John L. Esposito

Voices of Resurgent Islam

Essays discuss Islamic identity, influential Islamic leaders, and reasons for the revitalization of Islam in the Middle East.

Political Islam : revolution, radicalism, or reform?

Part 1 Political Islam as illegal opposition: fulfilling prophecies - illegal opposition and Islamic radicalism, L. Anderson Islam in Algeria - reflections on religion and politics in a hydrocarbon state, D. Vaudewalle, political Islam and Gulf security, J.L. Esposito. Part 2 Islam in the political process: political participation in revolutionary Iran, M. Milani Sudan - Islamic radicals in power, P. Woodward invidious comparisons - realism, postmodern globalism, and centrist Islamic movements in Egypt, R. Baker Islamic opposition in the political process - lessons from Pakistan, S.V.R. Nasr. Part 3 The international relations of political Islam: HAMAS, legitimate heir of Palestinian nationalism?, J. Legrain Islamists and the peace process, Y.Y. Haddad relations among Islamist groups, J.O. Voll Arab Islamists in Afghanistan, B.R. Rubin.

The Iranian revolution : its global impact

Marking the 10th anniversary of the Ayatollah Khomeinis triumphant return to the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1989 proved a benchmark year in Irans history, with author Salman Rushdie condemned to execution, Iranian liberals and the West denounced, Khomeinis chosen successor removed, and Khomeinis death. In this work, international experts from Iran, Europe, Africa and the United States assess the worldwide impact of the Iranian revolution on other Muslim societies and give us a remarkable analysis of the status of Islamic revivalism in a wide variety of Islamic states and societies - Lebanon, Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia, Nigeria, Turkey, the USSR, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Iraq. Sponsors of the book and of the 1989 conference that inspired it are the Middle east Institute, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and the Royal Institute of International Affairs. The book addresses such issues as the failure of the Iranian revolution to replicate itself in other countries and the extent to which Irans experience has shaped the politics, economics and cultures of other countries.

Islam in Asia : religion, politics, and society

The actions and political rhetoric of the day seem to affirm the commitment of many Muslims to a more Islamic political, social, and economic order. But despite the pervasiveness of this phenomenon and its geopolitical significance, our understanding of the contemporary Islamic world has remained astonishingly limited. More than half of the worlds 800 million Muslims live in Asia, and yet most people continue to think of Islam as an essentially Arab phenomenon. This wide-ranging volume brings together previously unpublished writings by leading authorities on Islamic affairs to provide the fullest picture of the diverse roles played by Islam in Asian public life today. Central topics include how Islam is presented in the public life--government, national ideology, law, and political parties--of Asian Muslims, and the ways in which Islam influences both the domestic politics and foreign policies of Muslim countries today.

Islam and the West

Conflict and dialogue are frequently seen as the alternatives in relations between Islam and the West. In the months following the destruction of the World Trade Center by terrorists on it September 2001, conflict visions received much attention. The words of Muslims like Usama bin Ladin, who proclaim the necessity of violent conflict with the West, gained high visibility and were regularly repeated in the global mass media. Those Muslim voices advocating violent jihad were frequently matched by continuing Western pronouncements of a “clash of civilizations.”

Islam and Politics

This edition provides perspectives on the significant recent events, including the Gulf War, that have transpired in Middle East politics and provides an update for the contemporary political situation in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, Pakistan, and the Sudan.

Transformations and Prospects

Political Islam in its singular form does not fully encompass the collisions, incongruities, and discord among and within diverging Islamic movements and parties. The Conclusion highlights the divergent strategies that Islamists employ when ‘doing politics’, as well as the internal struggles and contestations both within and between these movements and parties. This diversity and plurality among Islamist movements, and their general willingness to partake in mainstream politics, signals an important transformation in the Muslim world over recent decades. It demonstrates that the Muslim world has gravitated from the simplistic focus on the compatibility or incompatibility of Islam and democracy. Islamic movements and parties are adhering to and promoting multiple versions of political Islam, engaging in different forms of politics that may or may not ultimately prove to be compatible with democratization. An important and promising outcome of these divergent visions and trajectories is that extremist and militant Islamists have been relegated to a marginal fringe and to the periphery of the political landscape of the Muslim world.

Introduction: Theological Contestations and Political Coalition-Building

Given the diversity of political Islam, Islamists and Islamist moments, there is unsurprisingly limited agreement on what legitimately constitutes an Islamic or Muslim state, whether and how sharia is to be operationalised, who should interpret sharia and be accorded religious authority. Islamists range from reformist political and social protest movements to ultra-conservative movements often preoccupied with morality-related issues. The more ‘moderate’ Islamists tend to adopt flexible and contextual interpretations of Islam and the holy texts while conservative and radical Islamists are inclined to adhere to rigid and literalist interpretations of the scriptures. Some Islamists are strongly nationalist in orientation whilst the more radical and militant tend to be transnational in focus. Notwithstanding the setbacks following the ‘Arab Uprisings’, political norms in the form of elections and parliamentary politics have become a dominant feature in the vast majority of Muslim-majority states. These norms are supported by theologically grounded discourses articulated within a reformist Islamic framework which emphasises wasatiyyah (middle-path, centrist or moderate) principles. Such norms have not emerged from a void. They are, in many respects, manifestations of the incremental political shifts propagated by participatory Islamists committed to ‘faithful contestations’.

Apostasy and Blasphemy: A Clash of Freedoms – Speech and Religion

This special issue examines, from a historical and contemporary perspective, notions of free speech and religious freedom within non-Muslim and Muslim societies and the ways in which these interact. Freedom of speech – the right to express freely one’s opinion – is a precious right. But too often we have seen it exploited to promote religious intolerance, such as Islamophobia, and hate speech. While most Western countries have a social environment in which racism and anti-Semitism are condemned and discredited in public life and the media, Islamophobia continues to be tolerated, depriving Western Muslims enjoying of the same rights and protections as other citizens. While not incompatible with free speech, the right to freedom of conscience and belief has also been used to curb free speech in order to protect religious beliefs and sensitivities and in some instances to prevent sectarian violence. A generation after Salman Rushdie, and some 10 years after the killing of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh and the furore of the Danish cartoon controversy, the issue of freedom of speech in increasingly de-secularized societies remains as problematic as ever. The 2015 terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo brought to the fore lingering tensions within French society on the place of Islam within a secular state. What distinguishes this terrorist attack on the European continent from earlier ones is the symbolic value that Charlie Hebdo represents – the right to freedom of speech and the upholding of secular democracy. Islam is now an embedded feature in the Western religious landscape with the result that tensions have arisen between value-sets pertaining to “freedom of speech” on the one hand, and “freedom of religion” on the other. The former is seen in the West as an essential public value, the latter as belonging to the private sphere. But this does not always accord with the worldview of a given religious community. In consequence, with the two freedoms increasingly clashing, boundaries and identities are being pushed and redefined. While much of the contemporary focus is on Western democracies, little attention has been paid to the multiple and diverse voices in the Muslim world on the notions of free speech and religious freedom. Too often, the discourse has been dominated by a minority of voices, overshadowing those that do not necessarily see the two freedoms as being in contention.

Women in Middle Eastern History: Shifting Boundaries in Sex and Gender.

Chapter 1. Introduction: Deciphering Middle Eastern Womens History Chapter 2. Organisation of the Volume Chapter 3. Islam and Patriarchy THE FIRST ISLAMIC CENTURIES (Chapters 4-6) THE MAMLUK PERIOD (Chapters 7-9) MODERN TURKEY AND IRAN (Chapters 10-13) THE MODERN ARAB WORLD (Chapters 14-18) Index.