Tensions and Transitions in the Muslim World
By Louay M. Safi

University Press of America

Tensions and Transitions in the Muslim World provides an
alternative reading of Middle Eastern politics and
political culture by focusing on the dynamics of change,
and examining the role of Islam in the emerging modern
Middle East.
Louay Safi contends that by focusing on radical and
traditionalist Islam, Middle East specialists often
overlook the liberal manifestations of Islam, which,
though marginalized, constitute the driving force in the
sociopolitical development of the Middle East. To capture
the dynamics of progress in the Middle East, Safi examines
the impact of the ideological struggle and intellectual
debate between the forces of modernism and Islamic
traditionalism on the transformation of mainstream society,
and delineates the emerging sociopolitical outlooks and
orientations, locked in a fierce struggle for the
heart and soul of the Middle East.

Table of Contents

·      Preface
·      Introduction
·      Democratization and the Islamic State: Islam and the
Secular State; State and
Society in Traditional Islam
·      Visions of Reform: Competing Visions of Reform; Arab
Nationalism: Forging a
New Political Identity; Islamic Reform and Radicalism
·      Islam Law and Human Rights: Islamic Law (Shari'ha) and
Society; Human Rights
and Islamic Legal Reform; Human Rights and Cross-Cultural
Dialogue
·      Islam in a Global Order: Islam and the West: Resurgence
and Ambivalence
·      Appendix A: The Covenant of Medina; Appendix B:
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights; Appendix C: Universal Islamic Declaration of
Human Rights
·      Notes
·      Glossary
·      Index
·      Bibliography


Praises

After September 11, 2001, there has been a flood of books
on Islam--good, bad and indifferent. Now, with Louay Safi's
new book, we have an outstanding and perceptive analysis of
what is happening in and around Muslim society. This is a
must-read book for anyone seriously interested in studying
one of the most important issues of the 21st century.

Akbar S. Ahmed
 Ibn Khaldun Chair and Professor of Islamic Studies
 American University, Washington D.C.


The reform movement within Islam deserves the greatest
attention of serious scholars, for it promises to be the
best way to transform traditional Muslim society so that it
becomes modern and democratically inclined.  In this fine
and well-argued book, Louay Safi shows how the reform
movement accomplishes such a task.He thereby makes an
important contribution to our understanding of Islam
today and in the recent past.

Charles E. Butterworth,
Professor of Middle East Political Thought, University of
Maryland


Post 9/11 has made more urgent questions like: "Are there
moderate Muslims?"
"What is the attitude of Islam and contemporary Muslims
towards secularism,modernization, democratization, and
globalization?" Dr. Louay Safi addresses these issues and
provides a clear and direct voice, one that will shed light
and heat.Tensions and Transitions in the Muslim World will
both inform and challenge Muslims and
nonMuslims,policymakers and academic experts to understand
and respond to the "realities and issues" that are critical
to relations between the Muslim world and the West, and
between non-Muslim and their fellow Muslim citizens in
Europe and America.

John L. Esposito
University Professor & Director
 Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown
University
Can a state be both Islamic and secular? In the global
debate between Islamic revivalism and Islamic reform, this
book is bound to occupy a unique place.  It draws a much
needed distinction between the rules of the Shariah and the
values of the Ummah, and uses that distinction to reconnect
democracy with Islam.
Drawing from the intellectual history of both Islam and the
West, Louay Safi gives us a book of both solid scholarship
and ethical guidance.

Ali A. Mazrui
Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities
and Director of Institute of Global Cultural Studies
Binghamton University, SUNY
Louay M. Safi offers a sensitive, timely study for
rethinking modern Islamic political thought.By
reconsidering the relation between religion and politics
and the inherent goals of secularism, Safi invites Muslims
to grapple with the
complexities of modernity and reevaluate Islamic precepts
and practices in today's world.Safi encourages Muslims to
forge their own authentic positions
towards democracy, civil society, and social justice while
simultaneously promoting new analytical scholarship in
Western political thought.

Abdul Aziz Said
Director, Center for Global Peace
American University, Washington, DC



Orders and Examination Copies

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$65.00 Cloth    0-7618-2721-8   December 2003   246pp
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Q: Is President Bush pushing for democracy too quickly in
post-Saddam Iraq?

