Dr. Karam Speaks on Transnational Political Islam
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Dr. Azza Karam spoke at Stanford on Friday, February 3 on “Transnational Political Islam,” a movement that plays a crucial role in so many current geopolitical situations. Having discussed this topic at length with policy makers and students around the world, Dr. Karam reported that even amongst scholars there are still confusions and issues of “overlap” or stereotyping in Westerners’ perceptions of Islam and Arab society.
Dr. Azza Karam currently serves as the Senior Policy Research Advisor at the UN Development Program in the Regional Bureau for Arab States. She has been involved with research and consulting on politics and culture of the Middle East and Islam for years.
“Fundamentalists” exist in every religion, and Dr. Karam cautioned against thinking of Islamic fundamentalists as the culprits of violence anywhere. Her definition encompasses those who “hold very tenuously to the roots” of their religion, trying to live their lives “purely.” Most fundamentalists regard their religious text as literal truth and refer to dogma for the proper stance on all issues. They also “view politics in general as a rather dirty thing.” Purely fundamentalist groups then would choose not to enter politics.
“Islamists” are those who have entered the political domain. All proclaim “God [as] the ultimate benefactor,” and support the integration of Sharia, the Law of Allah, with the rule of law. The political clergy claims and receives “legitimacy derived from religious tradition,” and the devout therefore place political clergy on a pedestal. Dr. Karam warned that the resulting “untouchable” status afforded to Islamist ideologies allows individual leaders and Islamist groups to invent their own versions of Islam. However, Dr. Karam sees this danger lessening with a shift toward the application of political Islam.
“It’s high time that [Islamism] is a tried and true political philosophy,” and that is why Dr. Karam sees the recent election of Hamas to a majority of the seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council as a very positive revelation. “When Hamas was in the minority opposition, their demands remained theoretical. Now, though, they have the opportunity to prove themselves by participating in diplomacy and becoming “one of the many.” If they fail their constituents, though, “the pedestal falls,” and the people must reevaluate their own ideology and “come to a new understanding.”
Hamas must revoke support of violence towards Israel for them to gain recognition from the international community. Dr. Karam expressed her hopes that the continued “normalization” of Islamist politics will lead to the cessation of violence as politics. Though the brands of Islamist ideology are quite varied, Dr. Karam sketched a basic continuum with moderate Islamists on one end and extremists at the other: “Moderates would never condone violence” as a political tool, though they may not speak out against it. They invest in education, proselytizing, and mobilization of more supporters, and violence is only used in self defense. “To lump all Islamists together as ‘terrorists’ is highly problematic.”
Islamists have a widespread, very real influence in local and national government in Arab countries and would be involved in official geopolitics if that were possible. Dr. Karam attributed this to the general rejection of secularism by Arab society, though they are just beginning to experiment with it. “There was never a moment in Arab history where secularism was dominant,” and Dr. Karam pointed out that many of the secular governments that have ruled in Arab countries had problems like nepotism and illegitimacy that would have ruined any government. Though she sees “the language of religion” now becoming more appealing to people all over the world, Dr. Karam suggested that the Arab world may still be forced to attempt a reinterpretation of secularism. In any case, a dialogue on the subject might “remove the halos from the heads of Islamists,” as does the act of bringing Islamists into real politics.
As a Muslim woman who has interacted closely with many Islamist women, Dr. Karam was markedly positive about the role of women in Islamist movements. She sees a slanted perception in the West that all of Islam is “supposed to be about oppressing, subjugating, and depressing women.” Dr. Karam said there are women in the upper ranks of many Islamist movements, attending policy meetings and participating vocally in ideological disputes. “Many of these women are Western educated, like their male counterparts,” and they are crafty experts on the Islamic law that shapes their groups’ political goals. Of the six women members of Hamas in the PLC, Karam said “watch them, just watch them.”
These clerical-political women are offended by comparison to Western feminists, because Sharia is their ultimate goal, but they proudly “use the movement to transform the way they are treated.” Dr. Karam at one point referred to the “Muslim Sisters” as part of the Muslim Brotherhood, and corrected herself in the same manner the Muslim sisters’ would: “Brotherhood encompasses us just fine, thank you very much.” For Islamists, the desire for rule of Allah supersedes other alignments.
Dr. Karam framed the current situation in the Middle East as a turning point in relations between all the major countries of the world. “Whether we like it or not…[Hamas] is a democratically elected government, expressing the will of the people,” and the West must immediately normalize relations with them. Continuing to ostracize a group that is trying to obtain legitimacy “makes extremism exciting” and “creates martyrs.” Instead she referred to the example the United States should strive to follow: that of its own actions in the 1956 Suez War. As an “upholder of international law” and a “credible political mediator,” the US intervened via the UN to stop British, French, and Israeli bombing of Egypt for control of the canal. Dr. Karam pleaded for a return to such ethical politics, and expressed disappointment in U.S. actions since.
