Political Islam as an Incomplete and Contested Category: A Post-Foundationalist Revision

Abstract

The exploration of the quiddity of political Islam and the diverse range of categories and terms associated with it has emerged as a prominent research agenda within the social and political sciences. The application of these terms to a wide array of heterogeneous phenomena and currents among Muslim populations worldwide, coupled with the utilization of multiple theoretical approaches to define and formulate them within the realm of social studies, has posed significant challenges to their usage. The inherent ambiguity and lack of determinacy surrounding the dominant categories and definitions prevalent in the study of political Islam have led to a decline in their explanatory capacity, giving rise to a host of theoretical, methodological, normative, and political dilemmas and predicaments. This problematic state, compounded by the extensive body of research in the field of political Islam, necessitates an epistemological interrogation into the prevailing categories and definitions within this scholarly domain. Through a critical examination of prevailing definitions within the field, particularly in relation to the idea of foundation, the present article draws on the post-foundationalist approach to propose a distinctive conceptual apparatus for understanding and interpreting the phenomena categorized under political Islam. By juxtaposing the notions of discursive tradition and social configuration, the article endeavors to construct a nuanced understanding of political Islam that not only incorporates and comprehends the singular characteristics of the objects of inquiry but also encompasses varying levels of universality in elucidating the social phenomena observed among Muslims and in the Islamic world.

Ahmad Moftizadeh and the Idea of the Islamic Government: A Discursive Tradition Analysis in the Field of Political Islam

“…Since the inception of the term of political Islam in the 1940s (Jeffery 1942) and its peak utilization in the closing decades of the twentieth century, the terms of political Islam and Islamism have been inherently problematic and contentious in terms of their definition, nature, and examples (Asad 2003;Hashemi 2021;Hurd 2008;Ismail 2003;Jong and Ali 2023;March 2015;Schwedler 2011;Tausch 2021Tausch , 2023Varisco 2009). Scholars and thinkers, alongside policymakers, security and intelligence experts, and mainstream media, have employed these terms in examining and addressing specific realities.…”

“…Therefore, various and extensive manifestations of Islamist politics and Islamist ideologies have been found among Muslims in different societies in recent times. However, these diversities, which are essentially meaningful based on the specificity of these phenomena, are often neglected and disregarded in simplistic, reductionist, essentialist, or even biased analyses and categorizations, or in exclusionary perspectives (Burgat 2019;Hurd 2008;Jong and Ali 2023;Martin and Barzegar 2009;Schwedler 2011).…”

“…In a deeper confrontation, it can be asserted that this problematic situation primarily arises within the epistemological domain and revolves around certain theoretical disputes regarding the essence and quiddity of political Islam (Asad 2003;Cesari 2018;Jong and Ali 2023;March 2015;Martin and Barzegar 2009). In existing studies, political Islam is either conceptualized within foundationalist approaches based on essentialist and given categories such as secularism, modernity, and the notions of the state or nation, along with somewhat transcendent historical and predominantly theological interpretations of Islamic traditions and teachings, or, in non-foundationalist perspectives, its dependent existence is negated, reduced to secondary phenomena, and confined to socio-economic frameworks.…”

“…In anti-foundationalist perspectives that fundamentally suspend the conceptualization of political Islam and Islamism, the intricate nature of this phenomenon is portrayed as an artificial and false construct. It is asserted that this characterization arises from specific colonial, imperial, and Islamophobic conditions, along with the repercussions of Christian, modern, imperial, or national epistemes imposed on Islam, and so forth (for more details in this regard, see Jong 2023a; Jong and Ali 2023).…”

“…In this field, a pivotal debate centers on the nature of political Islam, especially in scrutinizing diverse ideologies among Islamists, holding a significant position in the study of political Islam and its various manifestations, particularly the discourses of Islamists. This dispute is about the antiquity or novelty and the modernity of political Islam, considering both its essence and its referential/justificatory/reasoning frameworks (Al-Azmeh 2009;Esposito 1991Esposito , 1997Ghamari-Tabrizi 2008;Göle 2017;Hirschkind 2013;Jong and Ali 2023;Lewis 1976;March 2015;Roy 1994;Salvatore 1999). This, in turn, contributes to the increasingly problematic nature of political Islam in contrast to the political developments in other religions.…”