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MIS Comprehensive Examinations (Part III, 4 of 4)

Master in International Studies’ Comprehensive Examinations
University of the Philippines-Diliman
 

August 24, 2009

B. Islamic Studies 221 (Arab Historiography)
 
Question number THREE:
Ibn Khaldun’s idea and method of historiography are rare elements in both classical and modern historical and sociological writings. Why? Discuss fully.

 
Ibn Khaldun’s thesis on the “Science of Sociology” is highly regarded as a rare phenomenon in both classical and modern historical and sociological writings because it is a convergence of history and sociology encompassing the temporal and spatial elements of classic and modern writings. It does not only tells past events as a historical alone but it also tells how did these past events affects the socio-development of a society and the psychological, even biological, developments of man – as a social being in a community.
His thesis transcends both time-bounded and place-bounded. He said, “there’s a clear delineation between History and Sociology: History has so many explanations with less theories while Sociology has so many theories but lacks explanations.” In this premise, he tried to bridge a gap by converging the two disciplinal fields. The rarity of his study was that classical writers of history and sociology refer him as a prime source while modern writers consider his study a ‘still’ appropriate and applicable in the contemporary times.
He questioned the veracity of other historians/sociologists in their works because he senses that there is normative bias in their writings. He warned future writers that they should be cautious in trying to describe and explain their studies so as not to accused of tending to favor something or someone. It is imperative to say that Robert Cox was right when he said, “theories are always for someone and for some purpose.”
He included the concept of umran or culture in trying to converge history and sociology. He classified umran into primitive and civilized cultures with differing characterizations. Primitive umran is located in rural places where there is a strong ‘Asabiya’ or sense of solidarity through blood kinship, while Civilized umran in cities (urban places) has weak ‘Asabiya’ because of a large mobilization of its population.
Moreover, when studying civilizations, he suggested three important cyclical evolutions of it. First is that when a group of people discovered ‘Asabiya’, then a civilizational birth takes place. Second is when the ‘Asabiya’ was strengthened and institutionalized, then you have a young civilization wherein a peak of exhausting the resources to suffice the luxurious way of life by the people especially by the leaders. Who will impose higher taxes on its subjects. Last, is the decaying stage when everybody is contended and all of its resources were exhausted. This is the age of senility.
Consequently, Ibn Khaldun’s Science of Sociology is an epitomic level of knowledge that can be applied in politics, economics, law, anthropology and various bodies of sciences. 

 

MIS Comprehensive Examinations (Part III, 3 of 4)

Master in International Studies’ Comprehensive Examinations
University of the Philippines-Diliman
 

August 24, 2009

B. Islamic Studies 221 (Arab Historiography)

Question number ONE:
Define and explain Arab historiography and discuss at least three (3) of its major features.

 

Arab historiography is a combined branch of learning of Philosophy of History and History that examines the past (whether pre-Islamic, medieval age, or contemporary) and the thinking, teachings, and approaches in the context of Islam as its main reference, and the Arab knowledge (from literature, positivist, to empirical studies) as its subtext.
It is also a way of describing, explaining, and articulating the events that happened in the past whether it is operated through unwritten (oral traditions or narratives) and written accounts. Muhammad Siddique in his work “An Islamic Concept of History” has presented differing variables from how a Western conception is dissimilar with the Muslim conception of history.
According to his thesis, there is a law of mechanical causality, i.e., A affected/caused by B is not tautologous to B or B is not tautologous to C. In explaining this prism, he gave two projections: 1) Hegelian approach, and 2) the Marxist approach or the historical materialism. The Hegelian approach is compounded on the significance of ‘ideas all the way down’; a change can be plausible in a dialectical process (or an intellectual exchange of ideas) even the opposite affects the change. Since ontology (what is out there?) precedes epistemology (how do we know it exist?), it represent a schema that there are no facts about the world, only ideas which are interconnected.
The Marxist materialism is compounded on the significance of a material reality, whereby a change is referred only to the realms of reality and its material afflictions. Arnold Toynbee has a different take on the matter; he added the imperative of a unit of civilization in the study of historiography. It is through civilizations that the historiographers were able to examine the differing views between Philosophy of History to History.
Thomas Naff’s “Towards a Muslim Theory of History” emphasized that within the Islamic context, a historical reform is possible if it’s for a moral betterment and not physical development of the Muslim civilizations. Moral piety is an important ingredient in Islamic theory of History. He elaborated of looking and going back to the community established by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as the sole and pure Islamic community in the world.
Franz Rosenthal in his work “Arabs Historiography” presented the tools utilized by Muslim historiography in examining the past. He firstly introduced “habar” or a form of narratives that tells a single story which was an important channel in the pre-Islamic age. It is a type of oral traditions among the Arab people. Second, the Analytical historiography that is composed of three categories of history: 1) chronography, 2) biography and 3) prosopography. Chronography is describing stories that are in chronological order embedded with the element of time. An example of biography is Majul’s Muslims in the Philippines. Prosopography is describing a group of people in its historicity and not collectivity as an individual member of a community. An example of this is Salibi’s Genealogy of the Sultanate system and the Sarsila.
Rosenthal added some lesser forms of Arab historiographies, these are: 1) Dynastic historiography 2) Tuqqaba historiography and 3) the Genealogy historiography. Dynastic is attributed to the scholars who are controlled by different Arab dynasties/families who have political power or member of the political elites. They only tell the positive aspects of these dynasties if they do not follow, they will face persecutions. The Tuqqaba historiography emphasizes the handing of a story/historical event from one generation to another. Tuqqaba in English means “layer.” The Genealogy historiography introduced the lineage system among the powerful families in a Muslim community, e.g., Sultans, Emirs, Kings, etc.
In sum, Arab historiography does not only tell the past but it also gives importance to interlocking aspects of knowledge between Philosophy (regarded as the Queen of all the sciences) and History (regarded as the foot of all the sciences).

