INTRODUCTION

Justice has always been the bedrock of any sociopolitical order that uplifts the lives of those who are part of it and must therefore be the bedrock of the emerging global order that continues to take shape before our eyes. As an intuitive value and sentiment, justice is cherished across a wide spectrum of religions and cultures. People often demand that justice be done every time they encounter a violation of civic and human rights. People, however, continually disagree over what constitutes justice and how justice can best be realized. Islam and the Drive to Global Justice aims to contribute to the debate over global justice by drawing on the contemporary and historical justice discourse within the Islamic traditions and by exploring Islamically inspired critique of the policies and practices of world powers toward Muslim populations. The discussion does not necessarily aim at negating ideas and practices currently advanced to promote global justice but to bring insights from Islamic sources and literature relevant to the debate over the universality of religious values and the interconnectivity of Islamic traditions to global challenges. To achieve this goal, I invited eight prominent scholars of Islam to address two key questions: What does Islamic scholarship have to say about global justice? And how do Muslims approach the institutionalization of justice in diverse post-modern society?

This volume explores the relevance of Islamic values and traditions to the advancement of global justice by examining Islam’s capacity to overcome three interrelated challenges facing the dispensation of justice in contemporary society: inclusivity, disparity, and selectivity. Inclusivity is particularly acute in multireligious and multiethnic societies, and for a while secularism and multiculturalism became the anecdotes for religious and ethnic exclusivism. But with the transformation of secularism from a principle to separate religious and political authorities to an ideology desiring to combat the transcendental foundation of modern society, and with the rejection of multiculturalism by the increasingly emboldened nationalist groups, the ability of multicultural and multireligious society to survive and prosper is ever more in jeopardy.

In responding to the serious deterioration of the ethics of inclusivity even in societies where significant progress was achieved in combating discrimination and social injustice, the book draws on the Islamic rational tradition to articulate a conceptually and ethically inclusive global framework that broadens the exercise of justice beyond dominant ethnic and religious communities. It also draws on the humanity-oriented teachings of Islam and on the multiethnic and multireligious experience of historical Islamic societies in the Middle Ages. The book also focuses on the ongoing intellectual and political debate among Muslim scholars and intellectuals about the need to free the essentially transcendental values and principles of monotheistic traditions from the exclusivist sociopolitical models in which they were historically cast.

The book comprises ten chapters organized into two parts. Part I covers the first six chapters that deal with conceptual and theoretical elements of justice in the Islamic sources and traditions and the way they relate to the concept of global justice. In addition to contrasting the power-based Grego-Roman realism with the transcendental idealism advanced by the early Hebrew and Christian traditions, and later systematized by Islamic rationalism, this part challenges conventional views of justice in both the Western and Islamic rational traditions. It also outlines more inclusive models for advancing global peace and justice. Part II sheds light on exclusivist practices in the global order that create disparity and double standards, focusing on the impact of the nation-centric approach by global powers towards foreign policy and international relations.

Chapter 1 contrasts the Grego-Roman ethical order, which elevates power to the top of the moral hierarchy and promotes a stratified sociopolitical order, with the transcendental values that grew within the monotheistic tradition. It further illuminates the role played by Islamic rationalism in overcoming the moral realism advanced by ancient paganistic societies that privileged power over ethical demands, and in advancing, as early as the seventh century, an open-society model as it embraced religious and ethnic diversity and contributed to the universalization of the principle of equal dignity.

Chapter 2 develops a typology of the different forms of justice by engaging the Qur’anic text and then proceeding to discuss two notions of justice in greater detail: interpersonal and social justice. This chapter pays special attention to justice within the family and justice among nations and religious communities. The chapter also contemplates the importance of incorporating Islamic perspectives into a global conversation on justice and the idea of responsible stewardship of the globe and global resources and on the recognition of the equal dignity of every human being and the reconciliation of intercultural and interreligious tensions through civil dialogue.

Chapter 3 engages Islamic sources and scholarly literature as it reflects on the religious Other. It explores the way the Qur’an reveals the impact of the notion of beauty on human choices and suggests that religious beliefs are mediated in the Qur’anic discourse through the notion of beauty. The chapter proposes that a universal sensory perception mediates belief and disbelief and thus reinforces an ethic of empathy toward the religious Other. Recognizing the connection between sensory perception and the way people are able to perceive transcendental truth, the author stresses the need to maintain an ethic of tolerance and empathy without giving up truth. Such formulation of religious truth is powerful as it allows a deeper understanding of differences in beliefs and a better appreciation of the complexity of religious truth.

Chapter 4 examines the nexus between civility, cosmopolitanism, and justice within Islamic traditions by looking beyond the surface of the hermeneutics of sharia and contrasts the corporal and sacramental nature of Western institutions with the emphasis on relational and civil in historical Islam, focusing on the institution of waqf (charitable endowment). It also shows how the difference in approaches impacts state–society relationship in the two traditions, allowing historical Islamic society to water down the rigid distinction between the private and public spheres that originates from Westphalian. It ultimately calls into question the rigid distinction between state and society.

