The Muslim community in the United States is divided into two groups. The first group consists of indigenous Muslims commonly referred to as African American Muslims. This group of Muslims came to the United States as slaves shipped in from West Africa. Islam religion was well established in West African countries long before the slave trade began. This implies that the slave trade was a major factor in the introduction of Islam religion in the United States. The other group consists of immigrant Muslims who, according to history, came to the United State at the beginning of the first century. Currently, the rivalry between Immigrant Muslims and African American Muslims persists in many areas. The major causes for the rivalry are social factors such as race, gender, and power. These are the factors that have brought about a division of Islam’s religion into two.
According to Amina Wadud, an African American activist, racism has been a factor that has affected African American Muslims who are frequently disregarded by their counterparts. The immigrant Muslims from the Middle East have been quick to judge Africa American Muslims based on the color of their skin and language. The Immigrant Muslims consider themselves to be more advanced in Islam and therefore discriminate the African American Muslims due to their mixed culture and heritage. In a good number of Mosques, the Imams are usually brought in from the Middle East. Such Imams have limited knowledge of the American language which forces them to conduct their religious services in Arabic. This language barrier has brought discrimination whereby the African American Muslims are perceived to be less Muslim than the immigrants.
Gender discrimination has also been a factor promoted by immigrant Muslims. In any Islamic organization run by immigrant Muslims, women are not given any meaningful position to run. They are also less regarded in Mosques. This is different in Mosques run by African Americans where women are allowed to even conduct prayer sessions. This is otherwise a taboo harshly condemned by the immigrant Muslims. The allocation of power has brought discrimination between African American Muslims and immigrant Muslims. Generally, Mosque building is done by donors from the Middle East. They play a big role in the running of the mosques and therefore ensure that the African American Muslims are not given any position to run the offices, organizations, and Mosque affairs.
According to the African American activist, there is a need to address these factors that have brought the division of the Islam religion. To solve the conflicts there is a need for dialogue among the rivalry groups. The groups should discuss ways of uniting the Muslim community in the United States. These discussions will help to come up with a governing style with the formation of an umbrella of the American Muslim. The conflicts on race and ethnic origin should be well tackled to avoid discrimination. Here, Muslims from all walks of life should have a common kinship without the consideration of race, class, and ethnicity. It is only by sharing ideas, dialogue, and sharing experiences that Muslims in the United States be united.
An empirical evaluation of previous research indicates a close correlation between the development of the Arabic language and Islam. This paper explores the Muslim contribution to phonetics based on the correlation between religion and language. The link between Islam and Arabic is an essential connection between religion and linguistic development. The culture behind the exclusive use of Arabic in the Islam culture provides the basis for understanding why the religion is synonymous with phonetics. Religion plays a significant role in the acquisition and development of Modern Standard Arabic. The study focuses on secondary data providing information about the development of Arabic phonetics and the Islamic religion. The Islamic religion is attributed as a contributor to the development of Arabic phonetics.
Introduction
Language is an essential tool that is used in human communication. Different elements vary between lingos and may be influenced by other tongues. Successful communication is achieved through the understanding of the various disciplines in language and linguistics. Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that deals with the study of how speech sounds from different parts of the world are produced and classified (Nasution et al., 2019). Therefore, phonetics can be described as the study of speech sounds in human languages. Many factors determine the way speech sounds are produced in different speech.
According to Moraru (2019), as a result of the classification of speech, dissimilar sounds from multiple lingual can be represented using unique symbols which belong to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Phonetics is an interdisciplinary science that is developed through various applications.
There are many propagators of a language within a community or region, including culture, trade, and tourism. Religion is a subset of culture and plays a considerable role in propagating language and its components through different regions and domains. One of the religions that have a substantial impact on linguistics is Islam, as it is grounded on the use of Arabic. The Islamic religion requires its followers to learn and use Arabic as the primary language of communication. As a result, the spread of Islam is correlated with the propagation of Arabic (Moraru, 2019). Consequently, the reliance on teaching the Arabic language and cultural integration has made Islam contribute heavily to phonetics. Arabic is synonymous with Islam in the context of linguistic development, and in this case, Islam has played an essential contributory role in phonetics. Although most languages have varying dialects with different phonology, Modern Standard Arabic stands out as one of the languages with standard phonetics that feature slight variations across other groups.
The consonants and vowels determine the sounds in speech of any language. The articulatory phonetics of diverse sounds is determined by three primary phonetic properties: voicing, the way, and the place of articulation. Most Islamic communities provide formal and informal avenues for teaching and learning Islam (Alsayat & Elmitwally, 2020). Through these programs, Arabic sounds are taught to young learners who can develop language skills better than adults. The impact of the Arabic language on phonetics cannot be ignored. There are many languages whose phonetics has been influenced by Arabic, including Swahili from East Africa. As a result, various speech sounds are created and produced due to using Arabic phrases and language.
Methods
In this section, the methods and materials used in this research are outlined and discussed. This is done by drafting the procedures of data collection and then finalizing the methods.
Ethnography
Ethnography was the method used to collect information used for this study; it is an illustrative research method involving a particular group for a given period. It allows one to offer their opinion and analysis based on their self-experience, much like anthropology (Fowler, 2017). Ethnographic analysis is the most comprehensive observational approach for studying people in their natural habitat. This approach allows researchers to adjust to the conditions of their target populations, which may range from an organization to a city or any remote area. When gathering data, geographic restrictions may be a problem.
Ethnographies are community-based rather than individual-based, and they focus on describing current conditions rather than historical events. This research method is set to understand their target audience’s culture, challenges they face, and their motivation.
Ethnography research may last for days or even years as it requires an in-depth analysis and observation. It is subject to many challenges, such as time-consuming and language barriers in its initial stages. This method relies on the researcher’s expertise and ability to adapt, observe, infer and analyze data. The advantage of using ethnography as a research method is that it offers researchers a first-hand experience and a direct link to the cultural practices of a given group (Jamali, 2018). The researcher learns from experience by involving themselves with the group’s daily activities. This method sets out to offer a detailed account of a particular group enabling researchers to explore a number of aspects within the group.
Case Study Research
Islam religion is practiced by over 1.8 billion Muslims across the world. A large number of followers of the faith are in Africa and Asia. As a result of the integration of Islam with the Arabic language, there are over 400 million Arabic speakers worldwide. The spread of Islam is usually linked with the spread of Arabic (Mohamed et al., 2021). As a result of the adventures of the Omani Arabs to the East African coast, many people traded with them. During the interaction between the locals and the traders, there was an exchange of cultural values, including language and religion. Interactions between traders and locals involved introducing Muslim scholars who taught Arabic classes to the locals to understand the basics of the Muslim faith.
The spread of Islam on the East African coast went on for a long time, and more people were learning the language. However, a local vernacular appeared and picked words from both the Bantu dialects spoken at the location and Arabic, which was associated with the Islamic Faith. With time, this vernacular developed to become Swahili. The development of Swahili is attributed to the interaction between the Arab traders and the locals. The integration of Arabic into the local lingo through the Islamic religion played a huge role in shaping the region’s language. Therefore, the impact of Muslim contribution towards developing a new lingua franca with new structures and vocabulary cannot be overlooked. The case study of the integration of Arabic phonetics in the Swahili language is an essential indicator of the impact of Islam. The case study has provided a clear outline of how Islam has impacted.
Results
From the study, it is evident that Islam has contributed substantially to phonetics. From the Ethnographic research, there was a realization of the close ties between Islam religion and Arabic. The adoption of the Muslim faith has led to the growth of the Arabic language. Empirical analysis on the matter indicates that over 90% of Muslims speak a certain level of Arabic. As a result of adopting Arabic and phrases in day-to-day words, many individuals have gained new sounds from the language. Arabic is taught to all Muslim believers; thus, they know the lingua and adopt its phonetics.
The spread of Islam in the world was both a religious and political phenomenon as Muslim leaders wanted to control several regions and spread their faith. Islam also spread due to trade, and some communities converted to religion, such as West and North Africa. The expansion of Islam in the world had a massive impact on several languages, contributing to phonetics. Communities in Western and Northern Africa, Europe, and East Africa adopted some Arabic words and integrated them with their languages. The most significant impact of the spread of Arabic is the creation of Swahili, which is a lingua created from the former, some Bantu dialects, and Portuguese. The adoption of Arabic meant communities integrated their phonetics with Arabic, such as the Swahili speakers. When the Muslim faithful traded or conquered other areas, they were keen on expanding their religion and language. There was an early interest amongst the Muslims in the sounds of their confessional linguistic, Arabic, in which the Quran is written.
Spreading the Islamic faith worldwide meant that those who converted needed to speak Arabic. In Islam, scripture should be read and recited liturgically, which is one of the primary forms of their impact on phonetics. Islam faithful similarly recite the Quran to Prophet Muhammad when an angel bade him perform the Iqra. Reciting the Quran in Arabic has had a significant impact on the phonetics of several languages worldwide. Islamic scholars such as Ibn Jinni state that the variances among speech sounds are identified by producing more. Jinni states that reciting in Arabic has affected some letters, such as /k/ and /q/. When producing a sound from the pharynx, later moving towards the front part of the mouth, various timbres will be produced as a person passes diverse articulation places. Speaking entails sending air from the trachea out to the oral cavity, and this results in speech.
Arabic has had a massive impact on languages worldwide in various ways as different communities have adopted some of the phonetics that arise from it. The adoption of Arabic has had a huge impact description of sounds, such as the sonority hierarchy and emphatic sounds. Arabic has impacted phonetics such that there are mismatches in some sounds, such as /q/ and /t/. Scholars have attributed the mismatch in some phonetics to sound change and ancient linguistics. Sound changes have rendered some phonetics voiceless over the period, while ancient linguistics have been imprecise in their categorization of speech sounds. There are some sounds that Arabic has had little impact on them while others have been the most affected. Vowels are the most affected since they are the weakest of all sounds and also sonorous. These are examples of how the spread of Islam has had a substantial influence on phonetics worldwide. Languages are still evolving, and there is potential for Arabic to have a more significant effect on phonetics in the world.