MIS Comprehensive Examinations (Part III, 2 of 4)

Master in International Studies’ Comprehensive Examinations
University of the Philippines-Diliman
 

August 24, 2009

A. Islamic Studies 231 (Islamic Political Thought)
 
Question number TWO:

Discuss Al-Afghani’s “Pan-Islamism” and its various manifestations today

Al-Afghani was one of the revolutionary philosophers and political scientists who expounded on the idea of Pan-Islamism. He explained the necessity of the idea to the lost glory of the Islamic golden age during the advent of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) up to the four rightly-guided Caliphs.
It is different with Pan-Arabism which connotes the idea of unity among all the Arab people regardless of religion, ethnic affinity, and geographical context. Pan-Islamism is an aspiration of oneness and unity of all Muslims regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity, and other demographic elements. It is somehow paralleled to the idea of Ummah.
According to Al-Afghani, it can be attained through a people’s revolution pantheistically opposing the ideals that poisoned the sanctity of Islamic principles. He operationalized the idea by creating an institution that will protect, guide, and supervise the Pan-Islamic community. He commissioned the idea of going back to the era of the Khilafa (Caliphate) system with a Caliph that is selected based on the ijtimah of the maturity of the population through a shura process.
Consensus and communal integrity among the Muslims were the ingredients for the materialization of Pan-Islamism.
The idea of Pan-Islamism is highly manifested in international organizations and supranational organizations with common norms, values, mores, rules, principles and folkways. The European Union is an example of a pan-Europeanism with one free market, one judicial system, one banking system, one parliament, and soon there would be one government which they are now working on proposing it through their charter with one President as one of its provision.
The Arab League which is composed of Arab nations from the Southwest Asia to North Africa. They have a common language, culture, and state religion. The organization of Islamic Conference is also an example with member-countries that are predominantly Muslims. Another is the African Union wherein the members are situated in the continent of Africa. Also, the Organization of American State whereby the state-members are in North and South American continents except Cuba.
Every supranational society and/or international organizations are developed because of common understanding with areas that they have common interests with.

MIS Comprehensive Examinations (Part III, 1 of 4)

Master in International Studies’ Comprehensive Examinations
University of the Philippines-Diliman
 

August 24, 2009

A. Islamic Studies 231 (Islamic Political Thought)
 
Question number ONE:
Discuss 3 main themes each from the classical and contemporary Islamic political thinkers.

 

