Review: [untitled] Author(s): Muhammad Islam Reviewed work(s): Colonialization of Islam: Dissolution of Traditional Institutions in Pakistan by Jamal Malik

Source: International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 30, No. 2 (May, 1998), pp. 310-311 Published by: Cambridge University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/164725 Accessed: 27/11/2009 13:19
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Reviews Colonialization of Islam: Dissolution of TraditionalInstitutions in Pakistan (New Delhi: ManoharPublishers & Distributors, 1996). Pp. 363.

JAMAL MALIK,

BY REVIEWED MUHAMMAD ISLAM, Department of Political Science, Louisiana State Univer-

sity, Baton Rouge This book examines the Islamization process in Pakistan, which the state has used as a means to expand into various Islamic institutions. It is divided into nine chapters, together with an Introductionand Epilogue. The main thesis of the book is to be found in the introductionand Chapter 1. Chapter2 focuses on the development of the Council of Islamic Ideology as the chief vehicle for Islamic ideological discourse. Chapter3 discusses how the nationalizationof religious endowments was used to tie religious dignitaries to the state and bring their institutions under its influence. Chapter4 examines the use of zakat to consolidate and extend state control. Chapters5 through7 focus on the state's intervention in religious schools, the resulting reaction of religious authorities, and the socio-economic background of the students in these schools. Chapter8 discusses the problems state expansion has created for the labor market. In the Epilogue, the author tries to show how developments since 1988 have substantiated some of his earlier observations. Jamal Malik deserves credit for choosing an importantbut relatively neglected topic for investigation. However, the book has several problems. First, its theoretical model is loosely defined. Second, there is a mismatch between theory and empirical evidence. Finally, the empirical evidence is problematic in places. Malik focuses on four sectors of Pakistani society: the traditional urban sector, colonial urbansector, intermediarysector I, and intermediarysector II. However, he does not provide a valid common denominator for any of these sectors, so we are not sure precisely what affects the attitudes of each sector toward state expansion. The author uses two variables, "area of production (labor and ownership)" and "area of reproduction(culture and forms of living)" (p. 18) to identify these social cleavages. The traditional-colonial dichotomy is based on these concepts. The author explains neither why the production and reproduction of a social unit cannot encompass both traditionaland colonial elements, nor whether this dichotomy should be treated as an empirical rather than a theoretical question. For example, the productionand reproductionof a tribe, which is located in the traditionalurban sector, combine both traditionaland colonial elements. Tribalchiefs, tribal members of Parliament,tribal elements involved in drug-traffickingand other smuggling activities, and even ordinary tribesmen often earn their livelihoods from both traditional and colonial sources. They also consume luxury goods, own urbanproperty,and resort to the jirga system and colonial procedures (such as state arbitration)to resolve individual and collective conflicts. The author'sdiscussion of the integrationist and isolationist avant-garde is also problematic. The integrationists adopt Western values, while the isolationist group "rejects any kind of adoption of colonial values and concept or organization"(pp. 23-24). The lack of proper evidence makes this cleavage problematic.The isolationist Syed Qutb drew heavily on Mawdudi, whom the author describes as an all-out integrationist (p. 7). Though Mawdudi did not view everything Western as inherently incompatible with Islam, he rejected certain core concepts, such as nationalism, the nation-state, and liberal democracy. The author includes the Deobandis of the Fadl al-Rahmanwing and "Sindhi nationalists"(p. 24) among the isolationists. The same Deobandis who once refused to become instrumentsof Pakistani nationalism (p. 175) identify themselves with regional nationalism in Sindh and become "vehicles" and "supporters"of Sindhi "nationalist movements" (pp. 216, 294). It is a mistake not to distinguish among the various regional movements in Sindh. The nationalist movement of G. M. Syed demandsa separatenation-statefor the Sindhis. Do the Sindhi and other nationalistmovements aroundthe world differ in terms of the principle underlyingtheir demands for a separate

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homeland?The term "nationalism"-a colonial value (p. 15)-should have alerted the author. Fadl al-Rahman heads a religious political party that contests national democratic elections and runs a campaign on modem lines. Fadl al-Rahmanhimself contested four parliamentary elections and won twice, in 1988 and 1993-a characteristicthe author uses to include a religious scholar among integrationists (p. 32). These examples show that if we apply the author's theoretical criteria, we find the same social groups and individuals crossing different social sectors, making it hardto relate their attitudesin a meaningful way to the issues at hand. The treatmentof ideological versus theological Islam is also not satisfying. The traditional urbansector, which interpretsIslam in theological terms, is "hardlyconcerned with the present" (p. 290). As a result of a change in its function over the past two centuries, Islam is no longer a theology concerning the relationship between God and human beings but rather an ideology concerning the relationships among human beings (p. 15). Due to this change, the language of the Islamic cultural complex in the last century borrowed many Western values, such as nation, culture, freedom and justice (pp. 15-16, 23, 26). Mawdudi's views on "nation" have been mentioned earlier. Albert Hourani and other scholars have shown that early Muslim scholars debated the concept of justice. The fact that the Qur'an uses the term cadl (justice) in many places squarely refutes the author'sclaim. Also, the Qur'anic punitive and other laws dealing with social issues makes the author'sposition untenable. Even the author's own observations make this position suspect. He admits that "Islam offers numerous suggestions and rules for different strata of society, thus interweaving the profane and the sacred sphere" (p. 270). The fact that Malakand tribesmen took up arms in 1994 to support their demand for the enforcement of shari'a (p. 305) is another case in point. This example also raises the question of who is responsible for the state'sexpansion. To the author, it is the state itself. But the Malakandincident and numerous other examples suggest that the Islamization process is a two-way street, with the colonial sector expanding at some times, but retreatingat others in the face of growing pressure from religious forces. Such a perspective helps us understandwhy the clergy has not been integrated more systematically into the expanding colonial sector (p. 279). Sweeping statements further mar the quality of the book. "Even to this day nearly every Muslim in Pakistan is tied up in one way or the other to a mystical order and is a follower of a pir" (p. 58)-a statement that contradicts the author'sown portrayalof the views of Ahl-e Hadith on mystical orders and pirs (pp. 6, 12). The author claims that the followers of pirs reacted against the nationalization of shrines by reducing their contributions (p. 74), without providing any solid evidence. The author also leaves some importantquestions unanswered. For example, he makes no effort to reconcile the fact that there are few graduates from the rural Sindh with his claim that the Deobandis are strong in these areas. I believe that a systematic analysis of these problems would greatly enhance the quality of the work. Even as it is, the book is worth reading for its provocative perspective. It is useful especially for those who want to study Islamic institutions, providing considerable information and references about these institutions. AHMAD KARIMI-HAKKAK, Recasting Persian Poetry: Scenarios of Poetic Modernity in Iran (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1995). Pp. 346. REVIEWED FATEMEH BY KESHAVARZ, Departmentof Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures,Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. Recasting Persian Poetry: Scenarios of Poetic Modernity in Iran marks the beginning of a new era in narratingthe history of Persian poetry, an era characterizedby attention to generic developments and collective hermeneutic strategies as opposed to formal features and