Islam and international relations: exploring community and the limits of universalism

221 Pages·2016·1.249 MB·English

by  Sheikh, Faiz

Islam and International Relations
Global Dialogues:
Developing Non-Eurocentric IR and IPE
SeriesEditors:
JohnM.Hobson,ProfessorofPoliticsandInternationalRelations,UniversityofSheffield
L. H. M. Ling, Professor, Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and
UrbanPolicy,TheNewSchool.
Thisseriesadoptsadialogicalperspectiveonglobalpolitics,whichfocusesontheinter-
actions and reciprocities between West and non-West, across Global North and Global
South.Notonlydotheseshapeandreshapeeachotherbuttheyhavealsoshaped,made
andremadeourinternationalsystem/globaleconomyforthelast500years.Acknowledg-
ingthatthesereciprocitiesmaybeasymmetricalduetodisparitiesinpowerandresources,
thisseriesalsoseekstoregisterhow‘Eastern’agency,intandemwithcounterpartsinthe
West,hasmadeworldpoliticsandtheworldpoliticaleconomyintowhatitis.Whilethis
seriescertainlywelcomespurelytheoreticallybasedbooks,itsprimaryfocuscentreson
empiricalrethinkingaboutthedevelopmentoftheworldpoliticalsystemandtheglobal
economyalongnon-Eurocentriclines.
TitlesintheSeries
IslamandInternationalRelations:ExploringCommunityandtheLimitsofUniversalism,
byFaizSheikh
Islam and International Relations
Exploring Community and
the Limits of Universalism
Faiz Sheikh
London•NewYork
PublishedbyRowman&LittlefieldInternational,Ltd.
UnitA,WhitacreMews,26-34StannaryStreet,LondonSE114AB
www.rowmaninternational.com
Rowman&LittlefieldInternational,Ltd.isanaffiliateofRowman&Littlefield
4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706,USA
WithadditionalofficesinBoulder,NewYork,Toronto(Canada),andLondon(UK)
www.rowman.com
Copyright©2016byFaizSheikh
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany
electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems,
withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote
passagesinareview.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
ISBN:HB978-1-7834-8457-7
ISBN:PB978-1-7834-8458-4
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Sheikh,Faiz,author.
Title:Islamandinternationalrelations:exploringcommunityandthelimitsofuniversalism/Faiz
Sheikh.
Description:Lanham,Maryland:Rowman&Littlefield,[2016]|Series:Globaldialogues:develop-
ingnon-eurocentricIRandIPE|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2016012615(print)|LCCN2016013610(ebook)|ISBN9781783484577(cloth:
alk.paper)|ISBN9781783484584(pbk.:alk.paper)|ISBN9781783484591(Electronic)
Subjects:LCSH:Islamandinternationalrelations.|Islamandworldpolitics.|Islamiccountries--
Foreignrelations.
Classification:LCCBP190.5.D56S442016(print)|LCCBP190.5.D56(ebook)|DDC297.2/72--
dc23
LCrecordavailableathttp://lccn.loc.gov/2016012615
TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican
NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary
Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Note x
ListofAbbreviations xi
GlossaryofArabicTerminology xiii
1 Introduction 1
IslamandPolitics 4
WarmingUp:TheStateversustheUmma 6
TheMainEvent:LiberalismversusIslamismversus
Poststructuralism 8
StructureoftheBook 9
Notes 12
PartI:CritiquingInternationalRelations
2 Islam(ism)andInternationalRelations 17
NavigatingPoliticalIslam 19
UniquePoliticsinEarlyIslam? 22
TakingIssuewithDinWaDawla 24
TheThirdPerspective:NormativePoliticalIslam 27
Conclusions 30
Notes 31
3 InternationalRelations,Islam,andtheSecularBias 35
IRandPoliticalIslamintheMENA,Sub-SaharanAfricaand
SoutheastAsia 37
InternationalRelations,ReligionandtheMENA 40
Marxist-InspiredStudyoftheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica 40
v
vi Contents
Constructivist-InspiredStudyoftheMiddleEastandNorth
Africa 42
TheoreticalPluralism:ForeignPolicyAnalysisandRealist-
InspiredStudyoftheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica 45
InternationalRelations,ReligionandtheAfricanContinent 50
AfricanMarginalisationinInternationalRelations 51
InternationalRelations,ReligionandSoutheastAsia 55
SoutheastAsia,ReligionandInternationalRelations 55
TheWestphalianNarrativeinInternationalRelations
Scholarship 58
TheLegacyofWestphalia 60
LiberalIndividualism,theUmmaandCommunitarianism 61
Conclusions 63
Notes 64
4 AFrameworkforStudyingReligioninInternationalRelations 69
EpistemologicalFoundations 71
ANoteonTerminology 73
Islam,PostcolonialismandModernity 75
PostcolonialCritiquesofModernity 76
PoststructuralismandIslam:ASharedAgenda? 79
TheStudyofReligioninIR 80
UnpackingPoliticalIslamUsingConstructivism 83
ProblemsandLimitations 86
Conclusions 88
Notes 89
PartII:DevelopinganAlternative
5 SovereigntyandPoliticalIslam 97
PoliticalIslamandtheState 100
IslamicPhilosophyandPoliticalIslam 104
GnosticismandtheShi’ismofAyatollahKhomeini 105
ExotericisminSunniIslam 109
ExotericismandPolitics 111
IbnKhaldun,ExotericismandSovereigntyinIslam 113
SynthesisingtheSovereigntyofGodandExotericismin
NormativePoliticalIslam 114
DerivingPoliticalSovereigntyviaanExotericMethod 117
Conclusions 121
Notes 123
6 AccountingforCommunity 127
IslamasCommunity?IslamasCitizenship? 129
LiberalismandCommunitarianism 133
Contents vii
CommunitarianInternationalRelations 139
Conclusions 149
Notes 151
PartIII:PluralismorPolarisation?PoststructuralismandReligion
7 ValuePluralismandthe‘International’ofInternationalRelations 157
CommunitarianismandtheClashofCivilisations 159
TheFoundationsofthe‘Problem’inIR 164
ValuePluralismandIR 167
CertaininScepticism?PostmodernismandIslam 172
AcknowledgingtheTruthofIslam,orEssentialisinga
DiverseTradition? 175
BoundingExpectations:IslamicRationalismand
Poststructuralism 177
Conclusions 179
Notes 181
8 Conclusion 185
ToWhatExtentIsanIslamicNotionofInternationalRelations
Tenable? 188
Notes 190
Bibliography 191
Index 203