In the classical Islamic political thought, I have chosen three themes that were discussed and debated upon by classical political thinkers. These were: 1) The concept of state, 2) the concept of governance, and 3) selecting a leader.
Al-Mawardi was a famous and reputable political scientist which his works were still looked upon by scholars of this age. He is the first and foremost philosopher who envisaged a social contract mechanism between the people and their leader. This is of course before Jean Jacque Rousseau formulated this theory and made it his own.
He argued that there should be a loyalty between the two entities (the leader and the people), who significantly comprises a communal state. It is for the purpose of building trust, confidence and respect among them. He added that the leader must be intellectually inept and has a strong five senses to decide on matters and issues besetting his leadership with convictions. Al-Mawardi further reiterated that once a leader has lost its conviction and was affected by external forces and pressures, then, he is incapable of governing the state.
Al-Farabi distinctively suggested that the conception of the state must refer and look back on the community established by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), i.e., the Ummah or community of believers, which follows the first egalitarian charter – the Madinah constitution – that recognized equality and respect among all different tribes and communities, from the Quaraysh to Christians and to the Jewish communities. It is the first universal constitution in the Arab world that does not intimidate nor prohibit the rights of people with no prejudice on their race, ethnicity, beliefs and orientations.
Al-Ghazali emphasized the divine rights of members of the monarch particularly the King. It is in his belief that the King was the anointed and appointed vicegerent of the Khilafah (Caliphate) for he is regard as the shadow of God (Allah) in this world. On trivial not, he is one of the most loyal servant of the Abbasid dynasty which during that time, the Abbasids were declining while outside forces from the Salafids (Persians) and the Seljuqs (Turks) are rising on its power and dominance based on a Sultanate system which may threaten the Caliphate system (which was predominantly Arabs).
He further elaborated that a Khalifah (Caliph) must be from the descendants of the Quaraysh tribe, a priestly class Arabs. Which was ironic that during the time Prophet Muhammad was propagating Islam but the Quaraysh was the one who attempted to assassinate him.
Ibn Khaldun has a different take on the formation of states, conception of governance and selection of a leader. In his thesis the “Science of Sociology,” he introduced the significance of umran (culture) in determining state formation. He classified the aspect of umran into two categories: 1) the primitive umran (which is situated in rural places) and, 2) the civilized umran (which is located in an urban places or cities). In both of this classification, he emphasized the role of “Asabiya” or a form of solidarity among the peoples in a community. He stipulated that in a rural, the selection of the leader is based on strong ‘Asabiya’ of blood kinship, while in an urban/city it is based on the ‘Asabiya’ of consultation (shura).
Consequently, state-governance had undergone evolution from the discovery of Asabiya (birth-level), to the build-up of a civilization (youth level), and to the age of senility or the decaying stage of the state. But according to Ibn Khaldun, it is a cyclical process that after the decaying stage, a rebirth of ‘Asabiya’ will occur.
Westernization, Secularism, and Nationalism are the themes that I will discuss for the contemporary Islamic political thoughts.
During the age of colonization up to the present day; members of the ijmah or ulama were debating on how Islam would face challenges of new and Western ideals. Muhammad Abduh reifies the compatibility of reason and Islamic faith, which both can go along with each other. He and his student Rida advocated the adaptation of Western rationality through the reality of their scientific innovations and technological advancements, but, strongly emphasized that the adaptations must be guided by Islamic principles.
Sayed Qutb in his work “Milestone” and A’la Maududi’s understanding of nationalism have strictly and seriously argued that the sovereignty only lies to God (Allah) and that their nationalistic sentiments must be with the Ummah only. They gave importance of applying the pure Islamic community which was established by Prophet Muhammad and that any nuisances or different forms other than the Ummah were highly regarded as evil.
They concentrated on the ideals of Dar al-Islam (community of believers) and the Dar al-Kafr (community of non-believers). Non-Muslims living in Dar al-Islam must pay higher taxes and submit to policies guided by Islam. It is necessary to impose Jihad to defend Islamic nationalism particularly Western nations and even Muslim societies who submit to Western ideals.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk of Turkey implemented a secularist nation after he abolished the Ottoman system. He separated religious and political institutions. He reformed the educational system based on liberal ideals of the West particularly imitating the American educational system. He even changed the Turkish alphabets by including the Latin language. 
However, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini incorporated, in what he regards, an authentic Islamic state based on Shi’i traditions. He established the conception of the “velayat-e faqih,” which is a society ruled by Islamic jurists (ulama). He also stated that there is a possibility of the absence of an Imam as long as the efficacy of the Islamic jurists are maintained and sustained.
In sum, there are contemporary Islamic political thinkers who embraced Western ideals but with delimitations, while there are those who strongly opposes by validating that it contradicts with what Islam taught us.

MIS Comprehensive Examinations (Part II, 3 of 3)

Master in International Studies’ Comprehensive Examinations
University of the Philippines-Diliman
 

August 17, 2009

B. Question number FOUR (International Affairs):
The protests over the results of the latest Iranian elections have become a global concern. Why? How can you explain this phenomenon theoretically?