Discussion
The phonetic treatment of the subject of the word in human heritage has been limited to religious studies that deal with the recitation of the Quran. The old Arabic linguist categorized letters into light, heavy, ugly, beautiful, standard, or dialectical but did not explore more about good harmony, which came to be known as ‘the word.’Over the years, Muslim intellectuals have made notable contributions that are more compatible with the latest linguistic discoveries. One of the most influential Muslim phoneticians was Abul-fatḥ Othman Ibn Jinni. He was industrious and profusely in many different language fields, such as phonology and grammar (Elramli & Maiteq, 2020). In his works on phonetics, Ibn Jinni mentions that to identify the difference in speech sounds, one must first produce them.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is a close correlation between the spread of Islam and that of the Arabic language. Adopting Arabic phrases through the space of Islamic religion leads to integrating Arabic speech sounds. As the language develops within a community, there is an apparent adoption of the Arabic sounds in their speech in either their vernacular, Arabic language itself, or in new tongues that arise- an example is Swahili. Therefore, the Muslim religion has contributed hugely to phonetics by propagating the Arabic language across different world regions. There are many discussions about linguistics all over with less attention paid to the contributions of the Muslim scholars in the same field, mainly because of bias, misconception, and stigmatization of the Muslim community.
Mohamed, Y., Hoque, M., Ismail, T. H. S. B., Ibrahim, M. H., Saad, N. M., & Zaidi, N. N. M. (2021). Relationship Between Phonology, Phonetics, & Tajweed: A Literature Review. In 4th International Conference on Sustainable Innovation 2020–Social, Humanity, and Education (ICoSIHESS 2020) (pp. 407-411). Atlantis Press. Web.
Nasution, S., Fithriani, R., Syahnan, M., Harahap, I., Syafaruddin, S., & Qarni, W. (2019). A Contrastive Analysis of Indonesian and Arabic Phonetics. The Second Annual International Conference on Language and Literature.
Hadith is a report of the maxims and acts of the prophet (Peace be upon him). Compilation of these reports began during the era of the prophet and continued after his death. Ahadith (plural of Hadith) are classified according to their authenticity, mode of transmission, and chain of narrators. Muslim bin-Hajjaj al-Nisaburi endeavored to collect Ahadith by establishing the authenticity of other reports (Siddiqui). He worked closely with other teachers of religion to develop an exceptional methodology of compiling Ahadith
Imam Muslim was born in Nishpuri in the year 204 A.H and was brought up in a religiously minded family. That left an ineffaceable religious intuition on his mind. His parents prepared him to spend his life serving God and holding fast to righteousness. According to Siddiqui, the religious atmosphere at home helped Muslim to become a saint of high caliber. He says that Muslim acquired respect at a young age because he never indulged in backbiting, which is a common human weakness.
In addition, Imam Muslim excelled because he had the opportunity to travel to different parts of the world. The main regions he visited are Arabia, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. He attended classes of some of the famous Tradition lecturers such as Harmalah b. Yahya, Ishaq b. Rahwaih, Ahmad b. Hanbal, among others, whenever he visited the regions. After finishing his studies, he travelled back to Nishapur and began teaching Traditions. Nevertheless, he maintained an interest in researching (“Quran & Sunnah : Saheeh Sitta”).
While in Nishapur, Muslim met with Imam Bukhari and was amazed by his exceptional comprehension of Ahadith and Tradition that he attached himself to him until he passed on (” Muhammad an Sunnah.”). Imam Muslim was also a disciple of another prominent Ahadith teacher Muhammad b. Yahya al. Dhuhali.
Their relationship, however, did not last for long. When Imam Muhammad and UIma Bukhari differed in the belief on the subject of creation of the Holy Qur’an and the discrepancy generated into antagonism, Imam Muslim ditched Muhammad b. Yahya but remained a true supporter of Imam Bukhari (“Quran & Sunnah : Saheeh Sitta”).
After the death of Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim resorted to compiling his Ahadith. He incorporated new insights into his mentor’s work and produced an exceptional Hadith. Some religious commentators say Imam Muslim produced highly authentic reports on the subject than most imams, including his teacher Imam Bukhari.
He worked hard, collected and examined 300, 000 traditions, out of which he retained only four thousand (“Muhammad an Sunnah”). He, therefore, used authentic collections to produce books and treaties on his Ahadith. People still benefit from some of these collections to date. For example, “Jami’” of his “Sahih” still offers outstanding insight on religion (“Quran & Sunnah : Saheeh Sitta”). The distinctive quality has attracted immense interest on his methodology of compiling Hadith.
Imam Muslim observed several principles of the science of Hadith that Imam Bukhari, his mentor, ignored. Muslim classified his collection into three different groups: authentic (sahih), good (hasan), and weak (da’eef) information, just as Imam Bukhari. Nevertheless, he was unique because he did not incorporate both weak and good information in his final work (Siddiqui).
Muslim made use of traditions that he found to be both genuine and authentic. He considered that accurate traditions must have been passed on to him by unbroken sequence of trustworthy authorities. They must have been in ideal agreement with what had been narrated by other trustworthy individuals. In addition, they must have been unanimously acknowledged to be without imperfection (Siddiqui).
Moreover, Imam Muslim kept away from causing confusion when describing the sequence of narrators. He did not mention the “kunya” and in many cases avoided giving names of narrators. He applied this rule especially when dealing with Syria narrators (ShiÌ„hÌ£aÌ 15). He also took extraordinary care to record the most accurate accounts by according the exact words of the narrators.
He achieved this by pointing out even the least significant disparities in the wording of the narrators’ reports. Imam Muslim took considerable steps to connect the chain of narrators. This was helpful in eliminating confusion and recording factual encounters. He only recorded Ahadith that at least two trustworthy narrators had heard from at least two trustworthy companions. Subsequent chain of narrators has observed this principle (Siddiqui).
Another key methodology was using simple language. He put a difference between the two main modes of narration: “haddathana “and “akhbarana.” These terms mean he narrated to us, and he informed us, respectively. He required the first mode to be used when the teacher is narrating the Hadith while the student is listening and the second when the student is reading before the teacher (“Quran & Sunnah : Saheeh Sitta”). He constantly indicated the different modes he used to collect all the traditions.
Muslim bin al-Hajjaj al-Nisaburi’s early lifestyle and encounter with Imam Bukhari inspired him to compile his Ahadith with proper care. He also produced one of the best Ahadith because he was hardworking, creative, and observant. These traits helped Imam Muslim to develop better research methodologies than those of his mentor Imam Bakhari.
Works Cited
“Quran & Sunnah : Saheeh Sitta.” IslamiCity.com – Islam & The Global Muslim eCommunity . N.p., n.d. Web.
It is the great obligation of Christians to love other people despite their religious or national identities and have compassion towards them. One of the main challenges of the church today is Islam yet not because it has a small group of radical followers but because there are more than 1.8 billion Muslims in the world1. A substantial part of them has never known the truth of the Gospel and thus constitute a people who can be saved and become Christians.
The current paper explores a variety of ways in which people pursuing their Great Commission, local churches, and mission organizations can work together to help Muslims see biblical truths. Despite the growth of Islamic fundamentalism, mission organizations must partner with churches in different countries to promote the Gospel among Muslims through charity and debate.
Challenges Posed by Islam
First of all, it is necessary to list various challenges related to the church’s activity in terms of promoting the Gospel among Muslims, especially in countries where Islam is the dominant religion. One of them is the growing influence of Islamic fundamentalism, which promotes the perspective on the Westerners as aggressors wishing to undermine the Muslim society’s foundations2. Essentially, mission organizations venturing to Muslim countries may face aggressive treatment on the part of local religious communities. Additionally, according to research, Muslim-majority nations often implement laws discriminating against Christians, thus stimulating social and religious division.3.
Therefore, mission organizations and individuals who wish to fulfill their Great Commission in the Muslim-majority countries have to be careful and should not risk their life by going to places potentially dangerous for them. Thus, the concept of cooperation with the churches which were already established abroad in the countries with a considerable share of Muslim population would be a reasonable strategy to pursue such organizations and individuals.
The Plan for Working with Muslims
The first method in which mission organizations and people pursuing the Great Commission can engage in promoting the Gospel among Muslims abroad is to launch or support a humanitarian aid program with local churches. Countries in the Middle East and other nations with large populations of Muslims often have a low quality of life, especially outside the urban areas. Thus, mission organizations can cooperate with the local churches and provide food and shelter to those in need.
As Paul said to the Ephesians, “the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive”4. The partnership with the local church will allow the missionaries to go through sociocultural adjustment, necessary for establishing effective relations with the host culture representatives in a faster manner5. While sharing of food and shelter will promote stronger ties with the local population and will increase the cultural intelligence and awareness of God’s people who came to promote the Gospel truth.
The next step in the work of mission organizations with the local churches would be to introduce the Muslim population to the Gospel by reading and discussing the Bible in their native language. It is also important to provide education to the local children and teach them the basic skills of reading and writing in order to ensure that they understand the religious texts. The idea here would be to encourage the local population to treat the church as part of their ingroup affiliation, meaning that the former Muslims should experience emotional attachment to the clergymen and members of the mission6.
As a result, they will be more inclined to study the Bible and learn about its truths, as well as to live according to God’s will. As noted in the Bible,” let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven”7. Essentially, by providing food, shelter, and education to the Muslim population and gradually introducing them to the Gospel, the missionaries will be able to make them God’s people.
Finally, the mission organizations should train their members to understand Islam and its core beliefs to confront the aggressive Muslims and show that Jesus has a love for them. In this case, people must have high cultural intelligence, especially in the province of the CQ Action responsible for appropriate functioning in multicultural situations. As Livermore states, leadership is an essential part of any intercultural experience, and missionaries will have to adjust their style depending on the person with whom they communicate8. Essentially, by managing to find a proper way of leading in the conversation, the missionary will be able to challenge Muslims, especially devout ones, and make them interested in exploring the Gospel.
Conclusion
The local churches in countries with large populations of Muslims are the ideal places for mission organizations to launch their charity programs and engage with the locals by exposing them to the Gospel. Today, there are almost two billion Muslims living in the world, and the number is growing, which shows that there are many people wishing to have religious experiences. Yet, currently, the efforts of the church to convert these people to Christianity are lacking, and subsequently, a large number of Muslims end up never learning about biblical truths. Thus, there is an opportunity for mission organizations to help the local churches in different countries to promote the Gospel among the non-believers.
