NI 426 - October, 2009

Islam in power

A note from the editor

Change from within

‘Islam in power’ is a contradiction in terms, said contributor Ziauddin Sardar, when I first mentioned this issue’s title to him.

The foundation for Muslim democracy, he maintains, lies in egalitarianism not in authoritarian theocracies. In fact, he contends, the whole idea of the Islamic state is un-Islamic, since the faith is a universalist not a nationalist movement. Grassroots decision making is much more in line with Islamic tradition than authoritarianism.

I was thinking about this the other day while attending a service at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford. The sermon was about the need for community consultation and consensus, whose Islamic equivalents are met in the concepts of shura and ijma. Later there was discussion about how to re-invigorate the church and make it relevant in the modern world. Issues around women bishops and gay rights were the elephants in the room.

I was reminded of issues the ‘Islamic world’ is contending with – ones that we explore this month. With dispatches from a Saudi feminist, an Iranian Jewish woman and a gay Iraqi Muslim activist, we hope to expand the concept of the larger ummah or community. And with a feature by Nafeez Ahmed on the connections between Western intelligence agencies and Islamist extremists, we offer a peek at realpolitik.

On the way back from the service at Christ Church, I crossed paths with a Muslim man coming back from his isha prayers at the mosque. Ramadan mubarak, I told him, and he nodded back. Acknowledgement and inclusion of the other are pan-Abrahamic traditions that need to be revived on all sides.

And our special feature this month on green law is all about acknowledging the rights of the earth itself.

Here’s to the fine art of mutual respect.

Hadani Ditmars for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

Photo: Patrick Brown / PANOS

NI 426 - October, 2009

Islam in power

A note from the editor

Change from within

The big story

Hadani Ditmars calls for a return to Islam’s spirit of democracy and pluralism.

Features

Islamic fundamentalist militants are the enemies of Israel and Western governments, right? Think again. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed reports in this extended version of the article which appeared in the October 2009 issue.

The facts and figures of Islam

Where did the controversial idea of the ‘Islamic state’ come from? Ziauddin Sardar traces its origins.

Books and websites for further reading on Islam.

A gay Iraqi, a Jewish Iranian and a Saudi feminist tell their stories

Syed Tajammul Hussain’s artful approach to Qur’anic verses.

The streets have traditionally been the home of environmental activism. But could campaigners be just as at home in the courtroom? Olly Zanetti considers the evidence.

Blogs

Budding photographers, step right this way...

Opinion

Anthony Dias ponders the purpose of the hunger strike.

Currents

Time to close down the investment companies that feed off the living

Countries across the globe that are flouting international law and violating refugees’ rights.

A decade after independence, Timor-Leste’s people are still struggling to get justice

The largest forced relocation since 1996-98

Local communities fight mineral exploration and eviction in the Andes

Regulars

Motlhalefi Mahlabe photographs slums in a South African township.

Our profligate use of deadly chemicals is coming back to haunt us, writes Zoe Cormier.

Facts, figures and a brief history of life in Guinea.

Maria Golia recalls why part of her Egyptian education involved learning how to break the rules.

Money talks in Polyp’s cartoon.

Emmanuel Jal, celebrity rapper and ex-child soldier, talks to Rowenna Davis about why he is championing African education.

Film, Book & Music Reviews

Guitars blast, synthesizers go mad and a group of gospel harmonizers strain for the heavens as sitar strings twang. By Cornershop

An album with a range of references stretching from a lazy Delta blues to the yearnings of Urdu devotionals. By Najma Akhtar and Gary Lucas.

Nominally a thriller, Thursday Night Widows is less concerned with the 'whodunnit' aspects of plotting than with a psychological dissection of a social class obsessed with bickering and petty jealousies as the pillars of their world dissolve.

The reality of indigenous life in the Amazon. Directed and co-written by Marco Bechis

A film that gets inside the mind and feelings of a young person deeply at odds with the world. Written and directed by Andrea Arnold.

Szperling's short, punchy novel paints a vivid pen-portrait of the savage and amoral nature of this stratum of Argentinean society.

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