Islamic Liberation Theology: The Perspective of Hamid Dabashi
By Grace Mubashir, New
Age Islam
5 June 2024
When Muslims Across
The World Lose Hope, This Book Presents Shining Thoughts For Muslims Worldwide.
The Combination Of Political Salience And Theoretical Force Makes Islamic
Liberation Theology A Cornerstone Of A Whole New Generation Of Thinking About
Political Islamism And A Compelling Read For Anyone Interested In Contemporary
Islam
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Islamic Liberation Theology: Resisting the
Empire Hardcover by Hamid Dabashi
Print length: 320 pages
Language: English
Publisher: Routledge
Publication date: 13 May 2008
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Although
the concept of liberation theology is deep in the Christian community, it has
not taken root in the Muslim community. Among the Muslims themselves, the
minority ``Shia'' is less studied. This descending order exists only in the
case of the English term 'Liberation Theology'. Ideas almost similar to what we
are dealing with today under this name are active in the Muslim community.
Hamid Dabashi's 'Islamic Liberation Theology: Defending Empire' explores the
potential for translation between this activism and the modern term 'liberation
theology'.
A professor
of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New
York City, Dabashi is already well-known as the author of more than twenty
internationally acclaimed books. The chapters include Resisting Imperialism,
The End of Islamic Ideology, Blindness and Insight, Islam and Globalization,
'Shia' Suffering Drama, Liberation Religious Justice, and Malcolm X. The book
spans over three hundred pages, with seven chapters titled beginning with a
voluminous introduction and ending with an equally voluminous and erudite
conclusion.
In the
first two chapters, which are complementary in nature, the essence of the
subject is clearly written. Although some chapters are supplementary in nature,
they are essential to ensure the integrity of the book.
Culture is
what differentiates humans from animals. Exploitation and handling are not
ethical issues in the animal world. According to 'Charles Darwin's' principle
of natural determination, handouts are natural in 'survival of the fittest'.
Humans did not become cultured all at once. Man, having experimented with
various forms of the social system, recognized the defects of each and moved
towards a better one. Meanwhile, religion has appeared in various guises.
First, religion has come as a solution to man's thought dilemmas such as
existential crisis. Many of the consequences of religion becoming a way to
lighten the burden of the mind can be found in Marx's famous statement,
"Religion is an opium that hypnotizes man." In this way, the priesthood
came into the picture to take advantage of the commercial potential of the
increasing popularity of religion and God. God had no small place not only in
man's spiritual life but also in his material life. It was a place that
provided the belief that God will reward you if you do good and punish you if
you do injustice to fellow human beings. Gradually the depth and breadth of
space became less and less and the belief that if one did not question the
inequalities of material life one would get a better life in reincarnation or
the afterlife gained popularity. Religion literally became an opium that
hypnotizes people with the belief that the cause of suffering in life is the
sins of the past life, and if you experience the results of karma, you will get
a good life in the next life.
Although
Marxist-Leninist thought rejects mechanistic materialism, the movements and
regimes that emerged around the world with the dream of 'communism' were not
far from mechanistic materialism at the practical level. Moreover, tyranny is
at the head of socialist governments. It is in this context that 'liberation
theology' emerges as a messiah. It was an experiment in combining the
egalitarian vision advanced by the socialist-communist movements with the
spirituality of religion, and distinctive Christianity. Another significance is
that regions like 'Latin America' served as sources of this thought. For a long
time, the priesthood served as an exploitative power and allied itself with
other exploitative powers of the time. Even movements that were progressive in
some respects were not so in all respects. The 'Protestant movement' which
railed against the priesthood did not oppose the monarchy. This was also the
case with the 'Mu'tazilites' who rose up against scriptural extremism in Islamic
history.
Important
among the reasons why religion did not oppose the exploitative forces was the
social background of those who came forward as its spokesmen and interpreters.
The lessons taught by the barbarians who stuck to the upper classes were accepted
as the official lessons of the religion. Because the grievances of marginalized
groups were beyond the experiences of the priesthood, they were not included in
the considerations of religion. Among people living in the same geographical
background, there can be two types of readings, be it about religion or
anything else. But with the advent of 'colonialism', 'geography' also
intervenes in such reading varieties. Hamid Dabashi's book can be described as
a critical analysis of this interaction. The book title 'Islamic Liberation
Theology: Against Empire' is open to such a variety of interpretations. Against
the Empire can also be read as 'against the Islamic Empire'. So, it can be said
that the content of the book is the conflict between 'Islamic Liberation
Theology' and 'Islamic Empire'. If geographical variation in the reading of the
Bible and capital made regions like 'Latin America' hotbeds of liberation
theology, this kind of variation in the reading of Islam by 'Islamists' was
long before that. It is the scientific analysis of this contradiction that
makes Dabashi's book original.
Prominent
among these contradictions was the 'West versus Islam' dichotomy. There are
historical and contemporary reasons why the views of the Islamic thinkers who
led the movements from the late 19th century onwards were connected to
geography. The invasions of exploration since the capture of 'Constantinople'
by the Turks are prominent for historical reasons. The Turks who captured
'Constantinople' were Muslims by religion. Moreover, Muslims had a large
presence in the populations of Afro-Asian lands conquered and plundered by
Europeans, and in the vanguard of the resistance movements that arose there.
Therefore, 'Islam' became synonymous with the East in 'East against the West'.
Dabashi recognizes that this reduced Islam as an ideal code. This has happened
to many other religious philosophies. The division between Christendom and
Paganism is well known.
