Religion and Politics in the Middle East: Identity, Ideology, Institutions, and Attitudes

377 Pages·2013·1.644 MB·English

by  Robert D. Lee

R e l igion
Praise for the first edition L
“Lee skillfully balances a broad conceptual framework and careful E
analysis of particular Middle Eastern political systems. . . . E
In many ways, Lee moves the study of comparative politics to a new

level in this synthesis of theory and descriptive specifics.” and
—John o. VoLL, GEorGEtown UnIVErsIty
P ol i t ic s
“[Lee provides] stimulating, jargon-free theorizing about the tensions
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and balances between political and religious authority across time and
space, putting into fresh comparative perspective the doctrines and E
ideologies of secularism, Islamism, and Zionism in the Middle East.” iL
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—CLEMEnt MoorE hEnry, UnIVErsIty of tExas at aUstIn I in the
tg Middle east
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“Clearly written and compelling. . . . Especially impressive
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is the author’s comparative focus that brings together M o
nation-states that rarely share the same analytic stage.”
Identity, Ideology, Institutions, and Attitudes
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—ErIC DaVIs, rUtGErs UnIVErsIty I
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this innovative book analyzes the relationship between religion and politics in the Middle east through
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a comparative study of five countries—Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Robert D. Lee E N
examines each country in terms of four domains in which state and religion necessarily interact: P O
national identity, ideology, institutions, and political culture. In each domain he considers contradictory
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hypotheses, some of them asserting that religion is a positive force for political development and others T
identifying it as an obstacle. Among the questions the book confronts: Is secularization a necessary AL I
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prerequisite for democratic development? How is it and why is it that religion and politics are so deeply I
entangled in these five countries? And, why is it that all five countries differ so markedly in the way ST E
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they identify themselves and use religion for political purposes? I D
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the second edition is updated throughout and includes an entirely new chapter discussing the political
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and religious climate in Saudi Arabia. Earlier introductory analysis has been condensed to make
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room for new material, and chronologies at the end of each chapter have been added to help students
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understand the broader context. The second edition of Religion and Politics in the Middle East is a robust
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addition to courses on the Middle East.
robErt D. LEE is professor of political science at Colorado College. He is the author of
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Overcoming Tradition and Modernity: The Search for Islamic Authority as well as the translator and editor of de
Rethinking Islam: Common Questions, Uncommon Answers by Mohammed Arkoun. iC
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A MeMber of the Perseus books Gr ouP
www.westviewpress.com R o b E R T D . L E E
www.perseusacademic.com
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Religion and Politics
in the Middle East
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Religion and Politics
in the Middle East
Identity, Ideology, Institutions, and Attitudes
z
SECOND EDITION
Robert D. Lee
Colorado College
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
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Published by Westview Press, A Member of the Perseus Books Group
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Designed by Pauline Brown
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lee, Robert Deemer, 1941–
Religion and politics in the Middle East : identity, ideology,
institutions, and attitudes / Robert D. Lee. — Second Edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8133-4873-5 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-0-8133-4874-2
(e-book)
1. Religion and politics—Middle East. 2. Islam and politics—
Middle East. 3. Middle East—Politics and government. 4. Judaism
and politics—Middle East. 5. Group identity—Middle East.
6. Political culture—Middle East. 7. Religion and state—Middle East.
8. Secularism—Middle East. I. Title.
BL65.P7L4263 2013
322'.10956—dc23
2012050398
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xi
Transliteration xv
1. The Political Determinants of Religion 1
Historic Moments 5
Nationalism in the Middle East 7
Modernization Theory 9
Identity 11
Ideology 14
Institutions 19
Political Culture 24
Religion as a Dependent Variable 30
Conclusion 33
2. The Taming of Islam in Egypt 37
Identity 40
Ideology 49
Institutions 58
Political Culture 67
Conclusion 75
Chronology 77
3. The Transformation of Judaism in Israel 79
Identity 81
Ideology 90
Institutions 101
Political Culture 111
Conclusion 120
Chronology 123
v
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vi Contents
4. The Politics of Religion in “Secularist” Turkey 125
Identity 128
Ideology 137
Institutions 148
Political Culture 155
Outcomes 160
Conclusion 165
Chronology 167
5. State Shiism in Iran 169
Identity 171
Ideology 181
Institutions 193
Political Culture 205
Conclusion 216
Chronology 218
6. State Sunnism in Saudi Arabia 219
Identity 220
Ideology 229
Institutions 239
Political Culture 246
Conclusion 255
Chronology 256
7. Reconciling Religion and Politics 259
Balance 262
Identity 269
Ideology 276
Institutions 282
Political Culture 288
Conclusion 293
Notes 295
Glossary 323
Bibliography 327
Index 343
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Preface
I emerged from graduate school in an epoch of great hope for the discipline of
comparative politics. David Easton’s definition of the political system offered
a basis for analyzing both democratic and authoritarian, developed and devel-
oping countries. Structural-functionalism dominated the academy. Modernization
theory garnered nearly unanimous support. We argued about whether the concept
of political culture paved the way toward more useful comparison or only served
to emphasize those elements of a system that are unique, but we thought we
