ISLAMIC POLITICAL AND LEGAL THOUGHT IN SEARCH OF ANSWERS TO NEW CHALLENGES
Abstract
It was late in the 20th century that Islam developed into a major issue of contemporary world politics. It left the realm of academic deliberations to be discussed by political scientists, publicists, and journalists. They normally concentrate on several subjects: Islam and international terrorism and political extremism inherited from the past as well as several recent ones, namely the Muslim world’s future in the context of political changes and the role of Islam in the process. In the final analysis, this is related to the future of Islam under the conditions of accelerating globalization.
Globalization has become a prominent feature of the contemporary world. Seen by itself it is a more or less natural, or even inevitable, process born of the on-going interaction among countries,cultures, and ways of life, as well as vigorous exchanges at the state and personal levels. Like all other parts of the globe, the Muslim world feels the impact of globalization and its ambiguous in-fluences.
So far, the rich West profits more than the rest of the world from the fact that globalization tends to impose identical rules on all the countries involved in the process. This explains the fact that while many countries (Russia included) are seeking WTO membership, some public associations and movements are regularly protesting against the common standards imposed on the world in the interests of huge monopolies that do nothing for the rest of the world but widen the gap between the economically developed and underdeveloped regions.
In the context of the Shari‘a teaching about the hierarchy of human interests, it can be said that while some states use globalization to live in greater comfort or even luxury, others cannot cope with their everyday needs: the starting positions of the members of international exchange vary greatly.
his is the reason that the Islamic legal doctrine insists on taking into account initial positions in full conformity with the principles of justice and law within which the Shari‘a grants privileges to the needy and even temporarily exempts them from certain common duties. In real life, however, generosity of this kind is a rare commodity.
Downloads
References
See, for example: Abdel Azim al-Matani, “Globalization as a New Form of Traditional Rejection of Islam by the West,” Al Bayan (Dubai), 26 November, 1999 (in Arabic).
See: Ash-Shark al-Awsat (London), 18 October, 1997.
See: As-Siyasa (Kuwait), 8 January, 2001; Al-Watan (Kuwait), 7 January, 2001; Ar-Ray al-Amm (Kuwait), 8 Jan-uary, 2001; Al-Iman (Kuwait), 5 January, 2001.
See, for example: Abu al-Hasan al-Mawardi, Norms of Power and Administration of Religious Affairs, Beirut, s.a.,pp. 175-176; Ibn Rushd, The Beginning of Ijtihad and the Limits of Achievement, Cairo, 1983, Part 1, pp. 449-451; Muham-mad al-Hatib ash-Shirbini, Enriching the Needy, Damascus, s.a, Part 4, pp. 260-265 (all in Arabic).
See: Muhammad Abu Zahra, International Relations in Islam, Cairo, 1964, pp. 53-57 (in Arabic).
See: Wahba az-Zuheyli, International Relations in Islam as Compared with Contemporary International Law,Beirut, 1981, pp. 103-112 (in Arabic).
See: Abdel Wahhab Hallaf, Shari‘a Politics. Constitutional, Foreign Policy and Financial Foundations of the Is-lamic State, Beirut, 1987, pp. 72-79 (in Arabic).
See, for example: Yusuf al-Karadawi, Sovremennye fatwy (izbrannoe), Issue 1, Andalus Publishers, Moscow, 2004,pp. 202-205.
See: Yusuf al-Karadawi, On the Legal Conception of the State in Islam. The Status of the State, Its Specific Fea-tures, Nature and Attitude to Democracy, Pluralism, the Role of Women and Non-Muslims, Cairo, 1997 (in Arabic).
See, for example: Yusuf al-Karadawi, Muslim Law Between Specifics and Renovation, Cairo, 1986; idem, Con-temporary Ijtihad between Abidance and Violation of Strict Rules, Cairo, 1994; Muhammad Usman Shubeyr, Legal Inter-pretation of New Situations in Islam and Its Practical Implementation, Damascus, 2004; Abdallah Muhammad al-Jabburi,Muslim Law between Specifics and Renovation, Amman, 2005 (all in Arabic).
See, for example: L. Sjukijainen, “Islam vs. Islam. On Islamic Alternative to Extremism and Terrorism,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, No. 3 (15), 2002.
[http://www.islam.kw.2006-10-17].
See: Al Watan, Kuwait, 30 November, 2005; 1 December, 2005; 4 December, 2005; 5 December, 2005; 6 Decem-ber, 2005.
See: As Siyasa (Kuwait), 8 December, 2005.
For more detail, see: Z.I. Levin, Reforma v islame. Byt ili ne byt? Opyt sistemnogo i sotsiokul’turnogo issledova-nia, Kraft Publishers, Moscow, 2005.
See: Yusuf al-Karadawi, Legal Muslim Substantiation of Priorities Based on the Koran and Sunnah, Cairo, 1995 (in Arabic).
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2006 Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
