Islam, the Solution?

It was interesting to see the vibrancy of the Muslim Brotherhood during the Egyptian elections a few years ago. With the strength of religious revival on the banks of the Nile, the organization, despite the impediments it faced as an illegal party, significantly increased its presence in the parliament. But what troubled me throughout the election was the Brotherhood's use of sloganeering - for instance, one often heard the statement, "Islam huwa-l-hal" or "Islam is the Solution." We may agree with such a statement on principal, but a question still remains: What exactly does that mean?

I remember one Brotherhood-affiliated politician making the claim, "If Islam were truly applied, we would have no hunger." Will the true application of Islam usher in a new utopia - freedom from hunger, poverty, loss, and fear? Will God stop testing those who believe?

The answer is clearly no, as God has promised, "We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth, life, and fruits" (Q2:155). The problem with sloganeering is that the society is often given a false expectation of what Islamic-based rule will look like, something that Islamic movements may not be able to deliver once in power. In fact, Islamic movements, long prevented from political power by dictatorial rule, may often find themselves extremely unprepared to deal with actual issues once in power, lacking the necessary practical insight. Slogans may help in winning an election, but they won't keep a government running.

That's why I see the current antagonism from Turkey's secular establishment as a good thing for the Turkish Islamic movement. Despite being democratically elected, the religious-based Justice and Development Party (Turkish: Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi or AKP) has only narrowly escaped being banned by secularists, yet such fears continue and the party must tread very carefully. Its recent attempt to allow women to wear headscarves in universities and government offices has been overturned as subversive to Turkey's secular constitution. These issues may seem unfortunate to some, but in reality, they require the AKP to be responsive to the needs of the entire spectrum of Turkish society and to actually establish sound social and economic policies. Furthermore, the AKP may become an example of how Islam could be gradually established in a society without the use of force and unjust imposition.

Take the response of one Turkish pro-headscarf activist, Hilal Kaplan, when asked about homosexuality (see hyperlinked article above):

“Islam tells us to fight this urge,” but she said that did not affect a homosexual’s rights as a citizen. “I am against police oppression of homosexuals. I am against a worldview that diminishes us to our scarves and homosexuals to the bedroom.”

I fully agree with that sentiment, but I wonder if that understanding could have come about in a society where one segment of the population quickly and myopically imposes religious doctrine on everyone else. The Qur'an states, "And if God did not check one group of people with another, the earth would have been corrupted, but God is full of bounty for everything" (Q2:251). Some may consider the checks to power that Islamic movements confront as undesired impediments, but in reality, these checks transform slogans like "Islam is the Solution" into concrete realities. These checks are a blessing - forcing Muslims to rise above ethnic and cultural aspects of our identity so that we can reflect on what we truly believe and what we're really fighting for.