69 million page views

Arabization

Reader comment on item: Newt Gingrich and the "Invented" Palestinian People
in response to reader comment: Do Muslims Arabize/Islamize? Loud Islamic prayers 5x24x7.

Submitted by Nalliah Thayabharan (Canada), Aug 19, 2013 at 22:45

Arabization poses a threat to all Muslims who believe in Islam's divine character and universalism, and can be combated only by them. It is not a crisis between civilizations as Huntington would have us believe, but a crisis within civilization and can be fought from within.

Arabization's major appeal emanates from Islam's millenary expectations and the unfounded utopia of a just and prosperous society under Islamic rule. This is also fed by the silence of the moderates in the face of the more vocal minority trying to hijack Islam for their perverted gain. Christianity has passed through this phase and the contradictions between the sacred and the profane was resolved by separating the church from the state during the period of renaissance and reformation. If the powerful, modern, ideas of 'jehadi' Islamism are not met in the marketplace of ideas with an equally vigorous, contemporary, articulation of peaceful, syncretic and inclusive Islam, then 'the center of gravity' of public discourse will inevitably slide towards those ideas that appear most powerful and relevant to the modern world.

Indonesia, Anwar Ibrahim and Chandra Muzaffar in Malaysia, Surin Pitsuan in Thailand, who is now the current secretary general of ASEAN, and Ashgar Ali Engineer and many other progressive Muslim intellectuals in India, represent a powerful alternative to 'jehadi' Islamism.

The need of the hour for the Muslims in Asia is to de-Arabize Islam from its exclusivist mould and promote a more inclusive Islam based on their own indigenous cultures and traditions blending with universal message of Islam, as were case in India and Indonesia in the period before the inroad of the Islam of the desert. There is also an urgent need for the moderates to break their deafening silence against tyranny of the small minority who are bringing shame and bad name to the religion and shed their inertia and fear of being branded as not 'good Muslims' by their perverted radical minority
Fuelling the new Islamic identity is the steady process of transformation from a secular, inclusive and an adaptive Islam to a more textual, ritualistic and exclusive one by exogenous forces, as ideas, practices and finances flow from the Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The transformation brings about conflicts – not only within Islam as to its correct interpretation and desirable way of life, but also among Muslims and others in otherwise tolerant and harmonious plural societies like India and Sri Lanka, where Islam was renowned for its adaptability to local practices, tolerance of other religions and contribution to its composite culture.

Over the past 30 years, however, Wahabi fundamentalists have tried to homogenize Islam, introducing new tensions.This process of homogenization could be referred as "Arabization" of Islam emphasizes rituals and code of conduct more than substance and Islam's universalism. It stems from the "the Wahabi creed," a rigid branch of Islam exported from and subsidized by the government of Saudi Arabia.

Wahhabism is distinct in its destructive nature when religion is used by the state for political ends. Unlike other traditions that accommodate dissenting views, the Wahhabis claim to possess an un-debatable version of 'true Islam". Arabization of Islam is a trend that somewhat obscure many Muslims from the real divine value of Islam. More importantly, a fundamental transformation is taking place within the Muslim community all over the world – an identity formation based on a world view taken from early Quranic precepts and a code of conduct resembling a way of life that was prevalent in the Arab world in the medieval period in the formative stage of Islam.

This form of identity is premised on an understanding and a belief that to be a true Muslim one has to be different from 'others' in every aspect of life and that there can not be a meeting ground between Islam and other religions.

Adaptation of other customs, traditions and cultures in its path toward the expansion of the religion had only led to aberration and corruption of original and pristine ideas of Islam. It is only through the practice of medieval Arab traditions and way of life that the evil eyes of other religions can be kept at bay.
Such a world view based on Arabization of Islam may not be the most predominant among the Muslims of the world yet, but is surely gaining slow and steady ground. A strong sense of grievance and victim mentality has reinforced Islam's role as a medium for asserting identity. The external manifestation is the wearing of Middle Eastern clothes by men and women. Strict observance of fundamentalist Islam is also a means of asserting identification with reform and protesting upper- class corruption in many societies, which might somewhat explain fundamentalists' prescription for austere way of life free from temptations and pleasures.

