Author: Simon Wolfgang Fuchs
Affiliation: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität (Freiburg, Germany)
Organisation/Publisher: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society/Cambridge University Press
Date/Place: May 24, 2021 / UK
Type of Literature: Academic Paper
Number of Pages: 22
Keywords: Iran, Islamic Revolution, Pakistan, Imam Khumayni, Jam’at-i Islami, Abu’l-A’la Maududi, Sovereignty of God, Foreign policy, sectarianism
Brief:
This paper probes the relationship between Pakistan’s Jama’at-i-Islami (JI) and Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979 with the author claiming that the JI leadership was “drawn to the events because it reflected a core concern and signature idea of Abu’l-A’la Maududi, namely to establish the sovereignty of God (hakimiyya) on earth.” The author bases his argument on his own findings after studying various travelogues and the JI’s publications since the 1980s. He, however, adds that the JI did draw a line in its engagements with the Shiite Iran due to politics in the larger Sunni Middle East. The JI leadership also sensed what the author terms as “sectarian messages that damaged Iran’s ecumenical outreach.” Despite the larger geo-politics in the Middle East, the author says the JI’s admiration of the Islamic Revolution still resonates in the cadre of South Asia’s biggest Islamic movement. Quoting Liaqat Baloch, the JI General Secretary since 2009, the paper claims Iran has “managed to establish a splendid system reflecting the teachings of the Qur’an and the model of the Prophet (sunnat).” “The Islamic world would be trying to catch up to the Iranian example,” Baloch has said. Why the JI appeared closer to the Shiite Iran revolves around the basic concept of hakimiyya – that the sovereignty belongs to God Almighty. It transcends sectarian boundaries. The author draws the pattern through which the Islamic Revolution succeeded, saying it had been built on “acknowledging the true ‘unicity of God’ or tauhid.” It offered the Muslim world “an exit out of its misery of ungodly rulership, namely mulukiyyat and dictatorship (amiriyyat),” the author argues. Interestingly, the paper claims that this “feat” closed the gap between the university-educated youth and the ulama “but also endowed the worldwide Islamic movement with the inspiration that only by unity, faith and martyrdom the superpowers could be brought to their knees.”
By: Riyaz ul Khaliq, CIGA Non-Resident Research Associate
