Islamic Activists

This is a short and accessible study of three contemporary political activists and thinkers defined by the author as ‘moderate Islamists’ – Qaradawi, Ghannouchi and Yassine – who are depicted as democrats without accepting an enlightenment binary of reason versus religion. The three chapters which deal, sequentially, with these thinkers are preceded by a brisk discussion of ‘Orientalism, Islamic activism and rational thought’ and a chapter devoted to the 14th century scholar, Shatibi (d. 1388), whose ideas on the purposes of fiqh, maqasid, and the importance of the public good, maslatiah, inform and enliven the work of her activist thinkers. The work concludes with a comparison of their ideas and some of the ongoing tensions within their thinking.

The three chapters devoted to the individual thinkers, include very useful biographical material which contextualises their thinking. What is clear is that all three seek a place for ijtihad; all distance themselves from traditional, taqlidi thinking and all look to the medieval period for inspiration when reason and revelation complemented each other in the works of innovative, Muslim scientists. This goes hand-in-hand with the traditional, apologetic trope that the western experience of Enlightenment which predicates democracy on reason de-linked from religion, church from state, is not relevant for the Islamic world which did not experience any such clash. Writing within an American context, the author is more aware of the multiplicity of Enlightenments – neither the American nor British experience was predicated on reason versus religion (see Gertude Himmelfarb’s The Roads to Modernity, The British, French and American Enlightenments).

There is much of interest in the book. One theme which comes across very clearly is that all three Islamists have learned from recent history: all have been imprisoned by oppressive regimes: Qaradawi in Egypt, Ghannouchi in Tunisia and Yassine in Morocco. All are convinced that the Islamist project can only flourish in a context of political freedom and democracy, rather than tyranny and oppression. This, in large part, seems to explain Qaradawi’s dissent from al-Banna’s critique of democracy.