Re-Thinking The Politics Of The Umma (Muslim Bloc) : The Call for Islamic Global Politics

Abstract

Unequivocally, the notion of the <i>‘Umma[h/t]</i>’ (generally perceived as faithful Muslim society), with sixty-four references only in the Quran, has been a persistent propelling force in Islamic political philosophy from Islam’s advent in the 7<SUP>th</SUP> century. Notably, it has tremendous resonance in today’s Muslim lexicon and profoundly preoccupies the Muslim intelligentsia, who present Islam as an ideal sociopolitical modern system and, consequently, intend to idealise a transnational Islam (pan-Islamism). As a result, the Umma concept is central to Muslim consciousness, shaping a plethora of Islamist movements and, secondly, constitutes a dominating discourse of empowerment, a notion in motion, and a nostalgic desire in pan-Islamist literature to make Muslim collectivity stronger.

Synchronously, despite its persistent presence, the Umma is a vague labyrinthine concept, as its denotation diachronically developed, to a large extent, over 1400 years to a large extent. Whatever it is, it seems that the Umma implies a ‘homogeneous Islamic community’ and a ‘unifying bond’ for all Islamists to confront the <i>Other</i>. Thus, the outstanding question is: What is the politics of the Umma, and how, as a discourse, does it function in Muslim polity? Through the above question as a point of departure, the research aim is to examine what the Other is and how the Umma is contextualised and conceptualised in political Islam to function in Muslim polity. Put differently, the ultimate goal of the research is to re-think or, better to say, to <u>decode</u> ‘the politics of the Umma’ and its counter-hegemonic narrative from a pan-Islamist perspective, presenting it as Islam’s holistic ruling system against any other political system.

In elucidating its concept, the research scrutinizes the fact that the Umma notion constitutes an integral part of Islamic political philosophy, presenting Islam, more than faith and piety (minimalist approach), as a political ideology and polity that pursues a political agenda (maximalist approach). The agenda is collective behaviour to institute a new concrete system, i.e., the Islamic state. Additionally, the research navigates that pan-Islamism proposes the worldwide Umma to which every Muslim should adhere. Consequently, the formation of the ‘Umma-state’ as an alternative to the ‘nation-state’ paradigm is the ultimate goal of almost all -if not all- diverse Islamist movements seeking a global presence. In this sense, the Umma-state is presented as an ever-widening authority to transcend all political borders and boundaries.

To this effect, the research is a methodological approach and an analytical contemplation of the politics of the Umma and its functionality in political Islam in general, calling for Muslim unity worldwide based on the ‘Ummatic identity and dynamism’ of Islam. Additionally, through its examination, the research demonstrates the impossibility of the reclamation of the Umma in its established denotation.

The research’s second substantial contribution revolves around the Sykes-Picot Agreement from a pan-Islamist perspective, which, in a defamatory sense against colonialism, considers it the notorious cornerstone of a plot that allegedly tore the Umma apart.

As another contribution, the research explores the political genesis of pan-Islamist groups and movements in the post-First World War era, in which the abolition of the Caliphate –that of the Ottomans- left behind a lasting ‘trauma’ that led to the proliferation of a plethora of pan-Islamist groups, developing an acute longing expressed commonly in the desire of restoration of the institution of the Caliphate in the Sunni denomination and the Imamate doctrine in Shia.

The research also explores how the call to the construction of the Umma is a pan-Islamist political agenda and a nostalgic reaction to the narrative of the decline of Islamic civilisation due to increased religiosity. In order to reverse Muslim decline, decadence, and degradation (<i>Inhitat</i>), the research illuminates the fact that Islamic Occidentalism (viewing the West as an Occidental intruder) suggests the replacement of the ‘Middle East of the Sykes-Picot’ with the ‘Middle East of Islam’ as a remedy for the stigma of the decline of Muslim Umma. The remedy is the revival of the ‘Golden Age of Islamic Civilisation,’ in the clash with Western civilisation (Huntington’s grand alarmist theory) under one worldwide unified political entity (the Umma), which has become shorthand for a transnational community encompassing all Muslims in one Islamic ‘<u>bloc</u>’; a future-dominated global agenda revolving around the notion of the totality of a Muslim superstate transcending borders, races, languages and cultures. That is why, in its denotation as a supra-national community, the Umma prevails in the pan-Islamist mindset to embrace maximally, at once, Islamic identity, ideology, religion, and statehood in one bloc.

