On the Ethics of Disagreements (Uṣūl al-Ikhtilaf) and the Ethics of Hospitality (Uṣūl al-Dhiyafa) Between Spiritual and non-Spiritual Leftists in the Newest Social Movements

Abstract

ABSTRACT Though Muslim-anarchists are active participants within “newest social movements” (NSMs) in settler-colonial societies as the US/Canada, as well as transnationally, little has been written on their maturing as a critical mass, or their ostracization within predominantly white anarchist scenes in North America. Anarcha-Islam, an example of ‘non-Western anarchism,’ fills this gap by re-imagining how the Holy Qurʾān and the Sunnah through the aḥadīth — the Prophetic practice and oral tradition — could be used to flesh out the theology, politics, and philosophy of an Islamic anarchism. I explore the possibilities of a new transnational politics grounded in an ethics of disagreement, friendship, and hospitality between these traditions. I suggest uṣūl al-dhiyafa and uṣūl al-ikhtilaf (a politics of friendship and an ethics of hospitality as well as an ethics of disagreements) in facilitating an appreciation of the similarities that bring these traditions together, while also valuing the differences that drive them apart.