PoliticalChic
Diamond Member
One after another, Middle East Arab nations are embroiled in protests
and riots pressing traditional leaders, kings and dictators...
Both news coverage, and a re-reading of Paul Berman's "Terror and Liberalism," offer the following explanation.
1. Albert Camus, in ‘The Rebel,’ attempted to find the traits in modern civilization that lead to totalitarianism, and its horrors. Tariq Ramadan, philosopher of Islamism, (“Islam, the West and the Challenge of Modernity” questions whether ‘civilization’ applies universally, or if the dangers of totalitarianism are unique to the West, and have nothing to do with the Muslim world. Ramadan claims that the mentality and emotions of the Muslim world are not only different form, but are incomprehensible to the Western mind.
a. Tariq Ramadan was Swiss-born, and is an Oxford professor. Ramadan’s father was a militant of the Muslim Brotherhood, and his grandfather, Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Brotherhood.
2. The starting point for Camus is an innate impulse to rebel. For Ramadan, this particular impulse, the urge to rebel, is the point where Western civilization and Islam diverge! In Western religious tradition, there is a place for skepticism and doubt, and these are elements of faith that prove the authenticity of one’s belief in God.
a. In the Old testament, Abraham is instructed to sacrifice his son, Isaac. He doubts the instruction, an, at first, struggles to resist it. The doubt and the struggle to bridge the gap between same and his obligation to God testify to the sincerity of his belief.
3. In Ramadan’s view, the impulse to rebel in Western culture follows directly from the esteem that is accorded to skepticism and doubt. When one follows that urge one step further, we have full-scale rebellion!
a. Muslim tradition does not have those traits. In Islam, there is no impulse to rebel. The story of Abraham and Isaac, as recounted in the Koran, there is no emphasis on skepticism and resistance: Abraham simply hears the instruction, and gets ready to comply. No temptation to rebel: In Islam, submission is all. Thus the unification of Islamic society. Submission is the road to social justice.
b. The message of the Saudi King: ""Mubarak and King Abdullah are not just allies, they are close friends, and the king is not about to see his friend cast aside and humiliated," a senior source in the Saudi capital told The Times."http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/back-off-hosni-mubarak-saudi-king-abdullah-warns-barack-obama/story-e6frg6so-1226003947985
4. If Tariq Ramadan is correct, and Muslim tradition does not have those traits, and if in Islam, there is no impulse to rebel...then we are witnessing an alteration in the culture- not in any one nation- but across the Middle East- that may bring bring Islamic culture more in line with modernity, with the Western societies with which they must compete and cooperate.
a. Once again, the tamping down of a natural human urge, to be responsible for one's path in life, for self-determination, will be stronger than submission of any sort.
and riots pressing traditional leaders, kings and dictators...
Both news coverage, and a re-reading of Paul Berman's "Terror and Liberalism," offer the following explanation.
1. Albert Camus, in ‘The Rebel,’ attempted to find the traits in modern civilization that lead to totalitarianism, and its horrors. Tariq Ramadan, philosopher of Islamism, (“Islam, the West and the Challenge of Modernity” questions whether ‘civilization’ applies universally, or if the dangers of totalitarianism are unique to the West, and have nothing to do with the Muslim world. Ramadan claims that the mentality and emotions of the Muslim world are not only different form, but are incomprehensible to the Western mind.
a. Tariq Ramadan was Swiss-born, and is an Oxford professor. Ramadan’s father was a militant of the Muslim Brotherhood, and his grandfather, Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Brotherhood.
2. The starting point for Camus is an innate impulse to rebel. For Ramadan, this particular impulse, the urge to rebel, is the point where Western civilization and Islam diverge! In Western religious tradition, there is a place for skepticism and doubt, and these are elements of faith that prove the authenticity of one’s belief in God.
a. In the Old testament, Abraham is instructed to sacrifice his son, Isaac. He doubts the instruction, an, at first, struggles to resist it. The doubt and the struggle to bridge the gap between same and his obligation to God testify to the sincerity of his belief.
3. In Ramadan’s view, the impulse to rebel in Western culture follows directly from the esteem that is accorded to skepticism and doubt. When one follows that urge one step further, we have full-scale rebellion!
a. Muslim tradition does not have those traits. In Islam, there is no impulse to rebel. The story of Abraham and Isaac, as recounted in the Koran, there is no emphasis on skepticism and resistance: Abraham simply hears the instruction, and gets ready to comply. No temptation to rebel: In Islam, submission is all. Thus the unification of Islamic society. Submission is the road to social justice.
b. The message of the Saudi King: ""Mubarak and King Abdullah are not just allies, they are close friends, and the king is not about to see his friend cast aside and humiliated," a senior source in the Saudi capital told The Times."http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/back-off-hosni-mubarak-saudi-king-abdullah-warns-barack-obama/story-e6frg6so-1226003947985
4. If Tariq Ramadan is correct, and Muslim tradition does not have those traits, and if in Islam, there is no impulse to rebel...then we are witnessing an alteration in the culture- not in any one nation- but across the Middle East- that may bring bring Islamic culture more in line with modernity, with the Western societies with which they must compete and cooperate.
a. Once again, the tamping down of a natural human urge, to be responsible for one's path in life, for self-determination, will be stronger than submission of any sort.
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