From Political Islam to Militant Islam: The Pursuit of Justice

Lo, Mbaye

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-96328-0_4

Mbaye Lo⁴

Part of the book series: Political Economy of Islam ((PEoI))

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Abstract

This chapter explores the centrality of the term “justice” in Islamist intellectual culture and the marginal presence of political “freedom” in its political debates. It looks at how the original sources of the Muslim Brotherhood’s teachings, Rasaail Hassan al-Banna (“Banna’s Letters,” or “Banna’s Collection of Essays”), shaped the evolution of militant Islam from the 1970s to the establishment of al-Qaeda in 1998. Within this discussion, the chapter examines how the first decade of the twenty-first century became the most prolific decade of militant Islamist writing. This burst of jihad treatises makes analytical sense since this specific decade saw the development of al-Qaeda and the rise of the Islamic State. Focusing on the Muslim Brotherhood as an organization and its connection to militant Islamist literature, the chapter examines how both moderate and militant Islamist groups articulate their opposition to the West’s liberal freedom agenda while projecting a strong allegiance to literal justice and the legitimacy of redressing grievances through jihad.

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Notes

1.
For an expansion of this argument, read Lived Islam in South Asia: Adaptation, Accommodation and Conflict. Imtiaz Ahmad and Helmut Reifeld (Eds.) (Social Science Press, 2004); Shahab Ahmed, What is Islam (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2016), 113+.
2.
Hassan al-Banna, In Majmu’at Rasail al-Imam al-Banna (Total Collections of al-Banna’s Letters). Chief Editor Ismail Turkey, general supervisor: Jum’ah Amin Abdel Aziz (Cairo: Dar al-Tawzi’ wa al-Nashr al-Islamiyyah, 2006), 356.
3.
Hassan al-Banna, op. cit., 334.
4.
Read Itzchak Weismann, “Framing a Modern Umma The Muslim Brothers’ Evolving Project of Da’wa.” Sociology of Islam 3 (2015): 146–169, pp. 147.
5.
Hassan al-Banna, op. cit., 273.
6.
Ibid., 275–284.
7.
Ibid., 278.
8.
Muhammad al-Ghazali, Dustur Al-Wahdah Al Thaqafiyyah bayn Al-Muslimin (Cairo: Dar Shurooq, 1997).
9.
One of the popular exegeses of the Principles is Mohammed al-Ghazali, Dustoor-u al-Wahdah al-Thaqafiyyah Bayn al-Muslimin (The Cultural Constitution Among the Muslims) (Cairo: Dar al-Shourooq, 1997).
10.
Abdul Karim Zaidan, Al-Sharh al-’Iraqi lil ‘USul al-’Ishrin (The Iraqi Explanation of the Twenty Principles).
11.
Sa’id al-Hawwa, Fi Afaaq al-Ta’alim (Cairo: Maktabat al-Wahdah, 1981).
12.
Ibid., 125.
13.
Hassan al-Banna, op. cit., 280.
14.
This definition draws on a prophetic hadith in the same literal meaning. Source: Hadith 29 in 40 Nawawiyyah (http://kenanaonline.com/users/ALDEWAN-DTC/posts/116730).
15.
Muhammad Haniff Hassan The Father of Jihad. ‘Abd Allāh ‘Azzām’s Jihad Ideas and Implications to National Security (London: Imperial College Press, 2014), 104.
16.
This widely accepted conclusion is taken from a prophetic saying that “When you enter into the ‘aynah transaction, hold the tails of oxen, are content with farming, and give up jihad, Allaah will cause humiliation to prevail over you, and will not withdraw it until you return to your commitment to Islam.” Hadith introduced as narrated by Abu Dawud, 2956; in Saheeh Abi Dawud; classed as sahih by al-Albaani.
17.
Ahmad Muhammad Daghshi, Al-Fikr al-Tarbawi li Tanzim al-Qaeda (Al-Hala al-Yamaniyyah) (Riyadh: Markaz al-Din wa al-Siyasaat lil-Dirasaat, 2012).
