Muslims Against the Islamic State: Arab Critics and Supporters of Ali Abdarraziq’s Islamic Laicism

370 Pages·2014·2.51 MB·English

by  Luay Radhan

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Luay Radhan
Luay Radhan
Muslims Against the Islamic State
The central thesis of this study is that there are religious Muslims who are against e Muslims Against
the Islamic State for Islamic reasons. Its main goal is to explain Ali Abdarraziq’s at
(1888–1966) Islamic Laicism and to show the arguments of some of his Arab critics t
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and supporters. Abdarraziq’s Islamic Laicism is based on his Arabic work Islam and the c the Islamic State
Foundations of Governance: A Research of the Caliphate and Government in Islam (1925). i
m
In order to protect the people and the religion from the abuse of power by the state or
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the mosque, the Islamic Laicists Nasr Abu Zayd, Jamal al-Banna, Faraj Fodah, Abdullahi l
al-Na’im, and Turki al-Hamad want to separate the religious institutions (the mosque) Is Arab Critics and Supporters of
from the political institutions (the state). e
h Ali Abdarraziq’s Islamic Laicism
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The Editor s
Luay Radhan studied Political Science, Middle East Studies and English Philology at n
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Heidelberg University (Germany) and Middle East Studies at Marburg University (Germa- a
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ny). His research focuses on Islamic Laicism and the relationship between religious and A
political institutions.
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ISBN 978-3-631-65554-2 www.peterlang.com
265554_Radhan_AK A5Br PLA research new.indd 1 29.07.14 10:58
n
a
h
d
a
R
Luay Radhan
Luay Radhan
Muslims Against the Islamic State
The central thesis of this study is that there are religious Muslims who are against e Muslims Against
the Islamic State for Islamic reasons. Its main goal is to explain Ali Abdarraziq’s at
(1888–1966) Islamic Laicism and to show the arguments of some of his Arab critics t
S
and supporters. Abdarraziq’s Islamic Laicism is based on his Arabic work Islam and the c the Islamic State
Foundations of Governance: A Research of the Caliphate and Government in Islam (1925). i
m
In order to protect the people and the religion from the abuse of power by the state or
a
the mosque, the Islamic Laicists Nasr Abu Zayd, Jamal al-Banna, Faraj Fodah, Abdullahi l
al-Na’im, and Turki al-Hamad want to separate the religious institutions (the mosque) Is Arab Critics and Supporters of
from the political institutions (the state). e
h Ali Abdarraziq’s Islamic Laicism
t

t
The Editor s
Luay Radhan studied Political Science, Middle East Studies and English Philology at n
i
Heidelberg University (Germany) and Middle East Studies at Marburg University (Germa- a
g
ny). His research focuses on Islamic Laicism and the relationship between religious and A
political institutions.
s
m
i
l
s
u
M
www.peterlang.com
265554_Radhan_AK A5Br PLA research new.indd 1 29.07.14 10:58
Muslims Against the Islamic State

Luay Radhan

Muslims Against the Islamic State

Arab Critics and Supporters
of Ali Abdarraziq´s Islamic Laicism
Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche
Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in
the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic
data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Radhan, Luay, 1979-
Muslims against the Islamic state : Arab critics and supporters of Ali Abdarra-
ziq's Islamic laicism / Luay Radhan.
pages cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-3-631-65554-2
1. 'Abd al-Raziq, 'Ali, 1888-1966. Islam wa-usul al-hukm. 2. Islam and
state. I. Title.
JC49.A21137 2014
322'.1091767--dc23
2014031000

ISBN 978-3-631-65554-2 (Print)
E-ISBN 978-3-653-04724-0 (E-Book)
DOI 10.3726/978-3-653-04724-0
© Peter Lang GmbH
Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Frankfurt am Main 2014
All rights reserved.
PL Academic Research is an Imprint of Peter Lang GmbH.
Peter Lang – Frankfurt am Main ∙ Bern ∙ Bruxelles ∙ New York ∙
Oxford ∙ Warszawa ∙ Wien
All parts of this publication are protected by copyright. Any
utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without
the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to
prosecution. This applies in particular to reproductions,
translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in
electronic retrieval systems.
This publication has been peer reviewed.
www.peterlang.com
Table of Contents
I. Thanks and Linguistic Remarks .................................................................1
II. Glossary for Arabic Words .......................................................................339
III. Bibliography ..................................................................................................347
1. Introduction
1.1. Islamic State versus Islamic Laicism ..............................................................3
1.2. ʿAbdarrāziq’s Life and the Battle around his Book ....................................15
1.3. C lassical Political Theory in Islam: al-Māwardī,
Ibn Taymiyah and Ibn Khaldūn ...................................................................33
2. ʿAbdarrāziq’s Islamic Laicism
2.1. D isempowering the Caliphate: The Turkish Republic
Versus Rashīd Riḍā .........................................................................................53
2.2. The Essence of “Islam and the Foundations of Governance” ...................67
2.3. Ten Core Statements and Four Main Arguments ....................................106
2.4. The Heated Debate of 1925 ........................................................................112
2.5. ʿAbdarrāziq’s Later Views ...........................................................................125
3. Critics of ʿAbdarrāziq’s Islamic Laicism
3.1. Six Arab Critics of Islamic Laicism ...........................................................135
3.2. Islamist Counterarguments ........................................................................142
3.3. Rejecting the Main Arguments ..................................................................173
4. Supporters of ʿAbdarrāziq’s Islamic Laicism
4.1. Naṣr Abū Zayd .............................................................................................179
4.2. Jamāl al-Bannā .............................................................................................205
4.3. Faraj Fōdah ...................................................................................................234
v
4.4. ʿAbdullāhi al-Naʿīm ....................................................................................261
4.5. Turkī al-Ḥamad ...........................................................................................288
5. Final Part
5.1. ʿAbdarrāziq’s Islamic Laicism in 21st-Century Arabia ............................315
5.2. Conclusion: Islamic Laicism for a Better Islam .......................................324
5.3. Afterword: State Power and Moral Principles .........................................336
vi
I. Thanks and Linguistic Remarks
I would like to thank my supervisors, Prof. Dr. Albrecht Fuess and Prof. Dr. Udo
Steinbach, for their continuing support. This PhD thesis is dedicated to my
parents and my wife.
Except for generally accepted English forms of originally Arabic words, such
as “Islam,” “Quran,” “Sunni,” “Shiite,” “shariah,” “caliphate,” “caliph,” “imam,”
“hadith,” “Sunnah,” and “sheikh,” this PhD thesis uses the Library of Congress
transliteration system for Arabic words and writes them in italics. The Arabic
“wa” (“and”) stands alone except for “wa-allāhi” (“by God”). Arabic names are
transliterated in the same way but written in italics only when they are part of
a title or quotation. For the sake of convenience, names such as “ʿAbdarrāziq”
(originally “ʿAbd” and “al-Rāziq”) are written as one word. However, names with
“Ibn” (Ibn Khaldūn) or “Abū” (Abū Bakr) are written as two words.
1