Narratives of Arab Secularism

270 Pages·2022·2.828 MB·English

by  Youssef M. Choueiri

NARRATIVES OF ARAB SECULARISM
This book offers a new interpretation of the rich narratives of Arab secularism,
contending that secularism as a set of ideas and a social movement is destined to
loom large on the political and legal horizon of most Arab states.
Y oussef M. Choueiri provides a study of three moments in the development
of secularism in the Arab World: the Machiavellian, the Alfierian and the
Gramscian. It is within such a scope that secularism in its interaction with
state-building projects, women’s emancipation and religion is treated as an
intellectual current and a discursive entity embedded in the political process
of its diverse societies. Through the chapters, Choueiri demonstrates how
secularism occupies a pivotal presence in the religious and political life of the Arab
world, exploring such interrelated configurations as indigenous contributions,
diverse reforms and the impact of Western states. He concludes that secularism
has become a moral prerequisite and a required vehicle in creating the necessary
conditions for the success of democracy in the Middle East.
N arratives of Arab Secularism tackles the complexity and contemporary
ramifications of the subject in a way that no previous single study has been able
to. It will be relevant to both students and academics dealing with topics related to
the Middle East including religion, politics, anthropology and history.
Y oussef M. Choueiri is currently Honorary Research Fellow at the University of
Manchester, UK. He served as Reader (Associate Professor) in Arab and Islamic
Studies at the University of Exeter and the University of Manchester before
joining the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies as Professor of History in 2015.
He is the author or editor of a number of books, including A rab History and
the Nation-State, A Companion to the History of the Middle East and I slamic
Fundamentalism. His research interests span a cluster of inter-related Middle
Eastern, Arab and Islamic topics: the emergence and development of modern
Arab historiography, the notion of the nation-state, Arab nationalism, Middle
Eastern modernity and Islamism.
Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Democratization
and Government
Edited by: Larbi Sadiki
Qatar University
This series examines new ways of understanding democratization and govern-
ment in the Middle East. The varied and uneven processes of change, occurring
in the Middle Eastern region, can no longer be read and interpreted solely through
the prism of Euro-American transitology. Seeking to frame critical parameters in
light of these new horizons, this series instigates reinterpretations of democracy
and propagates formerly ‘subaltern’ narratives of democratization. Reinvigorat-
ing discussion on how Arab and Middle Eastern peoples and societies seek good
government, Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Democratization and Govern-
ment provides tests and contests of old and new assumptions.
31. The Egyptian Army and the Muslim Brotherhood
Contemporary Political Power Dynamics
Sara Tonsy
32. Secularism Confronts Islamism
Divergent Paths of Transitional Negotiations in Egypt and Tunisia
Mohammad Affan
33. Altered States
The Remaking of the Political in the Arab World
Edited by Sune Haugbolle and Mark LeVine
34. Narratives of Arab Secularism
Politics, Feminism and Religion
Youssef M. Choueiri
For more information about this series, please visit: w ww.routledge.com/
middleeaststudies/series/RSMEDG
NARRATIVES OF ARAB
SECULARISM
Politics, Feminism and Religion
Youssef M. Choueiri
C over image: Imene BOUGAA
F irst published 2023
by Routledge
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© 2023 Youssef M. Choueiri
T he right of Youssef M. Choueiri to be identified as author of this work
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B ritish Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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ISBN: 978-0-367-74528-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-74531-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-15835-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003158356
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CONTENTS

Preface vii
Introduction: Secular Moments and Political Approaches 1
PART 1
Theoretical and Historical Narrativities 21
1 The Arab Itinerary of Machiavelli, Alfieri and Gramsci:
Secular Narrativities 23
2 Cultural and Political Lineages of Arab Secularism 38
PART 2
The Machiavellian Moment 55
3 Points of Departure: Early Arab Modernity 57
4 Arab Women’s Agency 84
5 Political Activism and Secular Deism 105
vi Contents
PART 3
The Alfierian Moment 121
6 Science and Progress: The Arab Intelligentsia and Secular
Interpretations 123
7 Religious Injunctions and Secular Laws 159
PART 4
The Gramscian Moment 175
8 Reinventing Secularism: Public Dialogues, Debates and
Confrontations 177
9 Civil Society in Its Gramscian Moment 196
C onclusion: Secularity: Towards a Critical Historical Theory 230
Bibliography 236
Index 251
PREFACE

