Book Reviews 99 Political Science: An Islamic Perspective By Abdul Rashid Moten. London: MacMillan Press/St. Martin's, 1996, 217 pp., with Index. Adopting an issue-oriented approach toward understanding Islamic and Western political thought, Professor Abdul Rashid Moten places these two tra­ dition's within historical and contemporary contexts. Moten's book thereby pro­ vides a comparative analysis of key issues, including Islamic research method­ ology, Islamic law, Islamic political and social order, strategies and tactics of various Islamic movements, and the link between Islam and politics. In chapter 1, Moten examines the secular domination of Muslim thought and culture, arguing that secularism was imported into the Muslim world through the efforts of a Westernized elite. He adds that no such secular state had ever existed in the Muslim world. This owes much to the fact that there was (is) no common ground between Islam and secularism (p. 7). With secularism came nationalism, liberal political institutions, and the pursuit of a capitalist econom­ ic system. Nationalism, Moten notes, wedged its way into the Muslim world, dividing it into new nation-states and client states (p. 12). Since independence, secularism has failed to meet the socioeconomic and political needs of Muslim societies. The rising tide of Islamic revivalism against secular regimes in Algeria and Turkey demonstrates disenchantment with the shattered secularist dreams in the Muslim world (p. 16). Chapter 2 attempts to scrutinize the inherent link between Islam and politics. The pillars of Islam, Moten writes, go beyond moral and spiritual upliftment; they entail both practical and symbolic significance in all aspects of life. In Islam, ethics sets the tone for politics, and the rules of political behavior origi­ nate from ethical norms. Political life cannot be separated from the broader framework of the religious and spiritual life (p. 21 ). Islamic rulers have hardly, if ever, emphasized the separation of religion and politics. Since the nineteenth century, Islamic modernists and revivalists have debated the nature of this sep­ aration. The reemergence of Islam in Muslim politics and societies in the last quarter of the twentieth century has pointed to a distinct Islamic order and the reawakening of Muslim identity. Moten cites, among others, Iran and Pakistan as examples of such a renaissance (p. 30). However, he fails to examine the divi­ sive effects of lslamization programs in Pakistan (under Zia al-Haqq) and other countries such as Sudan. The comparison between Western and Islamic methods of political inquiry is the subject of close scrutiny in chapter 3. Moten maintains that the Islamic con­ ception of polity is based on profound religious-cultural grounds and that reli­ gion and polity form an organic unity (p. 37). Likewise, ethics and politics are 100 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 1 4 4 inseparably linked in Islam (p. 45). Having criticized Western empirical science and the growth of positivism in the social sciences, Moten emphasizes the importance of values and normative considerations to the Islamic method of inquiry. He tends, however, to underestimate the postbehavioralist movement and its growing appeal in the Western scholarly community. By treating the Western scholarly world as monolithic, Moten disregards a widespread backlash in the West against value-neutral tendencies in social sciences. Moten is most persuasive when he argues that there is no such thing as knowl- edge for its own sake and that, in fact, empirical studies in the West are heavily influenced by the historical experiences of Western Christianity, which is large- ly based on secular precepts. “Such a science,” he adds, “has not fulfilled and cannot fulfill the needs and requirements of Muslims and as such it cannot take social and cultural root in the Muslim society” (p. 44). He is least persuasive when he argues that different methodological inquiries must be “subservient to the eternal values of divine revelation” (p. 45). Moten sacrifices tolerance of diverse methodologies for the sake of supremacy of Islamic methodology and the universality of values enshrined in the Qur’an. In chapter 4, Moten lays out the alternative to secularism-that is, the shari‘ah, the Islamic legal order. He argues that the key element in ensuring the dynamism of the Islamic legal order is @had, independent legal and logical rea- soning @. 