18.
Haydar Ibrahim Ali, Muraja’aat al-Islamiyeen al-Sudaniyeen: Kasb al-Dunya wa Khasarat al-Deen (Cairo: Dar al-HaDara lil-Nashr, 2011).
19.
Read interesting views of Haytham Manna’s book, Al-Salafiyyah, wa Al-Ikhwaan wa Huquq Al-Insaan (Dubai: Al Mezmaah Studies & Research Center, 2014).
20.
John Bradley, Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of a Revolution (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), 49.
21.
Ibrahim Natil, “Hamas: Between Militarism and Governance,” In Marwan Darweish and Carol Rank (Eds.), Peace-Building and Reconciliation: Contemporary Themes and Challenges (London: Pluto Press, 2012), 166–182.
22.
On a Facebook post on July 15, 2014. Accessed on July 16, 2014 at https://www.facebook.com/ibrahim.mansour.12914?fref=nf.
23.
On the reinventing government movement, read Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector, (Eds.) by David Osborne and Ted Gaebler (New York: Plume, 1993).
24.
Israel Gershoni and James Jankowski, “Print Culture, Social Change, and the Process of Redefining Imagined Communities in Egypt,” International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 31, 1 (1999): 81–93.
25.
Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Zhahirat al-Ghuluww fi al-Takfiir (Cairo: Maktabah Wahbah, 1990).
26.
Ibid.; see “Introduction” to the Fourth Edition, p. 8.
27.
On Salafism, see, for example, Henri Lauzière, The Making of Salafism: Islamic Reform in the Twentieth Century (New York: Columbia University Press, 2016).
28.
On Sa’id Hawwa, read Itzchak Weisman, “Sa’id Hawwa and Islamic Revivalism in Ba’th Syria,” In Studia Islamica, No. 85 (1997), pp. 131–154.
29.
Mbaye Lo and Muhammed Haroun (Ed.), Muslim Institutions of Higher Education in Postcolonial Africa (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).
30.
Miriam Cooke, Women Claim Islam: Creating Islamic Feminism Through Literature (New York: Routledge, 2011), 59.
31.
Mbaye Lo and Andi Frkovich “Challenging Authority in Cyberspace: Evaluating Al Jazeera Arabic Writers,” In Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, Volume 25 (3): Winter 2013: 388–402.
32.
Hassan al-Banna, op. cit., 284–285.
33.
Abdallah Laroui, Mafhoum al-Dawla (Morocco, Casablanca: Al-Markaz al-Thaqafi al-‘Arabi, 2011), 119.
34.
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari’a (Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2012).
35.
Mahmood Mouhammad Taha, Al-Risalah al Thaniyah Min al-Islam (Sudan: Omdurman, 1969), 8.
36.
Turbo interviewed by Mahmood Jamal under “Islamic Conversations-Islamic.” Published on July 18, 2012, accessed on March 11, 2015 at https://youtu.be/pRjgaP5lAJU. Interview with Turabi published on Jul 18, 2012, from the groundbreaking series, ISLAMIC CONVERSATIONS by Producer Mahmood Jamal and Presenter Ziauddin Sardar.
37.
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (New York: HarperCollins Publisher, 1969), 513+.
38.
Ernest Gellner, Conditions of Liberty: Civil society and its Rivals (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1994), 5.
39.
Interviewed in Rabat Morocco on June 10, 2016.
40.
NaSr Mhammed ‘Arif, “Al Islam al Siyasi Ila Ayn: Nihayat MuHawalat al TawDhif al Siyasi Lil Islam.” In Majallatu al DimoKratiyyah: Volume 53: August 7, 2014.
41.
A solid reference on Muhammad Qutb is Masami Nishino’s MA thesis (Muhammad Qutb’s Islamist Thought: A Missing Link between Sayyid Qutb and al-Qaeda?) Submitted to the Middle East & Mediterranean Studies Programme of King’s College London in 2014.