The most effective way to engage in intercultural interactions in countries with many Muslims is to organize humanitarian aid programs which would help the poor and provide them with food and shelter. Such efforts will encourage the locals to have a positive impression of the missionaries and their actions. Gradually, mission organizations have to introduce the locals to the Gospel in their native language by studying the Bible together with them.
Mission organizations also have to teach local children to read the Bible and write and overall encourage them to attend the church. Essentially, the church must become part of the locals’ ingroup and must cause them to experience an emotional connection with it. Finally, mission organizations’ members have to be familiar with Islam and the local cultural norms, including established leadership styles, to be able to influence Muslims and make them see the truth of the Gospel.
Bibliography
Abbasi-Shavazi, Mohammad Jalal, and Gavin W. Jones. “Population Dynamics and Human Capital in Muslim Countries.” Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 16, 1 (2018): 57-82.
Akbaba, Yasemin, and Jonathan Fox. “Societal Rather than Governmental Change: Religious Discrimination in Muslim-Majority Countries after the Arab Uprisings.” All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace 8, no. 1 (2019): 5–22.
Chang, C. Tim, and Ashley E. Chang. Christian Intercultural Communication: How to Share God’s Love with People of Other Cultures. Dubuque, IA: KendallHunt, 2021.
Hazran, Yusri. “Emigration of Christians from the Arab Middle East: A New Reading.” The Journal of the Middle East and Africa 10, no. 3 (2019): 189–210.
Holy Bible, New International Version. New York: Biblica, Inc, 2011.
Liao, Yuan, and David C. Thomas. Cultural Intelligence in the World of Work: Past, Present, Future. London: Springer Nature, 2020.
Liu, Shuang, Volcic, Zala, and Cindy Gallois. Introducing Intercultural Communication: Global Cultures and Contexts. New York: SAGE Publications, 2018.
Livermore, David. Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success. 2nd ed. New York: AMACOM, 2015.
Mashuri, Ali, and Esti Zaduqisti. “Explaining Muslims’ Aggressive Tendencies Towards the West: The Role of Negative Stereotypes, Anger, Perceived Conflict and Islamic Fundamentalism.” Psychology and Developing Societies 31, no. 1 (2019): 56-87.
Presbitero, Alfred and Hooman Attar. “Intercultural communication effectiveness, cultural intelligence and knowledge sharing: Extending anxiety-uncertainty management theory.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations 67, no. 1 (2018), 35–43.
Ting-Toomey, Stella and Leeva C. Chung. Understanding Intercultural Communication. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Footnotes
Abbasi-Shavazi, Mohammad Jalal, and Gavin W. Jones. “Population Dynamics and Human Capital in Muslim Countries.” Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 16, 1 (2018): 61
Mashuri, Ali, and Esti Zaduqisti. “Explaining Muslims’ Aggressive Tendencies Towards the West: The Role of Negative Stereotypes, Anger, Perceived Conflict and Islamic Fundamentalism.” Psychology and Developing Societies 31, no. 1 (2019): 56-87.
Akbaba, Yasemin, and Jonathan Fox. “Societal Rather than Governmental Change: Religious Discrimination in Muslim-Majority Countries after the Arab Uprisings.” All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace 8, no. 1 (2019): 6.
Acts 20:35 (New International Version).
Ting-Toomey, Stella and Leeva C. Chung, Understanding Intercultural Communication. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 96.
Ting-Toomey, Stella and Leeva C. Chung, Understanding Intercultural Communication. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 42.
Matthew 5:16 (New International Version).
Livermore, David, Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success. 2nd ed. (New York: AMACOM, 2015), 17.
Becoming familiar with the common practices of the world’s religion is an important part of enhancing a person’s perception and education. Attending other congregations is an invaluable experience that allows inquisitive people to compare the exact manners of worship and communication. In this regard, services that are held at mosques appear to be the most interesting ones, as they represent the views of a large portion of the world’s population. Islam is an integral part of today’s global community, meaning that its religious practices deserve additional exploration.
First of all, the peculiarity of the experience starts at the entrance to the mosque. Muslim people are encouraged to pray five times per day, facing Mecca. This frequency is surprising, as compared to the Christian tradition. Even though Muslim people are not obliged to attend the mosque for all of the five daily prayers, the midday service saw a great number of visitors. Perhaps, the reason lies in the fact that mosques appear to be more than a place of worship for these people.
They serve as the centers of entire communities where members of the congregation communicate with each other, passing knowledge and experience. From this perspective, I found the image of the Muslim service highly reminiscent of my Christian experience. Both settings serve the same purpose of uniting people on divine premises, building stronger and kinder communities with shared values.
Even though I could not partake in the service through prayers, I respected the rules of the place. For example, I had to take off my shoes at the entrance and did not speak out loud when visiting the mosque. At the same time, I followed the dress-code etiquette, which was typical for the Muslim service. All visitors were dressed modestly and wore clean clothes. As I entered the mosque, I was surprised by the level of security, as guards paid special attention to every person. However, this supervision did not serve to divide the visitors in any sense. On the contrary, it sought to ensure the safety and comfort of every single person inside the mosque.
The enhanced security measures helped me understand the pressure applied to Muslim congregations. They face serious threats both from within and outside their religious communities. I understood the context of the situation and did not object to any security checks, and neither did any of the visitors.
During the prayer, everyone followed the directions of the imam and only engaged in communication when the service was over. Another difference that drew my attention consisted in the ritual washing that was performed by every believer before the service. They attended special bathrooms, which I find highly uncommon in most Christian places of worship. Furthermore, the interior of the mosque did not include any seats, and every person sat on the floor and special rugs. As a visitor, I was allowed to observe quietly from a distance, so I stood throughout the midday service.
Overall, this experience provided me with a more in-depth understanding of how Muslim services are held. Most differences were observed in the level of specific rituals performed before and during the service. However, the overarching atmosphere of the event was highly reminiscent of my Christian experience. In both cases, services united entire congregations, forming strong communities of people united by their faith and values. In my opinion, such observations are highly important to enhance an individual’s understanding of other religions while learning to appreciate their own.
Muslims have unique themes in their practice of Islam. One of the essential teachings of Muhammad and Allah is for a Muslim to honor the month of Ramadan. The month of Ramadan causes Muslims to change their ordinary lifestyle and submit to the teachings of the Quran.
Allah revealed the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad. It was to become the holy book from which all Muslims would get Islamic instructions for daily living.1 The instructions included the observance of the 9th month as a sacred month in the calendar of Islam (Bullard and Conger 200). Therefore, the month became known as Ramadan. The revelation occurred during the occasion known as Laylat al-Qadr.2 Muhammad then used the Quran to convert people to Islam. The month of Ramadan became the holiest month for Muslims.
The profession of Islamic faith, prayer, fasting, giving alms, and pilgrimage are the essential Islamic practices (Aloian 136). Fasting is the Ramadan tradition that forms part of the five pillars of Islam. It shows the importance of Ramadan to a practicing Muslim. It is the sacred moment when Muslims have to forfeit food and any pleasure so that they can reflect on the goodness of Allah.
During the month, there are special rituals to observe. The ritual fasting is an obligation where Muslims must abstain from food and drinks.3 They start from daybreak to evening. They have to be holy and avoid sinning. But there are exceptions. They include the children who have not reached puberty, people suffering from a medical condition, and breastfeeding (Anderson, Conger and Frese 256). The women who are in their menstruation period are not allowed to fast. However, those who missed the moment can redeem the Ramadan afterward.
It is the chief Kadhi in collaboration with the Imam who announces the start of Ramadan after sighting the new moon. 4 Because the moon appears at different times in various places, the starting and ending can vary. It causes the Ramadan event to change by about 11 days each year. The eating habits change during Ramadan. Due to its holiness, Muslims participate in Taraweeh prayers in the evenings.
Muslims ask for forgiveness for their past sins (Aloian 136). They also thank God for guiding and blessing them. It is a moment to express their total dependence on God. They also have to adhere to the teachings of Islam and avoid any actions or words that might lead them to sin. They stay away from areas that may tempt them to sin. They should also be in good relations with their fellow Muslims.
The fast takes place daily from dawn to dusk during Ramadan. Muslims have a pre-dawn meal called Suhur (Bullard and Conger 200). They eat very early in the morning before the sun comes out. During the evening, they assemble for prayers at the mosque and recite long Quran verses. They then meet with families and friends for Iftar (Hackney Blackwell 386). It is the evening meal that Muslims use to break the fast.
Prophet Muhammad used to start by eating dates. Most Muslims do the same. They use this occasion to show kindness to others. Non-Muslims can also participate in the fast, prayers, and Iftar meals.5 People can express their care to the fasting Muslims by greeting them with Ramadan Mubarak or Ramadan Kareem. It is to wish them a blessed or generous Ramadan. Traditionally, Ramadan begins with two cannon shots and another two in the morning of Eid al-Fitr.6 One cannon shot daily prepares Muslims for the beginning of Al Maghreb prayer and hence indicating that Muslims can start their Iftars (Stetkevych 462).
The fast is self-sacrifice by the Muslims to show compassion to the hungry. They join up in Muslim communities to help the less fortunate in society. They fundraise for the poor and also give clothing and other wares. They also donate food for the hungry and the needy in the community. There is also the chance where they prepare Iftar dinners for the needy. During Ramadan, Muslims are required to read the Quran. Some read the entire Quran.7 Others ensure that they have daily scriptures to go through. Some divide the Quran into segments that they can read and recite until they conclude Ramadan on Eid al-Fitr (Sell 265).
Eid al-Fitr is the feast of breaking the fast. It is usually a three-day event that includes special prayers and meals. It marks the end of Ramadan and the beginning of another lunar month called Shawwal. The chief Kadhis declare this first day after sighting another crescent new moon on completion of the 30days of fasting. It is this first day of Shawwal that is Eid al-Fitr (Anderson, Conger and Frese 256). It is the time when the Muslims have completed their fasting and the return to their daily disposition. They can eat, drink, and have intimate relations with their spouses. The Sunni and the Shia Muslims both perform two Eid al-Fitr Rakkah prayers. They both end with Khutbah prayers
Ramadan encourages Muslims to become givers. They need to support their colleagues. They deny themselves the essentials of life for them to empathize with other people’s suffering. By doing this, they purify their hearts and move closer to God’s caring attributes.
