what's the role of revivalists of south asia in the revival of islam?
Answers
Since the United States was attacked on 9/11 by terrorists claiming to speak in the name of Islam, there has been considerable discussion in the U.S. about the significance of Islam as a factor in U.S. policy. Islam is the religion of over 1 billion people around the world. Given the U.S. principle of strict separation between state and religion, the U.S. clearly cannot have a policy towards the religion of Islam. But policies and actions of states and non-state actors ostensibly seeking an Islamic revival and declaring the United States as their enemy necessitate a policy response. Before commenting on the specific issues relating to political and militant Islamic groups in Asia, let me share with you a few basic observations:
1. Islam is not a monolithic religion. Its adherents in different parts of the world, and within each community, practice their core beliefs in diverse ways. There is considerable cultural, social and national heterogeneity among Muslims. Several Islamic sects and Sufi orders co-exist throughout Asia and some of them are confrontational towards one another as much as they are hostile to non-Muslims.
2. Notwithstanding the differences in ritual and even religious belief or practice, Muslims have a strong sense of belonging to one community – the Ummah.
3. Although Muslim history is replete with instances of militant assertions of religion these are not very different from, for example, the invoking of Christianity as a unifier of nations or mobilizing factor for armies in the middle ages. For an overwhelming majority of Muslims, particularly in Asia, Islam is a spiritual scheme for salvation and not a political ideology.
4. Contrary to the widespread belief that Islam does not allow the separation of state and religion, political power in most of Muslim history was not wielded by a theocratic class. Although Islam was invoked as the source of political legitimacy throughout history, the Islamic political theory known today as Political Islam is largely a response or reaction to the breakdown of the traditional order under the pressures of modernity. Muslims did not evolve contending ideas about the state and attended to the issue of defining the principles of state after having to contend with ascendant western power. The notion of political Islam, therefore, is a modern idea and should not be considered an integral part of the Islamic tradition.