Since the original Muslims were mostly Arab, everything associated with them – their culture, names, and family structures – has been associated with Islam. But this presents a problem since the vast majority of Muslims in our current world are not Arab. There is not even an Arab monolithic form of Islam and culture. Some might even suggest that passing off Arab culture as Islam in this regard is inaccurate, exclusionary, and disrespectful of other Muslims' cultures evolving through a blend of religious and local traditions and customs. This is where the use of the term 'Arabization' gains salience. Despite the fact that only a fraction of the Muslim community are Arabs, everywhere in South and Southeast Asia there is a growing trend of imitating and replicating Arab cultures and customs to prove their true Islamic identity at the expense of their own rich syncretic cultures that allowed not only Islam to spread in the whole region but also harmonious inter-faith interactions. Converts to Islam illustrate the issue poignantly. Having an Arab name makes one seem more "Muslim," because of the way Arab culture is seen as synonymous with Islam. Clothing is another, mostly affecting Muslim women. The 'niqab' (the face-veil) was rarely seen outside of the Arabian world until recently. Most Muslims see the niqab as a byproduct of Arab culture. The urge for a Muslims to wear veils can be traced from a Quranic perception "to wear their veils over their bosoms". The Prophet wa s urging modesty, not necessarily a particular dress-code. It is only recently that the veil has been interpreted as religiously authentic instead of a cultural expression and therefore a must for all Muslim women.

Arabic language has an important role in the diffusion of this process. Language inevitably imposes cognitive categories that force an individual into a particular symbolic order in thinking, communicating, and the ordering of his experience. Arabic's highly charged sacred character increases its coercive power, making it a "truth-language." Arabic is the language of Islam, the language chosen by God to speak to mankind, influences how a person perceives the world and expresses reality. This, in turn, has a profound impact on a society's outlook.

Arabic and Islam are complementary and mutually reinforcing. Arabization and Islamization are inseparable parts of a single cultural ideal that now pervades the Arab world. In their drive toward authentification, and uniformization of Islam, the transmitters (Saudi Arabia and other
Arabic countries) and the recipients (non-Arab Islamic societies) are equally emphasizing 'Arabization' as the norm of pure and ideal formof Islam to be followed by Muslims all over the world.

In the Indian subcontinent, a thousand years of Muslim presence obviously brought a fusion between it and an ancient deep-rooted civilization with its in-built strength and resilience. Like in other societies, Islam in India had to adapt to local beliefs, customs and cultures. The end result was a flowering of a composite culture to which Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims both contributed.
Popular religion, in many places, consisted of myriad cults of diverse origins, incorporating Sufi, 'Muslim' and 'Hindu' elements. With the advent of Wahhabi movement and the opening up of Deobandi schools, the syncretic Islam in Indian subcontinent came under pressure from the proponents of orthodox Arab form of Islam. As a consequence all customs that were 'un-Islamic' were seen as aberration and therefore to be shunned by all means, and the individual believer must consciously strive to mould himself consciously on the model of the Prophet, presented in a form that was inextricably related to 7th century Arab culture.

During the 1970s, Wahhabi clerics encouraged the spread of their ideology into Saudi universities and mosques, because it was seen as a barrier to the threat of cultural Westernization and spread of corruption that accompanied the 1970s oil boom.
Consequently, the Saudi royal family and their religious establishment looked for a cause with which to deflect the growing zealotry from Wahhabist theo-fascism, a danger highlighted by the seizure of the Grand Mosque at Mecca by heavily armed Islamic Studies students in 1979. The diversion that the royal family seized upon was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Wahhabism gained considerable influence in the Muslim world following a tripling in the price of oil in the mid-1970s. Having the world's largest reserves of oil but a relatively small population, Saudi Arabia was in a position to spend tens of billions of dollars throughout the Muslim world promoting Islam, and in particular Wahhabism, which was sometimes referred to as "petro-Islam". Its largess funded an estimated "90% of the expenses of the entire faith," throughout the Muslim world. It extended to young and old, from children's madrassas to high level scholarship.
"Books, scholarships, fellowships, mosques" were paid for. It rewarded journalists and academics who followed it; built satellite campuses around Egypt for Al Azhar, the oldest and very influential Islamic university. The financial power of Wahhabist advocates has done much to overwhelm less strict local interpretations of Islam, and has caused the Saudi interpretation to be perceived as the "gold standard" of religion in many Muslims' minds.
Saudis had spent some $90 billion, according to one estimate, to export Wahhabism globally. Much of this Saudi funding went towards the establishment of Wahhabi-dominated religious schools, colleges, and other social and cultural infrastructure, while in non-Muslim countries alone, the Saudis financed the construction of some 2,000 schools, 1,500 mosques, and 210 Islamic centers between 1982 and 2002.

