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The Islamist Appeal to Quranic Authority: The Case of MalikBennabi

 FEBRUARY 4, 2014

 By Bruce B. Lawrence, Duke University * Tis !e!" was #re#are$ %"r te &  Rethinking

 Islamist Politics' c"n%erence, (anuary 24, 2014. All students, observers and stakeholders in Islamist politicsagree that political action is preceded or informed bythought: Islamist ideology is a crucial inde to Islamistagendas, not !ust in the abstract but in multiple, variantcontets"

The thrust of this paper #ill be to trace, or try to trace,Islamist Ideology to its Quranic roots" $%here is the Quran,and #hat is its role, in Islamist ideology&' #ill be my central(uery" A ma!or tome, Te )%"r$ +an$""k "% -sa! an$ /"itics ))+-/ *, #as published in +-." It revie#s eightfigures as the crucial players in Islamist movements" They

are divided into three categories" The t#o founders ortrailbla/ers of political Islam are deemed to be 0asan al1Banna and Abul Ala Maududi" They are follo#ed by threerevolutionary ideologues, 2ayyid Qutb, Ali 2hariati, and Ayatollah 3homeini, #hile a third subgroup is dubbed $The4Intellectuals5 of 6olitical Islam"' They include: 0asan al1Turabi, 7ashid al18hannouchi, 9usuf al1Qarada#i,Mohammad 3hatami, and Abdolkarim 2oroush"

Curiously absent from this list are any #omen and three orfour prominent individuals #ho are integral to almost anyconsideration of Islamist movements and ideologicalprofiles" They include: Mohamed Abd as12alam ara!,author of Te eecte$ Duty, Mohamed 0usayn adlallah,the chief ideologue for 0e/bollah, Abd al1attah ;ukhan,the likely author of the 0amas Charter, and also, of course,<sama bin =aden" Ironically, bin =aden is mentioned in the

final chapter of )+-/ , Chapter >-, devoted to $al Qaeda and

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its Affiliates,' but he is cited only in passing and #ith nomention of the scriptural or ideological bases of his #orldvie#"

The great need is to provide a broad gauged engagement #ith the full range of Islamist ideology in relation tofoundational tets, #ith the Quran at the head of the list" Anattempt in this direction has been made in another edited #ork, 7oanne =" ?uben and Muhammad Qasim @aman,eds" /rincet"n Rea$ins in -sa!ist T"ut Tets an$3"ntets %r"! aBanna t" Bin La$en )+*" 0ere theroster of ma!or thinkers is framed in five parts" Islamism is

first revie#ed as an emergent #orldvie#, #ith fourrepresentatives: 0asan al1Banna, 2ayyid Abul1Ala Maududi,2ayyid Abul10asan Ali ad#i, and 2ayyid Qutb )6art I*"Those #ho then remake the state in an Islamic mold aresaid to be four: Ayatollah 7uhollah 3homeini, MohamedBa(ir al12adr, 0asan al1Turabi, and 9usuf al1Qarada#i)6art II*" There is no separate category for intellectualslinked to political Islam" Instead, #e are offered three

distinct yet related parts: first, Islamism and gender, #ithecerpts from Murta/a Mutahhari, @aynab al18ha/ali, andadia 9assine )6art III* then a further section, on violence,action and !ihad, #ith chapters dedicated to Mohamed Abdas12alam ara!, Dmar Abd ar17ahman, 0amas, Mohamed0usyan adlallah, and the Taliban )6art IE*" 2o significantis bin =aden deemed to be that the fifth and final part is

dedicated largely to him, #ith a concluding chapter on themost )in*famous of the - suicide bombers of F--:Mohamed Ata al12ayyid )6art E*"The frame#orks for these t#o #orks provide a vividcontrast" Both are largely devoted to Islamism, yet havemarkedly divergent notions about #hat and #ho needs to be studied in understanding the origins, developments, andoutcomes of Islamist movements" Though many (uestions

are raised by the unspoken assumptions in both #orks, I #ill pursue but one: the use of scripture in each instance"

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or some, notably 3homeini and Ba(r al12adr, the Quran isno more than a backdrop to their eposition of a ne#revolutionary, often messianic appeal, #hile for others such

as Abd al1attah ;ukhan in the 0amas Charter and also<sama bin =aden in the $;eclaration of %ar against the Americans <ccupying the =and of the T#o 0oly 6laces,' itis crucial to have ample Quranic verses, and to underscoretheir $clear' meaning" ?(ually fascinating is the appeal ofMutahhari to a large number of Quranic verses that !ustifyhis central argument, to #it, that in the Islamic #orldvie#there is e(uality, but not uniformity, bet#een the roles of

men and #omen, #hile the voices of Islamist femaleactivists tend to rely less on Quranic dicta than on anarrative of loyalty to their relatives, many of themmartyred, in the cause of Islamic liberation"

But e(ually important is #hat is omitted from both theseformidable, and often informative, anthologies" Bothpresume a hierarchy of value, #here those on the margins

are do#nplayed or ignored" Among those nearly absentfrom consideration is Malik Bennabi" 0e is cited in )+-/  inthe essay on 7ached 8hannouchi" Bennabi influenced8hannouchi, #e are told, especially during the latter5scustody in the early -Gs" It #as #hile in custody that8hannouchi translated )from rench into Arabic* $a bookletauthored by Malik Bennabi entitled a-sa! wa a Di!u5ratiya )Islam and ;emocracy*, #hich inspired him)8hannouchi* to begin #orking on his most important #ork, a+urriyat a6A!!a %i aDawa a -sa!iyya )6ublic =iberties in the Islamic 2tate*"'H-I #ant to argue that Bennabi illustrates the hierarchy of value that informs our collective reflection on Islamism inthe Anglo1American scholarly #orld" It is not !ust non1 Arabic speaking Muslims #ho are devalued" =o#er do#n

the hierarchy of value, prestige and authority are those #hospeak in rench or represent a rancophone perspective not

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easily translated into ?nglish, Arabic or any 4universal5language of the Internet age" Consider the biography ofBennabi" Trained as an electrical engineer in 6aris, he no#

en!oys a rebirth in Algeria as both an Islamic loyalist and aradical modernist" 9et, after his studies in 6aris, Bennabicould not return to Algeria immediately follo#ing the -J+revolution due to his pro1Islamic stance, and so he lived in?gypt for a time before finally returning to Algiers, #herehe held #eekly salons, or open meetings, in both Arabic andrench until his death in -K."

