{"id":147,"date":"2009-10-21T13:28:58","date_gmt":"2009-10-21T18:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.la.utexas.edu\/mhc\/seminar-10-case-studies-%e2%80%93-islam-in-nationalist-contexts\/"},"modified":"2009-12-07T14:45:33","modified_gmt":"2009-12-07T19:45:33","slug":"seminar-10-case-studies-%e2%80%93-islam-in-nationalist-contexts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sites.la.utexas.edu\/mhc\/seminar-10-case-studies-%e2%80%93-islam-in-nationalist-contexts\/","title":{"rendered":"Seminar Ten: Case Studies \u2013 Islam in National(ist) Contexts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The second half of the twentieth century witnessed the end of European imperial rule over many parts of the world. In the aftermath of World War II, the network of institutions that had enabled European control over Asian and African societies became increasingly weak and unstable. As a result, movements for political independence blossomed in the colonies, many of which eventually declared themselves to be sovereign, independent nations. Notwithstanding the ending of formal European political rule, these \u201cnew\u201d nations continue, however, to be impacted by the legacy of colonialism. This impact can be discerned in the political, economic and legal institutions they inherited, including even the conception of the nation state which historically originated in Europe. Indeed, as Vali Nasr writes, in the general reading assigned for this session, \u201cthe legacy of colonialism is key in explaining both the diversity and unity of different experiments with state formation in the Muslim World.\u201d (p. 551)<\/p>\n

Muslim societies in the post colonial period have witnessed a search for satisfying and legitimate interpretations of Islam in relation to a range of issues including globalization, industrialization, uneven economic development, rapid social change, religious and ethnic pluralism. In this search all sorts of interpretations have been put forward, ranging from progressive to reactionary ones. At a political level, the failure of ideologies such as capitalism, communism, and socialism to deliver social and economic justice have prompted crucial questions concerning the role of Islam in the nation-state. As a result, Islam has sometimes come to be interpreted not simply as a system of religious beliefs, practices, morals and ethics, but as a political ideology underpinning the nation state; an ideology that will solve all the problems facing contemporary Muslim societies. As Reza Aslan aptly points out in his book, No<\/span> god but God<\/span>, \u201cIslam has been invoked to legitimize and to overturn governments, to promote republicanism and defend authoritarianism, to justify monarchies, autocracies, oligarchies and theocracies.\u201d He points out that the proponents of each form of government have considered theirs to be the only \u201cauthentically Islamic\u201d formulation, usually legitimizing their formulation by invoking their particular understanding of the state established by the Prophet Muhammad in Medina.\u00a0 As a consequence, he points out, \u201c\u2026.the Islamic state is by no means a monolithic concept. Indeed, there are many countries in the world that could be termed as Islamic states, none of which have much in common with each other\u2026.And yet not only do all these countries view themselves as the realization of the Medinan ideal they view each other as contemptible desecrations of that ideal.\u201d (p.257)<\/p>\n

The emergence of political Islam is a recent phenomenon in the intellectual history of Muslim societies and, as such, is clearly rooted in their colonial and post-colonial experience. Islamists, that is, those Muslims who seek to interpret Islam as a political ideology, espouse an exclusivist world-view that denies room for pluralism or diversity of interpretations. They are revisionist or ahistorical in their reading of history (they imagine an ideal past in which Muslims practiced a \u201cpure\u201d Islam) as well as the exegesis of religious texts such as the Qur\u2019an and hadith. Frequently, they identify themselves through \u201cdeclarative\u201d external symbols such as dress and physical appearance. They tend to function well in contexts marked by political, economic and social inequities as well as general religious illiteracy where most people rely on the interpretations of those who have laid claim to some form of religio-political authority.<\/p>\n

The readings in Session Ten explore, through the case study method, some of the diverse political, economic and social contexts in which Muslims live today and the different roles that Islam plays in particular nation states.
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\nCase Study Template:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Product:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

To create the Summer Institute product for Seminar 10, you will each complete a case study using the guidelines outlined below.<\/p>\n

Additionally, you will create an electronic product for presentation at this seminar and used again at the summer institute.\u00a0\u00a0 These presentations should be approximately 15-20 minutes in length.<\/p>\n

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