Why should someone studying Middle East politics be interested in the history of
Arab secularism? Was secularism a modern movement? How did it emerge in the
first place? Why did Arab intellectuals and leaders adopt it as part of their mod-
ernising programme? Did the Arab Spring portend the emergence of a new wave
of secularism across various Arab societies? What are the prospects of secular-
ism in an Arab world torn by various civil wars and incurring so many deficits
in democratic rights, human development and failing education systems, not to
mention health, housing and employment? Is secularity itself in crisis? These are
some of the questions that are treated as elements of coherent narratives extend-
ing over the last two centuries.
This is a study that has been in gestation for the best part of my academic
career. But I was moved into a prompt mood of engagement when I began to
come across scores of books written in Arabic, and composed in the main by
Islamist writers in the form of polemical diatribes condemning secularism as
a heresy and an alien creed. As I delved further into the state-of-the-art stud-
ies on secularism, I was highly motivated to join the debate, but with a sober
and restrained attitude. Such a determination took on a palpable urgency as the
Arab Spring began to turn into a bleak winter. It became transparently obvious
at that stage that the whole political and intellectual atmosphere surrounding the
culture of organised protests and street demonstrations was lacking a number of
essential ingredients. It was apparent that its slogans required theoretical depth,
whereas its organisation did not seem to conform to a well-defined pattern. In
other words, its overall strategy and management of practices and activities did
not convey a definite clarity of purpose or an identifiable end-result. While this
study is not intended as a diagnosis of the multiple failures of the Arab Spring,
identifying a glaringly missing ingredient might serve to throw light on the major
components of the enterprise.
viii Preface
When the Arab Spring broke out, I was in Beirut, on unpaid leave from the
University of Manchester. While in Beirut, I joined the Centre for Arab Unity
Studies as its Director-General. One of my duties was to act as editor-in-chief of
its monthly journal al-Mustaqbal al-Arabi . I therefore took the opportunity to
write a series of editorials welcoming the advent of Arab democracy and prais-
ing all those who helped to bring about fundamental change. I was particularly
anxious to highlight the daily participation of young men and women in its plan-
ning and activities. Although the political strategy of the protests did not seem
to fall into a clearly delineated strategy, I expressed, along with many others, my
optimism and belief in its eventual victory. I distinctly remember receiving, after
the publication of one of my editorials, a letter from the former secretary-general
of the Arab League and a prominent Tunisian statesman, al-Shazly al-Qulaybi
(1925–2020). He graciously praised my “cogent observations” and thanked me
for my enthusiastic support of the revolution in his country. Before returning
to England, I visited a number of Arab countries, including Egypt and Algeria,
in a bid to do some field work geared towards finding out whether I should go
on upholding an Arab Spring that seemed to be struggling to survive, or add as
much as I could to my historical education, despite my sombre mood and genuine
misgivings. In the end, while Tunisia was partially successful in achieving some
goals of the Spring, all other Arab countries have either reverted to a form of
authoritarianism, or have been in the grip of devastating civil wars and foreign
invasions.
By 2014, it was plainly easy to see that democracy in the Arab world had
become once again a distant dream. It was under these conditions that I renewed
my long-held interest in secularism. This study is as a result meant to highlight
the abiding significance of nurturing a sense of secularity in tackling everyday
issues as well as broader political affairs. It is, moreover, a representative sample
of ideas and arguments voiced in different ways by thousands of activists, femi-
nists, writers and scholars in the Arab world as a whole. Furthermore, I am utterly
convinced that a religious system of government adopted on the basis of some ver-
sion of political Islam will have a meagre chance of survival in the modern world.
I would like to point out at this juncture that I have greatly benefited from the
works of all those who have treated in one form or another the subject-matter of
Arab secularism or secularisation. They include, amongst others, Nazik Yared,
Ralph M. Coury, Olivier Roy, Aziz al-Azmeh, Azmi Bishara, ‘Adil Dahir, Nasif
Nassar, Kamal ‘Abd al-Latif, Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab and Mark Farha. I also
wish to thank the Lebanese lawyer Fadi Mughaizil for providing me with the
pioneering writings of his father, Joseph Mughaizil, on secularism.
U pon my return to Manchester in 2013, my colleagues at the School of Arts,
Languages and Cultures, particularly Alan Williams, George Brooke, David Law
and Daniel Langton, convinced me to introduce the ‘Arab Spring’ as a separate
topic in my courses. I also taught with another colleague, Zahia Smail Salhi, who
was then Head of Middle Eastern Studies, an additional course on ‘Women in
Middle Eastern and North African Societies’. For the next two years, discussions
and seminars with students, drawn from various departments, made me aware of
Preface ix
the importance of avoiding introducing Arab subjects through piles of data and
raw material – hence, the theoretical twist that inhabits my present study.
I single out for special gratitude Nelida Fuccaro, currently of New York Uni-
versity, and previously a faculty member of the History Department at the School
of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Her dedication to Arab
studies and diligent research into Middle Eastern themes have always been an
inspiration. I extend to her in this respect my enduring gratitude for inviting me
over the years to act as external examiner for a number of her PhD students.
I have no qualms in saying that I learnt much from Nada Saliba, Vivian Ibra-
him, Talal Al-Rashoud and Rikard Ehnsio. Moreover, Ahmad Hadi-Shboul and
Nijmeh Hajjar, formerly of Sydney University, introduced me to the vast world of
Arabic literature and its secularist overtones.
I would like to take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to all members of
what is known in scholarly circles as the ‘Cambridge School’. Their theoretical
and historical contributions to the study of political thought, or intellectual his-
tory, have always loomed as the first port of call, or the last resort, in figuring
out the configuration of ideas and their emergence within particular social and
cultural structures. Ever since my days as a doctoral candidate at Cambridge, I
have always carried in my head, kept on my library shelves, and later on stored
in my PDF attachments, the works of John Dunn, Herbert Butterfield, Quentin
Skinner and J.G.A. Pocock. My debt also extends to Peter Burke of Emmanuel
College, who introduced me to the concept and practice of cultural history.
My special thanks go to the Routledge editorial team who welcomed my initial
proposal and offered their unstinting support to carry it through its various stages.
I single out in particular Peter Sowden, Titanilla Panczel, James ‘Joe’ Whiting
and Grace Rollison, Charlie Baker, Marie Louise Roberts and Geraldine Martin.
Moreover, Larbi Sadiki, the series editor, deserves my abiding appreciation.
Last, but not least, I thank Aseel Alayli, Communications Manager for Arab
Barometer, for granting permission to use some of the data published in their
informative surveys.
Needless to say, I take full responsibility for all shortcomings and errors.
A Note on Transliteration
In transliterating Arabic letters and words, this book follows the Library of Con-
gress guidelines for transliteration, but no diacritical marks are used except (‘)
‘ayn (voiced guttural fricative) and (’) hamza, representing the glottal stop as a
backwards apostrophe.
Youssef M. Choueiri
Exeter, England
October 24, 2021