'Dabashi'
examines the developments in the Sunni and Shia communities since the 19th
century and assesses how they failed. Instead of 'Islam against the West', he
counts the 'Iranian Revolution', which emerged with the slogan 'Islam against
the East and the West', as one of the failures. Meanwhile, the benefits of such
advances are not lost.
The author
assesses almost all the movements that took place in the Muslim world during
the colonial period, moving away from sectarian prejudices as much as possible.
Even Jamaluddin Afghani's 'Pan-Islamism' became virtually non-Pan when the
movements inspired by it in Egypt and the Indo-Pak subcontinent became somewhat
narrower in worldview. The most progressive aspect of Afghani's thought was
that he emphasized the need for the unity of Muslim and non-Muslim populations
for the success of anti-colonial struggles in Egypt and India. But the fact is
that the dual concept of Islam and the West still exists there. It was natural
at that time when empires and empires were not completely lost. Two world wars
took place after his death. A significant problem with the movements inspired
by his ideas was that they imitated communist movements to a greater extent in
appearance. That too was natural. The socialist revolution in Russia was
triumphant in the same year that World War I ended, when the Caliphate,
nominally under the leadership of Turkey, was crushed by the ``Sunni faction'',
the majority of Muslims, as part of the global community. Later we see the
growing socialist slums fighting against the American slums under the
leadership of the Soviet Union. When this was translated into the Muslim
context, the concept of Islam was asserted against the West. Moreover, there
were many in the Muslim world who saw a new saviour in the Soviet Union.
This is the
psychology behind the active participation of Muslims, including religious
scholars, in the process of building the communist movement in South Asia. But
they did not reinterpret Islam according to the new situation. But it was the
movements of 'Banna' and 'Abul A'la' who, though with many changes, had a
lasting resonance in Egypt and the Indo-Pak subcontinent. However the rejection
of 'Wahhabi' ideas from Saudi Arabia has adversely affected all of them
ideologically. Religion is a veil in Afro-Asian countries. Its beneficiaries
are many. Religion was one of the strategies that American imperialism invented
to deal with the rise of socialist slums under the leadership of the Soviet
Union. For this, they used God as common to all religions. Recently, the Saudi
government has clarified that it was on the instructions of the United States
that it tried to send the 'Wahhabi brand of Islam' to other countries.
The Saudi
regime needed religion to control the people. The Saudi government informed the
people that they are people of religion and that religious dictatorship reigns
in their country by capturing some poor people from somewhere every week and
throwing them to death! Among the Wahhabis, there was a group of religious
extremists who did not fall for these dramas. It was they who launched the
failed revolution in 1979. The Saudi government was able to resist and defeat
it. But in the Iranian revolution of the same year, another dictator, 'Shah',
who had the same American bias, fell. The reason is that while the Saudi king
played a religious man, the Shah played a 'progressive' in Iran. American
imperialism thus understood the power of religion in containing popular anger.
The 'Wahhabi brand of Islam' was adopted as a shield to protect not only from
the communist threat but also from the revolutionary-Islamic threat from Iran.
The third
chapter 'Blindness and Insight' sheds more light on the philosophical aspects
of the subject. The fourth chapter, 'Islam and Globalization', traces precisely
the dynamics of the post-Cold War era when capital powers gained momentum. The
chapters on 'Shia' history provide insights into many matters that are
generally unknown to Indian readers. 'Malcolm X; The chapter 'A Muslim
Revolutionary' points to many issues which have been neglected by the
mainstream and the Muslim mainstream. Moreover, Malcolm X's life is presented
as a solution to the dichotomy of 'Islam versus the West'.
Against Oppression
"Islamic
Liberation Theology: Resisting the Empire" by Hamid Dabashi presents a
compelling and scholarly examination of the intersection between Islamic thought
and liberation theology, set against the backdrop of global imperialism and
colonialism. Dabashi's work is both an academic and a passionate discourse,
challenging dominant narratives that marginalize Islamic perspectives within
the broader spectrum of liberation theologies. He meticulously critiques the
socio-political structures that perpetuate oppression, arguing that true
liberation is inherently linked to cultural and religious identity.
Drawing
parallels with Christian liberation theology, Dabashi posits that Islamic
liberation theology serves as a critical framework for resisting oppression and
advocating for social justice. He delves into historical and contemporary
instances of resistance, highlighting the role of Islamic principles in fostering
resilience and hope among oppressed communities. His analysis is rich with
references to historical events, theological debates, and contemporary
geopolitical issues, offering a nuanced understanding of how Islamic thought
can contribute to global discourses on justice and liberation. Dabashi also
engages with the works of influential Islamic thinkers and activists,
emphasizing the dynamic and evolving nature of Islamic liberation theology.
This book is a rigorous intellectual endeavour that challenges readers to
reconsider preconceived notions about Islam and its role in contemporary
struggles for justice.
Through a
blend of theoretical analysis and practical examples, Dabashi illustrates the
transformative potential of an Islamic liberation theology that is deeply
rooted in the principles of justice, equality, and human dignity. His writing
is both accessible and profound, making complex ideas understandable without
oversimplifying them. Overall, "Islamic Liberation Theology: Resisting the
Empire" is a vital contribution to the fields of theology, political
science, and Middle Eastern studies, offering a powerful vision of how Islamic
thought can inspire and sustain movements for liberation and social justice in
a world still grappling with the legacies of empire and colonialism.
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A regular columnist for NewAgeIslam.com, Mubashir V.P is a PhD scholar
in Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia and freelance journalist.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/books-documents/islamic-liberation-theology-hamid-dabashi/d/132449
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