“We are chasing an Islamic order ‘stripped of its humanism, aesthetics, intellectual quests and spiritual devotions…. concerned with power not with the soul, with the mobilization of people for political purposes rather than with sharing and alleviating their sufferings and aspirations.”[Eqbal Ahmad]
[Read: Islamic Scholars in modern age علماء اور دور جدید]
Islamism, also known as Political Islam (Arabic: إسلام سياسي islām siyāsī), is an Islamic revival movement often characterized by moral conservatism, literalism, and the attempt "to implement Islamic values in all spheres of life."
Islamists generally oppose the use of the term, claiming that their political beliefs and goals are simply an expression of Islamic religious belief. Similarly, some experts (Bernard Lewis) favor the term "activist Islam", or "political Islam" (Trevor Stanley), and some (Robin Wright) have equated the term "militant Islam" with Islamism.
The different Islamist movements have been described as "oscillating between two poles": at one end is a strategy of Islamization of society through state power seized by revolution or invasion; at the other "reformist" pole Islamists work to Islamize society gradually "from the bottom up". The movements have "arguably altered the Middle East more than any trend since the modern states gained independence", redefining "politics and even borders" according to one journalist (Robin Wright).
Islamists may emphasize the implementation of Sharia (Islamic law); of pan-Islamic political unity, including an Islamic state; and of the selective removal of non-Muslim, particularly Western military, economic, political, social, or cultural influences in the Muslim world that they believe to be incompatible with Islam.
Some observers (such as Graham Fuller) suggest Islamism's tenets are less strict, and can be defined as a form of identity politics or "support for [Muslim] identity, authenticity, broader regionalism, revivalism, [and] revitalization of the community." Following the Arab Spring, political Islam became heavily involved with political democracy,but also spawned "the most aggressive and ambitious Islamist militia" to date, Daesh.
Central and prominent figures of modern Islamism include Hasan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb,Abul Ala Maududi, and Ruhollah Khomeini. Some of these proponents emphasise peaceful political processes, whereas Sayyid Qutb in particular called for violence, and those followers are generally considered Islamic extremists.
Islamism has been defined as:
- "the belief that Islam should guide social and political as well as personal life",
- movement of "supporters of government in accord with the laws of Islam [and] who view the Quran as a political model" original definition of "Islamist".
- "a theocratic ideology that seeks to impose any version of Islam over society by law". Subsequently clarified to be, "the desire to impose any given interpretation of Islam on society".
- "the [Islamic] ideology that guides society as a whole and that [teaches] law must be in conformity with the Islamic sharia",
- a pejorative shorthand for extremist Muslims or Muslims the American news media "don't like." ("Council on American–Islamic Relations complaint about old AP definition of Islamist).
- a term "used by outsiders to denote a strand of activity which they think justifies their misconception of Islam as something rigid and immobile, a mere tribal affiliation."
- a movement so broad and flexible it reaches out to "everything to everyone" in Islam, making it "unsustainable".
- an alternative social provider to the poor masses;
- an angry platform for the disillusioned young;
- a loud trumpet-call announcing `a return to the pure religion` to those seeking an identity;
- a "progressive, moderate religious platform` for the affluent and liberal;
- ... and at the extremes, a violent vehicle for rejectionists and radicals.
- an Islamic "movement that seeks cultural differentiation from the West and reconnection with the pre-colonial symbolic universe",
- "the organised political trend, owing its modern origin to the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 1928, that seeks to solve modern political problems by reference to Muslim texts",
- "the whole body of thought which seeks to invest society with Islam which may be integrationist, but may also be traditionalist, reform-minded or even revolutionary",
- "the active assertion and promotion of beliefs, prescriptions, laws or policies that are held to be Islamic in character,"
- a movement of "Muslims who draw upon the belief, symbols, and language of Islam to inspire, shape, and animate political activity;" which may contain moderate, tolerant, peaceful activists or those who "preach intolerance and espouse violence."
- the "often violent and angry version" of Islam that "emerged largely in response to European imperialism", and has become "fashionable" in the late 20th century and early 21st.
- A movement of Muslims who seek to "Islamize" their social, workplace, and family "environment", whether through a violence or a gradual non-violent process. In non-Muslim majority countries this means rejecting assimilation.
Islamism takes different forms and spans a wide range of strategies and tactics towards the powers in place -- "destruction, opposition, collaboration, indifference" that have varied as "circumstances have changed" —and thus is not a united movement.
Moderate and reformist Islamists who accept and work within the democratic process include parties like the Tunisian Ennahda Movement. Jamaat-e-Islami of Pakistan is basically a socio-political and democratic Vanguard party but has also gained political influence through military coup d'état in past. The Islamist groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine participate in democratic and political process as well as armed attacks, seeking to abolish the state of Israel. Radical Islamist organizations like al-Qaeda and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and groups such as the Taliban, entirely reject democracy, often declaring as kuffar those Muslims who support it (see takfirism), as well as calling for violent/offensive jihad or urging and conducting attacks on a religious basis. [From Full article: Wiki]
قرآن مجید کے الفاظ میں انسانی شاکلہ کو تبدیل کرنے سے ہوتی ہے۔ یہ کام مصلحین کرتے ہیں۔ مصلحین کی پہچان یہ ہے کہ وہ سیاست کی حریفانہ کشمکش میں فریق نہیں ہوتے۔
اس امت کی تاریخ میں یہ مصلحین فقہا ہیں، علماء ہیں، تصوف کے فلسفیانہ پہلو سے صرف نظر کریں تو صوفیا ہیں۔ یہ ابو حنیفہ ہیں۔ یہ غزالی ہیں۔ یہ ابن رشد ہیں۔ یہ سر سید ہیں۔ سعید نورسی ہیں۔ فتح اﷲ گولن ہیں۔ یہ اقتدار کی جنگ میں فریقنہیں لیکن ان کے متاثرین سیاسی جنگ میں سرخرو ہوئے ہیں۔
اقبال نے کہا تھا‘ یہ اسلام ہے جس نے ہمیشہ مسلمانوں کی مدد کی، مسلمانوں نے اسلام کی کبھی مدد نہیں کی۔ آخر اہل مذہب کب تک اسلام سے دنیاوی فائدے نچوڑتے رہیں گے؟ کیا وہ وقت بھی کبھی آئے گا جب اسلام کو ان کی ذات سے بھی کوئی فائدہ پہنچے گا؟ اسلام کی اس سے بڑھ کر شاید کوئی خدمت نہ ہو سکے کہ
اسے مزید جنسِ بازار نہ بنایا جائے -
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