Islamic Liberation Theology: The Perspective of Hamid Dabashi

By Grace Mubashir, New Age Islam 5 June 2024 When Muslims Across The World Lose Hope, This Book Presents Shining Thoughts For Muslims Worldwide. The Combination Of Political Salience And Theoretical Force Makes Islamic Liberation Theology A Cornerstone Of A Whole New Generation Of Thinking About Political Islamism And A Compelling Read For Anyone Interested In Contemporary Islam ------- Islamic Liberation Theology: Resisting the Empire Hardcover by Hamid Dabashi Print length: 320 pages Language: English Publisher: Routledge Publication date: 13 May 2008 ------ Although the concept of liberation theology is deep in the Christian community, it has not taken root in the Muslim community. Among the Muslims themselves, the minority ``Shia'' is less studied. This descending order exists only in the case of the English term 'Liberation Theology'. Ideas almost similar to what we are dealing with today under this name are active in the Muslim community. Hamid Dabashi's 'Islamic Liberation Theology: Defending Empire' explores the potential for translation between this activism and the modern term 'liberation theology'. A professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York City, Dabashi is already well-known as the author of more than twenty internationally acclaimed books. The chapters include Resisting Imperialism, The End of Islamic Ideology, Blindness and Insight, Islam and Globalization, 'Shia' Suffering Drama, Liberation Religious Justice, and Malcolm X. The book spans over three hundred pages, with seven chapters titled beginning with a voluminous introduction and ending with an equally voluminous and erudite conclusion. In the first two chapters, which are complementary in nature, the essence of the subject is clearly written. Although some chapters are supplementary in nature, they are essential to ensure the integrity of the book. Culture is what differentiates humans from animals. Exploitation and handling are not ethical issues in the animal world. According to 'Charles Darwin's' principle of natural determination, handouts are natural in 'survival of the fittest'. Humans did not become cultured all at once. Man, having experimented with various forms of the social system, recognized the defects of each and moved towards a better one. Meanwhile, religion has appeared in various guises. First, religion has come as a solution to man's thought dilemmas such as existential crisis. Many of the consequences of religion becoming a way to lighten the burden of the mind can be found in Marx's famous statement, "Religion is an opium that hypnotizes man." In this way, the priesthood came into the picture to take advantage of the commercial potential of the increasing popularity of religion and God. God had no small place not only in man's spiritual life but also in his material life. It was a place that provided the belief that God will reward you if you do good and punish you if you do injustice to fellow human beings. Gradually the depth and breadth of space became less and less and the belief that if one did not question the inequalities of material life one would get a better life in reincarnation or the afterlife gained popularity. Religion literally became an opium that hypnotizes people with the belief that the cause of suffering in life is the sins of the past life, and if you experience the results of karma, you will get a good life in the next life. Although Marxist-Leninist thought rejects mechanistic materialism, the movements and regimes that emerged around the world with the dream of 'communism' were not far from mechanistic materialism at the practical level. Moreover, tyranny is at the head of socialist governments. It is in this context that 'liberation theology' emerges as a messiah. It was an experiment in combining the egalitarian vision advanced by the socialist-communist movements with the spirituality of religion, and distinctive Christianity. Another significance is that regions like 'Latin America' served as sources of this thought. For a long time, the priesthood served as an exploitative power and allied itself with other exploitative powers of the time. Even movements that were progressive in some respects were not so in all respects. The 'Protestant movement' which railed against the priesthood did not oppose the monarchy. This was also the case with the 'Mu'tazilites' who rose up against scriptural extremism in Islamic history. Important among the reasons why religion did not oppose the exploitative forces was the social background of those who came forward as its spokesmen and interpreters. The lessons taught by the barbarians who stuck to the upper classes were accepted as the official lessons of the religion. Because the grievances of marginalized groups were beyond the experiences of the priesthood, they were not included in the considerations of religion. Among people living in the same geographical background, there can be two types of readings, be it about religion or anything else. But with the advent of 'colonialism', 'geography' also intervenes in such reading varieties. Hamid Dabashi's book can be described as a critical analysis of this interaction. The book title 'Islamic Liberation Theology: Against Empire' is open to such a variety of interpretations. Against the Empire can also be read as 'against the Islamic Empire'. So, it can be said that the content of the book is the conflict between 'Islamic Liberation Theology' and 'Islamic Empire'. If geographical variation in the reading of the Bible and capital made regions like 'Latin America' hotbeds of liberation theology, this kind of variation in the reading of Islam by 'Islamists' was long before that. It is the scientific analysis of this contradiction that makes Dabashi's book original. Prominent among these contradictions was the 'West versus Islam' dichotomy. There are historical and contemporary reasons why the views of the Islamic thinkers who led the movements from the late 19th century onwards were connected to geography. The invasions of exploration since the capture of 'Constantinople' by the Turks are prominent for historical reasons. The Turks who captured 'Constantinople' were Muslims by religion. Moreover, Muslims had a large presence in the populations of Afro-Asian lands conquered and plundered by Europeans, and in the vanguard of the resistance movements that arose there. Therefore, 'Islam' became synonymous with the East in 'East against the West'. Dabashi recognizes that this reduced Islam as an ideal code. This has happened to many other religious philosophies. The division between Christendom and Paganism is well known. 