Unequivocally, the notion of the <i>‘Umma[h/t]</i>’ (generally perceived as faithful Muslim society), with sixty-four references only in the Quran, has been a persistent propelling force in Islamic political philosophy from Islam’s advent in the 7<SUP>th</SUP> century. Notably, it has tremendous resonance in today’s Muslim lexicon and profoundly preoccupies the Muslim intelligentsia, who present Islam as an ideal sociopolitical modern system and, consequently, intend to idealise a transnational Islam (pan-Islamism). As a result, the Umma concept is central to Muslim consciousness, shaping a plethora of Islamist movements and, secondly, constitutes a dominating discourse of empowerment, a notion in motion, and a nostalgic desire in pan-Islamist literature to make Muslim collectivity stronger.

Synchronously, despite its persistent presence, the Umma is a vague labyrinthine concept, as its denotation diachronically developed, to a large extent, over 1400 years to a large extent. Whatever it is, it seems that the Umma implies a ‘homogeneous Islamic community’ and a ‘unifying bond’ for all Islamists to confront the <i>Other</i>. Thus, the outstanding question is: What is the politics of the Umma, and how, as a discourse, does it function in Muslim polity? Through the above question as a point of departure, the research aim is to examine what the Other is and how the Umma is contextualised and conceptualised in political Islam to function in Muslim polity. Put differently, the ultimate goal of the research is to re-think or, better to say, to <u>decode</u> ‘the politics of the Umma’ and its counter-hegemonic narrative from a pan-Islamist perspective, presenting it as Islam’s holistic ruling system against any other political system.

In elucidating its concept, the research scrutinizes the fact that the Umma notion constitutes an integral part of Islamic political philosophy, presenting Islam, more than faith and piety (minimalist approach), as a political ideology and polity that pursues a political agenda (maximalist approach). The agenda is collective behaviour to institute a new concrete system, i.e., the Islamic state. Additionally, the research navigates that pan-Islamism proposes the worldwide Umma to which every Muslim should adhere. Consequently, the formation of the ‘Umma-state’ as an alternative to the ‘nation-state’ paradigm is the ultimate goal of almost all -if not all- diverse Islamist movements seeking a global presence. In this sense, the Umma-state is presented as an ever-widening authority to transcend all political borders and boundaries.

To this effect, the research is a methodological approach and an analytical contemplation of the politics of the Umma and its functionality in political Islam in general, calling for Muslim unity worldwide based on the ‘Ummatic identity and dynamism’ of Islam. Additionally, through its examination, the research demonstrates the impossibility of the reclamation of the Umma in its established denotation.

The research’s second substantial contribution revolves around the Sykes-Picot Agreement from a pan-Islamist perspective, which, in a defamatory sense against colonialism, considers it the notorious cornerstone of a plot that allegedly tore the Umma apart.

As another contribution, the research explores the political genesis of pan-Islamist groups and movements in the post-First World War era, in which the abolition of the Caliphate –that of the Ottomans- left behind a lasting ‘trauma’ that led to the proliferation of a plethora of pan-Islamist groups, developing an acute longing expressed commonly in the desire of restoration of the institution of the Caliphate in the Sunni denomination and the Imamate doctrine in Shia.

The research also explores how the call to the construction of the Umma is a pan-Islamist political agenda and a nostalgic reaction to the narrative of the decline of Islamic civilisation due to increased religiosity. In order to reverse Muslim decline, decadence, and degradation (<i>Inhitat</i>), the research illuminates the fact that Islamic Occidentalism (viewing the West as an Occidental intruder) suggests the replacement of the ‘Middle East of the Sykes-Picot’ with the ‘Middle East of Islam’ as a remedy for the stigma of the decline of Muslim Umma. The remedy is the revival of the ‘Golden Age of Islamic Civilisation,’ in the clash with Western civilisation (Huntington’s grand alarmist theory) under one worldwide unified political entity (the Umma), which has become shorthand for a transnational community encompassing all Muslims in one Islamic ‘<u>bloc</u>’; a future-dominated global agenda revolving around the notion of the totality of a Muslim superstate transcending borders, races, languages and cultures. That is why, in its denotation as a supra-national community, the Umma prevails in the pan-Islamist mindset to embrace maximally, at once, Islamic identity, ideology, religion, and statehood in one bloc.