Monday Post

Islamist flag often seen in various locations during the Arab Spring, "No god but God."

Armstrong and Desrosiers posit seven characteristics of revolutions for students of World History to study. They are:

1. The economic crisis immediately preceding the revolution
2. The elite and other classes
3. Spread of revolutionary ideas among the intelligentsia
4. Goals of the revolution and major revolutionaries
5. Establishment of dictatorship
6. National mobilization in response to foreign hostility
7. Main legacy of the revolution

In the concluding paragraph they state:

"Were the events of the Arab Spring the beginnings of true social revolutions in the Middle East? In America, many speak of the 1% vs. the 99%: some wonder if Marx is being validated in contemporary society? Are members of the Occupy Wall Street movement the vanguard of some new revolutionary movement?" (pp. 45-46, Armstrong and Desrosiers)

However, the authors do not attempt to apply the seven characteristics of revolution to either the Arab Spring or the Occupy movement. The application of their ideas is suggestive at best, if not argued. Nonetheless, if you do attempt to apply their ideas to the respective movements, they do not apply at all. It is possible to argue that there was a financial crisis in the U.S. in 2008, thus, point #1 may apply here; however, no one seriously contends that an economic crisis tipped off the Arab Spring; it may safely be stated that political unrest reached a bubbling over point which erupted.

In Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring, an economic downturn may exacerbate a contentious internal situation but there was no "economic crisis immediately preceding the revolution."

In Tunisia on December 17, 2011, a street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi protested the harassment he had suffered at the hands of police by committing suicide by setting himself ablaze. Since then, the governments of Tunisia and Egypt have been overthrown. A civil war has broken out in Libya. The king of Jordan has dismissed his cabinet and protests have taken place in Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, Iraq, and Iran.

What happened?

A revolutionary crisis seems to have gripped most of the Middle East so we may responsibly inquire into its motivating factors. The "Khilafah Conference (USA) 2011 - Revolution in the Muslim World: From Tyranny to Triumph" more accurately identifies the motivating factors, and they are religious sensibilities, a characteristic that can be evasive when analyzing contemporary political movements.

If not a revolution in the definition of the authors, clearly there is a considerable movement afoot, one which I have identified as profoundly religious. In the Khilafah Conference video the Islamist revolution unites the Ummah. Ummah is an Arabic term denoting a grouping of individuals constituting a larger community with a single identity. The term is often translated as "community" or "people". For the community the revolution is assured with Aqeedah which refers to those matters which are believed in, with certainty and conviction, in one’s heart and soul. Opposition is to be found in non-Muslims or the Mushrikun which means polytheists, pagans, idolaters, and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah.

A video promoting the Islamic caliphate in Europe during 2011 asserts the same point.

The Arab Spring then is a religious revolution, not based in financial or economic difficulties although clearly chaotic conditions may be exacerbated by these issues.

Any number of recent debates in Egypt have taken up the points outlined above:

Debates in Egypt center around whether Egyptians should eliminate the Jews with the Caliphate, or remain content in their own territory, Egypt.

EGYPTIAN TV PANEL DEBATES CLERIC’S CLAIM THAT JERUSALEM WILL BE CAPITAL OF THE CALIPHATE, Safwat Higazi

Tareq Sweidan of the Muslim Brotherhood states that first there will be the "oppressive Kingship," the Egyptian army in control, but thereafter, will be "Khilafah upon the Prophetic method." The hadith Sweidan discusses prophesies the Khilafah Rashida ("rightly guided" Cf. www.alislam.org/library/books/Khilafat-e-Rashida.pdf). Sweidan proposes an active promotion of the Khilafah Rashida.

His presentation on SlideShare.com illustrating four steps to the restoration of the caliphate.

The Egyptian Cleric Safwat Higazi claims that the Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate will make Jerusalem ‘THE CAPITAL OF THE CALIPHATE’

A translation of a book by the Muslim Brotherood’s leader sheds light on just how Egypt’s Brotherhood views itself and its mission. Jihad is the Way is the last of a five-volume work, The Laws of Da’wa by Mustafa Mashhur.

Hassan al-Banna, the movement’s founder, “felt the grave danger overshadowing the Muslims and the urgent need and obligation which Islam places on every Muslim, man and woman, to act in order to restore the Islamic Caliphate and to reestablish the Islamic state on strong foundations.”

Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader Qaradawi advocates establishing a "United Muslim Nations" as a contemporary form of the caliphate.

The Voice of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

References on revolution

Cf. http://www.librarything.com/catalog/gmicksmith&collection=-1&deepsearch=Revolution

Monday Post, Dr. G. Mick Smith