Western Domination and Political Islam

Abstract

The first two decades of the twentieth century saw the direct or indirect colonization of the Muslim world by various western countrie , thus representing one of the bleakest periods of Muslim history. In the interwar years some rays of hope emerged in the Muslim world with the launching of various independence movements. This period also saw the rise to prominence of two Islamic movements that were to have a major influence on the Islamic response to the western challenge for the rest of the century: the Ikhwan al Muslimum in Egypt and the Jama'at-i Islam1 in the Inda-Pakistani subcontinent. The socioeconomic, geopolitical, and intellectual-cultural challenge of the West to the Muslim world produced varying responses on the part of the Muslim world. While movements such as the Wafd Party or the Muslim League represented the "nationalist" response to this challenge, the Ikhwan and the Jama'at were manifestations of the "Islamic" response. After more than fifty years of struggle, it is becoming painfully clear that the response articulated by these movements to the western challenge is proving co be ineffective. Despite some impressive historical achievements, they find themselves marginalized in their own countries, having almost no influence whatsoever on policy formulation and the intellectual and cultural character of society, for these areas continue to be dominated by westernized elites. As a result, Muslim intellectuals have started to ask "Why?" Why have these movements, which at one time held so much promise and even produced some impressive results, failed to respond adequately to the western challenge, and what steps need to be taken to remedy the shortcomings? Questions of this nature are being asked ...