Islamic Religion and Arab Culture

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Islamic Religion and Arab Culture

• (Conflict and Reinforcement)

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The Middle East
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Muslim Distribution
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Muslim World 2000
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AllahThe one God

• For believing Muslims this is the name of the one
  God. For them there is no other.
• Allah was originally the name of an astral god
  worshipped by the pagan Arabs before Islam. The
  Kaaba in Mecca is survival of this earlier
  form of religion.
• Islam is a most strictly monotheistic faith.

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The Muslim View

• There is but one God. (Allah)
• Any other belief is pagan.
• Judaism and Christianity are the result of
  earlier revelations by the one God.
• They are Religion 1.0 and Religion 2.0.
• Islam (Submission is Religion 3.0
• Islam results from direct revelation to the
  Prophet Muhammad.

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On Discussing Religion

• Other peoples views on religion must be
  respected whether or not one shares them.
• Religion is about faith, not reason.
• Debating the truth of religion is for
  theologians, not soldiers or other government
  people.
• Never challenge a Muslim over the value of his
  religion or yours.
• Nevertheless, an objective view of the subject is
  necessary.

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Origins of Islam(The Hydraulic Theory)

• Rainfall in the Arabian Peninsula is both meager
  and uneven.
• An irregular cycle of plentiful rainfall and
  severe drought is unending.
• Plenty of rain means more food, means more
  people.
• Less rain means less food means starve or move.
• Time of the Islamic revelation and its
  establishment as a community corresponds to a
  profound drought.
• Invasion of Syria, Iraq and Egypt followed.

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Mean Rainfall
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ME in 6th Century
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World War in the 7th Century A.D.

• Sassanian Persia and Byzantine Rome were the
  great powers.
• In the M.E. there were independent Jewish and
  Christian Arab states.
• The two great powers fought a ten year war to the
  death, to exhaustion. (kinetic exhaustion?)
• Islam expanded into a vacuum.

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ME in 6th Century
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Early Expansion
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Islam and Arianism

• The Prophet Muhammad was exposed to many forms of
  Judaism and Christianity in his travels.
• Early Christian fathers in the lands captured
  by the Muslims thought Islam was just another
  form of Christianity.
• Arian Christianity was widespread in Arabia.
  It held that Jesus was a great prophet but not
  God. This is like Islam.

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A World Theocratic State

• The Umma.
• Islam is a seamless garment.
• Administered first from Damascus, then from
  Baghdad.
• Splintered early into de facto separate regions
  ruled by mercenary soldiers.
• Has not been united for a thousand years.

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Many forms of Islam - 1

• Sunni accepts the authority of Quran, and the
  early example (Sunna) of Islamic community and
  majority community leaders.
• Shia Represents the interests of the
  underclass. Probably developed as a result of
  Arab discrimination against the conquered.
  Identity pinned to the rights of the prophets
  family.

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Many Forms of Islam - 2

• Shia
• Twelvers. Prevalent in Iraq and south Lebanon.
• Seveners. Exist mainly in India and Pakistan.
• Fivers. Only in Yemen. Nearest Shia sect to
  Sunnis in law. Follow ancient rationalist school
  of law.

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Basic Facts of Sunni and Shia Islam

• No ordained clergy. Ulema are scholars and
  officials, not priests.
• No Hierarchy.
• No sacraments. No baptism. Affirmation of Islam
  is substitute. Marriage is a religiously
  certified contract.

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Predominate forms of Islam are law driven

• Man is insignificant. God is everything. Mans
  function is to obey God.
• Therefore, knowing the will of God as expressed
  in religious law is all important.
• Determining accepted law and its application is
  the principal function of Ulema (clerics)

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The Roots of the law -1(Usul Fiqh)

• Quran The uncreated word of God. It was not
  written by man (Muslim understanding). It
  descended from heaven and has existed in this
  form and words for all eternity.
• Hadith Various authorized collection of records
  of the practice of Muhammad and the early Muslim
  community. The Shia and Sunni have different
  collections.

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The Roots of the law - 2

• Qiyas analogy from case law.
• Ijma Because Islam has no chain of command,
  consensus of Scholars or any group of Muslims
  effectively determines what law is accepted.
• Ijtihad individual striving for understanding
  of Gods will based on Quran, etc. The Shia
  believe this is still possible but the Sunni have
  not for a thousand years.

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Shia and Sunni beliefs on Ijtihad

• The Twelver Shia believe that Ijtihad is still
  possible and that certain great scholars have
  this ability. They are certified by the Howza.
  A university of scholars. There are basically
  two, one in Iran and the other in Iraq. The two
  are intimately connected.
• The Sunni think this path to law is now blocked,
  but recent pressure has caused them to at least
  reconsider the subject.

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Schools of Sunni Law

• Hanbali In use only in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
  Relies only on Quran and Hadith for making
  judgments of law. Forms the background of
  Wahhabism, takfiri jihadism and Al-Qaida.
• Hanafi This was the official school of law of
  the Ottoman Empire and for that reason is widely
  accepted.
• Shafai The oldest and most widely accepted
  school.
• Maliki Prevalent in western north Africa.

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Shia Law

• More organizationally structured than Sunni law
  and based on the ijma (consensus) of the great
  mujtahids of Shia Islam. They are also called
  ayatollahs.
• The consensus is formed in the Howza of a great
  center of learning or in the following of a
  single man.
• Such a man is called a marja at-taqliid or
  reference point for emulation.
• Such a mans opinions have no authority after his
  death.

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Ijma and Group Consensus

• Because of the lack of hierarchy, group identity
  within Islam and belief in what Islam is
  altogether dependent on the groups acceptance of
  the leader or the groups teaching.
• Official Islamic authorities do not accept this
  bit it is effectively the truth.