Bennabi serves as a counterpoint to political Islam, #ith itsfocus on the public domain of government and governance,alliances and rivalries, and interests and strategies" ordoes Bennabi advocate the slippery pro!ect kno#n asIslami/ation of kno#ledge" Instead of making modernityIslamic, he advocates revisiting and revitali/ing the roots ofIslamic civili/ation, beginning #ith the Quran" Bennabifocuses on the religious principle at the heart of every

civili/ational endeavor, but especially Islam" It is notenough to be Muslim" <ne must be a reasoning, rationalsub!ect, in short, a thinking individual, and the basis for allreflection begins #ith the Quran" 0is initial book #as astunning, if sometimes opa(ue, effort to apply Quranic dictato the modern #orld" Titled Le #7n"!8ne c"rani5ue Essai $9une t7"rie sur e 3"ran )->K*, it addresses youngMuslim scholars, especially those in Algeria, #ho have toseek foreign authors imbued #ith Cartesian methodologies,in order to satisfy intellectual needs, including their grasp of Islam" 6redating ?d#ard 2aid by three decades, Bennabi vie#s <rientalism as threatening Muslims5 historicalorientation, and as a counter force Bennabi introduces a brilliant, modern, multidisciplinary, and comparativeeegesis" 0e eamines Quranic revelations side1by1side and

 verse1by1verse, specifically the story of Loseph as revealedin the 0ebre# Bible and the Quran" In a theme common to

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all his publications, Bennabi etolls the virtues of therational intellect and sees it as compatible #ith spirituality"<n the one hand, he #anted to raise the consciousness of

Muslims and persuade them to pursue a religious revival based on scriptural reflection, but at the same time heaimed at a non1Muslim audience, urging those of good #illto ac(uire a better understanding of Islam, again throughattention to its foundational scripture" Le #7n"!8nec"rani5ue is an inclusive #ork" In its ecumenical dedicationhe etols eemplars $#ho sho#ed me that man has his brothers and his enemies among all peoples and all races"'

 %hile one could point to fla#s in his Quranic eegesis, notleast his overtly positivist methodology, the larger issue ishis marginal, asymmetric position among those consideredto be intellectuals or forerunners of Islamic reform orIslamism" It #as, I argue, his linguistic heritage, above all rench more than Arabic, Arabic being the language into #hich he translated tets first #ritten in rench thatinhibited his reception in larger scholarly circles"

The conclusions I #ill dra# from my limited in(uiry aret#o1fold" Islamism has become a category of conveniencerather than consensus for those dedicated either to thepractice or the study of Islam and politics" Islamists differamong themselves, not only along sectarian lines )2unni12hiite12ufi* but also in relation to other agents )localleaders, regional opponents, ?uropean and D"2" observers,

the Dnited ations, and 8<s*" Lust as clearly, those #hoattempt to understand them differ among themselves about both the ob!ect and the tra!ectory of their study" At the sametime, Islamism as an ideology is less concerned #ith thepro!ect of interpretive truth )#hat does scripture really sayand ho# is its message nuanced* than #ith the asymmetricpractice of modern1day politics, #here Islam must al#ays be the victimi/ed, but also valori/ing, other in every arena

domestic, hemispheric, global" But asymmetry also burro#sinto the a priori assumptions that shape analytical in(uiry:

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It #orks among our sub!ects, but also among ourselves"Because it is etremely hard, it is all the more necessary, togive ade(uate, if not e(ual, attention to those on the

margins, not !ust those at the center of mediaFpolicypriorities, #hether #e are looking at movements, politicalor religious, #hether our ga/e is at home or abroad" MalikBennabi is high on the list of those Islamic reformers #hohave been either ignored or devalued yet #arrant closerscrutiny in assessing the multiple sources and the diverseagendas of contemporary Islamism"

 Bruce Lawrence is te ancy an$ (e%%rey :arcus #r"%ess"r an$ e!eritus "% -sa!ic stu$ies at DukeUniversity an$ a$;unct #r"%ess"r in Fati <utan :e!et=aki% University in -stanu. +e is te aut"r "% TheQur5an: A Biography  >200?@, e# aiths, <ld ears:Muslims and <ther Asian Immigrants in America 7eligious=ife >2002@, an$ Beyond Turk and 0indu: 7ethinking7eligious Identities in Islamicate 2outh Asia >2000@. +e is

c"e$it"r "% <n Eiolence: A 7eader >200?@ an$ c"aut"r"% 2ufi Martyrs to =ove: The Chishti Brotherhood in 2outh Asia N Beyond >2002@. 

H- ?spisito, Lohn and ?mad ?l1;in 2hahin" +-." Te)%"r$ +an$""k "% -sa! an$ /"itics.Cambridge: <fordDniversity 6ress" +-K"

Tae$ as  /"itica -sa!

1 2ee more at: http:FFpomeps"orgF+->F+F>Fthe1islamist1appeal1to1(uranic1authorityFOsthash"/6@g0@md"dpuf 

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