The Many Faces of Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Muslim World [Paperback]

Mr. Ayoob has just done readers in the U.S. a great service by writing this book. This book is essential reading for policy makers, students and anyone who really wants to understand what's going on in the Islamic world.

The main problem with many books from the West on Islam and "Islamism" (political Islam) is that they are written from a Western perspective, and so they have inherent biases within them. This is of course a big part of the misunderstandings we have with this part of the world, the fact that we only see these societies and groups through the prism of our own standards and values which is not always concurrent with their own values. Indeed we seem to rarely ever be in synch with the realities of the area. This book puts political Islam into a vernacular that is ready for consumption by a U.S. audience.

One of the most interesting things I found was the author's discussion of the affects that contact with democracy, no matter how limited the democracy, has had on Islamic political groups. The Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hizbullah and many other groups have had contact with some forms of democratic participation with varying degrees of success. The Muslim Brotherhood went from being a group that was suppressed to being allowed limited participation in elected government. When it became clear how much support they had they were once again violently suppressed. The question becomes will they continue down the path of moderation and participation or will their suppression lead to frustration and a recurrence of violence. The Mubarak and U.S. governments have a lot to say about what happens in the future to this group, if they decide that this group is to dangerous and must be suppressed there is a good chance that parts of the organization will become disillusioned and may resort to violence, but if they are allowed to become an active participant there is a real possibility that participation will have a further moderating affect.

Of course when one looks at the example of how Hamas was treated the prospects do not look good. One of the main points from Mr. Ayoob's is just how much of a moderating affect democratic participation can have on Islamic groups as evidenced by Turkey's AKP party. In a strange twist it is now the secularists in Turkey who have become authoritarian while it is the moderate conservative Islamic parties that have become ingrained in the political system that seems to be the voice of reason and moderation. Unfortunately Hamas' experiment in democracy seems to be heading toward abject failure due to circumstances beyond their control. They have not been given the opportunity to really join in the democratic process since they have been assailed from outside from the very beginning of their electoral victory.

This hypocrisy of the West has not gone unnoticed by the Muslim world. How the West purports to advocate democratization but only as long as the right groups get elected. The U.S. especially is generating ill will from this part of the world while at the same time pursuing policies that inhibit moderation. The rhetoric that comes from the U.S. about the moderating influence of democracy may well be true, but until we honestly pursue democratic change, no matter what the outcome for us, then we will be stuck with the same illegitimate, authoritarian regimes that are breeding grounds for disenchanted and potentially violent people. Islam is not inherently violent as some would have us believe, but just like all human beings given the right circumstances they can be forced into lashing out against the objects of their torment, whether that is authoritarian regimes or governments that back those regimes.

Mr. Ayoob does an excellent in job with very few pages detailing for the reader just how divergent political Islam really is. The author speaks of how we in the West tend to think of political Islam as being a "monolith", and he does an excellent job dispelling that myth and showing how each brand of Islamism, while many times espousing a universalistic agenda, is unique to its on context. Each Islamic group incorporates different aspects and theories of Islam to suit their unique situations. While there may be some violent, extremist elements they are a small minority. Many of these groups such as the AKP have shown themselves ready to join in the representative process and attempt to achieve their aims within the system. The author has given us plenty of examples of how democracy has a pronounced moderating affect on these Islamic organizations. It is up to us to focus our attention from the vocal and violent minority and focus our attention on helping the moderate majority, even when this help seems to be in contradiction to our own interests because in the end when these groups join the democratic process we all win.

This is a fantastic book that needs to be read and reread. I am eagerly awaiting the next publishing from this author.

Content Summary: Ayoob's book reviews the many political faces of Islam over several countries: Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Lebanon among them. He demonstrates that there is no one monolithic understanding of Islam the world-over, and that politically also there is also a diverse array of movements in Islam, from the democratic (such as Turkey), to the fringe terror groups such as Al-Qaeda (whose impact he says, on Islam, is actually quite limited). His intention was to write an introductory text on Islam and Politics, and in this he partially succeeds. It is a good book, but not necessarily accessible for beginning readers.

Analytical Review: I have to commend Ayoob for a deft and subtle understanding the nuances in religion and politics all over the Islamic world. Readers should be persuaded that there is in fact no one singular Islamic religious or political world-view, and that there is quite some diversity in the approaches and challenges Muslims today are facing. Ayoob is strongest in his analytical overview (the how and why) but weakest in his concrete, historical overview (the who, what, and when). Quite frankly, I suspect many students who are novices who read this book will become lost in many places. For example, he assumes contextual knowledge of major figures such as Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, without giving them more than line or two. The Shah's overthrow, our support for the coup against Mossadeq, get only a line or two also - this knowledge is assumed not imparted, as is knowledge of Khomeini, Sadat, etc. In short he assumes a lot more concrete historical knowledge of Islamic societies than he actually relays, and this will unfortunately detract from the important impact of his thesis. Experts, go ahead and read - but novices I'd advise you to read up on your history first.

Mohammed Ayoob's "The Many Faces of Political Islam" is a very timely book that de-constructs several of essentialist myths about Islam and Islamist groups. The first and second chapters provide a conceptual overview with clear definitions. The empirical chapters include systematical comparisons of self-proclaimed Islamic states (Saudi Arabia and Iran), leading Islamist groups (Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Jamaat-i Islami in Pakistan), Muslim democracies (Turkey and Indonesia), Islamist national resistance movements (Hizbullah and Hamas), and transnational Islamists (Tablighi Jamaat, Hib-ut-Tahrir, and al-Qaeda). The conclusion points to the need of democratization in Muslim countries and re-orientation of US foreign policy as solution alternatives to ongoing problems.