by Abbas Aroua
It is common nowadays to confuse Islamism with extremism – or even terrorism – whether out of intellectual laziness or with malicious intent. So what is the relationship between these two terms?
If Islamism (and its synonym, “political Islam”), a concept developed in the West, refers to a Muslim’s engagement in politics with reference to the precepts of his religion, then it is useful to explore the Muslim’s relationship to extremism in politics, and to extremism in general. To do so, it is important to call upon a major Qur’anic notion that helps establish this relationship: the notion of medianhood (wassatiya in Arabic – medianhood in English). It denotes the attitude that keeps the individual, the group and the community away from extremes. The Qur’anic verse that introduces this concept says: “And thus We have made you a community of the middle way (ummatan wassatan) that you may be witnesses over the people, and the Messenger a witness over you” (1). In the practice of religion, two other Qur’anic verses support the first by banning excess: “Do not go to excess (lā taghlou) in your religion” (2, 3).
« Wassatan ” has also been translated as temperate, balanced, moderate, placed at the centre, in the middle, at the median. The most common of these is the adjective “moderate”: people often speak of moderate Islam and moderate Muslims. Yet this term seems to lack the precision to convey the full meaning of “ wassatan ”. It is true that “moderation” comes from the Latin root moderari, derived from modus, meaning measure, and thus indicates circumspection, restraint and keeping away from all excess or exaggeration. However, “moderation” mainly expresses – perhaps through loose usage – the notion of reduction, lessening and attenuation, of making something smaller. Do we not speak of a moderate rent or price, a moderate pace, a moderate heat? “Moderate” thus tends to indicate keeping away from excess at the upper end, without necessarily covering keeping away from excess at the lower end, which is equally harmful.
To adopt the posture of wassatiya is to place oneself, in every area of human life – private, professional or public, secular or religious – at an equal distance from the two extremes, that of exaggeration and that of insufficiency: equidistant between excess (ghoulou) and deficiency (taqsīr), between immoderation (ifrāt) and negligence (tafrīt), between cowardice (joubn) and rashness (tahawour), between avarice (boukhl) and waste (isrāf), and so on.
Moreover, the expression “moderate Muslim” has, through usage, acquired a strongly negative charge: in Muslim societies at least, it connotes a Muslim who is too accommodating, soft, flattened, docile and pliable; a dissolute and altered Muslim; an immature, childish and manipulable Muslim. In short, the very opposite of the “pure, firm and mature Muslim”, to borrow a phrase dear to Rachid Benaïssa. It is as unfortunate a label as “tolerant Muslim”, which connotes a Muslim who accepts injustice and humiliation. This may be explained by the unworthy attitudes and statements of certain Muslims promoted by the Western media and presented as moderate and tolerant Muslims – model Muslims.
The notion of wassatiya is difficult to translate by a single word in French or in other languages. This is indeed the case for many fundamental Islamic concepts, such as dīn, islām, īmān, ihsān, rahma, haqq, karāma, ‘adl, jihād, charī’a, etc. (4). According to the Muslim thinker Abul A‘la Maududi, who translated the meaning of the Qur’an into English, “the Arabic expression [ummatan wassatan] which we have translated as ‘the community of the middle way’ is too rich in meaning to find an adequate equivalent in another language. It denotes a distinguished group of people who follow the path of justice and equity, of balance and moderation, a group that occupies a central position among the nations of the world, so that its friendship with all is based on righteousness and justice, and no one receives its support for wrongdoing and injustice.” (5).
The term wassatiya was interpreted by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in one of his hadiths by the word ‘oudoul (6) , which means the just, those capable of bearing witness and judging. This gives meaning to the rest of the first verse quoted above: wassatiya predisposes one to the function of bearing witness before people. This is an active witness aimed at improving the lot of humanity. Indeed, bearing witness is part of khilāfa on Earth – stewardship, the primary function of human beings, which implies an active responsibility towards all creatures.
The Algerian philosopher and electrical engineer Malek Bennabi liked to say that “the Muslim is a social transformer”; in particular, he is called to be a transformer of conflicts. This is a religious duty. Every member of the Muslim community (umma) must aspire to be a mediator (wassīt) between people – and not only between Muslims; the Qur’an is clear on this point (7) – who works to draw the parties in conflict towards common ground (kalimatin sawā – common ground).
If “mediature” refers to the place and space of mediation (wassāta), medianhood (wassatiya) could be likened to the intellectual and psychological predisposition indispensable to the success of any mediation process.
Abbas Aroua
13 June 2014
Reference notes:
(1) Qur’an, 2:143.
(2) Qur’an, 4:171.
(3) Qur’an, 5:77.
(4) Abbas Aroua. The Quest of Peace in the Islamic Tradition. Kolofon Press, Oslo 2013. Disponible en ligne sur : Cordoba Peace Institute – Geneva
(5) Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi. The Meaning of the Qur’ān (Tafhim al-Qur’ān).
(6) Reported in Sunan al-Tirmidhi.
(7) Qur’an, 4:114.
