Institutionalizing Pan-Islamism: Since the Beginning

Institutionalizing Pan-Islamism:

Since the beginning of the 20th Century, there has been an emergence of Islamic movements in the Middle East and their change into a leading power. These Islamic movements have also risen to oppose the current political and social order in these regions. One of the most notable things about the emerging Islamic wave is the extent, strength, and violence perpetrated by the Islamic extremists. The involvement of these Islamic movements in opposition of the current social and political orders is brought by the role Islam plays in political and social struggles (Azani, 2006). The source of inspiration and legality of the struggle is based on Islamic ideals that form a mutual social and political identity. The Iranian Islamic revolution is one of the most successful Islamic movements that act as a source of inspiration and emulation for other revolutionary Islamic movements. The ideology of Pan-Islamism, which is one of the ideologies of political Islam, was introduced in the 1940s. This ideology was introduced to make Islam a privileged bond between Moslems through eliminating all national and country allegiance forever. Since the introduction of the concept, partisans of the ideology and those involved in its imitative groups have been referred to as Pan-Islamists.

The Ideology of Pan-Islamism:

As previously mentioned, the concept of Pan-Islamism is a political ideology that was introduced to promote an advantaged bond between Moslems through the eradication of country or national allegiance. While the proponents of the theory are known as Pan-Islamists, the ideology is a false conception that is based on confusion of terms that are extremely damaging to Islam. This is an essentially general and universal teaching that cannot be limited to a particular community, nation, party, or political system. To limit Islam to nationalism is contrary to the nature of the religion and a huge misconception of contemporary political realities. This is because nationalism is a political movement that expresses the right of every nation to form itself as an autonomous political entity. The origin of the nationalism movement occurred XIXth Century Europe when it allowed Germany and Italy to develop themselves as independent national states.

Pan-Islamism is described as a concept or ideology with which Islam is a political movement that would constitute Moslems as an independent political entity. This implies that Islam as a religion would be converted into a political movement that will be closed to a restricted number of people and region. Therefore, Islam would remain closed off to non-Moslems because it would not be open to the whole world ("Chapter V: Pan-Islamism," n.d.). As a result of this transformation, Islam would be the ordinary enemy of every other nationalities and ethnic groupings despite of its form. In the past few years, these ordinary consequences of a poor understanding of Islam have become evident in all modern Islamic movements. These movements have become nationalist movements instead of religious, pre-Islamic instead of Islamic, and political instead of spiritual.

Origin of Pan-Islamism:

The origin of this ideology can be traced back to Judaism that entered Islam through the interpreters of the Jewish traditions. As compared to Islam, Judaism is a national religion since it commonly regarded as the religion of the Jews. Based on the Old Testament, Yahweh is the God of the Jews, but only became the God of all people in the last Books. The national or ethnic character of Judaism is evident in the fact that if an individual is not born a Jew, then it's extremely difficult for him/her to adopt the Jewish religion. On the contrary, to become a Moslem in the same scenario would require a profession of the Moslem faith.

The ideology of Pan-Islamism has its source in Judaism because since the inception of Islam till today, some Moslems have not fully understood the difference between the two religions. However, there has been huge confusion about religion and ethnicity, which had devastating consequences for Islam. The confusion between the two is quite clear across the political and religious spectrums. From a political perspective, the confusion is responsible for allowing Umayyad Caliphs to affirm that Imams must be qurayshites in attempts to legalize pretense to the Caliphate and retain it for themselves. On the contrary, the confusion is responsible for the separation between Sunnism and Shiism from a religious perspective though it was essentially political in its origin.

The other reason for the emergence of the ideology of Pan-Islamism can be attributed to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which was established to promote Islamic solidarity. In addition, the conference was instituted in order to strengthen political, social, cultural, and economic cooperation among member Muslim states (Husain, 2003, 211). Some of the other principles entrenched in the OIC include respect for sovereignty, the right to self-determination, independence, and non-interference in local affairs of member states. These principles were adopted in order to lessen the threat or use of force against political sovereignty, national unity, and territorial integrity.

During this period, Islamists acknowledged the huge intrinsic possibility of an Islamic bloc and ridiculed secular nationalism. This acted as the foundation on which the Muslim world was being developed, but as un-Islamic. As a result, Moslems across the globe continued to feel a special attachment with their coreligionists regardless of race, language, tribe, or nationality. Regardless of the dissolution of their political unity, there was a spiritual and psychological unity of Muslims. However, the ideology of pan-Islam did not enjoy greater popularity than secular nationalism following the achievement of independence from the West by Muslim nations.

Modern Pan-Islamism:

Modern Pan-Islamism can be attributed to the role and principles of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. This organization has been involved in current institutionalization of global norms that have characterized Islamic trans-nationalism in religio-political history (Sheikh, 2002, 45). As a global organization, the Organization of the Islamic Conference has demonstrated idiosyncrasy while complying with the secular logic of multi-state inter-governmentalism. In this case, the ideological source of the organization is reflected only with regards to religious attribute i.e. Islam and its objective that is directed with a single imperative i.e. Pan-Islamism.

The Organization of Islamic Conference has 56 member states with significantly different political and social structures and differs greatly in terms of population, geo-political inclination, size, and economic status. OIC plays an integral organizational role through arranging conferences that occasionally bring government officials, Muslim leaders, and non-governmental groups from its member states. Through these conferences, the organization promotes a stronger sense of solidarity in the disjointed Islamic bloc and institutionalizing the Islamic revival (Husain, 2003, 215).

The Organization of Islamic Conference has also played a crucial role in institutionalizing Pan-Islamism through promoting Islamic revival. Actually, Moslems from different nationalities are now coming together to deliberate on their common issues, develop unanimous resolutions, and create solutions for the Muslim world based on the spirit of Islamic unity. In addition to advocating for Islamic revival, institutionalizing Pan-Islamism is evident through OIC's publication of Islamic literature throughout its entire existence. The literature is in turn transmitted in both predominantly Muslim countries and non-Muslim nations with considerable Muslim minorities.

The role of the Organization of Islamic Conference in institutionalizing Pan-Islamism is shown in its foundation where it was established basically on principles of Islamic unity and is rooted in the customs of the ummah. However, even though this organization is hardly geared towards Pan-Islamism or Islamic solidarity, it has made serious and concerted efforts to promote intellectual, cultural, political, and economical unity in the past decades through its affiliates or subsidiary organizations or groups.