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“…the conflict with Israel and the failure of pan-Arabism to reclaim lands held to be Palestinian had created frustration and resentment among many a Muslim; and the oil income boom resulting mainly from the 1973 Arab-Israeli war had put huge resources into the hands of states such as Saudi Arabia which made significant proportions thereof available to those keen on furthering the cause of Islam.
For over one thousand years, the political identity of Muslims was bound up with Islam. The long, bloody conflicts between Muslims and Christians and the mutual antipathy which they felt for one another only served to consolidate and reinforce that identity among the Muslims at large. In the modern era, and especially starting from the French Revolution, Muslim perception of their own political identity gradually began to change. The emergence of a new, secular Europe transformed both the nature and dynamics of Muslim-Christian relations. The French Revolution in particular was not only secular but also openly hostile to Christianity. Coupled with Britain’s increasingly secular liberalism, the political culture of the new dominant European powers-France and Britain- started to look less unpalatable to inhabitants of the Middle East and North Africa.
Among the many secular ideas propagated by the French Revolution in particular were those of the “nation” and the “nation-state”. Those concepts had a strong impact on the minds of many Middle Easterners, some of whom began to question their own allegiance to the Ottoman Empire and to desire an independent state of their own. The increasing influence of the French-inspired concept of secular nationalism posed a serious challenge to political Islam by developing in three directions: one was based on patriotism; the most notable example of this was Egyptian nationalism, which flourished under the dynasty of Muhammad Ali Pasha starting with his reign and continuing until the end of that of King Farouk. Other examples which emerged later included Tunisia under President Bourguiba, Libya under King Idris, and Iraq under King Faisal I and King Faisal II.
The second development directly impacted the core of Islamism itself; due to differences among its own adherents, advocates of political Islam had to grapple with challenges from within their own ranks. Although nineteenth and twentieth century Islamist commentators like Jamal Ad-Din Al-Afghani and Muhammad Rashid Ridha held conservative views on Islam, there emerged some less extremist figures from within Islamist ranks who had different opinions and who were sharp critics of hard-line Islamism; among those were Muhammad Abdu, Rafa’ At-Tahtawi, and Ali Abdur-Raziq. Not surprisingly, they were vigorously opposed by the more radical Islamists: Muhammad Abduh was marginalized, Rafa’ At-Tahtawi was sent into exile, and Ali Abdur-Raziq was put on trial.
The third development of secular nationalism centred on the idea of pan-Arabism. Chafing under the yoke of their second-class dhimmi status within the Ottoman Empire, Christian Arabs in particular sought to achieve equality with Muslim Arabs at the expense of non-Arab Muslims; the result was pan-Arabism, a secular political ideology that envisioned the unification of all Arabs under the wings of one unified Arab state. Its most prominent exponents included George Antonius, Naguib Azoury, Amin Ar-Rihani, and Michel Aflaq, the last of whom co-founded the Ba’ath party. However, pan-Arabism did not immediately gain wide support, partly because many Muslims chose to side with the Muslim Ottomans against the non-Muslim European powers. Pan-Arabism was also vehemently opposed by Egyptian nationalists such as Taha Hussein, Ahmad Lutfi As-Sayed, and Sa’d Zaghloul.
Notwithstanding the obstacles and its mostly Christian origins, pan-Arabism gradually began to gain ground among numerous Muslims. By the 1950s and 1960s, pan-Arabists like Nasser and the Ba’ath party had claimed the loyalty of the majority of Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa. The tide of pan-Arabism was so overwhelming that it swept away everything that stood in its way: The Islamists were suppressed, submerged, or sidelined for much of that period, while the moderate constitutional monarchies of Libya and Iraq were overthrown by military coups d’état; King Faisal II of Iraq was overthrown by Abdul-Karim Qasim in 1958, and King Idris of Libya was dethroned by Qaddafi in 1969, just like years earlier King Farouk of Egypt had been deposed by Mohammad Naguib and Nasser in 1952. Pan-Arabism seemed invincible, and it continued to flourish unabated until it was dealt a severe blow by the defeat of Arab armies at the hands of Israel in 1967, followed by the death of Nasser in 1970.
With the vitiation of pan-Arabism and the demise of the moderate constitutional monarchies in the region, the way was now open for the resurgence of Islamism. This was given a strong impetus by other developments: The process of modernization in the Middle East and North Africa had led to large-scale migration from the traditional countryside to urban centres; the conflict with Israel and the failure of pan-Arabism to reclaim lands held to be Palestinian had created frustration and resentment among many a Muslim; and the oil income boom resulting mainly from the 1973 Arab-Israeli war had put huge resources into the hands of states such as Saudi Arabia which made significant proportions thereof available to those keen on furthering the cause of Islam.
Islamism gained further momentum with the success of the Islamic revolution in Iran, the emergence of organizations such as Hizbollah and Hamas in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, the dominance of the Taleban in Afghanistan, as well as the existence of well-organized Islamist parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Syria, FIS in Algeria, An-Nahdha in Tunisia, and some Salafi groupings in various parts of the region. The revitalization of Islamism was spurred further by the appearance of global terror networks epitomized on a large scale by Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. And yet, the Islamists were not able to come to power in the vast majority of Middle Eastern and North African countries; not until the Arab Spring manna of 2011-2013.
Contrary to many people’s expectations, the Arab Spring has turned into an Islamist winter: The Islamists now dominate the government in Tunisia and Libya, they have become involved in a political tug of war with the army in Egypt, and they make up the major part of the government’s opponents in Syria. Numerous people in the Middle East now feel bitterly disappointed with the results of the Arab Spring, the moral of whose story is that if “the people have spoken” and successfully challenged their autocracies, it does not automatically follow that they will subsequently establish a liberal democratic system. Unless they develop rational, tolerant political cultures, nations will see the introduction of democracy empowering only the demagogues and the fanatics. So much for “The people have spoken” mantra.
About the author
Husam Dughman comes from a family that is historically descended from Europeans on his father’s side and Middle Easterners on his mother’s side. He was born in Libya and educated in Libya and the United Kingdom. Before Qaddafi came to power, Husam Dughman’s father had been the president of the University of Libya and his maternal grandfather had been a prime minister. Immediately following Qaddafi’s military coup d’état in 1969, both stood up to the Qaddafi regime and were consequently imprisoned: Husam Dughman’s father was incarcerated for a period of 10 years, during which he was subjected to regular torture by the Qaddafi regime, and his grandfather was incarcerated for five years.
In the 1990s, Husam Dughman returned to Libya and worked as a university professor of political science. Due to conflicts with the Qaddafi regime, he resigned from his university position in 1997 and subsequently worked in legal translation. Years later, Husam Dughman left Libya for North America, where he has been working as a Newcomer specialist, helping new immigrants with their settlement.
Husam Dughman has recently published a book, Tete-a-tete with Muhammad, and he has also published various articles about the Middle East. You can find out more by visiting his website at http://www.husamdughman.com