Democracy and Islamic Revivalism

Abstract

The nature of Islamic revivalism's impact on political development in the Muslim world in general and on the ongoing process of democratization in particular has been the subject of heated debates among academicians and policy makers alike.' Islamic revivalism in broad brush strokes is a distinct interpretive reading of Islam.2 It emphasizes the exoteric dimension of the faith; disparages traditional religious practices, which form the basis of popular faith and the rule of religious law in particular; formalizes and rationalizes religion, predicating eschatology and salvation on social action and gaining control of political power. In general, Islamic revivalism is viewed as a revolutionary force whose aim is to topple the established order in the Muslim world, be they authoritarian or democratic. As unpalatable as the prospects of additional Islamic revolutions and Islamic republics have been, by the end of the 1980s it became clear that the secular state in the Muslim world, through oppression and accommodation, has by and large stayed its ground and in large measure contained Islamic revivalism. Crises of governability, which create circumstances that are conducive to the growth of Islamic revivalism, persist.3 But ruling regimes have thus far successfully dealt with revolutionary challenges to their authority by revivalism. The examples