Islam and Anarchism
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Wednesday July 20, 2005 19:58 by Anarkismo Editorial Group - Anarkismo
One of the better known stock anarchist phrases is 'No Gods, No Masters' but despite this there have been various attempts to invent religous forms of anarchist thought. In recent years there have been various attempts to blend Islam and anarchism - we are aware of examples from South Africa, the USA and Britain. The more traditional anarchist communist approach has been to extend the hostile analysis of other state religions like Christanity and Confucianism to Islam.
Here we present a range of anarchist communist writings on Islam
as well as writings by Islamic 'anarchists' and background writings
by socialists and others on Islam.
Islam and Anarchism
One of the better known stock anarchist phrases is 'No Gods, No
Masters' but despite this there have been various attempts to invent
religous forms of anarchist thought. In recent years there have been
various attempts to blend Islam and anarchism - we are aware of
examples from South Africa, the USA and Britain. The more traditional
anarchist communist approach has been to extend the hostile analysis
of other state religions like Christanity and Confucianism to Islam.
Here we present a range of anarchist communist writings on Islam
as well as writings by Islamic 'anarchists' and background writings
by socialists and others on Islam.
The basics
Diversity
in Islam for Absolute Beginners
Roughly 1 in 5 of the world's population is muslim - that's over a
billion people. Yet for all the talk about a global society with the
telecommunication revolution bringing knowledge to the masses, what
most westerners from christian backgrounds know about Islam can be
written on the back of a small postage stamp
The
trouble with Islam
Over 130 years ago the anarchist Micheal Bakunin wrote "I reverse the
phrase of Voltaire, and say that, if God really existed, it would be
necessary to abolish him." Writing of the Christian churches in
Europe, he said "In talking to us of God they propose, they desire,
to elevate us, emancipate us, ennoble us, and, on the contrary, they
crush and degrade us. With the name of God they imagine that they can
establish fraternity among men, and, on the contrary, they create
pride, contempt; they sow discord, hatred, war; they establish
slavery." These words today are applicable to Islam.
Turkish anarchist writings
Neither
secular not theocratic state dictatorship!
In a free society without the state, neither the secular nor the
religious ideology can govern. Because the people have destroyed the
armed state and began to govern themselves. In this society believers
live according to their beliefs and non-believers live as they want
to
Fundamentalism,
nationalism and Militarism in Turkey
Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938) had founded the Republic of Turkey in
1923 upon six principles: republicanism, laicism , reformism,
nationalism, populism, and statism. Under the Kemalist regime the
State was set free from the dominance of religion and religion was
put under the control of the State. Especially the ideas of
Republicanism, Laicism, and Reformism were made good use of by the
Kemalist élite to oppress people of Islamic faith. The
relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed generally
involves both oppression and resistance. But the relationship between
Kemalists and Islamists in Turkey, as we will see, does not only
consists in that: they also tend to exploit each other to achieve
their ends.
The French Debate
Hijab:
lifting the veil
Standing up to religious oppression or state racism?
Ultimately we believe that people should have the freedom to dress
whatever way they like. This means freedom from state interference
and freedom from religious interference in how one should dress.
Anarchist reflections on the debate around the banning of the veil in
French schools.
Detailed analysis
The
modern schizophrenia of Islamic integralism
To understand the ideology of Islam it is critical to understand that
the prophet-merchant Muhammad was beyond anything else the founding
father of worldly empires. A Preface to 'Why the Reversion to Islamic
Archaism?'
Why
the Reversion to Islamic Archaism?
A Middle Eastern analysis from 1981
}We reproduce a key 1981 essay on Islamic fundamentalism by the
Middle Eastern radical writer Lafif Lakhdar. This is a detailed
materialist history of the development of Islamic archaism up to the
Iranian revolution.
Islamic 'anarchist'material (off site)
Further reading (off site)
Institute
for the Secularisation of Islamic Society
This web site is well worth looking at to get beyond Bush and Blairs
defence of the Islamic religion rather then people who happen to be
from a Muslim background. The articles opposite are a selection from
the site.
http://www.muslim-refusenik.com/
Irshad Manji is the best-selling author of The Trouble with Islam
Today. It has been published internationally, including in Pakistan.
The Urdu as well as Arabic translations are posted on this website,
and can be downloaded free of charge.
Iranian secular
society
The Iranian secular society has been formed to publicise the
destructive effects of the Islamic government in Iran and contribute
to bring about a secular society
The
Misery of Islam - Al-Djouhall
The challenge of our times -for us proletarians who live in countries
where Islam is part and parcel of the status quo-, is to criticize
this "religion of the desert
Fundamentalist Resurgence: Causes and
Prospects
A rather dogmatic trotskyist article from 1994 but with some useful
information as he is in Pakistan
The Menace of Islamic Fundamentalism and the
Hypocrisy of Imperialism
Another essay by the same author from the same flawed perspective but
useful as its from 2000 and has some more recent information
The Myth of Islamic Fundamentalism
"it is the Western rendition of Islam, and not an expression which
Muslims have anything to do with. Apparently, it seems to imply that
there is what you may call fundamentalist Islam as distinct from
non-fundamentalist Islam"
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