Arab Resources



Arab Resources

Introduction

Article - Islamic Revivalism and the crisis of the Secular State in the Arab World: An Historical Appraisal - examines the social injustices, economical disproportionalities, domestic governmental shortfalls and the international antagonizing influences that fostered the reactionary revivalism of Islamic Fundamentalism. Dr. Khoury's empirical perspective sheds light on this misunderstood religious evolution. Islamic revivalism, within Arab nations, is not a theologocentric cultural phenomenon, as depicted by “western media.” This orientalistic, cultural miss-interpretation is a product of the Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE). American media portrays angry Arab populations in juxtaposition with acts of violence. The western perception is that Islamic Fundamentalism and the “violence” that is associated with it is a result of fundamental Arab cultural predispositions for religious extremist.

Arguments From the Article

This perception belays the western cultural ignorance. According to Dr. Khoury (pg. 217) the defining voice for the Arab states in the 20th century was secular nationalism, not religious extremism. The Islamic Fundamentalist revival that has taken place within the Middle East North African (MENA) region is a reaction of Arab state exhaustion. Since the post-colonial period after WWII, Arab states have failed at modernizing their populations. Modern Arab secular states were depleted of their civil-society capabilities, they did not adequately provide social services, employment opportunities, social-economic mobility, skilled labor markets and proportional wealth distribution for their populations.

The disenfranchising of Arab nationalism was due to several situational catalysts, the massive urbanization's that drew the uneducated, agriculture working class “peasants” into over-crowded metropolitans; western investments in finite resources that created authoritarian states; the developments of class systems that fostered dissent and radicalization in the lower and middle economic classes; and the reliance on traditional religious values by the lower classes to mitigate the oppressive natures of authoritarian regimes.

Islamic Fundamentalists did not gain radicalized support within modern Arab secular nation states until the 1970s. This revival was due to the failure of the Arab secular movements of national growth; the Arab communist governments failed to establish social equality, the secular governments failed to include the uneducated masses, Pan-Arab nationalist movements failed to represent the diverse region and democracy never gained a foothold. Subsequently, Arab national top-tier elites can abuse their bureaucratic positions, while not being held accountable for their political cronyism and their structural corruption. While the end of the 20th century Asian economic growth gained confidence, Muslims have found a source of identity, legitimacy and power in Islam ...