Posted Dec. 1, 2003
By Radwan Masmoudi
No: The sooner democracy is established, the sooner Iraq
will become a reliable ally of the West.

Can democracy succeed in Iraq? Despite our numerous
mistakes in Iraq (going to
war prematurely and the very slow pace of reconstruction),
I believe that Iraq
can become a real democracy and that we must stay the
course and make sure this
happens. Failure to do so will spell disaster for us and
for the region for
decades to come, and will discredit the United States in
the eyes of the whole
world.

Now that Saddam Hussein no longer is in power, it is
necessary to hold elections
in Iraq as soon as possible to let Iraqis govern themselves
and hold their
rulers accountable for change. A one-year time frame is not
unrealistic or
impossible, but certainly this should be done within two
years. Having an
elected transitional government will relieve the United
States of the dangers
inherent in a long-term occupation of the country.

True, some argue that democracy in Iraq in the near term
would destabilize the
region. This is a misguided fear of the unknown. Iraqis,
who have been
devastated by 25 years of oppressive rule, will not vote
for authoritarian
secularists nor for a theocratic government. They have been
inoculated against
dictatorship and will never allow another dictator to rule
over them. The
leaders who are likely to emerge from a popular election in
Iraq, whether held
tomorrow or 10 years from now, are conservative Muslim
democrats who combine
Islamic conservative values with democratic ideals and
principles.

Those who advocate "stability" in the Middle East have not
been in the region
lately to see how people there live in extreme poverty and
with corruption, lack
of education and lack of dignity. Economic development
cannot happen without
good governance, accountability, the rule of law,
separation of powers and
transparency to fight corruption and mismanagement. An
elected government is
more likely to win the trust, the loyalty and the
cooperation of the Iraqi
people.

The current regimes in the Middle East have failed
miserably and, if they want
to remain, they must change. In many countries of the
Middle East and the wider
Muslim world, unemployment ranges between 30 and 50
percent, illiteracy is
between 60 and 70 percent and more than 50 percent of the
population is younger
than 25 years of age. If this is not a recipe for disaster,
I don't know what
is! Arab and Muslim countries are rich in natural resources
(oil, gas,
phosphates, etc.) yet only about 5 to 10 percent of the
population is benefiting
from these resources. While these privileged few live in
luxury, the majority
(80 to 90 percent) of the people are struggling to put
bread on the table.

This economic deprivation is only a sign that these regimes
have outlasted their
usefulness. What is worse is the level of oppression under
which all society,
especially the youth, lives. This situation cannot continue
for much longer
without the expectation of increased violence, anger and
acts of desperation,
which in turn will be used to justify more-oppressive
policies. The cycle of
hatred and violence must be broken.

We live in an age of globalization, when a speech in a
small-town church in the
South is heard halfway around the globe faster and louder
than it is heard by
the next-door neighbors. Arabs and Muslims (who, as
President George W. Bush
pointed out, represent one-fifth of humanity) watch on
their televisions and
computer screens as other nations elect and replace their
leaders almost every
month, whereas Arabs and Muslims are accustomed to being
stuck with the same
leaders for 20 or 30 years. Such people are hungry for
representative government
because it will return to them their dignity and their
humanity. The people of
the Middle East, especially the youth, cannot and will not
be excluded from the
Information Age and from demanding their rights of
equality, dignity and the
pursuit of their dreams and aspirations.

Bush's speech at the National Endowment for Democracy on
Nov. 6 was wonderful
and inspiring. I was in the audience, and I found myself
nodding in agreement
and moved by almost every sentence. The speech could become
a major historical
event for the Middle East and for relations between the
United States and the
Muslim world. At long last U.S. policymakers are convinced
that supporting
dictators and oppressive regimes is not the way to peace
and stability. Even if
friendly dictators serve some short-term benefits and
interests, in the long run
they create so much desperation, anger and hopelessness
that it ultimately
results in chaotic and violent overthrows. The stability
that they claim to
provide is fake and explosive.

The best thing the United States can do to improve its
relations and image in
the Muslim world is to align its foreign policies with its
own universal
underpinnings and moral values of freedom, justice,
equality and dignity for
all.