55). Zjtihad, he adds, must be granted its rightful place if an ethical restructuring of the society is to be achieved and if the Muslim world is “to pro- ceed to the work of reconstructing a dynamic, thriving civilization of Islam” The Islamic community, the ummah, provides a social context for order in the Muslim world; it contrasts profoundly with nationalism. In chapter 5, the author scrutinizes the difference between the two. Nationalism, Moten contends, is a secular ideology that has been imposed on the Muslim world in the post- independence era. As a form of glorified tribalism, nationalism is based on lin- guistic, geographical, cultural, and racial factors; it is contrary to the Qur’anic conception of ummah. The latter transcends geography, language, race, or his- tory and is based upon tuwhid-the unity and sovereignty of God. Nationalism promotes the structure of the nation-state system and intensifies the cultural plu- rality and social antagonism between various units of the Muslim world. Moten exposes the sinister aspect of nationalism and how it militates against the idea of Muslim unity by arguing that “Arab nationalism is the product of a Christian and Jewish conspiracy to keep the ummah divided” (p. 80). It is, however, unclear how Moten accounts for intra-Arab conflicts and the tensions between Arab and non-Arab Muslim nations. Nationalism is alive and vibrant within the Muslim world. Universalists such as Iran’s Imam Khomeini painfully conceded this reality. Although transnational solidarity and bonds exist among Muslims of different nationalities and sects, jingoistic national pride still prevails in the Muslim world. Similarly, Moten’s questioning of pop- ular sovereignty in this chapter is utterly unpersuasive. An increasing number of Muslim countries, such as Iran and Jordan, have embraced the notion of popu- lar sovereignty in their constitutions. In chapter 6, two central questions are addressed: Can an Islamic political order, khilujiuh, be democratic? And Is the Western conception of democracy compatible with an Islamic political order and polity? Since the Islamic order is based on principles such as unity of God, justice, freedom, equality, and con- (P. 62). Book Reviews 101 sultation, it is compatible with democracy (pp. 87-90). The Islamic order, how- ever, advocates the fusion or limited separation of powers and is noticeably dif- ferent from parliamentary or presidential systems. Moten insists that the Islamic democratic order differs so vastly from the Western democratic order that it is, in fact, irreconcilable with Western democratic philosophy (p. 106). Chapter 7 deals with the substantial and procedural facets of human account- ability (muhasubah) in Islam. The subordination of the chief executive to the law and the obligations of the governed to disobey an unlawful command are explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an. Grounds for impeachment in Islam are based on criteria of legality and legitimacy (pp. 113-1 16). The consent of the ruled and commitment to the promotion of justice are two stringent criteria. Failure to ful- fill these criteria would disqualify political leaders. The majlis (parliament) is endowed with the authority to remove leaders when and where necessary (p. 125). Islamic movements, for instance, in countries such as India, Pakistan, and Iran, which represent variations in strategy and tactics, typify the richness of Islamic reawakening and self-expression. While displaying similarities and dif- ferences between and among Islamic movements in the book’s final chapter, Moten points out that the characterization of these movements as “Islamic fun- damentalism” is deeply flawed and that the Islamic reawakening (naMah) must be viewed as a process (p. 128). This process is neither a response to the Western modernization nor a backlash against its challenge; it is essentially a form of returning to pure Islam and “a quest to mold Muslim life after the Prophetic pattern in an imperfect world. This is exemplified by the Salafiyah movement, the Sokoto Jihad and the Mahdiyah movement” (p. 130). Jihad, opti- mism, and success are the inherent mechanisms for the persistence of the nuh- dah movements (p. 139). On balance, Moten constructs a credible argument for an Islamic order and political science based on humane premises. Elaborate explanations and sever- al interesting tables and graphs make the book a useful source of illustrating Islamic perspectives. Nevertheless, Moten’s flat statement that empiricism can- not be put to good use, implying that one must choose between values and facts, may strike the reader as dogmatic. Despite his success in demonstrating the interrelatedness of ethics and politics in Islam, the book in itself cannot be said to have contributed much to the continuing debate between the two worlds. Moten offers little in the way of intercultural dialogue and cross-cultural exchange. Although he aptly acknowledges the limits of empiricism, his unqual- ified rejection of it undermines the book‘s general theoretical plausibility and appeal. Mahmood Monshipouri Alma College Alma, Michigan