Before engaging with any text - particularly a text with such a declarative
title, indicating particular associations - it is vital for a reader to clarifywith themselves their expectations and the criteria by which they intend tojudge. Of course, these criteria shift as the book indicates the true directionof its contents and certain aspects are unpicked, but beginning the text withsome degree of critical engagement is vital to ensure that there are no biasesbeing allowed to filter through. ---- Therefore, to clarify: before engaging withMohamed Abdou's Islam and Anarchism, I had decided very firmly not to critiquefrom a theological perspective. The reasons for this are threefold. Firstly, I amnot an Islamic scholar and am therefore entirely unqualified to make nuancedjudgement on any specific claims of theological detail that might spring upthroughout the course of a book with this title. Secondly, the aim of the book -as stated on the back cover - is not to provide a justification for Islam moregenerally but rather to attempt to synthesise elements of it with anarchism andexplore apparent connections between the two, and therefore it makes sense thatthis book can be read in either direction; in this case, from anarchism to Islam,rather than the reverse. Thirdly, and perhaps most crucially, it is clear thatwriting on anarchism from an explicitly religious position is a somewhatcontroversial action, and I believe in a spirit of academic generosity with suchissues. Sharpening a blade over whether or not the axioms seem inherentlyconvincing to me as an individual helps nobody. My approach, in conclusion, tothis text was as follows: assuming that I take the claims of Islamic faith ontheir face, how convincing do I find the arguments insofar as they addressvarious anarchist positions?Quite apart from this, it is also worth noting that this is the rare book forwhom a target audience is named explicitly by the audience - and it is a targetaudience of which I am not a part. A white person from within the colonial corefalls outside the spectrum of the ‘BIPOC' audience that Abdou names as priorityin discussions surrounding the book. While this has inevitably impacted myreading and is therefore worth noting, the book is by no means inaccessible to,or vehemently against, readings by white or non-Muslim individuals.With all of these preliminary concerns well addressed, it is the book itself thatfalls under discussion. The results of my approach, my particular engagement withthe text, were mixed. Beginning, however, with the strengths of the text seems anappropriate start, as Islam and Anarchism itself begins exhibiting thesestrengths within the first few pages of the introduction. Abdou, rather rapidly,establishes a strong sense of tone that carries throughout the book and there isan air of learned experience to the arguments being made, as though they had beenwell honed over time. For the most part, this is to the advantage of thearguments, which are presented with a finesse and a careful selection ofquotations from across the gamut of scholarship, both anarchist and Islamic, aswell as occasionally dipping into sociological, anthropological, andphilosophical territory.A second strength of the text lies in the simplicity of the central claim; thatis, that Islam and anarchism are, far from irreconcilable, capable of some degreeof cross-over. As with any religious or spiritual tradition with a number ofsects and diverse branches, this is undoubtedly true; one potential oversight inthe text reveals itself here when the affinity of the Sufi tradition, which has along history of being included in anarchist discussions by figures as ‘canonical'as Peter Marshall, receives no mention whatsoever; perhaps this is an oversight,but given the rigorous citation present elsewhere in the book this seems somewhatunlikely and therefore strikes me as an odd choice on the part of the author.Further, the depth of this scholarship, and a dependence on a breadth of Islamicsources lends the book a sense of credibility which almost certainly wouldprovoke thought in the mind of any Muslim reader; it is hard to deny, forexample, the exegesis given of particular Qur'anic, especially as Abdoureinforces the ‘essential' nature of the text and rejects the subjective,interpretation-based readings of the texts promoted by figures such as OlivierRoy, who ‘ignore' the primacy of Allah's word given via scripture. For any Muslimreader, this vehement defence of the core texts almost certainly provides a senseof safety; reading Abdou, you are in the hands of a true believer who is notattempting to lead you astray. This is a scholar who is serious about the faith.Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the text exemplifies a handful of coreanarchist principles in the body of its own argument; Abdou extols the virtue ofa continued self criticism, even mentioning a need for an ongoing ‘interrogation'of the ideas, beliefs, practices, et cetera, of all Muslims. That this is fittingwith anarchism, a philosophy and praxis built upon taking literally Marx's demandfor a ruthless critique of all that exists, goes without saying, and theinsistence of such a claim in a text which nevertheless attempts to draw broadlines between anarchism and a theological tradition many take to be authoritarianis to be applauded.These positive traits, fantastic as they may be, however, are not the solequalities of Islam and Anarchism. Despite the strength of the argument,particular to the Muslim readers who comprise the intended audience, there arenevertheless some central issues which concern a reader approaching from outsideperspectives and potentially those from differing Islamic traditions who mighthave instinct to distrust the interpretations offered by Abdou. The first ofthese issues, and one which must be confronted immediately for a reader such asmyself who is limited to only English and French as a reader, is the concern oflanguage; firstly, Abdou - as most Muslims - assumes that the Qur'an is theliteral dictated word of Allah. This is to be expected, of course, and while thiswill be a bone of factual contention for certain individuals, is something that Iam willing to grant on its face for the sake of the review, as noted earlier. Theconcern, however, is that when faced with criticisms - in this case, the idea ofIslam as an inherently authoritarian belief system - Abdou retreats intolinguistic defense. Most anarchists, the author accurately states, ‘have neverread the Sunnah[...]in the language in which they were dictated and written -Arabic', and are ‘ill versed in interpretative traditions within Islam'. This isfollowed by a basic explanation of the concept of ambiguity and interpretation.Both of these facts may well be true; certainly, they are true in the case ofthis reader, as I am illiterate in Arabic other than basic transliteration and amnot an Islamic scholar. Convincing, however, is a different issue; if someone hasa criticism that is inaccurate, it should be possible to simply explain thisinaccuracy to them (though whether they will listen or not is another issue). ForAbdou here, this is impossible; Islam's authoritarian nature simply isn't real,and you would know that if you read Arabic. The actual claims being made by theauthors cited are not refuted in any more direct fashion than this.In other parts of the text, Abdou seems to be interested in engaging in some kindof pseudo-apologia for various negative aspects of historically Muslim cultures -this is despite emphasising the difference between Islam qua Islam and Islam ascultural presence early in the text. In particular, with regards to the idea ofan Islamic history of imperialism, Abdou writes that while nobody can deny‘injustices committed in the name of Islam', these empires were nevertheless‘effective rulers, builders rather than destroyers' whose rulership often‘brought peace' to embattled communities and often brought lower taxes andsimilar boons. That these caveats are useless to the point of insulting is notworth mentioning; as an English reader, it rings heavily of British patriotsinforming us that the British Empire brought trains and civilisation to India asabsolution for genocide. What makes this particularly odious section of the bookworse is the fact that it is unnecessary; if we are providing a truly anarchistreading of history, and we are separating Islam from Islamic cultures, there isno need to run any interference for these historical empires. They can bedismissed as horrific and left to rot. That Abdou feels the need to speak in suchterms about them belies an equivocation error of his own, eliding the history ofIslam and the behaviour of Muslim conquerors into one by mistake - a mistakepossible impossible to avoid as, despite Abdou's refusal to accept the commandsfor conquest in the history of Islamic literature, they are indeed present.Similar downplaying of Islamic manifestations of slavery occur throughout thebook despite acknowledgements of the horror of slavery and the presence ofanti-African racism in many culturally Muslim countries today. Abdou, it seems,finds it as difficult as the Europeans he decries to separate the faith from thehistorical practice, in this way.Ultimately, the conclusion therefore has two primary layers. Firstly, that whilethis text is well written and well researched, citing most of the names I wouldexpect to see and then a few more for good measure, it is not a book whoseconnections I find particularly persuasive; that is to say, I do not come out ofthe book believing more firmly than I did going in that there is any inherentaffinity of Islam with anarchism. However - and far more significantly whenconsidering Abdou's intended audience of BIPOC and Muslims - the book does appearfar more persuasive when making the point that there can be strains of anarchismthat do not run contradictory to Islam. By this measure (and for the author, thisis the measure of primary import), Islam and Anarchism has far more success andweight. That the more problematic aspects of the text weigh heavily on it,however, is impossible to dismiss."Islam and Anarchism" is available from Pluto Press .Jay Fraserhttps://organisemagazine.org.uk/2022/11/16/islam-and-anarchism-review/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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