Works Cited
Aloian, Molly. Ramadan, New York, N.Y.: Crabtree, 2009. Print.
Anderson, Sheila, Holli Conger, and Pamela R Frese. Ramadan, Edina, Minnesota: Magic Wagon, 2010. Print.
Bullard, Lisa, and Holli Conger. Rashad’s Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Millbrook Press, 2012. Print.
Hackney Blackwell, Amy. Ramadan, New York, NY: Chelsea House, 2009. Print.
Sell, Edward. The Faith of Islam, New York: Barnes & Noble, 2011. Print.
Stetkevych, Suzanne Pinckney. The Mantle Odes, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010. Print.
Footnotes
Aloian, Molly. Ramadan, New York, N.Y.: Crabtree, 2009, 136.
Anderson, Sheila, Holli Conger, and Pamela R Frese. Ramadan, Edina, Minnesota: Magic Wagon, 2010, 256.
Bullard, Lisa, and Holli Conger. Rashad’s Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Millbrook Press, 2012, 200.
Anderson, Sheila, Holli Conger, and Pamela R Frese. Ramadan, Edina, Minnesota: Magic Wagon, 2010, 256.
Hackney Blackwell, Amy. Ramadan, New York, NY: Chelsea House, 2009, 386.
Stetkevych, Suzanne Pinckney. The Mantle Odes, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010, 462.
Sell, Edward. The Faith of Islam, New York: Barnes & Noble, 2011, 265.
Modernized countries have a higher standard of living, recourses, and social resources than non-modernized ones, despite many objections and reluctance to modernity. As a result, many non-Western academics and decision-makers work to modernize or unify their systems (Armajani). Since Weber famously stated that one of the significant conditions for the rise of Modernity was the ethics of austere Protestants, other religions, including Islam, are frequently regarded as lacking in these work values.1 However, Islamic culture resists such change in the Muslim world since many Muslims see modernization as one of the world’s most terrible systems contributing to oppression and social injustice.
Islam does not always resist progress and Modernity, although Islamic cultures have remained constant and have not progressed as they ought to; this is primarily due to the Holy Qur’an doctrine not being fully comprehended and implemented.2 A claim by the power classes in the Muslim world asserts that their cultures are Islamic. However, when one objectively examines these societies in light of the Qur’an’s values and directives, aside from some rituals, one finds it very difficult to consider the claims seriously after noticing such rites and traditions. As a result of modernization, the Islamic elites have attempted to create a political Islam based on anti-Western sentiment. Still, it has been a complete and utter failure, as seen in Turkey’s case. Turkish Islamism has criticized the country’s development model as being Western.
The majority of residents in Turkey are Muslims, and since the Turkish Republic’s formation, modernization has been a central pillar. After defeating the allied forces, Ataturk and his followers began implementing a severe modernization strategy known as secularization to eliminate Islam from Turkish politics.3 The main goal of such initiatives was to destabilize the radicalism of Islamic orthodoxy, which had come to represent Muslim Turkish society in general. As a result, numerous religious and political parties were abolished and deemed ineffective.
The Kemalist reform program was a thorough application of adaptationism to the Westernizing secularist strategy in modernizing the Islamic paradigm. Rather than reforming, the ancient political structures of Islamic government and society were gradually abolished (Powll 290). The ancient Islamic political parties were eliminated through a series of reforms over the next century, with the sultanate’s role removed in 1922 and the caliphates in 1924.4 The authorities assumed charge of political foundations immediately, abolished the official tariqat organizations, and took control of religious instruction from the traditional ulema.
Political organizations and parties, nonetheless, currently exist without question. One of the four critical pillars of democracy, political parties help expand it. They play such a vital role in a country’s development that they impact other development patterns. A significant degree of social mobility and the emergence of a new middle class with administrative and bureaucratic capitalist characteristics were the results of the administration’s modernization initiatives and economic and social reforms. This group’s political ambitions impacted political structures after the post-World War II building era, which consequently helped clear the way for developing political parties in future generations.5 Therefore, the emergence of the middle-income post-revolutionary has had various effects on political parties and politics. Such effects can be seen in areas including influencing the political structures of power, the middle class’s influence on political groups and parties, and efforts to change the political culture.
In 1950, Turkey shifted from a one-party to a multi-party system, universally recognized as a significant accomplishment. This gave the perception that democracy could emerge from tyranny and that society was modernizing. Such high hopes were suddenly shattered by the army invasion in May 1960 and, to some extent, by the country’s practices in the years before the revolution. Turkey, regarded as an example of development within a non-totalitarian context, now appeared to have lost its initial vigor and drive, seemingly veering off its course of political development and modernization.
The turning point in Turkish politics and modern society occurred on May 14, 1950, when the Democratic Party of Celal was elected president, and the Republican Party was driven into opposition.6 It initiated a brand-new method of choosing leaders that included social mobilization and increased political participation, which differed from their older Islamic techniques. The success of the Turkish venture into party democracy stands in contrast with political regimes in neighboring nations and the majority of the Third World.
Highly institutionalized political parties differentiate Turkey from other new democracies. The absence of civil society organizations in Turkey has made parties more critical of individuals, resulting from modernization. The political turbulence, party fragmentation, and ideological polarization characteristics of the Turkish political party system started to emerge. The middle Motherland Party garnered adequate support to form a government entirely on its own for a brief period in the 1980s.7 In the 1990s, party system fragmentation resurfaced to a much greater degree. Since 1991, Turkey has been governed by coalition governments.
Like many Turkish parties, the WP is extremely leader-oriented in its organization and internal political dynamics. Informed debate, divergent opinions, and robust leadership elections are not everyday party practices, but due to modernization, they have started being incorporated. The party officials only provide a restricted form of consultation in response to demands for intra-party democracy, which one cynical observer described as “the leader’s expression of his thoughts and the validation from the others by nodding without expressing a word.”8 The WP has also closely resembled the mass party model and escaped the organizational decline that afflicted the other parties.
The continuities and inconsistencies of the Turkish modernism crisis and victories Paradoxes and anomalies offer debates on Modernity on a wide range of topics. It highlights the presence of Modernity beyond the west and offers political sciences the option to investigate other modernization paths. Since the late imperial era and up till the present, there has been a conflicting between modernizing and industrializing the Turkish case. The Tanzimat period brought about reforms that permitted the Turkish polity to develop a range of civil, economic, judicial, educational, military, and political institutions while maintaining its allegiance to Islam. These indicated modernization’s growing influence and functioned as the foundation for the reforms that would define the 20th century.
“Islam and Politics around the World. Edited by John L.Esposito and Emad El‐DinShamin. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. 237. Paperback., $21.95.” Religious Studies Review, vol. 45, no. 3, 2019, pp. 390–390., Web.
John, pp. 237
Powll, Russell. “Shari’a Politics: Islamic Law and Society in the Modern World. Edited by Robert W. Hefner. Indiana University PRESS2011. Pp. 344. $27.95. ISBN: 0-253-22310-5.” Journal of Law and Religion, vol. 28, no. 1, 2013, pp. 287–291., Web.
In a society where there exist perceptions of segregation coupled with inadequate addressing of all concerns of the society by the state, many organizations may emerge to solicit the government to take up its responsibilities. This is a major reason that led to the emergence of Muslim brotherhood organization. It has since then emerged as the largest social- religious organization in the modern era.
The main objective of initiating Muslim Brotherhood was to principally preach Islam, teach the population that was illiterate and launch various commercial enterprises that were believed would benefit the masses. However, as the organization’s influence continued to grow, the organization started to oppose the rule of British across Egypt in 1936.
In this context, the group started to change from being a religious-social organization to a political organization. Viewing the group from the perspective of political organization, Muslim Brotherhood was dissolved and banned by the government of Egypt following first Arab-Israeli war defeat. In 1952, the group’s political interests were clear since it give support to the Egyptian revolution.
A careful scrutiny of development of Muslim Brotherhood reveals that the group altered its original purpose: social and religious, to focus on political purposes. From this perspective, the purpose of this research paper is to outline various methods imposed by Muslim Brotherhood in transforming themselves from socio-religion organization to a political party.
It also introspect the challenges faced by the Muslim Brotherhood in their struggle for political posts. The main goal of the establishment of Muslim Brotherhood was arguably to provide political, social-economic and cultural response to the challenges of modernity spread by concepts of westernization in both a genuine manner and in non-violent way.
The liberation of Egypt and Palestine land from foreign rule, re-establishing Islamic rule, and reunifying the Muslim nation were also central to the concerns of the organization at inception.
The paper gives a brief history of the Muslim brotherhood besides making a review of various strategies deployed by Muslim Brotherhood while attempting to move from the socio-religion organization to political organization or party.
It also discusses the challenges faced by the members of Muslim Brotherhood while juggling their goals in addition to the outcome of the Muslim Brotherhood after achieving their goals.
History of Muslim brotherhood
The society of Muslim brothers or simply “The Brotherhood” was formed in 1928 in Egypt: Ismailia city, by Hassan-Al-Banna alongside with other six workers of Suez Canal Company. The group was constituted as political, social, pan-Islamic and religious movement (Owen, 2000, p.183).
The Suez Canal Company aided Al-Banna in the establishment of the movement by helping him to put up a mosque at Ismailia city. This mosque was to serve as the main headquarters of the organization (Quintan, 2001, p. 4). With regard to its founder, “contemporary Islam had lost its social dominance, because most Muslims had been corrupted by western influences” (Mitchell, 1993, p.5).
Sunnah and Quran based Shariah law was principally viewed by the organization as laws that were passed on by Allah and needed being applied in every part of life without negating the government coupled with taking care of all daily problems (Quintan, 2001, p. 11). Al-Banna spoke eloquently about his massage.
He held principle positions on social issues including rights of women coupled with placing a hefty emphasis on the opposition against inculcation of equal rights for women. The reign of the organizations, leader Al-Banna, ended when assassination of the Egyptian president: Gama Abdel Nasser was attempted. Al-Banna was assassinated in what was believed a sequence of retaliations.