knew where we were going.
As I finished a dissertation and began to teach, I saw that those ideas and
schemes, however provocative, constituted a set of lenses colored differently
from the older, institutional lenses but nonetheless colored. The hope for quan-
tification contained in some of the structural-functional thinking never proved
practical, at least not in the Middle East and North Africa, the area of my special
interest. Detailed comparisons of structures and functions produced description
more than analysis. So what if a particular political structure does not perform
a particular function that the structure performs in another political system?
Methods, approaches, and paradigms began to proliferate.
Some of the most persuasive and influential work on the Middle East and
North Africa continued to focus on a single society at a time. However much
inspired by theory, and even though their authors often referred to them as “case
studies,” they described a unique set of institutions functioning in a specific con-
text. Even volumes in the Little, Brown series in comparative politics, while
similar in theoretical interests, were not exercises in genuine comparison.
Alternatively, those who turned to rational choice models or political econ-
omy for theoretical inspiration neglected the unique for the general. Ronald In-
glehart, who took political surveys to Europe (Eurobarometer) and then to the
world as a whole (World Values Survey), claimed to show that political cultures
remain unique even though his model of “human development” includes only
vii
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viii Preface
universal propositions. According to Inglehart, all societies are headed in the same
direction, though along somewhat different paths and at different speeds. The
uniqueness of individual cultures gets lost in the wide-reaching comparisons.
In forty years of trying to teach comparative politics, I have struggled with
a dilemma. I believe that students, like scholars, must understand some political
systems in depth before they can make broad comparisons. To introduce all the
countries of the Middle East and North Africa and suggest that the cultures are
all similar is not satisfactory, in my view. But books on the politics of individual
countries—and I have always used four countries as my base: Egypt, Israel,
Turkey, and Iran—provide some depth for students but differ so much in per-
spective and approach that comparison is difficult. Some monographs are too
complicated for beginning students. Journalistic studies, however readable, lack
systemic analysis. Historical studies, however useful, do not emphasize the po-
litical dimension that I want to be the center of my course.
I have yearned for materials that would examine a subset of countries with
regard to a single set of issues. In recent years, I have focused my course on the
relationship between religion and politics, and I began to think about writing
a book that would approach that domain and that domain alone. I yearned for
a modern rendition of Donald Eugene Smith’s Religion and Political Develop-
ment, an enormously ambitious volume that set no geographical or cultural limits
for itself. I admire his boldness, but the conclusions do not stand up in the wake
of the religious revival that has occurred since it was written.
Would it not be possible to (1) examine the propositions Smith and others
have advanced against a more modest range of examples in genuinely compar-
ative fashion and at the same time (2) ground those examples in sufficient cultural
detail so that the unique qualities of political systems do not get lost in the com-
parison? In other words, might it be possible to combine some of the merits of
single-country monographs with an effort at comparison limited to a single-
issue area, religion? Might it be possible to generate some useful comparative
generalizations at a regional level? This study pursues that possibility.
It also seeks the middle ground in another respect. Smith’s book was excep-
tional in its time, because it focused on a topic that was largely neglected: religion
and politics. The infatuation of our discipline within modernization theory and
the secularization hypothesis that lurked near the center of that theory caused
most scholars to downplay the importance of religion. Then came the Iranian
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Preface ix
Revolution of 1979, which brought a great turnaround. Suddenly there was an
outpouring of studies on Islam and politics. From the supply of books now avail-
able on the subject, one could easily conclude that religion is the most important
factor in explaining politics in the Middle East and North Africa. With its un-
derlying contention that politics has shaped religion as much as or more than
religion has shaped politics, this study seeks to pull back from that idea without
dismissing the religious revival as a passing phenomenon of little consequence.
In this second edition, I have added one case study to the four included in
the original book. I initially justified my selection of countries on the ground of
importance, and I think the addition of Saudi Arabia conforms to that standard.
Turkey, Iran, and Egypt have populations (70 to 80 million each) that give them
military, economic, and political weight in the region. Israel, despite a much
smaller population, qualifies by virtue of its superior military and economic
strength. The oil wealth of Saudi Arabia, combined with its rapidly growing
population (about 25 million), makes it a member of the club. Moreover, adding
Saudi Arabia means bringing into the study a second Arab state, a state that has
long identified itself with Islam and is, unlike the other states included here, a
monarchy. As one who has always had a strong interest in North Africa, I regret
not including Algeria, Morocco, or even Tunisia. But here is the dilemma of
one who teaches comparative politics: Is it better to introduce students to a large
number of countries in a more superficial way or to a smaller sample of countries
in a more detailed way? I have always preferred the latter option. Brief introduc-
tions to all the states of the Middle East and North Africa are readily available.
This volume treats five countries with regard to a single issue, the relationship
between religion and politics. I have added brief chronologies to help students
relate my account to a broader set of events, but I have not attempted to provide
detailed coverage of elections, political economy, foreign policies, social issues,
or other important topics. I have chosen depth over breadth, although depthis,
of course, a relative term. The bibliography is a student’s route toward a still
more thorough understanding than this volume can provide.