Islam, Islamism and Secularization: The Thoughts of Bassam Tibi

Abstract

Prof. Bassam Tibi is a distinguished scholar holding various academic affiliations. His thoughts of Islamism and Civil Islam are intellectual responses to the western religion-politics tradition. In the West, there is a tradition of the separation between religion and state, and the teaching of Islam in the public sphere accordinglybecomes controversial. Against the grain, Tibi argues that the interpretation of Islam as din-wa-dawla, religion united with a state order, is problematic. But instead of criticizing Islam itself, he argues that it is not the problem of Islam, but an invention of Islamists or political Islamists, who support Islamization of the world. For Tibi, the so-called traditions proposed by Islamists never existed in the history of Islam, but are simply imagined. Islamists invent these new ideas and promote them as ＂traditions＂ in Islamic history to obtain the authority and authenticity of being ＂Islamic＂ in nature. Similarly, the concept of secularization is usually recognized by Muslims in a negative sense, since it confines the teaching of Islam within the private sphere. However, Tibi argues that secularization is compatible with the teaching of Islam if Muslims correctly understand the concept of secularization and Islamic traditions. The aim of this paper is to introduce the thoughts of Tibi and see how his ideas of Civil Islam can be compatible with the concept of secularization.