Many people in the United States and abroad argue that
democracy is not
compatible with Islam and Islamic values and traditions.
This is untrue and
unfair. For more than 1,000 years Islam has advocated and
practiced freedom of
thought, freedom of religion and respect for human dignity.
Islam emphasizes
that there is "no compulsion in religion" and that faith
must be a matter of
personal choice and conviction. God created us to be free
and gave us the
freedom to believe or not to believe, to obey his
commandments or not to obey.
Freedom of religion and freedom of conscience therefore is
a prerequisite for
human life and human dignity. That is why Muslims,
Christians and Jews have
lived peacefully for centuries in the Middle East. Many
Americans do not know
that between 20 and 30 percent of Palestinians are
Christian and that there are
millions of Christian and Jewish Arabs who live from
Morocco to Egypt to Yemen.

Democracy offers the only hope. People must feel that they
have a stake and a
voice in running their own affairs. Democracy will provide
the mechanism for all
Arabs and Muslims to participate in politics, to elect
their rulers and to hold
them accountable. Democracy will, above all, give people
and citizens a sense of
belonging to a nation and to a society that cares about
them, and in which they
have a role and a stake. The principles of democracy (i.e.
equality before the
law, freedom, accountability and justice) are strongly
embedded in Islamic
jurisprudence, practice and its value system.

Since World War II, most of the authoritarian regimes of
the Middle East have
been secular and not religious. In fact, in the name of
secularism they have
fought against religion (Islam), prohibited religious
practices and killed and
tortured religious leaders. As a result, Islamic groups and
movements are seen
as the victims of oppression and are gaining in strength
and popular support,
while the popularity and the credibility of the secular
leaders are dwindling.

It is very encouraging that the United States is not trying
to impose secularism
in Iraq. The role of religion in politics has to be
negotiated by political and
religious leaders, but probably will remain important in
the context of Muslim
societies. From Morocco to Indonesia, Muslims are
struggling with the question
of how to be a good Muslim in the 21st century. This will
require a new
interpretation and a new adaptation (Ijtihad) of Islamic
principles and
jurisprudence to the realities, necessities and challenges
of the modern age.
True Ijtihad, however, cannot take place in an environment
of fear, repression
and violence. Democracy will pave the way for a dialogue
between Muslim leaders,
scholars and the populace for how Islam and Muslims can
thrive now and in the
future.

The road to democracy in Iraq, in Afghanistan and in the
Muslim world will not
be easy. There certainly are risks involved. But the
benefits of democracy far
outweigh the risks, and the certain negative impacts of
oppression and
dictatorship are much more lethal and dangerous. Supporting
democracy is the
best strategy for the United States and for Arab and Muslim
countries. However,
a speech or several well-meaning speeches will not be
enough, no matter how
inspiring they are. U.S. policies that could speed
democratization in the region
would include the following:


Send a clear message to all Arab and Muslim leaders that a
precondition for good
relations with the United States will mean immediate
political reforms,
including the freeing of all political prisoners, the
holding of free and fair
elections under international monitoring and supervision,
the legalization of
all political parties except those that advocate violence
and term limits on the
tenure of presidents and/or prime ministers.


Countries that respect freedom and implement democratic
reforms should be
compensated with foreign assistance, trade and investment.
Those that don't
should be isolated and U.S. officials and dignitaries must
stop visiting them
and showering their leaders with praise and diplomatic
niceties. The White House
should lobby the United Nations to censure or remove
leaders who are not
democratically elected by 2008.


Support independent and civil organizations throughout the
Arab and Muslim world
that are working to promote a culture of understanding,
democracy, tolerance,
freedom and dignity. Numerous organizations, such as the
Ibn-Khaldoun Center in
Egypt and the Citizenship Forum in Morocco, are at the
forefront of the struggle
for democracy and good governance. Civil societies should
be supported and
strengthened by the United States, the European Union and
by international
organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank
and UNESCO.

If these policies are implemented, the Bush doctrine of
"forward strategy of
freedom in the Middle East" will be a success and our
children will live in a
much more peaceful and prosperous world. This age will be,
as the president
called it, "the age of liberty."

Masmoudi is the founder and president of the Center of the
Study of Islam and Democracy, a Washington-based nonprofit
think tank. He also is the editor in chief of the center's
quarterly publication, Muslim Democrat. Contact Radwan
Masmoudi at [log in to unmask]





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