 

With the advent of the Safavid Empire in West Asia, there was a great alteration of the Persian politics – it is the coming of an Islamic age in great Persia. I have to emphasize the etymological description of these two terms, i.e., Iran and Persia. It was in the regime of Reza Pahlavi that he constructively separated the utility of Iran from Persia. He implemented an executive order that Iran will be used in a political sense classifying the modern state, while Persia will be used in a cultural sense from ancient history to mores and folkways.
Moreover with the coming of Islam in Iran, it was further politically materialized when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini led an Islamic revolution in 1979; even he was ostracized by the Western back-up regime to France. How ironic because at that time, Khomeini wanted to stay in Iraq but Saddam Hussein rejected his proposal and that is why he was able to study the norms and laws of the Western world when he was exiled in France.
Now that Iran became an Islamic Republic with a system based on Khomeini’s ‘velayat e-faqih’ (a system ruled by a supreme leader, with religious and political power, separating its responsibilities to the head of state). The constitution of Iran is unique that it has different subsidiary organs and bodies which have different and unique roles and duties.
The 2009 Iranian election was supposedly a climax in Iranian politics. It was a battle between Ahmadinejad (the conservative, who would like to maintain the status quo) and Moussavi (the reformist, who would like to change the status quo and even contested the legitimacy of the supreme leader – the current Ayatollah Khamenie). 
It was an epic battle that may have changed Iranian’s art of governance if Moussavi had won, especially that he was relentlessly campaigned by his wife. A manifestation that emphasized the roles of women in the whole social, political and cultural strata of Iranian’s society. Not only a change in its domestic politics, but a configuration of ‘real politik’ in the Middle East region and in the world.
Robert Cox’s “Critical theory” emphasized the significance of culture and religion in the behavior or norms of a state. Iran’s Islamic Republic prevailed over the reformers and was materialized with the help of a hegemon within the state’s affair, i.e., the supreme leader. Much of the Iranians, with an exception numbers from the youth (who was borne after 1979), wanted to preserve its traditions, culture, and maintain the status quo.
This theory further explained that all knowledge is ideationally interconnected. Rejecting that there are “no facts” about the world only ideas are existing. Khomeini’s velayat e-faqih plus Islam is equals to an idea that displayed a politically constructed Iranian politics and its views to the world. Some of the norms, mores, and folkways were gradually modified. Even a social construction about the family, the roles of men and women were constructively altered basing on Shites traditions with additional teachings from Khomeini.
The election in Iran is a global concern because the result of it might change how the Iranians conceive its relations to the world, particularly to the US, Israel, and to the Arab world. The US and Israel’s securitization of Iran’s nuclear energy is a major issue and debated among IR scholars. Israel is consistent in delivering its ‘speech act’ that Iran is an existential threat to the Israeli’s nationhood or survival and to the peace process with the Palestinian people (Barry Buzan and Olan Waever, the Copenhagen Securitization framework).
Realists contend that since Israel has an allegedly advanced nuclear arsenal then Iran will do the same, procuring nuclear technologies to develop weapons because they sees Israel’s nuclear weapons as a threat to their security, thus a security dilemma is taking place. (John Herz, Security Dilemma in International Politics) More so, a mirror-imaging is happening; just like what occurred in the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Holsti in his work about principles, objectives, and conducts of foreign policy argued that with this kind of scenario, i.e., Israel perceived Iran as a threat to their survival because of the rhetoric of Pres. Ahmadinejad at the Columbia University that Zionism must be eliminated from the page of time, and not as what the international media is saying – Israel must be wipe-out off the map, quoting the late Ayatollah Khomeini, and the resentment over religious turfs between the Sunnis (Arab countries) and the Shites (Iran and Syria) is an indication that the Arab countries (together with the out-casted Libya of Khadafi) might counter the perceived rising hegemony status of Iran through a foreign policy approach of balancing. 
Pres. Obama would still engage diplomatically with the Iranian regime on the nuclear issue and would now become ‘tough’ with the Israeli regime on the resettlement issues in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Therefore, the Iranian election underlines the complexities attached in its political and power struggle in the region. Not only in the region, world powers have interests in the Iranian politics, i.e., the US diplomatic engagement with Iran on nuclear issue, China as the biggest consumer of Iranian oil and gas, and Russia’s military commitment with Iran (that if it is attacked, Russia will compel a ‘Second strike’.
Therefore, the Iranian election underlines the complexities attached in its political and power struggle in the region. Not only in the region, world powers have interests in the Iranian politics, i.e., the US diplomatic engagement with Iran on nuclear issue, China as the biggest consumer of Iranian oil and gas, and Russia’s military commitment with Iran (that if it is attacked, Russia will compel a ‘Second strike’ target to the attacker) – this is also embodied in the provisions of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).