Chapter 5 further explores the notion of sharia, recognizing the important role it played historically as both the moral and legal foundation of society. It points out that sharia was historically developed by independent jurists who were the custodian of law. The failure to recognize its complete independence from the state led modern scholars, both Muslims and Orientalists, to confuse the moral and legal. This chapter strives therefore to engage, contrast, and redefine key concepts, including sharia and Qur’an, sharia and law, and sin and crime.

Chapter 6 provides a critical reading of key concepts, such as faith and religion, morality and ethics, sharia and law, spiritualism and spirituality, and idealism and realism. It further argues that rational idealism is crucial for engaging in profound “spiritual self-criticism” and for nurturing moral practices in both the private and public spheres. The author argues that transcendental faith traditions, as repository of moral and ethical energies, have a major role to play in guiding world affairs, currently dominated by utilitarianism and realism alone. Political Islam as known and practiced today is nothing but a fading shadow in comparison with the Islamic rational tradition and the energies it could muster to uplift the human spirit. It is the energies that emanates from the classical spirit of the Islam that produced the Islamic civilization, and which ensure the relevance of transcendental ethos and safeguard its vibrance now and in the future.

Chapter 7 introduces the work of a leading Southeast Asian Muslim thinker, Hamka (1908–1981), who profoundly engaged in the idea of global justice and argues that his unique view of global justice is borne out of his experiences as a social movement activist, politician, and intellectual committed to the reformation of global and local societies. Hamka’s ideas on global justice have also shaped his acute engagements and critique of various dominant conceptions of global justice in his time. This chapter argues that Hamka, by creatively redefining the practical concepts of khalifatullah filʿard (vicegerents of God on earth), amanah (sacred trust), shura (mutual consultation), and maslahah (general welfare), has formulated an innovative vision of global justice that pushes the frontiers of contemporary thinking over inequalities and inequities which characterize the world we live in today.

Chapter 8 looks critically at the United States’ support of authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and describes it as the norm rather than the exception. It insists that the U.S. foreign policy is rooted in “power-politics” and focuses exclusively on narrow “self-interest,” describing such an approach as counterproductive and short-sighted. The U.S. invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and its continual support of autocratic regimes are carefully analyzed to illustrate this point. Such ill-informed invasions, subsequent occupations, and the continued support of authoritarian regimes throughout the Middle East have had disastrous long-term consequences on the Middle Eastern societies. The chapter calls for the adoption of a value-based approach to foreign policy that focuses on the ethics of dignity and on justice. Such an approach, the author insists, would inevitably bring a vigorous debate over how—or even whether—values, morality, and ethics should factor into U.S. foreign policy. The chapter further argues that the United States should pursue a much more “principled,” value-based foreign policy that is ethical and morally grounded.

Chapter 9 examines the various approaches adopted by Arab governments to protect religious pluralism and diversity in postcolonial Arab society. It explores the wide-range cases of denial, accommodation, and integration in response to religious diversity and points to the many challenges and obstacles facing local and international agencies that promote religious diversity. The chapter outlines several anxieties and concerns expressed by various social, religious, and political agencies when dealing with religious diversity and identifies effective models and examples of introducing religious diversity in Arab societies.

Finally, chapter 10 exposes the connection between European powers and autocratic regimes in the MENA region and illustrates how this misguided approach has contributed to the rise of religious extremism and produced failed states in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen that undermine both national and global peace and stability. The chapter is critical of the modernization approach to the MENA region and argues that it is rooted in European political realism that places the exercise of power, national interests, and dominance over the values of freedom, equality, and democracy. Using case studies that illustrate the role of the social secularization strategy in Syria, Iran, and Egypt in undermining democratic and reformist movements in those countries, the chapter calls for adopting a different approach rooted in liberal and democratic values rather than cultural practices and lifestyle. The chapter illustrates how Islamic values, as articulated by reform movements, support a democratic and pluralist political order, and emphasizes the need to legitimize and support both secular and Islamic social forces that advocate democracy and human rights.

CONTENTS

PART I: REEVALUATING THE GROUNDS FOR A JUST GLOBAL ORDER

1. Islamic Rational Idealism and the Universalization of Justice Louay M. Safi
2. Justice in the Qur’an: Interpretations of a Universal Value in a Globalizing World Asma Afsaruddin
3. Sensory Aesthetics of Belief and Unbelief in the Qur’an and Its Impact on Interreligious and Intersocietal Relations Abdulkader Tayob
4. The Islamic Inflection of Connective Justice: Between Cosmopolitan Civility, Institutional Relationality, and Intellectual Reflexivity Armando Salvatore
5. Sharia and Freedom: A Reassessment Mustafa Akyol
6. Toward a Civilizational Ethos: From the Homo Moralis to the Homo Ethicus Mohammed Hashas

PART II: GLOBAL CONFLUENCE IN THE MUSLIM SOUTH 7 Muslim Intellectuals and Global Justice:

7. A View from Southeast Asia, Khairudin Aljunied
8. Toward a Justice-Based Foreign Policy Farid Senzai
9. Religious Diversity in Arab Society: Myth, Conspiracy, and Reality Mohammed Abu-Nimer
10. Arab Authoritarianism and Western Complacency Louay M. Safi

Conclusion
Index
About the Contributors

A PDF copy of the TOC, Introduction, and the first chapter of the book can be downloaded at my Academia.com account, Islam and the Drive to Global Justice