Saudi financial power also means that it can control key Muslim publishing houses, promoting Wahhabi texts and ensuring the suppression of Sufi, Shi'a, and other Muslim works now deemed non-Islamic. It also supports the training of imams and endowments to universities (in exchange for influence over the appointment of Islamic scholars). The lack of a formal ecclesiastical hierarchy within Sunni Islam renders traditional religious institutions weak in the face of well-funded Wahhabi missionary activities. In Batticaloa, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and southern Thailand, Wahhabis have co-opted (or replaced) village and neighborhood imams, and there is a fresh stream of converts returning from stays as guest workers in Saudi Arabia. The children of poor converts are often taken to Saudi Arabia for "education" and many are returned as cannon fodder for use by Wahhabi terrorist fronts. In India, efforts are underway to capture a portionof huge Muslim minority. In Southern part of India, even a few years ago, one could not distinguish between a Hindu and a Muslim from either his dress or language.

Once the Muslims from Southern India started going to the Gulf countries for jobs, many of them returned getting acculturated to the Arabic language, dress and customs, resulting in visual divide between the two communities. In India in recent years, a growing number of madrassas graduates have been enrolling in higher institutions of Islamic learning in the Arab world.

This is particularly the case of graduates of educational institutions associated with the Jama'at-i Islami, the Deobandis and the Ahl-i Hadith, all three of which are fiercely opposed to a range of popular customary practices and preach forms of 'Wahhabi' Islam. Once they return to India, graduates of madrassas and Islamic universities in the Gulf States often go on to teach in madrassas or set up Islamic institutions of their own on a form of Islam that they have imbibed during their years of study in the Arab world. Such institutions publish literature, in Urdu, English, Hindi and regional languages, opposing many aspects of poplar Indian Muslim culture, reiterating the notion that key aspects of medieval Arab culture are integral to their way of imagining Islam. The spate of bombings in Benaras, Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad and the suspected role of SIMI (Student Islamic Movement of India) demonstrates clearly how Islam has undergone transformation in India and the extent of indigenization of terror networks