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Levels in Islam

• Like all great religions Islam exists at
  different levels of sophistication.
• At the top, men like Al-Ghazali, great
  philosophers ranking with Aristotle and Plato.
• At the bottom, a mass of folk religion and
  superstition filled with demons, genies and
  charms.

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The Five Pillars

• Witness There is no God, but God and Muhammad
  is the messenger of God.
• Pilgrimage To Mecca at least once in a lifetime
  during Dhu al-Hajj.
• Prayer Five times a day, preferably in
  formation.
• Alms Zakat Tithing, preferably to the poor.
• Fasting- in Ramadan unless one is traveling or
  ill.

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The Mahdi

• Both Shia and Sunni Islam believe in the
  existence of a Mahdi or savior. This belief is
  probably based on earlier Jewish and Christian
  beliefs.
• In the case of the Shia, the belief is that the
  Mahdi is the same person as the hidden 12th
  Imam of the Twelver Shia community. According to
  their belief this descendant of Muhammad awaits
  the time of final judgment when he will come with
  Jesus to judge all.

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The Sunni Mahdi

• The Sunni Mahdi is different. He
• Is an extraordinary man who has come into
• the world as a renewer of religion (mujaddid
• al-din). He may be of any profession,
• soldier, scholar, etc. There have been many
• claimants to the title.

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The Sufis - 1

• Orthodox Islam is a matter of law and obedience
  to Gods law.
• This is a view of mans relationship to God which
  is not enough for many.
• In response many Muslims have individually or in
  groups believed that they could know Gods love
  personally.
• They are called Sufis and their mysticism is
  related to that of Jews and Christians.

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The Sufis - 2

• In the early days of Islam these people were
  persecuted terribly for what was seen to be
  blasphemy.
• Many were burned or crucified for their sin.
• After a few hundred years, a great scholar (alim)
  appeared who reconciled mainstream Islam to the
  Sufis by persuading them to accept the idea that
  they did not actually see God, but, instead only
  his image. (Al-Ghazali) This saved them and they
  are widely accepted today.
• There are many Sufi orders, the members of
  which are often professional people.

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Popular Religion

• The high culture of Islam is only part of the
  story.
• Peoples Religion is the rest of the story.
• Village religion is filled with belief in saints,
  love of God as creator and tribal custom as
  modifying Islam.
• In Iraq, village religion mixes strongly with
  Sufi empathic feeling and Sharia law to make a
  brew that is inherently hostile to Al-Qaidas
  constipated view of Islam.

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Culture

• Not a softdiscipline, not about cute folkways.
• The totality of group custom, tradition and
  informal law.
• Often expressed informally by local and oral
  passage.
• Often in conflict with High Culture.

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ME Ethnicity
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Alien Social Science Models

• Based on assumptions of causes of human behavior
  imported from the West.
• Usually contain an economic determinist (marxist)
  bias.
• Inadequate to explain personal behaviors of
  religious zealots.
• Inadequate to explain soldiers anywhere.

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Emic vs. Etic

• Emic knowledge is that which you learn from
  what people tell you about themselves or others.
• Etic knowledge is what you decide is true about
  the same people after you have evaluated all
  available data, including the Emic knowledge.
• Never! Never! Accept what people tell you about
  themselves at face value.
• People have many reasons for telling you things
  that are not accurate.

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Mean Rainfall
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Culture of Poverty in the M.E.

• Low Mean Rainfall as previously explained.
• Up until now this has meant permanently
  inadequate arable land available.
• Permeating belief in the limited good.
• Tendency toward belief that life is transactional
  and that all deals are zero sum.

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Effect of Zero Sum Idea

• Difficulty in negotiating with win-win outcome
  as goal.
• West (U.S.) typically seeks negotiated outcomes
  in which both sides win. (Dialectic)
• Easterners know we expect this and tell us what
  we want to hear.
• In the East, negotiations, typically are about
  graceful surrender of the weaker.

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Scarcity Model Applicability

• Inside-Outside identity applies throughout the
  region. (hua wahid min-na)
• Tribal, family or other ethnic identity competes
  with or complements religion.
• Zero Sum Game mentality is applied in personal
  life, business, government.
• Many understand our way, but not ready to accept
  it inside.

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Segmentary Lineage Systems

• People imagine themselves to be related by blood.
  (sometimes they are)
• Necessary to form self-defense alliances among
  tribes, families, villages, etc.
• Begins in pastoral situation. Persists for a
  long time in towns.
• Layers of family, extended family, clan, tribe,
  confederation. Khums.

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Custom and Culture

• Urf. The totality of tribal customary law as
  conceived and accepted by a particular group.
  Sometimes accepted by Ulema, sometimes not.
• Aada. Literally that which is accepted as daily
  practice by a group,
• Taqliid. Tradition.

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Compromise Not Easy

• System biased against it. One who compromises
  feels like a loser.
• Instinct is to outplay interlocutor.
• Still possible even if as last resort.
• Requires consensus (ijma) of group involved.
• Went wrong at CD 2.
• Evolution of compromise better than spectacular.

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Their Own Culture is Still Strong

• Colonialists and Others have tried hard to
  globalize the M.E.
• So far, not a lot of success, maybe with time.
• Exposure to world media will make long term
  changes in attitudes.

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Big News

• People in the Middle East do not want to
• be like us. They want a good life.
• They want the goodies, but not the
• baggage of our culture. Typically
• They value, unity, not individuality. They
• value family and tribal loyalty. Not some
• other set of values. It is not true that inside
• every Iraqi there is an American who wants to
• get out.

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Finis

• (The End)