The crisis of modernity of the arab-islamic world

• Author: Raul Ludovic Bereczki
• Position: PhD Candidate at Babes-Bolyai University
• Pages: 1-9

AGORA International Journal of Juridical Sciences, http://univagora.ro/jour/index.php/aijjs

ISSN 1843-570X, E-ISSN 2067-7677

No. 3 (2015), pp. 1-9

THE CRISIS OF MODERNITY OF THE ARAB-ISLAMIC WORLD

R. L. Bereczki

Bereczki Raul Ludovic

PhD Candidate at Babe–Bolyai University

SABCO Project Deputy Security Manager

E- mail: bereczkir@rcjubail.gov.sa ; rbereczk@bechtel.com ; Fax: 966 (0)3 341 7184

Abstract

The Westernization of Islam, which began at least two hundred years ago, has two major

consequences: a positive one, meaning the enlightenment of the elites which tried to reform Islam;

and a negative one, "the perverse effect of contact with the West", as the experts often call it,

which consists of the development of religious sects within the Muslim societies. The direct and

striking conclusion, upon first analysis, is that Islamic fundamentalism is the product of Western

modernity. Of course, the line of explanation has its origin in colonial times, seen as a major

disappointment by those Muslims who believed in the benefits of a European-style modernity, and

continues with the Cold War period, with the examples of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and

Afghanistan, where the mobilization of Islamist elements was beneficial in the fight against the

Soviet enemy and the active proselytism practiced by the latter.

Keywords : Islam, Jihad, fundamentalism, Terrorism, Faith, Shiite, Sunni,

Kamikaze, ISIS

Introduction

There’s a lot of talk nowadays, in the Western world, rather than the Arab-Islamic world,

about a crisis of modernity crossing from one end to the other the territories which are under the

rule of Islam. Modernity, in its common Western meaning, is a notion most often associated in

Islamic environments, with the Western way of life, with the laicism of Western social

structures. Of course, there are different types of modernity or manifestations of it in different

contexts, and taking this notion as a unitary block is, as we shall see, to the detriment of an

accurate perception of the phenomenon of modernity in the Arab-Islamic space.

In the course of time, three attitudes towards modernity became apparent.

Law and rights in Islam

"A defining characteristic of the Muslim legal discourse is the assumption that the

Quran (Qur’an / Koran) is God’s Communication to humanity... God speaks in the Quran

and among the things He transmits there is also the law to which He requests His community

to submit."1 So here we have a law of sacred origin, which may not be violated except under

the threat of sanctions emanating from the same resort, the same way it can only be amended

by the original resort. In addition to this text, Islam has additional regulatory means, such as

Sunna – the model of the sinless life Prophet Muhammad led2, ijma – the community

consensus on carrying out the law, as well as the comments to the Quran – done by means of

1 Robert Gleave, The 'First Source' of Islamic Law: Muslim Legal Exegesis of the Quran, in Richard O' Dair,

Andrew Lewis, (ed.), Law and Religion. Current Legal Issues, 2001, vol. 4, Oxford University Press, 2001, p.

145, et.al.;

2 "It is true that, on its part, the Quran speaks of Allah's Sunnah, meaning by it God's principles of action in

humans; however, tradition has reserved the word for the manner of acting, for customs or Muhammad’s

parables. These precedents are the norm of Muslim life, at all levels.", F. Schuon, op.cit, p. 107;

1