Later a sequence of activities of malicious destruction prompted banning of the organization. For instance, Takeyh and Gvosdev (2004) posit, “in 1952 members of the Muslim Brotherhood are accused of taking part in the Cairo fire that destroyed some 750 buildings in downtown Cairo — mainly night clubs, theatres, hotels, and restaurants frequented by British and other foreigners” (p.97).
Arguably, this way, the organization changed from principally being concerned with social religious issues to political issues. In fact, since 1970’s the Egyptian version of the Muslim Brotherhood disavowed violence. It endeavored to engage in politics of Egypt.
As Brynjar (2006, p.53) puts it “The aftermath was release of members of the organization who were imprisoned followed by tolerance of the organization in varying degrees often characterized by periods of crackdowns and arrests”. This continued up to the 2011 organization’s revolution.
Since inception, the membership of the organization grew immensely. Before the end world war II, the organization had an estimated membership of about two million people (Leiken, & Brooke, 2009, p.18). The numbers of members continue to grow even to date. This makes the Muslim Brotherhood the globe’s most influential and mega Islamism movement (Brynjar, 2006, p.53).
Indeed, the society of Muslim brothers entangles one of the biggest opposition organizations within the Arabian states. In this context, Davidson (1998) reckons that the organization’s ideas “had gained it supporters throughout the Arab world and influenced other Islamist groups with its model of political activism combined with Islamic charity work” (p.97).
The awareness of the existence of the organization was enhanced through its slogan- “Islamism is the solution” (Brynjar, 2006, p.53). The concerns of the organization were pegged on the idea that the government did not serve the interests of the society, especially shielding the population from the impacts of westernization. Hence, reforms were vital.
However, the organization knew it too well that violence was not the way out to push for the reforms in the government. Specifically, the organization stated that its main goal was to ensure that Sunnah and Quran were instilled as the main “sole reference point for…ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community… and state” (Owen, 2000, p.187).
This goal was deemed realizable through non violence means despite the fact at times the paramilitary wings coupled with members’ engaged in massacres, assassinations of various political opponents and also bombing activities.
The assassinated people included the founder of the movement, Hassan Al-Banna and Prime Minister Mahmud an-Nukrashi Pasha. According to Leiken and Brooke (2009, p.61), “…the decision for the organization to engage in democratic election was criticized by al-Qaeda claiming that it ought to have engaged in armed jihad”.
Muslim Brotherhood both randomly and quickly spread in Cairo, Egypt. Its main purpose was pegged on the need of serving workers who were exiled by British rule. The Muslim achieved a social service network. This network give an opposition room that facilitated in setting avenues for making Muslim Brotherhood came into power.
The organization was ideally flexible in many aspects. In 1949, the organization disapproved the British thought of overwhelming them by assassinating one of the regime leaders. This had the repercussion of resulting to death of Hassan al-Banna through assassination as revenge from the British rule (Campo, 2010, p.88).
The support offered by the free officials motivated the Muslim Brotherhood into juggling their goal. However, when Nassers treaty with the British over Suez Canal was signed, the organization’s leaders and activists begun to get tortured.
Consequently, division of the Muslim Brotherhood into factions was experienced, partly because of inadequate leadership. Difference akin to holding differing opinions among the various factions resulted in the cropping of armed struggle as an interception to the challenges experienced by the Muslims, and punishing of Muslims who failed to support the organization.
Sayyid Qutb was executed in 1966. The aftermath was imposing Islamists violent teachings acquired from him. This later resulted in creation of Al-Qaeda. Four years after the execution of Qutb, Sadat acquired power. He influenced the Muslim Brotherhood into loving politics.
Indeed, he ordered the release of the activists of the movement. During his term in power as a leader, Sadat rejuvenated the Muslim Brotherhood. At this time, the organization had an immense leadership thirst. It was during this same period that Islamic activism acquired extraordinarily strength.
Sadat was assassinated in 1981 during his attempt to hit back on the attempt by the government to hit Muslim Brotherhoods infrastructure, coupled with arresting of the organization’s activists. This made Islamists fight tirelessly against the Egyptian regime.
Arguably, in fear of Islamic terrorism, President Mubarak permitted the organization coupled with other opposition parties to reunite (Zahid, 2012, p.26).The Muslim Brotherhood kept on stepping into the government’s bodies including public institutions such as trade unions and student’s organizations.
They also made efforts of breaking into the army, media, police, and law apparatuses. During mid 1990s, the organization made a significant achievement in apprentice organizations and university teaching bodies (Zahid, 2102, p.46).
All along, the organization had been playing an audacious game in the sense that they largely kept at bay confrontations as much as possible while penetrating into political scenes from their social support pivot. The group members even took part in election of official associations.
Within the same year, the Muslim Brotherhood fully possessed official political establishments. In 1992, Islamists took victory over Algeria. On the other hand, the Muslim Brotherhood presented their documents full of strategies on the manner in which they endeavored to take over Egypt.
The release of Muslim Brotherhood members coupled with their leaders in 2000 give rise to the call for establishment of new political triumph. During 2005 election, the Muslim Brotherhood won by securing a majority of the seats that were contested.
In the short life span spent in power, the movement in cooperation with other opposition elements took part in political protest against the regime (Testa, Lemoine, & Strickland, 2004, p.600).
Arguably, this clearly indicates that the Muslim Brotherhood had shifted from being concerned with religious-social affairs to political issues. Upon administration of the interview questions and reviewing various literatures on the Muslim Brotherhood version of Egypt, a number of results were obtained. The remaining part of this paper discusses these results.
Methods imposed by Muslim Brotherhood in transforming themselves from socio-religion organization to a political party
The results reveal that Muslim brotherhood in Egypt has struggled to ensure that it is placed in the realm of political life of Egypt as a moderate force. Although it has been banned in various occasions, the organization still expressed the perception that it had no criminal intents.
Rather, it was a religious-social organization held by its founder. In its attempt to form a political party, it used this premise to disguise its political intents, which were ideally conspicuous.
In this context, Hoover (2007) reckons, “the movement provided the country with clinics, youth camps, and other services that earned the organization support among the poor and provided a civic model for armed violence-based Islamic movements such as Hezbollah and Hamas” (p.5).
Winning the support of the general population is particularly significant in aiding the organization to achieve its political ambitions. This support was drawn from the middle class population of Egypt via its ever-growing dominance in professional and technical unions.
Unfortunately, as the organization endeavored to garner more political power , president Mubarak responded by enacting amendments in the constitution to ensure that the organization’s strong holds were quelled. Nevertheless, it is significant to note that the Muslim Brotherhood is bigger than any other political party is.
To ensure success in quenching its political thirst, “…the organization performed the activities of the Islamic call including involvement in politics and economics as well as social and cultural issues” (BBC, 2007, p.2).
From this perspective, Muslim Brotherhood was able to initiate a political party program and distributed it in 2007. Initially, the program was given to intellectuals and politicians with the intention of getting their take and comments on its contents.
Precisely, the program put forth queries on the Muslim Brotherhood’s political agenda. The intent of coming up with a political party sprang in 1984 when the movement made up its mind to fight people’s assembly organizations.
The idea resurfaced gain in 1989 and was ardently discussed “ when the Shura Council, which is the highest body of the Muslim Brotherhood, met and adopted a decision to establish a party”(Hoover, 2007, p.13). In the quest to solicit the release of the movement’s members held in prison, military courts and detention counters, the need to establish and political party was retaliated in the 1995 Shura’s council meeting.
The most latest attempts was witnessed in the year 2007 when Akif made it open that the Muslim Brotherhood had the intention of becoming a political organization. In this context, Hoover (2007) argues out that “they believed that the platform shows a tremendous amount of regression in comparison to the series of documents previously issued by the movement, including their document on reform issued in March 2003” (p.17).
However, is it critical to emphasize that the Muslim Brotherhood change from being religious- social organization to a political organization and hence constituting a party was a central and chief concern of the organization.
However, the organization continued to claim that its main goal was to serve religious functions throughout the state so that to make the force of morality prevails.
With appreciation of this line of argument, Azarva and Tadros (2007) reckon, “using the values concerning ‘zeal and protection of religion,’ the group strived to protect the future of the Islamic state and secure the practice of religious rights” (p.135). Indeed, the organization threatened to ensure that all the obstacles along its path of implementation of its objectives were cleared.
While in real sense seeking tirelessly to endorse political motives, the organization’s quest to place an immense emphasis on the sacred perception of the Brotherhood was disadvantaging to the organization. This is because the group seemed to deploy double standards.
Hence, its practices got undermined coupled with erosion of its credibility as a religious social organization (BBC, 2007, p.1). Another aspect that is equally harming to the Muslims Brotherhoods political agenda was the employment of specific terms that were implemented within the organization quest to form a political party platform.
For instance, the organization deployed the terms Islamic state more frequently. “This is an elastic term that arouses numerous doubts regarding the Brotherhood’s stance on the nature of the relationship between the nation-state and the “theoretic state” (Andersen, Seibert & Wagner, 2004, p.137).
Arguably, ambiguity in usage of the terms provided a substantive room for the organization to enhance implementation of various ruling via diverse methods. However, in spite of the fact the Muslim brotherhood proactively determined to spell out its political quests, the organization neglected largely to formulate a stance that was clear and well defined especially on the issues surrounding equality among various groups of people across Egypt.
This acts as one way in which the group sort to get outright go ahead to make a political party by creating the feeling that the group sought to fight for the rights of the people. In this end, Andersen, Seibert, and Wagner (2004) posit, “Based on Islamic ideology, it is the nature of the party to establish the principle of citizenship focusing around the idea of non-discrimination” (p.141).
Indeed, the Islamic Shariah law stipulates that none of the forms of intolerance needs to take place among citizens based on sex, religion and race. This implies that all Egyptians need to choose rulers in a manner that ensured that pluralism was integrated.
Challenges faced by the members of Muslim Brotherhood while juggling their goals
In the previous section, it was argued that the Muslim Brotherhood had an intense desire to ensure that it attained political goals as opposed to its sacred religious-social goals. To do this, the organization must have constituted a political party.