42.
Muhammed Qutb, Jahiliyyat al Qarn al ‘ishriin (Cairo: Dar Al-Shurooq, 1983).
43.
Muhammed Qutb, Waqi’una al-Mu’aSar (Cairo: Dar Al-Shurooq, 1997).
44.
More on his influence and life, read Peter L. Bergen, Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama Bin Laden (Simon and Schuster, 2002), 50; John L. Esposito and John O. Voll, Makers of Contemporary Islam (Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 95–98.
45.
Abdel Bari Atwan, The Secret History of Al Qaeda (California: University of California Press, 2008), 43.
46.
Jansen, Johannes J.G. and Faraj, Muhammad Abd al-Salam (Eds.), The Neglected Duty: the Creed of Sadat’s Assassins and Islamic Resurgence in the Middle East (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1986).
47.
Worth mentioning is that he was criticized by many Muslim scholars including Sheikh Jad-al-Haqq (d. 1996), Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and later Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, in a book titled Naqd Al-Farida Al-Ghaaeba (A Critique of the Neglected Duty). He refuted Faraj’s positions. Al-Haqq also highlighted Faraj’s fault-lines, his use and understanding of Quran and Sunna, and his Arabic linguistic abilities.
48.
Muhammad Abdel Salam Faraj, Al-Farida al-Ghaeba (Cairo: NB, 1982), 17.
49.
Read a good analysis of Kish in Jansen, Johannes J.G. and Faraj, Muhammad Abd al-Salam, op. cit., pp. 91–120.
50.
Bin Laden’s speech entitled “Khutuwat ‘Amaliyyah li Tahriri Falestine,”Accessed in October 2015 at https://archive.org/details/Osama_Khtwat_3mleya.
51.
Muhammad Qutb, Hal Nahn Muslimun (Cairo: Dar Al-Shurooq, 1980).
52.
Muhammad Qutb. Mafahim Yanbaghi an TuSahhah (Cairo: Dar Al-Shurooq, 1987).
53.
Sheikh NaSir Al-Fahd, Al-tibyaan Fi Kufr man A’an al-Amerikan (Collection opensource_Arabic; opensource, 2012). Accessed on May 11, 2013 at https://archive.org/details/1232012-08-12.
54.
This saying is narrated to Imam Malik. The hadith is also discussed in Ibn Taymiyyah’s book, IqtiDa al-Sirat al-Mustaqim (Riyadh: Maktabatu al-Rushd, 1990). Volume 2: 762–763.
55.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, Fursaan Taht Rayat al-Rasul (Online Publisher: Minbar al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad, 2001). Accessed on June 19, 2010, at www.tawhed.ws.
56.
“Translator’s Foreword, “In Abdullah s Azzam, Join the Caravan. Accessed on February 3, 2013 at https://archive.org/stream/JoinTheCaravan/JoinTheCaravan_djvu.txt.
57.
Ali Benhadj, FaSl al-Kalam fi Muwajahat Zulm al-Hukkam (Online Publication by Algeria’s Front Islamique du salut). Accessed on March 15, 20`6 on http://www.calameo-pdf-download.abuouday.com/view.php?url=fr.calameo.com/read/000321515161b1c18cd30.
58.
Nelly Lahoud et al. Letters from Abbottabad: Bin Laden Sidelined (New York, West Point: Combating Terrorism Center, 2012), 13.
59.
Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi, “Al-Dawlah al-Islamiyyah Fi al-’Iraq wa as-Sham.” Speech posted on December 28, 2013. Accessed on December 29, 2013 at http://www.muslm.org/vb/showthread.php?524994.
60.
Abu-Bakr Naji, Idarat at-Tawahhush (NP: Markaz al-Dirasat Wa al-Buhuth al-Islamiyya, 2004).
61.
Abu Yahya al-Libi, At-Tatarrus: Fi al-Jihad al-Mu’asar. Accessed on April 21, 2011 at https://archive.org/details/tatross. Uploaded into the site on July 23, 2008.
62.
In an interview on April 2, 2008 that was promoted as “open interview,” Ayman al-Zawahiri reintroduced Hukm at-Tatarrus (the law on using human shields). He proudly cited Al-libi’s (calling him the crown prince of al-Qaeda) work as a reference on the permissibility of at-Tatarrus.
63.
Abu Yahya al-Libi, op. cit., 6.
64.
Ibid., 31.
65.
Ibid., 32.
66.
Abu-Bakr Naji, Idarat at-Tawahhush (NP: Markaz al-Dirasat Wa al-Buhuth al-Islamiyya, 2004).
67.
Thomas Olesen, “Injustice Symbols: On the Political-Culture s of Social Movements,” Paper presented at ECPR General Conference in France. Bordeaux, September 4–7, 2003, p. 1.
68.
Read Belal Fadl, “Alamun laysa lana…’Anil- Falastini al-ladhi la Nuhibbu An Narao illa Shahidan.” published on September 18, 2014. Accessed in July 2015 at http://altagreer.com/منوعات/عالم-ليس-لنا-عن-الفلسطيني-الذي-لا-نحب.
69.
Sayyid Qutb, Ma’rakatuna ma’ al-Yahud (Egypt, Cairo: Dar al-Shurooq, 1997).
70.
Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, Millafat al-Suways (Cairo: Dar al-Shurooq, 2004).
71.
Abdullah Azzam, Join the Caravan, op. cit.
72.
“Bin Laden’s Fatwa.” PBS News Hour Aug. 1996: n. page. Web. 7 Jun 2011. Accessed on November 5, 2012 at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/terrorism/international/fatwa_1996.html.
73.
See Mbaye Lo, Muslims in America: Race, Politics, and Community Building (Beltsville: Amana Publications, 2004), 96+.
74.
Idith Zertal, Israel’s Holocaust and the Politics of Nationhood (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005).
75.
“Christian Organizations that Support Israel Links Page.” Middle East Facts, n. page. Web. 7 Jun 2011. http://www.middleeastfacts.com/links/links_israel_christian_zionists.php.
76.
Majid Khadduri, The Islamic Conception of Justice (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982), 53.
77.
Sheikh Abi Yahya al-Libi, The American Army and the Ethics of War, op. cit.
78.
Speech accessed on Feb. 23, 2012 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fBVwIvCVOk. The Arabic text is also available at https://nokbah.com/~w3/?p=2611. Accessed on Sept. 19, 2014.
79.
Ibrahim Natil, “Hamas: Between Militarism and Governance.” In Peace building and Reconciliation: Contemporary Themes and Challenges, (Eds.) by Marwan Darweish and Carol Rank (London: PlutoPress, 1912), 167.
80.
This issue is detailed in Chap. 7 of this book.
81.
NaSr Mhammed ‘Arif, “Al Islam al Siyasi Ila Ayn: Nihayat MuHawalat al TawDhif al Siyasi Lil Islam.” In Majallatu al DimoKratiyyah: Volume 53, August 7, 2014.
82.
Michaelle L. Browers, Political Ideology in the Arab World: Accommodation and Transformation (Cambridge University Press, 2009).
83.
Sa’id al-Hawwa, Fi Afaaq al-Ta’alim (Cairo: Maktabat al-Wahdah, 1981), 40.
84.
Majid Khadduri, 1979, op. cit., p. 155.
85.
John Hope Franklin, The Militant South (1800–1861) (Massachusetts, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1956), xi.

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Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, International Comparative Studies and Duke Islamic Studies Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Mbaye Lo

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Lo, M. (2019). From Political Islam to Militant Islam: The Pursuit of Justice. In: Political Islam, Justice and Governance. Political Economy of Islam. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96328-0_4

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96328-0_4
Published: 09 November 2018
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96327-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96328-0
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