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

Reader comments (108) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
5Sorry there is no Palestinian people. Jews have lived in Palestine long before prophet muhammad was marrying children. [168 words]Phil GreendFeb 10, 2013 20:15203389
People of all sorts [12 words]Peter SimonJan 17, 2016 14:37203389
People of all sorts [11 words]Peter SimonJan 17, 2016 14:37203389
1The real questions [241 words]PTJan 12, 2012 18:03192536
Passing the torch [71 words]David W. LincolnJan 3, 2012 13:09192231
1The first Palestinians [383 words]CarlDec 22, 2011 01:30191952
Palestinians in question [218 words]slayhyDec 25, 2011 02:42191952
Palestinians [49 words]EstherJan 16, 2012 03:14191952
5not about a State, not about land [105 words]ilana kraussDec 18, 2011 15:18191824
1Newt Gingrich and his knowledge of Palestine - a hypocrisy [474 words]slayhyDec 16, 2011 11:39191753
1where was the place [10 words]RonDec 18, 2011 16:14191753
10Palestinian people are invented or not [159 words]JoeDec 13, 2011 22:02191677
11They do Not want a State [47 words]Michael Hanni MorcosDec 15, 2011 16:09191677
1Newt's comment [78 words]goappleDec 15, 2011 22:15191677
The so called Palestinian cause [34 words]Seamus Dafydd Dives MacNemiDec 23, 2011 03:35191677
1Palestinians [161 words]Marlene K.Dec 12, 2011 22:54191648
2Cheap propaganda [179 words]Dean AllanDec 14, 2011 01:30191648
4Cheap propaganda [395 words]JudithDec 15, 2011 14:33191648
Respect for history [76 words]Dean AllanDec 15, 2011 23:47191648
1The American People Deserve Straight Talk [48 words]DaveDec 12, 2011 21:47191647
1Palestine or Philistine [117 words]Dean AllanDec 12, 2011 19:24191643
2Palestine or Philistine [363 words]JudithDec 15, 2011 14:04191643
Invented history! [314 words]Dean AllanDec 15, 2011 22:16191643
The truth shall prevail [19 words]slayhyDec 16, 2011 13:55191643
15House of Meat, eh...? how funny!! Bethlehem and Palestine facts [1439 words]saraDec 16, 2011 17:20191643
2"Invented" Palestinian People and "House of Meat, eh...? how funny!!" [325 words]JudithDec 16, 2011 20:03191643
Bethlehem or not Bethlehem, that is the question [172 words]slayhyDec 17, 2011 11:48191643
2Invented Palestian people and house of meat. [194 words]JudithDec 19, 2011 14:23191643
5000 Year Ago - made me laugh [137 words]slayhyDec 20, 2011 03:54191643
The invented Palestinian people [18 words]JudithDec 20, 2011 16:44191643
Yes, Tell them [30 words]slayhyDec 21, 2011 02:03191643
Laughter in the Psalms 37:13, Psalms 2:4 [533 words]M. ToveyJan 10, 2012 12:25191643
House of God Bethlehem [117 words]DavidFeb 22, 2016 01:57191643
1The Quranic word Lahm/Lahma [115 words]dhimmi no moreJun 4, 2017 12:40191643
Palestinians today are not true arabs [108 words]MahmoudDec 17, 2019 23:01191643
1Yesterday there may not have been a Palestinian people, but today there is. [173 words]Sid PerloeDec 12, 2011 16:14191639
4PALESINIANS ARE JORDANIANS [120 words]JACQUES HADIDADec 12, 2011 13:22191634
Palestine is there before Jordan [82 words]slayhyDec 21, 2011 06:11191634
USING ZIONIST INSTEAD OF ISRAELI [242 words]JACQUES HADIDADec 23, 2011 17:31191634
Palestine a Land for Palestinians [167 words]slayhyJan 4, 2012 11:49191634
1YOU SEEM TO HAVE A LIKING FOR THE WORD "LIE" [214 words]JACQUES HADIDAJan 7, 2012 14:28191634
unfortunately changing words was and is always a habit ... [345 words]slayhyJan 7, 2012 21:17191634
Whose Changing of the Words is Allowing the West to Gang Up in the Med [604 words]M. ToveyJan 11, 2012 16:25191634
1Reality check [138 words]Greg McColmDec 12, 2011 12:58191633
2Newt Gingrich and the "Invented Palestinian State. Very Credible as a Historian and Scholar. [111 words]AnneDec 12, 2011 08:24191627
Intellectual relevance [65 words]housamDec 12, 2011 03:46191619
Newt Gingrich and the Invented Palestinian People [240 words]JudithDec 12, 2011 03:03191618
2Newt's Bold Comment [210 words]Clarence PuckettDec 12, 2011 00:54191613
Newt Gingrich [59 words]Sam MoharebDec 11, 2011 20:36191599
that was then; this is now [205 words]john w mcginleyDec 11, 2011 19:41191597
Palestinians a lie ... [308 words]NuritGDec 11, 2011 19:33191596
Palestine is Islamic Israel [82 words]DaveDec 11, 2011 19:20191595
1The Truth Hurts [76 words]John WhitneyDec 11, 2011 19:10191593
6Mark Twain in Palestine, 1869 [373 words]Jim K.Dec 11, 2011 18:04191588