However, this gave the mixed feeling by the government about the nature and the intention of the organization. Consequently, the organization faced a number of challenges to make this quest a dream come true.
For the Muslim Brotherhood to enact a political program, it needed to acquire a party license constitutionally. Unfortunately, on differing levels, this was enormously hard. Most importantly, President Mubarak refused to grant the organization a political status.
This is opposed to the provisions of the constitution of Egypt, which provides that all citizens have the noble right of constituting their own political parties. Commenting on the challenges that the Muslim Brotherhood needed to overcome to get authenticity of instituting a political party, Hoover (2007) laments, “his eminence the guide said that the Brotherhood would not apply to the Political Parties Affairs Committee because this committee is unconstitutional.”(p. 16).
Arguably therefore, the organization embarked on a move to create a program that would enable it to constitute a political party knowing it too well that the government needed to approve the resulting the party and presidents Mubarak’s government was not ready for it.
A query arises here- why embark on an endeavor that would not ultimately yield fruits? Apparently, Mubarak’s logic was not the main challenge that the organized faced in its quest to institute a party.
Additionally, “anything the government suspects has a popular base and which might have foundations among the average Egyptians will certainly be rejected, especially if such a party depends on Islamic principles” (Hoover, 2007, p.17).
However, in the quest for the organization to ensure that it get fairer hearing, and hence be allowed to institute a political party, the organization admitted that it would preach the Islamic concepts from a genuine dimension but is was not within its intents to dictate the population to wear hijab or even any other costumes consistent with its beliefs.
However, scholars on Egypt political matters argue, “the Brotherhood had clearly embraced the procedures of democracy, but it was unclear whether they had internalized the principles of democracy” (BBC, 2007, p.3). Arguably, this argument points at placing a limitation on the effectiveness of the organization within Egypt.
Furthermore, to ensure that democracy is fully embraced, equality for all Egypt’s people irrespective of the gender, age and race among other demographic factors needs being a major priority. Unfortunately, the Muslim Brotherhood does not embrace concepts of equality for women.
Even though, the organization faced incredible challenge, it insisted that it would fight for reforms that would ensure that it formed political party through non-violent approaches. From this line of view, Azarva and Tadros (2007) inform, “the citizens within the Islamic movement reject the issue of violence and are committed to a strategy of incremental reform through legal channels” (p.148).
Apparently, the main aim of the Muslim organization is to ensure that the modern society is collectively returned to region. However, this does not mean that Islamism automatically reject the notion of modernity. Hence, this does not imply that returning to pre-modern Muslim society is ideally the answer.
In this regard, Rosefsky (2002) suggests that the Muslim Brotherhood “embraced technology since it functions as a modern-style party organization, using schools, youth groups, news media, national congress, and social service provision to mobilize hundreds of thousands of active members.”(p.21).
Circumstances that lead to the emergence and subsequent rise of the Muslim Brotherhood: social, Political and economic exclusion, need being understood on their own individualized basis, rather than being collectively grouped as ideals of Islamists’ militia ideals. In particular, these misunderstanding amounts to one of the major challenge that the organization faced in the quest to establish a political party.
Challenges faced by the Muslim Brotherhood in their struggle for political posts
Muslim Brotherhood experienced a myriad of challenges in the attempt to get its share of political posts. The first challenge is that, in the President Mubarak’s regime, the members of the organization could not context for any seat since constitutionally; citizens are required to vie only through a registered party. There were difficulties for the organization to institute a political party.
However, its deputy guide, Muhammad Habib, announced that in 2007 that “there were substantial progression in “developments involving the Muslim Brotherhood Movement in Egypt and the unprecedented differences between this movement and the Egyptian authorities, as well as the idea of establishing a new political party and many issues connected with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt” (Wright, 2008, p.243).
Nevertheless, the government desired to make sure that the organizations operations were contained coupled with being weakened in all aspects. This was evidenced by President Mubarak’s swift move to establish amendments to the constitution.
Arguably, even though the amendments were chiefly taken as reforms, evidently they were channeled at placing a barrier to the Brotherhood’s advances with its political aspirations. Consequently, any move for the Muslim brotherhood to gain political posts was immensely hampered.
With Mubarak being overthrown, the Muslim brotherhood having formed a political party and having acquired a say in the government, the organization’s quest to acquire political posts was still challenged.
In this context, Zahid laments that “while the era of dawn raids appears to be over for the Brotherhood, Egypt’s post-uprising politics have brought new challenges: new Islamist rivals, a more critical public, a degree of internal dissent and the revival of an old debate about the rights and wrongs of its mix of religion and politics” (2012, p.82).
Nevertheless, the group sufficiently believes that Egypt has immensely changed. Hence, incidences reminiscent of the 1954 endeavor to drive the organization underground by Gamal Abdel Nasser would not occur.
Outcome of the Muslim Brotherhood after achieving their goals
The long sort goal of the Muslim Brotherhood became reality in the Arab republic of Egypt in 2011. This was preceded by the fall of Mubarak. This means that the major block was eliminated prompting legalization of the organization. As Zahid recounts, “…the Brotherhood supported the constitutional referendum in March which was also supported by the Egyptian army and opposed by Egyptian liberals” (2012, p.87).
Latter in April 30 2011, the organization formed Freedom and Justice Party. Consistent with the organization strong beliefs, the party was opposed to the election of Copts or women for the post of presidency. However, it supported their election at cabinet posts. Over sixty percent of all eligible voters voted during the last election in Egypt.
“Over a third of these people voted for the Freedom and Justice Party put forward by the Muslim Brotherhood” (Zahid, 2012, p.88). Currently, key positions in the party’s leadership have been assumed by the many former officials of the Brotherhood.
They have utilized the powers that come with their positions to ensure that they retaliate ardently to the long-standing Muslim Brotherhoods’ hostility geared towards Zionism. They also openly support all organizations that are opposed to Zionism. In 2012, the Muslim brotherhood, proposes to support Mohamed Morsy via the ticket of formed Freedom and Justice Party for presidency.
How Muslim Brotherhood tried to reform the government not by violence
Although Muslim Brotherhood had the thirst for political power, the organization endeavored to approach this noble goal from a non-violent dimension. Apparently, the incidences of violence in which the organization was accused of having involved in were reciprocated with intense intervention by the government before.
The only sure mechanism that would yield the group a success was through influencing the entire Egyptian population to support the organization through its ideologies pegged on the necessity of preserving Muslim religion believes and practices (Rosefsky, 2002, p.83). Indeed, people who subscribe to Muslim faith dominate the Arabs republic of Egypt.
By bringing in the ideas of the need to liberate the nation from the impacts of westernization, gave the organization a subtle strategy of ensuring that it ascended the political ladder without necessarily considering violent confrontation of with the authorities.
The fact that the organization made it clear that its principle aim were to provide social services to the people also give the organization a competitive advantage that clearly shrouded their political intents before the eyes of the public (Leiken & Brooke, 2009, p.20).
However, by participating in confrontation in early 1950s, the government knew that the organization had a political agenda. To prove that the organization was genuine before the eyes of the government, the Muslim Brotherhood to engineered a political party program, which was open for government officials’ scrutiny.
Additionally, the group was also willing and participated in elections peacefully. This implies that the organization sort to establish it political position in line with the demands of the constitution just like any other citizen would have been required to do.
Conclusion
Since when Muslim Brotherhood was formed by Sheikh Al-Bassan in 1928, the organization has emerged as the largest religious-social association in the modern era, in 1928. In Egypt, the organization has encountered a myriad of challenges including being banned by various regimes such as Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1954.
On the other hand, while President Mubarak never banned the organization, he made sure that the organization never got an opportunity to form a political party through enacting constitutional amendments.
However, the organization did not cut short its zeal to initiate its party through non-violence mechanisms despite the fact that it was on several occasions accused for being involved in violence activities that resulted to massacre and assassinations.
With this insight, the paper focused on scrutinizing methods imposed by Muslim Brotherhood in transforming themselves from socio-religion organization to a political party.
Other aspects scrutinized by the appear includes: Challenges faced by the members of the group while juggling their goals and challenges faced by the Muslim Brotherhood in their struggle for political posts and finally outcome of the Muslim Brotherhood after achieving their goals.
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Muslims have faced significant political and social problems in the 20th century. The political troubles faced by many Muslim nations have been caused by poor governance and increased violence as people react to various socio-political injustices. In response to the crises faced by Muslims, a number of prominent Muslim scholars have analyzed the situation facing Muslims in the 20th century and offered solutions.
Two scholars who have presented solutions and suggestions are Hasan al-Banna and Yusuf al-Qaradawi. This paper will analyze the solutions and suggestions presented by these two scholars and highlight the major differences between the recommendations that the two propose to the political crises affecting Muslims in the 20th century.
Solutions and Suggestions
Al-Banna and al-Qaradawi believe in the importance of democracy. Al-Banna asserts that the political and social foundations of Nations are destroyed by dictatorship (232). Dictatorial rule is unjust and tyrannical in nature. It leads to the suffering of millions of citizens. Al-Banna shows a deep dislike for the political and religious teachers who use their position to enrich themselves at the expense of the society (50).
Al-Qaradawi reveals that the Muslim community has been troubled for many centuries since Muslims have allowed arrogant and powerful rulers to govern over them (243). These rulers neglected the principle of consultation and instead ruled as dictators. The troubles faced by Muslims can therefore be solved by embracing an inclusive government where the citizens are allowed to decide on matters such as the head of the state, the tax imposed by the government, and organization of commerce.
The two scholars view foreign powers as detrimental to the well being of the Islamic society. Al-Banna condemned the exploitation of native Egyptians by the foreign powers (50). He saw the domination of foreign capital on Muslim societies as undesirable. This view is shared by al-Qaradawi who sees foreign aggression as a cause of immense strive in Muslim countries (235).
Foreign capital reinforces the position of unpopular leaders who oppress their subjects. Reducing the influence of the foreign powers on Muslim communities is therefore a desirable goal for both scholars. Once Muslims are free from foreign interference, they can freely elect leaders who will have concern for the well-being of their citizens.
Both Scholars encourage Muslims to seek knowledge from fellow Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Al-Qaradawi exhorts Muslims to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the Western concepts of science and politics and then adopt them to suit Islamic laws and needs (235).
