The Politicisation Of Islam: A Case Study Of Tunisia

by Hamdi,Mohamed Elhachmi

• ISBN13: 9780813338880
• ISBN10: 0813338883
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2000-12-13
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The Politicisation of Islam: A Case Study of Tunisiatraces the emergence, rise, and recent eclipse of the modern Tunisian Islamic movement,al-Nahda,and provides a comprehensive analysis of its political, social, and intellectual discourse. The first two chapters concentrate on the factors behind the emergence ofal-Nahdaand its politicization. The three major confrontations between the movement and the Tunisian regime, which culminated in 1991 in the banning of allal-Nahdaactivities inside Tunisia, is explored in Chapter Three. The author discusses the basic concepts of political Islam in the movement's literature in Chapter Four, in particular the Islamists' rejection of secularism, andal-Nahda's proposal for a modern Islamic state in Chapter Five. In the concluding chapter, the author addresses the Islamists' cultural agenda and their insistence on an Islamic identity for Tunisia.A valuable contribution to the study of political Islam, this is the first complete analysis, in English, of the history of this modern Tunisian Islamic movement.

Author Biography

Mohamed Elhachmi Hamdi is the editor in chief of The Diplomat, an English-Arabic magazine for the dialogue of cultures and civilizations, and the editor in chief of Al-Mustakillah, a Pan-Arab weekly newspaper.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
System of Translation and Transliteration	p. xi
List of Abbreviations	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
The Emergence of the Tunisian Islamic Movement	p. 7
Economic and Political Factors	p. 7
Religious and Cultural Factors	p. 12
The Movement's First Founders	p. 16
Embarking on a Mission	p. 19
The Politicisation Process	p. 25
Conflict on Campus	p. 25
The Government's Role in the Emergence of the Movement	p. 28
The Impact of the Liberal Experiment	p. 30
The Iranian Factor	p. 33
Secrecy: The Benefits and Costs	p. 34
The Discovery of the Secret Organisation	p. 36
The Creation of the Political Party	p. 38
Islamists v. Bourguiba 1981-1987	p. 41
The First Confrontation, 1981-1984	p. 43
The Truce of 1984-1986	p. 49
The End of Bourguiba's Era	p. 53
Islamists v. Ben Ali 1987-1993	p. 61
The Strategy of the New President	p. 63
Ben Ali Against the Islamists	p. 67
The Panic of the Islamists	p. 71
The Basis for a "Political" Islam	p. 75
The Party of Islam	p. 75
The Meaning and Implications of Jahiliyya	p. 78
The "Muslim" and the "Islamist"	p. 81
Islamism or Fundamentalism?	p. 83
The Principle of Comprehensiveness	p. 88
Islam and Secularism	p. 90
The Islamists' Islamic State	p. 101
The Evolution of Ghannouchi's Political Thought	p. 102
Islamic Democracy	p. 103
The Implications of Trusteeship	p. 105
Basic Human Rights in Islam	p. 107
The People's Authority	p. 109
The Status of Non-Muslims	p. 115
A Note on Tunisian Modernism	p. 120
The Response of Tunisian Elites	p. 123
The Implications of the Islamists' Programme	p. 126
The Question of Originality	p. 127
Issues of Identity and Westernisation	p. 135
Islam, Arabism, and Tunisian Identity	p. 140
The Role of Mzali	p. 143
The Fight Against Westernisation	p. 145
Signing the National Pact	p. 156
Conclusion	p. 163
Appendixes	p. 175
Bibliography	p. 191
Index	p. 197
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