Palestinian people a fabrication [32 words]stevn LDec 11, 2011 17:56191587
5The Russians are the source of everything unfortunately... [81 words]saraDec 11, 2011 17:21191586
4Palestinian Arabs Not a Nationality [180 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Richard H. ShulmanDec 11, 2011 17:03191585
2Islam is a political force with imperialistic ambition [138 words]PrashantDec 11, 2011 22:23191585
2Islamic nationalism [70 words]Joe Six-PackDec 12, 2011 09:28191585
Who should you really believe? [250 words]Den AllanDec 12, 2011 20:26191585
1Long before the Mandate... [90 words]TurkcekonusanamerikaliDec 13, 2011 00:07191585
5Be Careful About Calling Other People Ignorant [175 words]Richard H. ShulmanDec 13, 2011 19:35191585
1Mr. Richard [167 words]Debanjan BanerjeeDec 13, 2011 23:04191585
1No discrimination, just truth [438 words]Dean AllanDec 14, 2011 00:39191585
4Do Muslims Arabize/Islamize? Loud Islamic prayers 5x24x7. [379 words]PrashantDec 15, 2011 00:08191585
3Debanjan Banerjee knows who is going to win the 2012 US election [33 words]PrashantDec 15, 2011 13:18191585
Who is it, then? [60 words]JeffDec 15, 2011 19:22191585
Dear Mr. Prashant [128 words]Debanjan BanerjeeDec 17, 2011 22:22191585
2If Not America - Who? [739 words]M. ToveyDec 20, 2011 11:54191585
Dear Mr. Tovey [309 words]Debanjan BanerjeeDec 31, 2011 03:35191585
Good Vs Evil - The Great Conflict from the Beginning that America did not Start [796 words]M. ToveyJan 3, 2012 17:23191585
Dear Mr. Tovey [166 words]Debanjan BanerjeeJan 4, 2012 01:59191585
Goodness of Jesus Christ and the Evil of Mankind That Turns Him Away [1029 words]M. ToveyJan 9, 2012 19:10191585
Nope. Dont think so [43 words]LouJan 11, 2012 18:08191585
Arabization [2094 words]Nalliah ThayabharanAug 19, 2013 22:45191585
Wishful thinking [71 words]dhimmi no moreAug 20, 2013 06:58191585
1Invented Persons [143 words]Dr. John Stauffer, DMinDec 11, 2011 16:43191583
3More Newt Show-Off Irrelevance [129 words]Richard AlbarinoDec 11, 2011 16:26191581
9Fundamental Misunderstanding [498 words]George LakerDec 11, 2011 23:45191581
2"rightful" occupiers of territory". [79 words]FrederickDec 12, 2011 00:50191581
4Newt's truth under attack [70 words]Michael VanyukovDec 11, 2011 16:24191580
1The title "Palestinians" [77 words]Joseph YedidiaDec 11, 2011 15:56191579
6Soviet -KGB Invention [72 words]Michael Hanni MorcosDec 11, 2011 15:16191577
4Will he maintain the mandra. [48 words]Daniel RevahDec 11, 2011 15:12191576
5Cheers for Daniel Pipes and Newt [111 words]BerengariaDec 11, 2011 15:04191575
3Good Morning Newt! [105 words]moshe monesDec 11, 2011 14:41191574
Philistines? [32 words]Kepha HorDec 13, 2011 20:10191574
"Philistia' [53 words]moshe monesDec 13, 2011 21:12191574
7I love Newt! [56 words]TurkcekonusanamerikaliDec 11, 2011 11:43191570
2Finally!! [96 words]sheriDec 12, 2011 02:33191570
4Refugees of Self Examination [354 words]Jay1Dec 11, 2011 11:28191569
5I see Speaker Gingirch's point [204 words]Peter HerzDec 11, 2011 08:25191568
4Newt's right, but... [130 words]Kepha HorDec 11, 2011 08:18191567
1Intention rather than identity [604 words]George LakerDec 11, 2011 20:46191567
I know enough history to know, sorry... [45 words]FrederickDec 12, 2011 01:07191567
Newt Gingrich's Got It Right - No Buts [507 words]M. ToveyDec 13, 2011 19:13191567
Re Israel [148 words]Kepha HorDec 13, 2011 20:08191567
Dear Mr. Tovey [288 words]Debanjan BanerjeeDec 18, 2011 23:04191567
Why Israel Exists Instead of Palestine-Why Spkr Gingrich Gets it Right [328 words]M. ToveyDec 19, 2011 18:32191567
What should Newt Gingrich do (or the next US president) [176 words]PrashantDec 21, 2011 03:24191567
why Zionists are founded [51 words]slayhyDec 21, 2011 06:48191567
The Real Reason(s) of Zion's Existence [495 words]M. ToveyDec 21, 2011 18:39191567
zion or mount zion - where is it? [120 words]slayhyDec 22, 2011 03:53191567
Zion-Right Where the LORD Says It Is [8 words]M. ToveyJan 3, 2012 11:12191567
Why Zionism is Founded By the Holy Bible [60 words]M. ToveyJan 3, 2012 14:05191567
Zion and Temple are not found [58 words]slayhyJan 4, 2012 13:49191567
no one knows where is the temple [59 words]slayhyJan 5, 2012 20:13191567
Zion is Known By Her Almighty God. [311 words]M. ToveyJan 9, 2012 16:19191567

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)