The triumph of moderation
Osama Al-Ghazali Harb argues that Egypt must
assume a leading role in the post-Cold War dispensation
Egypt is facing one of the greatest challenges in its history. This challenge equals, and probably surpasses, those that have come before, including the invasion of the Crusaders in the 11th century, the Mongol invasion of the 13th century, the fall of Andalusia in the 15th century, the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century and the colonial invasions of the 19th century. The Islamic world currently finds itself in direct confrontation with the largest power in the world today -- the US -- and, more or less indirectly, with almost all other major powers in the world. The collapse of the Soviet empire ushered in the end of the conflict between the communist East and the capitalist West, with the latter emerging victorious. Muslims have now been put forward as the West's new enemy. It was Samuel Huntington's notorious Clash of Civilizations, which first appeared in Foreign Affairs in 1993, that paved the theoretical ground for the conflict with "Islamic civilisation" just as Churchill's famous speech on the Iron Curtain heralded the bitter clash against communist ideology and the communist camp.
The age of ideological confrontation has given way to an age of cultural collision, one that is no less acute and dangerous for being manufactured. Essentially it involves the Islamic world versus the US, a confrontation that reached its peak with the attacks of 11 September, 2001 against New York and Washington. Unfortunately, however, it has subsequently extended to the Russian Orthodox civilisation, as exemplified in the battles in Chechenya and the massacre in a Moscow theatre, and to India, as manifested in the Indian- Pakistani nuclear showdown, the bloody contest over Kashmir and the demolition of the ancient Buddhas in Afghanistan. The latest emanation of the conflict targeted African civilisation, with the recent bombings in Kenya. One can only wonder whether fate has in store Islamic clashes against the world's other civilisations.
The notion of a clash of civilisations, in accordance with which Islam is pitted against the West and all other cultures is, without a doubt, a gross and misleading oversimplification. One cannot help but detect in it a strong whiff of premeditation in advancing theoretical foundations for a siege against the Islamic world. However, it can also not be denied that the notion has a certain objective validity associated with the global boom in communications technology and economic globalisation.
Certainly, too, the US gave the forces of Islamic extremism, which spearheads the clash against the West (and the rest of the world), a fundamental impetus during its confrontation against the Soviet Union and international communism. In this context the destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York can be seen as part of the fallout from the fall of the Berlin Wall, the most resonating symbol of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the communist camp. After all, the forces that demolished the World Trade Center evolved directly from the forces that were used to defeat the Soviet Union and bring down the Berlin Wall. Moreover, it is no coincidence that the West's enormous arsenals of research institutes, intelligence agencies, data banks and security agencies, which had once poured their vast energies into the study of the Soviet Union and the communist bloc, have shifted the bulk of their focus to the Islamic world to scrutinise and dissect every detail of political, cultural, social, economic and religious life.
Nevertheless, we should not take things so far as to imagine that what is happening to the Islamic world is no more than a conspiracy woven by the enemies of Islam and the Muslim peoples. Most societies of the Islamic world -- from westernmost Africa to easternmost Asia, as well as the Muslim immigrant communities in Europe, the Americas and Australia, are incontrovertibly in a state of turmoil. While the overwhelming majority of Muslims throughout these far flung regions remain silent, their voice has been monopolised by fanatics and extremists who depict Islam as though it were engaged in the ultimate battle against the entire "heretic" world. Numerous individuals and institutions have vied to distort the image of Islam and the Muslim people, from Bin Laden in Afghanistan to the fanatics in Nigeria who have recently drawn the attention of the world to their summary verdicts of death and stoning, in defiance of the most fundamental principles of justice and, above all, tenets of Islamic jurisprudence. Lending tacit support to these demagogues are conservative forces, fearful of, and resistant to, change.
The voices of extremism resonate all the louder against a backdrop of deteriorating economic and technological performance in most Muslim countries, which is only outstripped by the attrition on democratisation, individual liberties and civil society. In addition, most of the world's conflicts today are taking place in the Islamic world or involve Islamic forces, from Indonesia and the Philippines, through Afghanistan and Pakistan to Algeria and Nigeria. And this is not to mention the Arab-Israeli conflict, the problem of Iraq and the ongoing repercussions of the Gulf War.
However, heading the list as both one of the causes and manifestations of the current plight of the Islamic world is its lack of a leader state -- unfortunately another problem that Huntington diagnosed early on in Clash of Civilizations. The Islamic world is in desperate need of a country to set the example and lead the way. Over the past few decades several nations attempted to fill that role, and it is no secret that other powers -- the US above all -- are looking for potential candidates. This role cannot remain vacant forever. In fact, the Islamic world in its current plight cannot afford the luxury of such a vacuum.