Al-Banna admits that the Western civilization was brilliant by virtue of the scientific perfection of its past (58). He then proceeds to declare that science is necessary for a nation to be powerful. This knowledge can be acquired from believers or non-believers since Islam does not reject science but rather makes it obligatory. Due to the evident link between science and power, al-Qaradawi and al-Banna propose that Muslims should increase their scientific knowledge in order to solve some of the problems they face in the 20th century.
Al-Qaradawi and al-Banna make provision for engaging in violent insurrection against tyranny. The two hold the view that an oppressive ruler should be deposed by the masses since there is a link between tyranny and the spread of corruption in the nation. Allowing tyrants to rule therefore causes ruin and destruction of the nation. According to al-Qaradawi, the people who allow themselves to be ruled by tyrants are guilty (234).
He further declares that taking action against an oppressive ruler is a noble act that every Muslim should engage in (al-Qaradawi 234). Al-Banna declares that Islam permits the use of violence for the sake of justice for the believers (62). Muslims are therefore supposed to take action against the tyrant ruler since allowing him to lead will make the subjects wholly or partly responsible for the injustices done against them.
Major differences between Recommendations
The two scholars differ in the form of Islam that should be used to resolve political crises. For al-Qaradawi, the most effective form of Islam is that which is neither extreme nor too liberal in nature (230). As such, the most effective form of Jihad is one that is waged through words.
Al-Qaradawi advises that Muslims leaders should engage in consultation with their followers in case of contention (245). In contrast to this, al-Banna advocates for a form of religious extremism to solve the political problems (62). He asserts that instead of a pacific form of jihad, the believers should engage in an armed fight against unbelievers.
Hasan al-Banna and Yusuf al-Qaradawi differ in their emphasis of ideology and action in tackling the political crises facing the Muslims. For Al-Qaradawi, the Muslim should seek in-depth knowledge of ideas to help tackle their problems (232). These ideas should then be adopted for favorable use by Muslims to resolve their political problems.
Al-Qaradawi states that democracy is the only means through which Muslims can hold their leaders accountable and if necessary replace them with other leaders without having to resort to violent revolutions (236). On the other hand, al-Banna shows a preference for action over words (53). He asserts that deeds outweigh words or theoretical knowledge. Muslims are supposed to engage in action to bring about the political changes they desire.
There is a difference in the level of religious ideology that each scholar suggests should be imposed on the society. For al-Qaradawi, Islamic principles are crucial to the prosperity of the Muslim nation (239). A nation that adheres to these principles will be just and fair to its citizens. However, al-Qaradawi does not support a State that would use Islam to stifle the individual freedoms of its citizens (231). On the other hand, al-Banna recommends the formation of a State that is founded on strict Islamic laws (74).
He advocates for Islamic teachings to be imposed on people not only in Mosques but also in schools and government offices. Al-Banna also supports greater surveillance of personal conduct, which essentially leads to privacy invasion (74). These proposals by al-Banna are contrary to al-Qaradawi’s ideas of how Muslims should solve their political problems in the 20th century.
Conclusion
This paper set out to highlight the solutions offered by Hasan al-Banna and Yusuf al-Qaradawi to the political crises that Muslims face in the 20th century. It began by noting that Muslims have experienced significant political upheaval in the 20th century.
This turmoil has primarily been caused by despotic rulers and foreign influence on Muslim countries. It then noted that both al-Banna and al-Qaradawi support democracy and are of the opinion that tyrants should be deposed by the people. The two also agree that science should be used as a tool for empowering Muslim States.
The paper notes that the two scholars differ significantly in their tolerance for the use of force to achieve political objectives. Al-Banna places a strong emphasis on using force to achieve the goals of an Islamic state. Al-Qaradawi advocates dialogue and the use of democracy to bring about a just State. Al-Banna is a strong proponent of a strict Islamic State while Al-Qaradawi favors a State that followers Islamic principles without being repressive.
Works Cited
Al-Banna, Hasan. “Toward the Light.” Princeton Reading in Islamic Thought: Texts and Contexts from Al-Banna to Bin Laden. Eds. Euben Roxanne and Muhammad Qasim. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2009. 49-78. Print.
Al-Qaradawi, Yusuf. “Islam and Democracy.” Princeton Reading in Islamic Thought: Texts and Contexts from Al-Banna to Bin Laden. Eds. Euben Roxanne and Muhammad Qasim. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2009. 230-245. Print.
The conflict about Jerusalem had been going on for a long time and has led to the loss of many lives in the Israel-Arab conflict. There has been a bitter conflict between the two sides since the formation of the state of Israel and the consequence repatriation of all Jews after the Second World War in 1948. The issue of legal and moral ownership of the land is further complicated by the religious relevance attached to the city by the two states. The conflict has turned into a religious war between Muslims and Jewish religions. It has turned to be a bitter war between the newly established state of Israel and the Palestinian state which resolves that Israel is an illegal state which occupies land previously considered to be Palestinian land.
According to Fiona Symon, (2001), the Jews were resettled in their motherland Israel after their brutal execution by the Nazi regime during the Second World War. It is recorded that Jews had fled their motherland running away from Arabs aggression in their bid to spread their Islam religion after conquering Jerusalem. According to Daniel Pipes (2001), after the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and the consequential resettlement of all Jews in their motherland, all Muslim nations started series of wars against the nation of Israel but Israel has remained firm in defending their motherland and has won all the wars. This row is still to be resolved with Israel claiming Jerusalem as their capital city and Palestinians claiming it to be their future state.
Historical view of Jerusalem
Israel became a nation in 1312 B.C.E. which was about 2000 years before the rise of Islam religion. It is recorded that King David is the one who founded the city of Jerusalem. The city was conquered in 1227 B.C.E. and the Jews had dominated the land for one thousand years and were present in the land for the past 3,300 years. The only Arab dominion since the conquest in 635 C.E lasted for only 22 years. For over 3,300 years the city had been the Jewish capital. When Jordan occupied Jerusalem, it did not make it capital. Under the Jordan rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were not allowed to access their places of worship. Arab refugees in Israel started identifying themselves as part of Palestine state in 1967, long after the Jews had been resettled in the land. They had been encouraged to leave the land in 1948 by Arab leaders who were promising to purge the land of Jews. They asked the civilian to abandon their land to make way for the army to invade the Jews. Eventually, the army of 7 Arab countries failed and the fleeing immigrant Arabs were left as refugees in camps. It is estimated that 630,000 Arab refugees which were approximately 68% of the Arab population in Israel left in 1948.
According to Emanuel Winston (2002), Israelites were resettled in the land in 1948 but the United Nation’s resolution left the city under British rule giving neither side authority to govern the city. Before the partition, the area around Jerusalem has not attached any importance to the Arab countries and it was only after the partition that the area became very important to them. Egypt claimed the Gaza strip and Trans Jordan attached to its kingdom the areas of the west bank. However, it is amazing that in 1949 and 1967 when Jordan ruled the west bank, some 400 000 Arabs packed and left for other Arab countries. The conflict has spread to other regions of the nation of Israel. The recent conflict has been surrounded the west bank region which Israel had earlier conquered. After a series of wars and the loss of many lives, Israel gave the land back to Palestine and the process of withdrawal continues.
The west bank region was captured from Jordan in 1967 and Israel took it as an opportunity to reunify East and West Jerusalem. It removed the walls and barriers that divided the two regions and put the Arab east Jerusalem under the Israel civil law distinct from the military rule in the Wes bank and the Gaza strip, both regions of contention. Upon the formation of Israel, Arab leaders pledged to push the Jews into the sea and reclaim the land partition by a United Nations resolution in 1947. They occupied historic sites for the Jews in Judea and Samaria until the 167 capture of the west bank.
Israel right to the land
According to Daniel Pipes (2000), Israel claims to the land are a result of strong history spanning over 4000 years ago. It is claimed that God made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants where they were granted the land of Canaan from the river of Egypt as far the great river of Euphrates. This covenant was later made to Isaac and Jacob. It is claimed that King David built his famous temple dedicated to God in the City and the Western Wall of the city remains in Jerusalem. They also claim that according to their religion and ancient history, it is their motherland and their promised land. It is where God made the covenant with their ancestor or their founding father, Abraham and it is the same place that Abraham Sacrificed to God.
According to Shmuel Sokol, (2004), the Jewish connection to the region of Jerusalem is an ancient and powerful one. Judaism, the religion of Israelites, made Jerusalem their holy city over 3000years ago and it had remained occupied by the Jews since then. While praying Jews pray to face in its direction and mentions it in their prayers. They also attach great importance to it such that they close their Passover service with a mention “Next year in Jerusalem” They also recall the city while blessing their meals. While digging into the history of Jews it was found and associated that it is common to find unfinished houses, uncompleted jewels, smashed glasses during the wedding day, and others which are all attributed to the mourning days due to the destruction of the temple. Jerusalem is the city with the majority of Jews in the past centuries and has served as their capital city for many years. Hence their claim to Jerusalem may not be only religious but also historical as their ancestral land. In the Jewish bible, Jerusalem appears 669 times and Zion 154 times. It is understood that Zion means Jerusalem. The Christian Bible mentions Jerusalem 154 times and Zion 7 times. Hence Jewish claim to Jerusalem is not only religious but also their ancestral home. Every community in this world has an ancestral land to which they can claim their origin.
Muslim Claim to Jerusalem
The Muslim claim to the land is purely religious. From the Arabic literacy sources, it is claimed that in 622 a.d., Muhammad fled his town of Mecca for Medina. Medina was then a city with many Jewish settlers. On arrival to medina, it is claimed that the Quran, the holy book of Islam religion, made adoption to some significant practices from the Jewish people. Some of these adoptions are the Yorn Kippur-like fast, a synagogue-like place of prayer, permission to eat kosher food, and approval to marry Jewish women. It is also claimed that the Quran discarded the pre-Islamic practice, Qibla, of the Meccans to pray toward the Kaba, the small stone structure at the center of the main mosque in Mecca, and instead adopted the practices of facing the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during prayer which was a Judaic practice. This direction of prayer was criticized and rejected by the Muslims and was replaced with friendly Islamic gestures. This is dictated in the Quranic verse which instructs the faithful to no longer pray toward Syrian but instead prays toward Mecca. It is claimed that Muslims accepted the point and adopted Jerusalem as Qibla to win over the Jews. “He chose the Holy House in Jerusalem so that the People of the Book (Jews) would be conciliated” (At-Tabari, early Muslim commentator on the Quran).
