Islam, the West and the Challenges of Modernity. Tariq Ramadan

silent or see themselves deemed “dangerous”, by the West, whenever they dare to express their rejection? Here, it is not a question of defending violence but rather of understanding the circumstances wherein it takes shape. North-South imbalances and the exploitation of men and raw materials, combined with the resignation of the peoples of the North, produce a much more devastating violence than that of armed groups, even if the latter are spectacular. As the end of the twentieth century draws close, can we call all men to mobilise themselves towards more social, political and economic justice, for it seems to us that this is the only way to give back to men the rights that will silence arms? Such an effort would be the literal translation of the word jihād. The latter is the testimony of a heart that illuminates faith and the witness of a conscience which fashions responsibility.

c. Towards a social jihād

      This brief clarification about the central notions of the Muslim religion allows us to shed new light on the question of social action. All Muslims know and repeat that the practice of Islam does not stop at the exercise of prayer, zakāt, fasting and pilgrimage. Every act of daily life which is fulfilled with remembrance of the Divine Presence is, in itself, an act of gratitude and worship. Moreover, we know the close link, which is established in the Qur’ān, between believing and acting through the oft-repeated expression “Those who believe and do good deeds.” Thus, to have faith is tantamount to believing and acting, and action here is of a multiple nature. It is the honesty that one imposes on oneself, goodness and generosity towards one’s relatives, just as it is the determined engagement in social reform, or even mobilisation against injustice. All these efforts which are deployed in action are part of jihād in the sense whereby they are oriented towards that which is more just and more respectful of the revealed principles. The following verse clarifies the same:

      The believers are those who believe in God and His Messenger, then have not doubted, and have struggled with their possessions ³⁴ and their selves in the way of God; those – they are the truthful ones. (Qur’ān, 49:15)

      One may read this formulation in the strict sense and maintain that it only addresses the question of armed struggle, and that this armed struggle imposes itself whenever there exists aggression. However, it would be reductionist to draw just that instruction. In a broader sense, a sense which is confirmed by the entire Qur’ānic message and that of the traditions, “fighting in the path of God” means mobilising all our human forces, directing all our efforts and giving of our properties and of our own persons in order to overcome all adversities whether they be injustices, poverty, illiteracy, delinquency or exclusion.

      The Qur’ān offers such latitude in the interpretation of the word jihād, and this in its first revelation:

      So obey not the unbelievers, but struggle with them thereby mightily. (Qur’ān, 25:52) ³⁵

      There is here mention of a struggle (jāhid and jihādan) which is of a learned and scientific nature, one which relies on dialogue, discussion and debate. The Qur’ān, in its content and form, appears as an arm in the hands of Muslims. On another level, it is the Prophet (peace be upon him) who presents an extensive interpretation of the word when he asserts, for example, that “Pilgrimage is a jihād”. ³⁶ One realises that the troubles, efforts and suffering endured by the faithful during a few days in Makka, in order to give strength to their faith and answer the call of the Creator, are a jihād in the path of God.

      In our daily lives, to live in faith in our societies is tantamount to recognising the sense of effort. Faith involves putting one to the test; it is, in fact, a test itself. In our representation of an ideal of life, respect and coexistence, actual social fractures, misery, illiteracy, unemployment are many elements of the new adversity that the modern epoch has engendered. Mobilisation, as already noted, imposes itself when man’s dignity is in peril. But, it is not always a question of an armed appraisal. Nowadays, many women and men see their dignity suppressed, their existence denied and their rights violated. This situation necessitates an urgent response as also a general call for jihād. Here, it is about giving from one’s own person and property, calling all the forces of all diverse societies and engaging in the work of reform that we have already discussed.

      We will not deny that there are struggles wherein circumstances lead us to direct confrontation, in order to oppose a purge here, a military occupation there, or another type of aggression such as the one we have witnessed in Bosnia and Chechnia. However, it cannot simply be a question of focusing our attention on these events alone and forgetting the broader type of fight which occurs daily and is, therefore, so much more urgent. Nowadays, our enemies, in the path of God, are hunger, unemployment, exploitation, delinquency and drug addiction. They require intense efforts, a continuous fight and a complete jihād which needs each and everyone’s participation.

      How many are those Muslims who want to fight beyond their own doorsteps, who want to offer, in the most sincere fashion their own persons for the cause of Islam. But, filled with this intention, they forget and remain blind to the fight that must be carried out here in their own locality, to the cause that ought to be defended in their own neighbourhoods, cities and in every country. To those who sought to assist Palestine in its fight against Zionist colonisation in the 1940s, and who perceived this expedition as representing the fulfilment of their ideal, Hasan al-Banna said: “Dying in the way of God is difficult, but living in the way of God is still more difficult.” This jihād is a jihād for life, in order that every human being is given the rights which are his. The entire message of Islam carries this requirement as well as its necessary achievement.

      To think modernity is to reflect on all the strategies and modalities which are apt to change the order of things. Following the example presented by Yusuf al-Qaradawi in his book on the problem of poverty, ³⁷ we should reflect on the sources and on the reality of our societies nowadays. We have spoken briefly already, but we must go still further and think, in a very pragmatic manner, about the strategies which will allow us to find local solutions to the problems identified. Social action has to be a priority and it should mobilise the majority of our energies.

      Indeed it is a question of war; for we are at war. This is what Abbot Pierre meant when he forcefully asserted that “I am in war against misery”, or when Professor Albert Jacquard and Monsignor Jacques Gaillot said that they “go to war” to shelter those who are homeless. In his social Encyclical, Centesimus Annus, ³⁸ the Pope calls for a general mobilisation against poverty and the imbalance of wealth and asserts that it is the duty of Christians to act in this sense. The jihād of Muslims is, of course, part of this engagement in the West, but it is equally so in all the countries of the South. It is a wholehearted jihād along the line of South American communities who express it in the form of liberation theology, or as it is manifested in the popular and trade unionist forces in the Near East and Asia. Future inter-religious dialogue will undoubtedly find its fulfilment in such strategy and actions. However, we cannot think of the future in terms of political and economic reform without working for the reconstitution of a social tissue which is nowadays torn apart the world over.

II. Political Orientations

      Things are very clear: either the political has a link with the religious, and in this case, we are dealing with a theocratic organisation, the dogmatic drifts of which have already been shown by history. Or, the political is separated from the divine point of reference and, hence, there opens the horizon of the state of law, which is founded on rationality, the perfection of which can be found in the democratic model. The terms of the alternative are plain, and it would be premature to maintain that Islamists’ claims are a retreat, and a dangerous, fanatic obscurantism. Analyses sometimes go very far and are not congested by embellishments. It is the whole Islam, which seems irreducible to “democratic reason”. Additionally, in order to prove the soundness of this anathema, the declarations of such and such an “Islamic leader” are relied on, a practice much in vogue nowadays. It is suggested that one must choose either Islam or democracy. In other words, either a theocratic organisation or a state of law? All seems to have been said. So much so that certain governments and intellectuals attribute to themselves “a democratic quality” not through a concrete