Towards a Civic Islamic Discourse
Discourse-Keynote Speech-Oraib Al Rantawi
Presenting the proceedings of this international conference I would like to thank the ladies and gentlemen delegated from different parts of the world for their efforts and contributions as participants and debaters. We benefited from their invaluable knowledge and experiences in creating ‘A Civic Democratic Islamic Discourse’.
Permit me first to introduce the subject matter of the conference and its title and to formulate a judgement in response to two questions: What is ‘Islamic’? And what is ‘Democratic and Civic’?
No one disagrees with the idea that there is an Islamic phenomena of sovereignty and hegemony over the majority of Arab and Islamic societies, even if there is a certain amount of disharmony and fluctuation, and even if the growth and propagation of this phenomenon over the past quarter century has produced (and will perhaps continue to produce over the next quarter century) a deluge of questions and queries, as well as all sorts of complex challenges, either linked to the future of our states and our societies, or connected to our relationship with ‘the Other’ – in dialogue or in discord, in coalition or in conflict.
The reasons that have led to this hegemony and the propagation of the Islamic phenomenon have been examined in great detail in research, studies and debates. There has emerged a necessity for a progressive overview in search of more productive ways of incorporating the Islamic phenomenon into the internal political life of our states and societies. There is also a necessity to ensure their constructive participation in the democratic changes taking place with difficulty in some of our states, or in those which we aspire to see implemented in other states, with all that this necessity engenders in terms of changes to Islamic political discourse on the one hand, and of alterations to the policies and practices of the elected governments on the other.
The need to apply and develop democratic political, cultural, social, and civic discourse within the various Islamic bodies is a need established from all kinds of factors and considerations. I will content myself with putting forward two of them: the first methodological; the second political.
Methodological Perspective:
The time has come to view ‘the Islamic Trend’ as a social political agent, the product of specific historical, social and cultural threads, which have influenced it, and which it has influenced. They contributed to drawing out its trajectory, and in turn it takes part in forming, modifying and altering their characteristics. The reality of this trend today, and the debates, dialogues and changes which operate within it are testimony to two facts:
The first fact relates to ‘the new Orientalism’ craze of certain theories, which have been issued periodically by some of the more right-wing strategic think-tanks in the west, and which have at times reverberated with some of the more extreme secular Arab schools. These theories are always seized on by the security ideology schools and thought prevalent in most Arab capitals. These schools, whilst they may differ in their objectives and purposes, do share one common point which is to attribute features of stagnation, sluggishness and obscurity to this trend in its different forms, and to view it as a solid inner core resistant to pluralism and change.
The second fact is connected to some of the Islamic schools who imbue their discourse with an air of sanctity, and look on it as a given fact not open to interpretation and independent judgement, passing through time and space and ever-worthy of both. They disregard the successive misfortunes and ups and downs in the conditions of countries and their peoples, thereby adopting the positions of their adversaries who try to remove them from their historic, societal and cultural contexts. Some of these schools see themselves as the legitimate continuation and the sole heirs of early Islam and the state of Medina, without distinguishing between what is divine and what is convention, between heaven’s revelations and man’s imperfect reasoning and his practices on earth.
The time has come to consider the Islamic phenomenon extending throughout the Arab and Islamic worlds and in the Diaspora communities in its political, social, cultural and historical proviso.
The time has come to discard extremist and exclusionary tendencies with their multiple origins and objectives on the one hand, and to overcome the side of Islamist superiority on the other.
Political Perspective:
The need for Civic and Democratic Islamic discourse springs from the imperatives of turning the wheel of comprehensive economic, political, social and cultural reform in our states and societies. For without the participation and integration of the trend of ‘political Islam’ in this process, and without this trend moving from a position of ‘threat’ to a position of ‘partner’, the chances for success and progress will remain fraught with perils and obstacles. There will remain a prevailing state of collision and entrenchment between the ruling elite and the constitutive entities of this trend.
This process of transition allocates responsibilities and commitments on different sides of the equation and their entities:
What is Required from the Elected Rulers in our States:
Transcending the state of stagnation and recession, opening the windows of political organisations to the winds of participation and pluralism, freedom of opinion, expression and assembly, and abandoning extremist or exclusionary tendencies or marginalisation.
Distinguishing between the main body of the trend of Political Islam and ‘Takfiri’, the violent and terrorist movements, and not encroaching on the first group on the pretext of cracking down on the second.
Planning comprehensive national dialogue with the different entities in the political, cultural and social spectrums to renew the political ground rules in our states, and creating the necessary conditions to mature the experience of a peaceful rotation of power.
Lifting the shackles imposed on civil society institutions, ending the restrictions to which they are subjected, as well as enabling them to play their part as partners in the creation of a common future, so that they may raise participation levels and possibilities for women and young people.
