Kemalism as an Authoritarian and Elitist Project
		The Aftermath of the Kemalist Republic
		The Gradual Reentry of Islam into Turkish Politics
		The Second Revolution in Modern Turkey: An Islamic Party in Power
		Concluding Remarks
	9.3 Radical Reforms in Modern Tunisia
		Bourguiba’s One-Man Rule
		Bourguiba’s Radical Social Reforms
		The Entry of Islamic Opposition Forces onto the Stage
		Crushing of the Islamists under Enduring Autocracy: The Ben Ali Era (I)
		Crony Capitalism under Enduring Autocracy: The Ben Ali Era (II)
		The Arab Spring and the Islamists’ Access to Power
	9.4 Enlightened Despots in Modern Afghanistan
		The Bold Reformism of King Amanullah
		A Renewed Attempt by the Left
		The Taliban Regime
	9.5 Drawing Lessons: Radical versus Moderate Reforms
		Avoidable Flaws of the Reform Programs
		The Way Forward: A Middle Road between Assertive Secularism and the Status Quo
		The “Magnet Effect” of Progressive Reforms: Theoretical Insights
		The Moderate Road Illustrated: The Case of Morocco
		The Moderate Road Illustrated: The Case of Indonesia
	9.6 Conclusion
10 Islam, Politics, and the Challenge of Enforcement
	10.1 Institutional Change and the Enforceability Issue
		The Theory of the “Institutional Trap” in a Nutshell
		An Important Caveat
		The Enforcement Problem
		Politics in Kuran’s Work
	10.2 Islam in a Comparative Perspective
		A Novel Approach to State-Religion Interactions
		A Reasoned Typology of Country Case Studies
		The Ingredients of a Severe Modernization Crisis
	10.3 Persistence of Tribalism
		Islam’s Failure to End Tribalism
		Back to Western Europe
	10.4 Final Thoughts
Bibliography
Index