'Dabashi' examines the developments in the Sunni and Shia communities since the 19th century and assesses how they failed. Instead of 'Islam against the West', he counts the 'Iranian Revolution', which emerged with the slogan 'Islam against the East and the West', as one of the failures. Meanwhile, the benefits of such advances are not lost. The author assesses almost all the movements that took place in the Muslim world during the colonial period, moving away from sectarian prejudices as much as possible. Even Jamaluddin Afghani's 'Pan-Islamism' became virtually non-Pan when the movements inspired by it in Egypt and the Indo-Pak subcontinent became somewhat narrower in worldview. The most progressive aspect of Afghani's thought was that he emphasized the need for the unity of Muslim and non-Muslim populations for the success of anti-colonial struggles in Egypt and India. But the fact is that the dual concept of Islam and the West still exists there. It was natural at that time when empires and empires were not completely lost. Two world wars took place after his death. A significant problem with the movements inspired by his ideas was that they imitated communist movements to a greater extent in appearance. That too was natural. The socialist revolution in Russia was triumphant in the same year that World War I ended, when the Caliphate, nominally under the leadership of Turkey, was crushed by the ``Sunni faction'', the majority of Muslims, as part of the global community. Later we see the growing socialist slums fighting against the American slums under the leadership of the Soviet Union. When this was translated into the Muslim context, the concept of Islam was asserted against the West. Moreover, there were many in the Muslim world who saw a new saviour in the Soviet Union. This is the psychology behind the active participation of Muslims, including religious scholars, in the process of building the communist movement in South Asia. But they did not reinterpret Islam according to the new situation. But it was the movements of 'Banna' and 'Abul A'la' who, though with many changes, had a lasting resonance in Egypt and the Indo-Pak subcontinent. However the rejection of 'Wahhabi' ideas from Saudi Arabia has adversely affected all of them ideologically. Religion is a veil in Afro-Asian countries. Its beneficiaries are many. Religion was one of the strategies that American imperialism invented to deal with the rise of socialist slums under the leadership of the Soviet Union. For this, they used God as common to all religions. Recently, the Saudi government has clarified that it was on the instructions of the United States that it tried to send the 'Wahhabi brand of Islam' to other countries. The Saudi regime needed religion to control the people. The Saudi government informed the people that they are people of religion and that religious dictatorship reigns in their country by capturing some poor people from somewhere every week and throwing them to death! Among the Wahhabis, there was a group of religious extremists who did not fall for these dramas. It was they who launched the failed revolution in 1979. The Saudi government was able to resist and defeat it. But in the Iranian revolution of the same year, another dictator, 'Shah', who had the same American bias, fell. The reason is that while the Saudi king played a religious man, the Shah played a 'progressive' in Iran. American imperialism thus understood the power of religion in containing popular anger. The 'Wahhabi brand of Islam' was adopted as a shield to protect not only from the communist threat but also from the revolutionary-Islamic threat from Iran. The third chapter 'Blindness and Insight' sheds more light on the philosophical aspects of the subject. The fourth chapter, 'Islam and Globalization', traces precisely the dynamics of the post-Cold War era when capital powers gained momentum. The chapters on 'Shia' history provide insights into many matters that are generally unknown to Indian readers. 'Malcolm X; The chapter 'A Muslim Revolutionary' points to many issues which have been neglected by the mainstream and the Muslim mainstream. Moreover, Malcolm X's life is presented as a solution to the dichotomy of 'Islam versus the West'. Against Oppression "Islamic Liberation Theology: Resisting the Empire" by Hamid Dabashi presents a compelling and scholarly examination of the intersection between Islamic thought and liberation theology, set against the backdrop of global imperialism and colonialism. Dabashi's work is both an academic and a passionate discourse, challenging dominant narratives that marginalize Islamic perspectives within the broader spectrum of liberation theologies. He meticulously critiques the socio-political structures that perpetuate oppression, arguing that true liberation is inherently linked to cultural and religious identity. Drawing parallels with Christian liberation theology, Dabashi posits that Islamic liberation theology serves as a critical framework for resisting oppression and advocating for social justice. He delves into historical and contemporary instances of resistance, highlighting the role of Islamic principles in fostering resilience and hope among oppressed communities. His analysis is rich with references to historical events, theological debates, and contemporary geopolitical issues, offering a nuanced understanding of how Islamic thought can contribute to global discourses on justice and liberation. Dabashi also engages with the works of influential Islamic thinkers and activists, emphasizing the dynamic and evolving nature of Islamic liberation theology. This book is a rigorous intellectual endeavour that challenges readers to reconsider preconceived notions about Islam and its role in contemporary struggles for justice. Through a blend of theoretical analysis and practical examples, Dabashi illustrates the transformative potential of an Islamic liberation theology that is deeply rooted in the principles of justice, equality, and human dignity. His writing is both accessible and profound, making complex ideas understandable without oversimplifying them. Overall, "Islamic Liberation Theology: Resisting the Empire" is a vital contribution to the fields of theology, political science, and Middle Eastern studies, offering a powerful vision of how Islamic thought can inspire and sustain movements for liberation and social justice in a world still grappling with the legacies of empire and colonialism. ----- A regular columnist for NewAgeIslam.com, Mubashir V.P is a PhD scholar in Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia and freelance journalist. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/books-documents/islamic-liberation-theology-hamid-dabashi/d/132449 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism