For immediate release November 5, 2001

Middle East Report 221
Winter 2001

ISLAM: IMAGES, POLITICS, PARADOX

Editorialists from Thomas Friedman to Salman Rushdie sound the theme that the roots of the September 11 attacks and the "war on terrorism" are to be found in Islam. As the Middle East and Central Asia are reduced in media analysis to the predominant religion of their populations, crucial context is left out of the discussion. The question usually asked--"What in Islam has led to these events?"--needs to be replaced by another: "What about the modern history of the Middle East has led political opposition to take a decidedly religious form?" The winter 2001 issue of Middle East Report, "Islam: Images, Politics, Paradox," tackles this second question.

Crucial as it is to reject reduction of the robust array of Islamic traditions to one arid ideology, one should also avoid apologetics that deny any connection between the September 11 hijackers and Islam. As Khaled Abou El Fadl, scholar of Islamic law, argues in his provocative essay, the radical Islamist language of intolerance repudiates the flexibility of the classical juridical tradition. But this repudiation finds echoes in contemporary Islamic discourses much nearer the mainstream, including a state-sponsored discourse in Saudi Arabia.

At the same time, as contributing editor Sami Zubaida writes, political Islam in itself has ceased to be the most important issue in Middle East politics. The international Islamist revolt anticipated by some in the 1990s never happened, and many Islamists have adopted the tactics of "normal" politics to redress the authoritarianism and maldistribution of wealth that preoccupy the minds of most people in Middle Eastern countries. The "war on terrorism" appears destined to exacerbate authoritarian rule.

Meanwhile, Operation Enduring Freedom could prolong and even widen the transnational war centered in Afghanistan, warns independent scholar Patricia Gossman. Continued US-Pakistani interference in Afghan politics is unlikely to enhance the long-term stability of either Afghanistan or Pakistan. Researcher Alisher Ilkhamov shows that the new US alliance with Uzbekistan may carry its own risk of "blowback."

Also featured: Charmaine Seitz investigates the dilemma of Hamas in Gaza; poet Suheir Hammad reacts to the September 11 attacks; Shalini Mathur and Richa Nagar report on Hindu-Muslim tensions in the Indian province of Uttar Pradesh; and more.

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Middle East Report is published by the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), a progressive, independent non-profit based in Washington, DC. Since 1971 MERIP has provided critical analysis of the Middle East, focusing on political economy, popular struggles and the implications of US and international policy for the region.