Islamicization

Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occurred over the course of many centuries since the spread of Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula through the early Muslim conquests, with notable shifts occurring in the Levant, Iran, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa, Central Asia, South Asia (in Afghanistan, Maldives, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), Southeast Asia (in Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia), Southeastern Europe (in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, among others), Eastern Europe (in the Caucasus, Crimea, and the Volga), and Southern Europe (in Spain, Portugal, and Sicily prior to re-Christianizations). In contemporary usage, it may refer to the perceived imposition of an Islamist social and political system on a society with an indigenously different social and political background.

The English synonyms of ''Muslimization'' and ''Arabization'', in use since before 1940 (e.g., ''Waverly Illustrated Dictionary''), convey a similar meaning. ''Muslimization'' has recently been used as a term coined to describe the overtly Muslim practices of new converts to the religion who wish to reinforce their newly acquired religious identity.Lindley-Highfield, M. (2008) '"Muslimization", Mission and Modernity in Morelos: the problem of a combined hotel and prayer hall for the Muslims of Mexico'. ''Tourism Culture & Communication'', vol. 8, no. 2, 85–96.

History

Historically, the process of Islamization was complex and involved merging Islamic practices with local customs. This process took place over several centuries. Scholars reject the stereotype that this process was initially "spread by the sword" or forced conversions.

Arabization

Arabization describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic and/or incorporates Arab culture. It was most prominently achieved during the 7th-century Arabian Muslim conquests which spread the Arabic language, culture and—having been carried out by Arabian Muslims as opposed to Arab Christians or Arabic-speaking Jews—the religion of Islam to the lands they conquered. The result: some elements of Arabian origin combined in various forms and degrees with elements taken from conquered civilizations and ultimately denominated "Arab", as opposed to "Arabian".

Modern day (1970s–present)

Modern day Islamization appears to be a return of the individual to Muslim values, communities, and dress codes, and a strengthened community.Lapidus, p. 823

Another development is that of transnational Islam, elaborated upon by the French Islam researchers Gilles Kepel and Olivier Roy. It includes a feeling of a "growing universalistic Islamic identity" as often shared by Muslim immigrants and their children who live in non-Muslim countries:

The increased integration of world societies as a result of enhanced communications, media, travel, and migration makes meaningful the concept of a single Islam practiced everywhere in similar ways, and an Islam which transcends national and ethnic customs.Lapidus, p. 828–30

This does not necessarily imply political or social organizations:

Global Muslim identity does not necessarily or even usually imply organized group action. Even though Muslims recognize a global affiliation, the real heart of Muslim religious life remains outside politics—in local associations for worship, discussion, mutual aid, education, charity, and other communal activities.

A third development is the growth and elaboration of transnational military organizations. The 1980s and 90s, with several major conflicts in the Middle East, including the Arab–Israeli conflict, Afghanistan in the 1980s and 2001, and the three Gulf Wars ( 1980–88, 1990–91, 2003–2011) were catalysts of a growing internationalization of local conflicts. Figures such as Osama bin Laden and Abdallah Azzam have been crucial in these developments, as much as domestic and world politics.

Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization of Pakistan

On December 2, 1978, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq delivered a nationwide address on the occasion of the first day of the Hijra calendar. He did this in order to usher in an Islamic system to Pakistan. In the speech, he accused politicians of exploiting the name of Islam, saying that "many a ruler did what they pleased in the name of Islam."

After assuming power the task that the government set to was its public commitment to enforce ''Nizam-e-Mustafa'' (Islamic System) a 180 degree turn from Pakistan's predominantly Common Law. As a preliminary measure to establish an Islamic society in Pakistan, General Zia announced the establishment of Sharia Benches. Speaking about the jurisdiction of the Sharia Benches, he remarked, "Every citizen will have the right to present any law enforced by the government before the 'Sharia Bench' and obtain its verdict whether the law is wholly or partly Islamic or un-Islamic."