The second interest in Muslims to Jerusalem came in the time of the rule of the Damascus-bases Umayyad dynasty (661-750). Abdullah B. as-Zubayr, who was a dissident leader in Mecca, began revolting against the dynasty in 680 which lasted until he died in 692. The dynasty sought to aggrandize Syria at the expense of Arabia which also helped to recruit an army against the Byzantine Empire. They sanctified Damascus with efforts to glorify Jerusalem. They had strived to make it more or less equal to Mecca. The first ruler of the dynasty Mu’awiya ascended the caliphate in Jerusalem. His successors build roads, a palace, and religious edifices in the city. They treated Jerusalem as their capital city and also their administrative center. This was hampered by the fact that Jerusalem remained a religious city more than an administrative city. Umayyad caliph built the first Islam grand structure which was the Dome of the Rock, right on the spot of the Jewish Temple in 688-91. This is the first and the only standing monumental sacred to the Islam religion.
In 715, the Umayyad built a second mosque in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount and was called Furthest Mosque. This is what Muslims claim to be the importance of the city to Mohammed’s life. It is to be known that this mosque was built after the Quran was written and hence it could have been intensively targeted to give the Quran its meaning. The Quran verse which says that “glory to He who took His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Furthest Mosque” must have not been relevant at the time it was written since historically there was no mosque named the furthers mosque at that time. When this verse was revealed in 621, there was a place called the Sacred Mosque in Mecca. The furthest mosque was a turn of phrase and to a place. In the early Muslim religion, it was understood as a metaphor meaning a place in heaven.
Even if the furthest mosque existed on earth, Palestine would not have been the location because Palestine had not yet been conquered by Muslims and is historically recorded as not having a single mosque at that time. In the Quran, Palestine is called the ‘closest land” which sharply contrasts the name Furthest Mosque.
Furthermore, the earliest accounts on Muslims in Jerusalem came after the Muslims conquest in 638 and there is nowhere the furthest mosque is identified. In the Dome of the Rock, there are early Quranic inscriptions with the story of the night journey by the prophet which suggests that as latest as 692 the idea of Jerusalem as the lift-off for the night journey had not yet been established. Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiya (638-700), who was a close relative of Prophet Muhammad quotes the notion that Prophet never set foot on the Rock in Jerusalem, “these damned Syrians pretends that God put His foot on the Rock in Jerusalem, though one person ever put his foot on the rock, namely Abraham.” It is argued that this building and the actual Al-Aqsa Mosque gave reality to the figurative names used in Quran and also inserted Jerusalem central to Islam. The Umayyads’ motivation to assert the presence of Muslims in the sacred city is thought to have a strictly utilitarian purpose which led to the Islamic sanctification of Jerusalem.
After the fall of the Umayyads, Jerusalem was left in shambles and it lost all its glory. From 1099 to 1150 there were efforts to retake Jerusalem by Muslims leaders who used jihad sentiments and heightened emotions about the city. They urged about the sanctity of the city and called for its return to Muslims. They re-conquered the city and ruled it but interest in the city dropped. The city proved to be expendable. When Europeans invaded the city, Muslim rulers build a wall around the city. They killed everybody they met which made people fled the city. At the same time Muslim rulers of Egypt and Palestine, al-Kamil accepted to trade the city to the European if they accepted to leave Egypt. The deal was sealed and the city was handed to Europeans. Christians occupied the city and turned the Temple Mount into churches. This angered Muslims who invaded the city and brought it under the rule of Muslims again. According to Muhammad Hourani (2007), the city became valuable to Muslims again when only Christians invaded and sanctified the city. The same history could be repeating itself even now since it is amazing how the city has not been of interest to Islam and only its occupation by Christians.
During the rule of Mamluk, the city again became dilapidated and lost its glory. All the worship places and churches were dilapidated and it lost its glory as a religious city. People fled the city and at the end of their rule it a merged population of 4000 people. The Ottoman rule took over and rebuilt the city walls. They brought Jerusalem to life again and people started resettling in the city again. The Turkish authorities made a lot of money from the residents as they imposed heavy fines and taxes on them. The city started exporting soap. By 1850 the city had lost its grandeur and it turned to a pauper village. The Turkish rulers abandoned Jerusalem in 1917 in advance of the British troops. The Turkish ruler even wanted to destroy the city rather than surrender it to the British.
According to Judy Lans Balint (2002), the city turned to be an important religious and political Arab center at the beginning of the twentieth century. British ruled the city from 1917 to 1948 and renewed the passion of Jerusalem. The Arab politicians made it a prominent destination during the British mandatory rule. There was heightened Arab interest and activity on the soil of Jerusalem and even King Faysal of Iraq visited the city and made a ceremonial entrance to the Temple Mount. Iraq pledged to raise funds for Islamic University in Jerusalem. It was at this time of heightened Arabs interest in the city that it was said that prophet Muhammad had tethered his horse to the western wall of the Temple Mount. After Jordan’s captured the city and ruled in 1948, many Arabs left the city as the prosperous economy under British rule started to disintegrate. The religious standing of Jerusalem declined as mosques lacked sufficient funds. At this time Muslims showed little interest in the city and it was only after the capture of the city by Israel in 1967 that their passion for the city once again arose. Pictures of the Dome of the Rock were hanged everywhere from the president’s office to the grocer’s stores. In 1968 the PLO made a constitution that mentioned Jerusalem sat the seat of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
As before, they started to mention the sanctity of Jerusalem in the Islamic faith. It suddenly became a subject of conflict between the Jewish people and the Muslims. Almost all the rulers in the Arab countries claimed that Jerusalem is the property of Muslims and must be returned to them. According to James Inhofe (2002), Muslim interest n the city has surged with Muslim pilgrimage adding up four-fold in recent years. Jerusalem day has been celebrated by Muslims as well as Jewish people all over the world. It is reckoned that Jerusalem is the only issue that seems to unite the Arabs in recent times. Jerusalem has been likened to the city of Mecca by Muslim leaders.
Recently there have been claims that the Islamic connection to Jerusalem is older than the Jewish connection. It is argued that it has been under Muslim sovereignty and it holds a special place in the heart and mind of Muslims than other cities in Islam. It is claimed that Muslim attachments to the city do not begin with the prophet Mohammed but begin with the prophet Abraham, David, Solomon, and Jesus all of who are prophets in Islam. This draws a Muslim conclusion that central figures of Judaism and Christianity were all pro-Muslims.
This has been coupled with the claim that the Koran mentions Jerusalem. The story of Night Journey associates the furthest mosque to Jerusalem. This has repositioned the earlier claim of the furthest mosque to be in Jerusalem, the further mosque itself being metaphorical for Jerusalem. This has further sanctified the city with its association to the Koran.
The other claim is that Muhammad visited Jerusalem. There are contradicting views to this claim. Prophet Muhammad’s life bibliography is very complete and there is nowhere it is claimed that the prophet voyaged through Jerusalem. Muslims also claim that Jerusalem has not important connection to Jews. They fir deny the connection of the Western wall also referred to as the Wailing Wall to be remains of the ancient Temple dedicated to God by David. It is reported that throughout the Islamic occupation of Jerusalem, Jews were denied access to the wall which was claimed scared to Muslim
Collusion
The claims of both sides to the city are highly religious. But the turn of events shows that in recent times it has been highly politicized. Muslims cannot accept Jerusalem to be their secondary city while at the same time Christians and Jews cannot accept it either. However, from the analysis, it seems that the interest of Muslims in the city has remained changing throughout history and their interest is heightened when the city falls under the hands of other people. It seems that the interest of the Muslims is not to claim the city as theirs but rather to deny it access by others.
Arguing from the religious point of view, every religious group has some particular area of interest and in which special attachments are given. Depending on the turn of religious events in history, I would argue that Mecca is a holy city of Islam religion same as Jerusalem is holy and relevant to the Jewish religion. From the historical analysis of the two sides, it is understood that Muhammad is claimed to have visited the Rock on which the Dome mosque is built. This same rock has relevance attached to Christianity and Jewish religions in that Jesus is claimed to have been there.
There are striking similarities between the two sides which further complicates the situation. Jews pray thrice to Jerusalem while Muslims prays five times daily to Mecca. It brings so much conflict on the two religions which shows that somewhere down the historical line of development of the two religions, there was some kind of integration of the two or their origin could be one. Jews believe that Abraham sacrificed his son Isaac in Jerusalem while Muslims believe that he did it in Mecca. This clearly shows that the claims by both sides are legitimate and arise from the same belief. Both sides believe that Abraham existed and made a sacrifice and at the same point. This can be interpreted as a common understanding of history from both sides.
But why is it that one side will feel to have more rights to the city than the other? If the history of the two religious groups shows the same believes, then both should come to a common agreement and accept the city as a common heritage for both. It would be faulty and the highest point of misunderstanding for one side to try and deny others access.
References
Balint, L. (2002). Fear vs. Justice at the Temple Mount. Whose Jerusalem? Whose Land Articles.
Hourani, M. (2007): A Muslim approach to Dialogue in Jerusalem in the new millennium. Trialogue in Jerusalem: Jew, Christians, and Moslems. Toward the Third Millennium lecturer articles
Inhofe, J. M. (2002). Seven Reasons why Israel is entitled to the Land: Peace in the Middle East. Senate Floor Statement by U.S. Sen. James M. Inhofe, March 4, 2004
Pipes, D. (2000): Jerusalem means more to Jew that to Muslims. Los Angeles Times, 2000
Pipes, D. (2001): The Muslim Claim to Jerusalem. Middle East Conflict Review
Sokol, S. (2004): Jerusalem: Capital of the Jews? Middle East Conflict Review
Symon, F. (2001): Jerusalem: Crucible of the Conflict. BBC News World Edition, Tuesday, 2001.
Winston, A. E. (2002). Who Wanted to Occupy the Land? Review Article on Whose Jerusalem? Who’s Land