But which country is ready and equipped to step in? Turkey had led the Islamic world until the end of the Ottoman caliphate. However, since the Ataturk revolution it adopted a secularist course, shed its Islamic identity, severed its bonds with the Islamic world and re-oriented itself resolutely towards Europe and Europeanisation. Still, recent developments in Turkey suggest that it is undergoing a process of reconciliation between secularism and Islam. Could this presage a bid, encouraged by outside powers, to fill the vacuum?
In spite of its apparent hostility towards the US, domestic developments in Iran, especially as pertain to the contest between conservative and reform forces, have drawn considerable attention. In a recent column in the New York Times, Thomas Friedman remarked: "What is happening in Iran today is incontestably the most promising direction in the Islamic World." Friedman was referring in particular to the daring ideas of the reformists. Could this development serve as a model and inspiration to the Islamic world?
Another American commentator, Ralph Peters, writing in the Washington Post on 1 December, draws attention further afield to the periphery of the Islamic world, rather than the centre. Specifically, he identifies Indonesia (although he also speaks of the Muslims of India and the US), on the grounds that it is the largest Muslim nation and has an excellent record of economic growth. In addition, it presents an Islam that is tolerant, capable of interacting with others and, simultaneously, capable of resisting the extremism that comes to it from the Middle East.
Then there is Pakistan, the only Islamic nation with a nuclear capacity, and Saudi Arabia, keeper of the Islamic holy places. The former also attracted attention for the democratic development that opened itself to domestic Islamist forces. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, still arouses concern because of its political and religious conservatism, which bred some of the most dangerous Muslim extremists, including the perpetrators of the attacks of 11 September.
It is my contention, however, that Egypt is more equipped than any other nation in the Islamic world to fill that pioneering role so necessary, not only for Egypt and the rest of the Islamic world, but for international peace and stability in this specific phase of the development of the global order. If the primary characteristic of the current order is polarisation between the US, the West in general and in a certain sense the rest of the world, on the one hand, and "international terrorism" that attributes itself to Islam and the Islamic world, on the other, the mission of the leader state of the Islamic world is to detach that spurious link between Islam and terrorism. This task entails not so much rectifying the "image" of Islam and Muslims as working to develop the tangible reality that projects the image.
Egypt is best poised to spearhead this mission for several reasons. Egypt is an Arab country, which by virtue of the origin of the Islamic message and the language of the Qur'an, places it at an advantage over Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia. It subscribes to Sunni Islam, which places it in the ranks of the vast majority of the Muslim people, unlike Shi'ite Iran, for example. Simultaneously, it has never known ideological animosity or violent hostility against Shi'ism, unlike Pakistan, for example. On the contrary, the appeal for understanding and harmony between Islamic sects has always flourished in Egypt.
Egypt occupies a geographical position at the heart, rather than the periphery, of the Islamic world. It spans Asia and Africa, the home of most Muslim peoples, but is also close to Europe, with which it enjoys good relations, without ever having been prey to the lure of assimilating into Europe to the detriment of Egypt's Islamic identity.
In terms of the size of its population, Egypt rivals other candidates, such as Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia, and is clearly superior to Saudi Arabia. More importantly, it enjoys a level of social coherence unparalleled elsewhere.
Egypt also can boast of its friendly, peaceful international relations, founded upon mutual respect between other cultures and religions. Christians and the Christian religion are an integral part of Egyptian culture and Egypt has figured prominently in the history of Christianity, just as it has in the history of Judaism, in addition to which it enjoys peaceful relations with the Jewish state. Egypt has excellent relations with India and the Hindu culture (unlike Pakistan), Japan and China (or Japanese and Chinese civilisations) and with Africa, of which it, too, is an integral part. Egypt, moreover, was a leader of the Third World liberation movements and the non-aligned movement which, in conjunction with its Islamic dimension, is another reason why of all Third World countries it is uniquely placed to fulfil the pioneering role. Lastly, developments from the construction of the High Dam to the present testify to Egypt's long standing relations with Russia (or the Russian Orthodox civilisation).
Moderation is a characteristic intrinsic to Islam as it is practiced in Egypt, which is why the fanaticism and extremism associated with other Islamic factions, sects and movements have never found fertile ground in which to take root in this country. Although it is true that a few extremist calls have surfaced recently in Egypt, these have always been marginal and never attracted a popular following.
Finally, Al-Azhar has for centuries enjoyed the esteem of Muslim people around the world and drawn students from all corners of the Islamic world. From Egypt's Al-Azhar emerged the most prominent leaders of enlightenment and Islamic reform, leaders who aspired to positive interaction with modern European civilisation. For Muslims from the remotest villages in Asia to the furthest reaches of subsaharan Africa, Al-Azhar was and remains the font of Islamic learning. Indeed, Egypt to them is Al-Azhar, or, perhaps, more accurately, Islam.
If the foregoing factors constitute the "demand" side for Egypt's Islamic leadership, do the "supply" side factors exist? Does Egypt possess the necessary will and stamina to fulfil that essential, pioneering role?
