Religious Secularity: A Theological Challenge to the Islamic State (Religion and Global Politics)

"Fundamentalism" and "authoritarian secularism" are commonly perceived as the two mutually exclusive paradigms available to Muslim majority countries. Recent political developments, however, have challenged this perception. Formerly associated with a fundamentalist outlook, mainstream Islamist groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Nahda, have adopted a distinctly secular-democratic approach to the state re-building process. Their success or failure in transitioning to democracy remains to be seen, but the political position these Islamic groups have carved out suggests the viability of a third way. Naser Ghobadzadeh examines the case of Iran, which has a unique history with respect to the relationship of religion and politics. The country has been subject to both authoritarian secularization and authoritarian Islamization over the last nine decades. While politico-religious discourse in Iran is articulated in response to the Islamic state, it also bears the scars of Iran's history of authoritarian secularization-the legacy of the Pahlavi regime. Ghobadzadeh conceptualizes this politico-religious discourse as "religious secularity". He uses this apparent oxymoron to describe the Islamic quest for a democratic secular state, and he demonstrates how this concept encapsulates the complex characteristics of the Shiite religious reformation movement. Cover 1 Series 3 Religious Secularity 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 16 The Rise of Religious Secularity 19 Unpopularity of the Islamic State 24 Iran:聽A聽Chain of Backlashes 27 Fall of a Theory 29 From Secularism to Secularisms 32 From Islamism to Islamisms 35 A Scholarly and Latter-Day Discourse 40 1 Shiite Discourses on Sovereignty 45 Sovereignty in the Shiite School 47 Velayat-e Faqih:聽A聽Doctrine of Divine Sovereignty 54 Popular Sovereignty:聽A聽Recent Shiite Articulation 57 Jurisprudential Approach 59 Challenges from an Historical Perspective 69 Non-jurisprudential Challenges 74 2 Seeding Secularity:聽The Rise of a Jurisprudential State 88 The Shifting Trend in State鈥揜eligion Relations 89 Fiqh-ul Maslaha 93 Fiqh and the Spirit of Religiosity 99 Islamic State and Fiqh 102 Hypocrisy and the Unification of Religion and State 105 3 Religious Rationale for Separation 111 Religious Motivations 116 Discharging Religion from Governance 117 Unrealistic Expectations of Religion 125 The Hereafter:聽The Principal Mission of Religion 126 Differentiating Religion from Political Ideology 129 Extra-Religious Nature of Governance 131 Fiqh and Governance 134 4 Political Construction of Clericalism 143 Pope鈥揈mperor Relations 144 An Enduring Apolitical Tradition 148 Political Engagement:聽A聽Marginal Discourse 150 The Clergy鈥檚 Political Leadership in Khomeini鈥檚 Thought 153 Khomeini鈥檚 Shifting Political Stance 157 Institutionalizing the Power of the Clergy 162 5 Clerics against Clericalism 165 Passive Resistance:聽Loyalty to Political Quietism 166 Active Resistance:聽Campaigning for an Apolitical Stance 170 The Clerical Political System:聽Resisted and Rejected 182 6 Clerical Hegemony:聽Contradictions and Paradoxes 186 The Clergy:聽A聽Genuine Class in Islam? 188 Governmental Incompetence 191 Shortcomings of the Hawza Educational System 192 The Clergy鈥檚 Financial Livelihoods 196 A Decentralized Structure 202 Marjaiat鈥揤elayat Conflict 203 Religious Remuneration 208 Dealing with Dissident Clerics 210 Politicizing the Preferment to Marjaiat 212 Clergy鈥檚 Spiritual Reputation 217 Conclusion 223 Repudiating the Clerical Islamic State 224 Promoting the Secular Democratic State 226 Religious Secularity:聽An Unfolding Discourse 228 Bibliography 232 Index 270 Using Iran as a case study, Ghobadzadeh investigates the paradoxes of the Islamic state ideal. He develops the seemingly oxymoronic term "religious secularity" and uses it to describe the Islamic quest for a democratic secular state.