Malayur News: Islamic state

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

Islamic state

By The Nut Graph team
thenutgraph.com

AH, the Islamic state. What is the Islamic state, actually? Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad once said Malaysia was one already. PAS disagrees and wants to turn Malaysia into a real Islamic state. The DAP staunchly does not want an Islamic state. And Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) ... well, the PKR jury on the Islamic state is still out on an extended recess.

What are the "Islamic states" in existence now? Saudi Arabia? But a monarchy was never part of the Islamic government envisioned by the prophet Muhammad and his immediate successors, the rightly-guided caliphs.

Iran? But to be precise, Iran is a Shiite state, and as we know in Malaysia, Shiism is a big no-no.

Pakistan? The Islamic Republic of Pakistan seems constantly on the brink of civil war due to Taliban insurgencies.

Sultan Ahmed mosque in Turkey (Public domain)And contrary to popular belief, several Middle Eastern states do not identify as "Islamic states". On one hand, we have Turkey, the avowedly secular republic which is flexible enough to have an Islamist-led federal government.

And then we have the North African kingdoms and republics, which are notionally secular but incorporate Islamic values and jurisprudence into their penal codes and personal laws.

The most populous Muslim country in the world, Indonesia, does not even regard itself as an "Islamic state". In fact, in 2002, Indonesia's highest legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly, struck down any attempt to make syariah legislation the highest law of the land.

It bears noting that Islam has a rich history of diverse political philosophies related to governance and legislation. This can be seen from the early Muslim community in post-Hijrah Madinah; to the Umayyad and Abbasid empires; to the breakaway Shia dynasties — the Safavids and the Fatimids; and eventually the Ottoman caliphate. Throughout history, Muslims have tried to govern according to different understandings of Islam.

Perhaps it was the fall of the Ottoman empire after World War I and the formation of the modern, secular Turkish republic that effectively signaled the end of the "Islamic state" as was widely understood. Many Muslims at that time were still colonised by the non-Muslim West. Hence, the struggle for independence was equated with a defence of "Islam".

Contemporary Islamic movements, therefore, have their work cut out for them. Yes, they want an Islamic state, but do they want a transnational, Ottoman-like caliphate? A European Union equivalent of an Islamic state, perhaps? Or do they want many different Islamic states? Then they would have to deal with the kinds of Islamic states that are acceptable — for example, should all Islamic states be republic in form, or can they remain monarchies?

And perhaps the question that most lay citizens will ask in the Islamic state debate is: What about syariah laws? Will adulterers be stoned? Will women who do not cover their hair be punished? Will Muslims who drink alcohol be flogged in public? Will non-Muslims be relegated to second-class status under the guise of "protectionism"? What will happen to the Jews?

World Muslim population map; click for bigger view
(By Mohsin, source: Wiki commons)And so, taking into account this complicated matrix of issues surrounding the Islamic state, The Nut Graph is pleased to present the most challenging Six Words yet! Tell us your thoughts on the Islamic state — condense it, describe it, define it, challenge it, support it, glorify it, criticise it — in only six words.