On the Necessity of Islamic Renewal

The new scene has its benefits and drawbacks, of course, but what is certain is the need for new thinking that leads to new tools for understanding and action, posing different new questions. For instance, does Islam become a component that encompasses all currents, directions, and classes without presenting its own specific political, cultural, and social programs? In other words, does the Islamic trend disappear as an independent current, leading to the emergence of Islamic leftist formations, Islamic liberalism, Islamic secularism, Islamic nationalism, and Islamic conservatism? So that Islam becomes a shared component, or loses its specificity and ends as a political phenomenon and framework for gathering and action.

These propositions require Islamic movements to adopt a set of ideas and practices in an unequivocal manner:

1. They must transform into political parties with their own programs, goals, means, and organizations, moving away from their current status as proselytizing movements sometimes disguised in political attire.

2. They must accept conducting critical and serious readings of Islamic jurisprudence, heritage, prophetic traditions, and historical events.

3. They must clarify what the slogan "Islam is the solution" means. Is it an individual salvation, a political, social, cultural, or economic solution? It should not remain a vague slogan lacking clear features and objectives, except for its appealing characteristic for populism that conflates it as a religious slogan and a political slogan.

4. They need to explain to people what it means for Islam to be the primary reference for the state or the main reference, as well as clarify the content of the state according to the concept of these movements, its standards, functions, and economic and social roles.

Thus, the importance of a new Islamic political project arises, which seeks to solve this dilemma through what it calls a democratic system within the framework of Islamic value-driven objectives. The political system is based on the notion that the people are the source of authorities, which decisively answers a question that has long bewildered fundamentalist movements that have developed their political discourse toward accepting democracy. Citizenship, not religion, forms the basis of the relationship between the political system and the people.

The most important aspect of this project is that it helps reassure those worried that the rise of an Islamic movement to power in free elections will undermine democracy in its infancy. Therefore, the democratic system project within an Islamic framework could advance the dialogue regarding the true stance of Islamic movements toward democracy. However, this idea still needs work to make it clearer and to remove the confusion that has lingered around it. The key focus for proponents of the democratic system with an Islamic reference should be to crystallize this idea and present a clear, unambiguous vision of this reference, including how to embody it and its mechanisms of operation.

Political Islamic groups are thus required to cease employing Islam as a slogan and begin formulating a mature Islamic political theory. This can only occur through a series of in-depth readings that examine all original texts of Islam related to political affairs, attempting to analyze them while understanding the complex realities lived, and then striving to formulate a mature, clearly defined Islamic political vision with legal depth and political awareness, which can serve as a basis for practical reform plans.

The Future of Political Islam

The reality is that the phenomenon of Islamic revivalism remains strong and active, not trending toward decline. The notable features of its mainstream flow include three matters: the abandonment of violence, the spread among broad popular categories, and the deliberate trend in recent decades toward entering the state and system, or the strong demand for participation in both, after establishing themselves in many institutions and organizations within civil society, having taken control of the "agenda" of the religiously observant, and having gained prominent cultural influence.

There is no doubt that issues such as political pluralism, individual freedoms, minorities, and women's rights are fundamental to our states and societies. However, one cannot claim that Islamists are the ones obstructing or standing in the way of these issues, as there exists a general conservative consciousness that transcends Islamists, and, on another hand, the contemporary Arab political experience has placed everyone in circumstances where most do not offer a model that we can expect Islamists to emulate.

Although I am an advocate of a civil state based on the principles of modern democracy, including freedom, justice, equality, and respect for human rights without discrimination based on color, gender, religion, or creed, the reality of the rise of political Islamic currents in Syria compels me, based on the objectivity of my readings on social and political transformations and my involvement in the affairs of Syrian and Arab issues, to study this reality, pay attention to its positive and negative developments, and contribute to rationalizing them based on clear legal, political, and social foundations, aims, and means.

There is no doubt that the emergence of a liberal Islamic movement that believes in the state's neutrality regarding religions and civil ideologies, recognizes all religions and protects their sanctities, and embraces the rights of all components of our society, is a crucial issue in our difficult times. Support for the first religious state is essential, as is sometimes the case with religious concepts. However, this is conditional upon a belief in a liberal secularism, and the proper adherence to government in terms of practice, diversity, the transfer of power, and the basing of political programs on fundamental principles and rational standards for assemblies, freeing them from much religious discourse and interference in people's personal lives.

A paraphrase of a paper presented at the symposium "Islamic Democrats: Experiences and Trends," organized by the Arab Center for Innovation and Development Studies in Doha, October 6-8, 2012.

Levant: Dr. Abdullah Turkmani