Arab World in the20th Century

Arab World in the 20th CenturyIntroduction

In 1900 and today, the Muslim world is truly vast in scope, stretching from the west coast of North Africa through the Arab world, Persia, into India, and as far east as Indonesia and the Philippines

Our focus will be on the Arab world, the heartland of Islam and its spiritual center In the first half of the second millennium of the common era (1000-1500 CE), the

Arabs had arguably one of the most advanced, wealthy, and powerful civilizations in the world

Yet by 1920, much of the Arab world had fallen under European domination

Arab World in the 20th CenturyImpact of European Imperialism (1)

By 1900, European imperialism had weakened or brought down the two great remaining Islamic empires, the Ottomans and Mughals

The only reason the Ottomans survived until WWI was that European nations could not agree on how to split it up, although they already were swallowing up pieces of it (ex. Britain in Egypt, France in Algeria)

Remaining Ottoman domains split between Allied victors after WWI mandates, except Turkey which emerged as European style republic

European hegemony over the Arab world was a blow to the pride of its inhabitants—they asked themselves how had they fallen so low?

Sir Richard Burton19th century British

explorer

Howard CarterDiscovered King

Tut’s tomb in 1923

Arab World in the 20th CenturyImpact of European Imperialism (2)

Europeans posed a threat not only because they had taken over Arab lands, but because they posed a threat to Islamic society itself

European materialism and secularism drew Muslims away from the faith

Republican government replaced the godly rule of the caliph with the fallible opinions of mortal men

The European-style nation state also posed a threat because its bonds were secular rather than religious

In the Islamic tradition, political and religious authority were inseparable and the idea of the separation of church and state unthinkable

Banner of the MuslimBrotherhood

Arab World in the 20th CenturyArab Nationalism

After WWI, Arab nation-states began to form

Starting with what became Saudi Arabia, soon after the war

Ending with Algeria in 1962, which had a significant population of French settlers

Pan-Arabism The idea also developed of uniting

the Arab world into one vast nation state, strong enough to resist the West and achieve genuine power and respect in the world

This idea has never died, but has floundered on intense regional, ideological, and personal rivalries

Baath Party Instead, Arab nation-states have

developed out of European mandates and protectorates

Flag of theUnited

Arab Republic

Flag of theBaathParty

Arab World in the 20th CenturyPalestine

The Palestinians were one group of Arab unable to form a nation-state

A British mandate between WWI and WWII, Palestine became a focus for Jewish immigration before and after WWII

These immigrants formed the State of Israel, pushing many Arabs from their land, especially during the 1948 war

Zionism: Jewish nationalism centered on creating a national state for Jews in their ancestral homeland

While Egypt and Jordan have made peace with Israel, peace with the Palestinians and other Arabs remains elusive Yasser Arafat

of Fatah

Flag of Hamas

Arab World in the 20th CenturyIslamic Fundamentalism (1)

Movement with the Arab and greater Islamic world devoted to promoting Muslim piety and the revitalization of Islamic civilization

Not a unified movement Differences in ideology, goals, and

tactics Basis

A reaction to the power of the West, especially the United States, which Muslim fundamentalists see as the greatest source of threatening secularism

Also a reaction to secular, often corrupt governments in the Arab world supported by the U.S.

Fundamentalism first came to the West attention because of Iran’s Islamic revolution in 1979

AyatollahKhomeini

Arab World in the 20th CenturyIslamic Fundamentalism (2)

Wahhabism Forms the basis for society in Saudi

Arabia Treats the Koran and Hadith as the

basis for law and society Church and state essentially the

same Not tolerant of non-Muslims or even

Muslims who reject its ideas Salafists

A movement in Islam that seeks to restore what it sees as the greatness of its first generations, especially the Caliphate

Wahhabis a variety of Salafists Salafism also the basis for Islamist

groups like Al Qaeda, who see terror as a tool to restore the Caliphate

Islamism: political movement connected with Islamic fundamentalism

Sayyid Qutb