The governing elect are also called upon to liberate the press and the media from the shackles of governmental ownership and censorship, so that the media can express pluralism and play a regulatory and informative role.
Furthermore, a revolutionary reform of Arab constitutions and legislations is called for, in particular those which fetter attempts to launch the process of dynamic democratic change securing the participation of everyone with the exception of Takfiri or violent forces and groups.
What is Required from the Trend of Political Islam:
· To soften of the intransigence which characterizes some of their positions, particularly those generating concern and caution, and to descend from the heights of ‘poetic expression’ to the reality of the concerns and challenges directly facing our societies by creating political, economic and social programmes which go beyond the concluding catchphrase ‘Islam is the solution’.
· To overcome the superiority complex which poisons the discourse of some of Islamic forces, and to differentiate their views from other component entities in state and society, and to deal with Self and Other from a political standpoint which accepts agreement and difference, division and coalition, without pre-emptive accusations, inclinations towards Takfir, or departures from the creed.
· To diminish grey areas in the discourse of political Islam, and to appropriate a decisive language in issues such as: citizenship, minorities, women, violence, the peaceful rotation of power, consultation, democracy, political/intellectual/cultural/ social pluralism, and many more terms which will be dealt with in this conference.
· Just as the Arab and Islamic ruling elect are required to distinguish between the broad trend of political Islam on the one hand, and violent and Takfiri movements on the other, so the trend of political Islam is called upon to designate, with utmost clarity, the frontiers and borderlines which distinguish it from Takfiri and violent groups. For it is no longer possible or acceptable to be satisfied with describing Takfir and terrorism in a language which sometimes approaches justification. Today more than ever before it has become necessary to condemn these phenomena, to isolate them and to annihilate their intellectual and doctrinal centres.
What is Required from Other Political and Intellectual Trends:
· Reviewing their stereotypical portrayal of the trend of ‘political Islam’ and going beyond the available descriptions some of the Arab secular intellectual and political schools have come to use in their confrontation of the Islamist phenomenon, such as ‘stagnancy’, ‘backwardness’, and ‘recession’.
· Taking an interest in the developments which have occurred and are occurring within Islamic discourse; encouraging processes of change, and making a transition towards the democratic civic discourse which has credibility within Islam.
· Examining the areas for joint action with the Islamic Trend, and planning for strategic dialogue with this trend concerning the local political ground rules.
· Distancing themselves from making any show of flexing their muscles against this trend, be it by resorting to the governing elect internally, or to ‘the outside world’, and distinguishing between the right to express difference and contrast on the one hand, and openly inciting escalation and marginalisation on the other.
What is required from the International Community and specifically the US and the EU:
· Distinguishing between the War on Terror and the broader trend of political Islam.
· Opening up dialogue with non-violent Islamic groups who show their readiness for political participation and dialogue with the Other.
· Encouraging these movements to construct a moderate civic democratic political dialogue, and respecting the nature of Islamic authority in these movements in word and in deed.
· Adhering to the goal of spreading democratic freedom in this region in a way which preserves the interests of its people and their aspirations, discontinuing support to despotic regimes in the region, and equally discontinuing their alliances with them on the pretext of fearing ‘the spectre of the Islamists’.
· Going beyond the dual tactics of dealing with issues of freedom and democracy, i.e. by exercising pressure on certain despotic regimes whilst exempting others for security or political reasons, or calculated on oil or trade interests.
· Working on a parallel path to solve regional conflicts, first and foremost the Palestinian – Israeli conflict, in a manner which ensures the Palestinian people’s fundamental rights to nationhood in accordance with international law and its resolutions, so that this struggle cannot remain a pretext for despotic regimes to hinder the paths of democratic change and a cause for igniting extremism in the region.
Over the course of the next three days, we will consider many of the questions and queries cast onto our societies’ agendas in general, and our Islamic movements in particular. It is truly hoped that we will finish by reaching a common understanding of these challenges – be it broad or narrow – and will include ideas and proposals in the final findings of our conference which help to transcend and surmount these challenges. Moreover it is hoped that our common understanding will serve to herald an era of collective action within the framework of an international coalition for civic democratic Islam.
Before I conclude my speech, permit me to offer our sincere thanks to his Excellency the Prime Minister Dr Ma’ruf al-Bakhit for kindly agreeing to sponsor the conference, and to his delegate, our noble brother and friend Dr Sabri Rbeihat and the Minister of Political Development and Parliamentary Affairs for his presence here.
My thanks and appreciation also go to our friends and partners in the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and to Dr Hardy Ostry, the Regional Representative in Amman. Were it not for their support, this conference would not have been possible. In conjunction with this, my thanks to my colleagues in the Al-Quds Centre for Political Studies who over a great many months have expended diligent and concerted efforts in order to make this conference a success.
I thank our participants most kindly for their powerful contributions that had a decisive influence on the success of our conference.
