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HIST 1301: History of the Arab World Lecture Outline 21: Rentier States and the Rise of Islamist Movements KEY TERMS Rentier States Sayyid Qutb Jahiliyya Political Islam Ayatollah Khomeini Velayat e-faqih Transnational movements Al-Qaeda 1. Political Stability and Instability in Rentier States Stability of regime built on 3 pillars: ruling group, linked to interests of powerful groups in society, this link legitimated in eyes of society Unprecedented predominance of intelligence and security services, armies, police forces; bureaucratic reach of state extended further into society; dominant role of state as employer in society Forms of ‘asabiyya: ruling party, shared military background, ruling family and blood ties (kinship used in all three types) Rentier State: government supported not by tax revenues, but mainly by revenues generated by selling indigenous resources to an external market. In the Arab world, primarily petroleum resources but also strategic influence, for example, by courting external aid). Because they are not accountable to population through taxation, these states tend to not develop highly representative or participatory forms of political organization and sharing of power in decision making Shift in ideological emphasis, appropriation of discourses of nationalism, social justice, and Islam (which became more dominant from the 1980s on even among most secular of regimes-Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Algeria); emphasis on shari’a as basis of law3 Weakness/Strength of these legitimacy discourses 2. Rise of Islamist Movements Cultural and social dislocation; disillusionment following the 1967 War and search for answers; sense that following imported Western methods was reason for weakness, need to return to own heritage, culture, roots, religion Position of Islamic groups as one of only existing discourses of dissent or of reform allowed in society; free spaces of mosque; religious discourse Sayyid Qutb: Egyptian writer, links to Muslim Brotherhood, Ma’alim fi’l-tariq (Signposts on the Path), use of the term jahiliyya, sole dependence on Qur’an as authority (Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Nationalism all jahiliyya); idea of Islamic vanguard; jihad and the “nearer enemy;” Qutb executed in 1966 under Nasser; Muslim Brotherhood Ijtihad Movements: general movement towards seeking answers based upon interpretation of Qur’an and Hadith for contemporary problems; “Islam is the solution” 1979 Iranian Revolution: Ayatollah Khomeini, mobilization against Shah, velayat efaqih, Islamic Republic; rise of political Islam; Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan Rise of Jihadi / Salafi movements: war in Afghanistan, globalized Islamic movements, influence of Qutb’s paradigm and jahiliyya, jihad against the “farther enemy;” Osama bin Ladin, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaedah