Review: [untitled]Author(s): Muhammad IslamReviewed work(s):

Colonialization of Islam: Dissolution of Traditional Institutions in Pakistan by Jamal MalikSource: International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 30, No. 2 (May, 1998), pp. 310-311Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/164725Accessed: 27/11/2009 13:19

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310 Reviews

JAMAL MALIK, Colonialization of Islam: Dissolution of Traditional Institutions in Pakistan (New Delhi: Manohar Publishers & Distributors, 1996). Pp. 363.

REVIEWED BY 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 Introduction and Epilogue. The main thesis of the book is to be found in the introduction and Chapter 1. Chapter 2 focuses on the development of the Council of Islamic Ideology as the chief vehicle for Islamic ideological discourse. Chapter 3 discusses how the nationalization of religious endowments was used to tie religious dignitaries to the state and bring their institu- tions under its influence. Chapter 4 examines the use of zakat to consolidate and extend state control. Chapters 5 through 7 focus on the state's intervention in religious schools, the result- ing reaction of religious authorities, and the socio-economic background of the students in these schools. Chapter 8 discusses the problems state expansion has created for the labor mar- ket. In the Epilogue, the author tries to show how developments since 1988 have substanti- ated some of his earlier observations.

Jamal Malik deserves credit for choosing an important but 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 urban sector, intermediary sector I, and intermediary sector 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 traditional and colonial elements, nor whether this dichot- omy should be treated as an empirical rather than a theoretical question. For example, the production and reproduction of a tribe, which is located in the traditional urban sector, com- bine both traditional and colonial elements. Tribal chiefs, tribal members of Parliament, tribal elements involved in drug-trafficking and other smuggling activities, and even ordinary tribesmen often earn their livelihoods from both traditional and colonial sources. They also consume luxury goods, own urban property, and resort to the jirga system and colonial pro- cedures (such as state arbitration) to resolve individual and collective conflicts.

The author's discussion of the integrationist and isolationist avant-garde is also problem- atic. 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 Maw- dudi, 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 con- cepts, such as nationalism, the nation-state, and liberal democracy. The author includes the Deobandis of the Fadl al-Rahman wing and "Sindhi nationalists" (p. 24) among the isolation- ists. The same Deobandis who once refused to become instruments of 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 distin- guish among the various regional movements in Sindh. The nationalist movement of G. M. Syed demands a separate nation-state for the Sindhis. Do the Sindhi and other nationalist move- ments around the world differ in terms of the principle underlying their demands for a separate

Reviews 311 Reviews 311

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-Rahman himself contested four parliamentary elections and won twice, in 1988 and 1993-a characteristic the author uses to include a re- ligious scholar among integrationists (p. 32). These examples show that if we apply the au- thor's theoretical criteria, we find the same social groups and individuals crossing different social sectors, making it hard to relate their attitudes in a meaningful way to the issues at hand.

The treatment of ideological versus theological Islam is also not satisfying. The traditional urban sector, which interprets Islam in theological terms, is "hardly concerned with the pres- ent" (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 "na- tion" 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's claim. Also, the Qur'anic punitive and other laws dealing with social issues makes the author's position untenable. Even the author's own observations make this position suspect. He admits that "Islam offers numerous sugges- tions 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's expansion. To the author, it is the state itself. But the Malakand incident and numerous other examples suggest that the Islamization process is a two-way street, with the colonial sector expanding at some times, but retreating at others in the face of growing pressure from religious forces. Such a perspective helps us understand why 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's own portrayal of 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 important questions 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 informa- tion 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 BY FATEMEH KESHAVARZ, Department of 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 narrating the history of Persian poetry, an era characterized by attention to ge- neric developments and collective hermeneutic strategies as opposed to formal features and

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-Rahman himself contested four parliamentary elections and won twice, in 1988 and 1993-a characteristic the author uses to include a re- ligious scholar among integrationists (p. 32). These examples show that if we apply the au- thor's theoretical criteria, we find the same social groups and individuals crossing different social sectors, making it hard to relate their attitudes in a meaningful way to the issues at hand.

The treatment of ideological versus theological Islam is also not satisfying. The traditional urban sector, which interprets Islam in theological terms, is "hardly concerned with the pres- ent" (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 "na- tion" 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's claim. Also, the Qur'anic punitive and other laws dealing with social issues makes the author's position untenable. Even the author's own observations make this position suspect. He admits that "Islam offers numerous sugges- tions 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's expansion. To the author, it is the state itself. But the Malakand incident and numerous other examples suggest that the Islamization process is a two-way street, with the colonial sector expanding at some times, but retreating at others in the face of growing pressure from religious forces. Such a perspective helps us understand why 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's own portrayal of 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 important questions 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 informa- tion 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 BY FATEMEH KESHAVARZ, Department of 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 narrating the history of Persian poetry, an era characterized by attention to ge- neric developments and collective hermeneutic strategies as opposed to formal features and