But General Zia did not mention that the Sharia Benches' jurisdiction was curtailed by the following overriding clause: "(Any) law does not include the constitution, Muslim personal law, any law relating to the procedure of any court or tribunal or, until the expiration of three years, any fiscal law or any law relating to the collection of taxes and fees or insurance practice and procedure." It meant that all important laws which affect each and every individual directly remained outside the purview of the Sharia Benches. However, he did not have a smooth sailing even with the clipped Sharia Benches. After the Federal Sharia Bench declared rajm or stoning to be un-Islamic; Ziaul Haq reconstituted the court, which then declared rajm as Islamic.

Islamic Revolution of Iran

Islamization of the Gaza Strip

The influence of Islamic groups in the Gaza Strip has grown since the 1980s, especially as poverty has risen and fighting with Israel began in 2000.Hamas tries to detain woman walking with man
July 8, 2009, Diaa Hadid, The Guardian The efforts to impose Islamic law and traditions continued when Hamas forcefully seized control of the area in June 2007 and displaced security forces loyal to the secular President Mahmoud Abbas.Militants torch Gaza water park shut down by Hamas
Haaretz 19-09-2010Gunmen torch Gaza beach club shuttered by Hamas
AFP 19-09-2010 After the civil war ended, Hamas declared the "end of secularism and heresy in the Gaza Strip." For the first time since the Sudanese coup of 1989 that brought Omar al-Bashir to power, a Muslim Brotherhood group ruled a significant geographic territory.The Talibanization of Gaza: A Liability for the Muslim Brotherhood
. by Jonathan Schanzer. August 19, 2009. Current Trends in Islamist Ideology vol. 9 Gaza human rights groups accuse Hamas of restricting many freedoms in the course of these attempts.

While Ismael Haniyeh officially denied accusations that Hamas intended to establish an Islamic emirate, Jonathan Schanzer wrote that in the two years following the 2007 coup, the Gaza Strip has exhibited the characteristics of Talibanization, a process whereby the Islamist organization imposes strict rules on women, discourages or punishes activities commonly associated with Western or Christian culture, oppresses non-Muslim minorities, imposes their own interpretation of sharia law and deploys religious police to enforce these laws.

According to Human Rights Watch, the Hamas-controlled government of Gaza stepped up its efforts to "Islamize" Gaza in 2010, efforts that included the "repression" of civil society and "severe violations of personal freedom." "In Gaza, prisoners twice over; Palestinians are being squeezed by the Israeli blockade and Hamas' 'Islamizing' actions,"
Bill Van Esveld, Bill Van Esveld is a Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch, June 27, 2010, Los Angeles Times. Arab-Israeli journalist Khaled Abu Toameh wrote in 2009 that "Hamas is gradually turning the Gaza Strip into a Taliban-style Islamic entity."Khaled Abu Toameh
As Hamas Tightens Its Grip
, HudsonNY.org 07-08-2009 According to Mkhaimar Abusada, a political science professor at Gaza's al-Azhar University, "Ruling by itself, Hamas can stamp its ideas on everyone (...) Islamizing society has always been part of Hamas strategy."Hamas Bans Women Dancers, Scooter Riders in Gaza Push
By Daniel Williams, Bloomberg, November 30, 2009

See also

*International propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism
*Petro-Islam
*Arabization
*Spread of Islam
*Islam in Europe
*Islamization of knowledge
*Islamic advice literature
*Islamic revival
*Turkification
*Eurabia
*Islamic extremism
* Pegida
*Talibanization
*Criticism of Islamism
*Dhimmi and dhimmitude
* Christianization
*Judaization
*Westernization

By area

*
*Islamization of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Islamization of Egypt
* Islamization of Europe
*Islamization and cultural revolution of Iran
*Islamization of Palestine, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount
*Islamization of the Gaza Strip
*Islamization of Syria
*Islamization of Sudan
*Islamization of Jerusalem
*Islamization of Indonesia

By method

* Forced conversion to Islam
* Conversion to Islam in prisons
* Islamic missionary activity
* Devshirme

Notes

References

Further reading

* Devin De Weese, Devin A, (1994), ''Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde'', Penn State Press,
* Lapidus, Ira M. (2002), ''A History of Islamic Societies''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Raphaël Liogier, , Seuil, 2012

External links

Arabization vs. Islamization (video)
Ali Mazrui

{{Cultural assimilation, sp=ize

Conversion to Islam
Cultural assimilation
Islamism