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“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose,” Antonio says to Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Religion is often used and misused by politicians to gain power. To understand the intricate relationship between Islam and politics, Brandon Kendhammer, a PhD candidate in political science at UW-Madison, went to Northern Nigeria and studied the implementation of sharia law in the region since the country’s democratic transition in 1999. He sat down with Inside Islam recently to share his experience and research findings. You can watch the whole interview by clicking on the video below.
Kendhammer grew up in Wisconsin, but became interested in Islam and Africa when he studied abroad in Cameroon and lived in a Muslim community, the city of Ngaoundéré. “I remember waking up in the morning and hearing the call to prayer.” It left a lasting impression on the then 20-year-old.
From September 2007 to July 2008, Kendhammer returned to Africa for his doctoral research, this time in Nigeria (1:20). After Nigeria’s democratic elections in 1999, politicians who took office in northern Nigeria, where a majority of the country’s Muslims live, sought to implement sharia law. After observing how people talk about Islamic law, debate its implementation, and think about democracy, Kendhammer concluded that ordinary citizens often are not sure what stand they should take on a new political issue based on their faith. Thus, politicians and other social and media elites have a disproportionate role in shaping what religion and politics mean to each other. “Politics, not theology, tends to explain the ways in which Islamic values and beliefs are translated into calls for political action, and ultimately into public opinion.”
Unfortunately, many Americans, including some academics, have a very simplistic notion of how Islam impacts politics, blaming the religion for many violent actions and brutal regimes in the Muslim world (3:40). “To assume that whatever theological or doctrinal reading you are making of Islam is how everybody thinks about Islam is just patently ridiculous,” said Kendhammer. “It’s not about what Islam says, it’s about what Muslims do with what’s available.” Religions don’t have monolithic effects on their adherents. That’s why he can’t use any word other than “diversity” to describe Islam.
French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal once said, “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction.” But maybe we are too quick to assume that religion motivates politics and not the other way around or in some more complicated relationship. How do you see the interaction between Islam and politics? If elites play such a substantial role in “framing” the relationship between religion and democracy, what does that have to say about the role of ordinary citizens? We welcome your comments.
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Comments
12.04.09
This is an interesting article, Kaitlin.
I do think that many of the contentions that are labelled as Islamic in the middle east (or anywhere else in the world), have more to do with the politics of power, using religion or scripture as a catalyst towards political action. It's not the religion itself. It's very easy to take scripture out of context in pretty much any faith or following.
It's also important to note that the politics of faith that surround what everyone else views as the politics of Islam, is in fact, a very small portion of the faith. The majority of muslims don't comprise the Middle East or the Arab World. There are manifold followings of Islam, a majority of them peaceful. I think for anyone studying or trying to understand Islam, this is an important notion to remember.
I think that ordinary citizens often lack a lexicon to explain their faith. The media is largely responsible for perpetuating this sort of rogue idea of Islam. Mainly because peace isn't really as provocative a new idea as fundamentalism. So the answer to the question would be two-fold. One is for the ordinary followers of Islam to develop such a lexicon. And two would be for others to make a concerted effort to understand, ask questions and seek education about the faith.
12.04.09
First of all, I love that Mehnaz and I - the foreign policy groupies on here - are the firsts to comment on this awesome post. I love the idea of looking at Islam in this type of way, especially because you are absolutely right - most people have no notion of how it impacts politics at all.
I think this is great content to talk about here on Brazen because so many of us are impacted by these issues every day. Great post!!
12.04.09
Hurrah for Foreign Policy Mavens :)
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