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Nationalism and Islamization: Is There a Causal Link?

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State, Nationalism, and Islamization

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy ((PSRPP))

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Abstract

This introductory chapter reviews the typical reasons given for Islamization in the Muslim world, the need for legitimacy of authoritarian regimes and the popularity of Islamist parties, finding them inadequate. The focus then shifts to nationalism, state nationalism, and religion. The central argument of the book is that Islam’s role in state nationalism and the Islamization of government are causally linked. The chapter introduces the indicators used to measure Islam’s role in state nationalism (the presence of Islamic provisions in the constitution, Islamic themes in national symbols, and Islamic images on the national currency) and the Islamization of government (the Islamic foundation of family law, the Department of Religious Affairs, and governmental support for religious education). The dominant narratives regarding Islam’s role in Turkish and Pakistani nationalism are also explored.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    As there are many excellent studies on the state nationalisms of Turkey and Pakistan and as it is the explanatory variable in this book, the contestation with popular nationalism and the intra-elite struggles that ultimately define the state nationalisms of Turkey and Pakistan will not be discussed in this book.

  2. 2.

    Arab regimes also highlighted Western support, as they could not explain to their compatriots how a small country could defeat them.

  3. 3.

    Based on the work of Grim and Finke (2006) on the U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom reports, the state–religion relationship in nearly two hundred countries has been quantified based on three indices and one variable (Government Regulation of Religion Index, Government Favoritism of Religion Index, Social Regulation of Religion Index, and Religious Persecution).

  4. 4.

    Each of these indicators has a whole chapter devoted to it. References to some of these scholars will be given in these chapters.

  5. 5.

    The increase of Islamic references in curricula is another way to measure government support for religious education and, thereby, a sign of Islamization of government. The measure used in this book is based on Ahmet Kuru’s book Secularism and State Policies toward Religion: The United States, France, and Turkey (2009).

  6. 6.

    As a result of a combination of factors, a section of the Ottoman elite gradually embraced Turkish nationalism in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Initially, Turkish nationalism was not anti-Islamic or anti-clerical, but it did emphasize belief in the Turkish nation over and above the belief in the Muslim or Ottoman nation (Hanioglu 2002, 85–98).

  7. 7.

    Most notably, Ayesha Jalal (1994) has persuasively suggested that Pakistan was a bargaining trick and Jinnah only wanted a better deal for the Indian Muslims. The idea of Jinnah trying to build a more secular state had been supported by scholars such as Mohammad Munir in From Jinnah to Zia (1980), Ajeet Jawed in Secular and Nationalist Jinnah (2009) and Moonis Ahmar in Conflict Management & Vision for a Secular Pakistan (2014). Others have refuted these arguments, such as Waheed-uz-Zaman in Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah: Myth and Reality (1985) and Saleema Karim in Secular Jinnah and Pakistan (2010).

  8. 8.

    Ayub Khan ruled Pakistan from 1958 to 1969 and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, father of Benazir Bhutto, ruled Pakistan from 1971 to 1977.

  9. 9.

    In the June 2015 parliamentary elections, the AKP, for the first time since 2002, was unable to win the majority of seats in the Turkish Parliament. However, it was still by far the largest party in the Parliament. In November 2015, it again won the majority of seats and formed the government independently.

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  1. Forman Christian College, Lahore, Pakistan

    Raja M. Ali Saleem

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Saleem, R.M.A. (2017). Nationalism and Islamization: Is There a Causal Link?. In: State, Nationalism, and Islamization. Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54006-1_1

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