Printer-friendly VersionBy Saro Qadir
The Kurdish Globe
Already being a social and political problem for over 20 years in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, political Islam has been posing a serious security challenge for the past 5 years as a marital problem. In other words, political Islam has become a serious issue that needs to be addressed.
In order to comprehend the depth of the problem and examine its roots, we need to take a break and ponder for awhile what is meant exactly by religion? This will require us to put aside what we have understood as religion from school teachings and social surroundings, as they give an entirely different meaning to the subject. Moreover, to understand religious movements and categorize Islamic movements, we have to know from which perspective to view religion. In the second part, I will try to take us back to history and the emergence of the religious governments and states.
In the third part, I will try to focus on the experience of religious states run by Sharia (Islamic doctrines), their subsequent demise, and the surfacing of reformist thoughts. Furthermore, I will address the elements and outcomes of Islamic states and other world religious governments that have paved the way for the birth of reformist thoughts. What does the term reform mean in a religious state and what does it cover? We ought to determine if the reformist thoughts did or did not cover religious regulations and social and governance systems.
In the fourth part, I will focus on the alternative for the religious state that came into being as an outcome of reforms within religious states. This substitute was later known as a secular state that eventually triggered the occurrence of democratic systems. Finally, we will talk about reasons that necessitated the existence of religious movements.
Undoubtedly, we need to understand that such movements came in response to the need to recreate religious states. Only then can we comprehend the pros and cons of such movements and learn the ways to confront them in society without resorting to violence and oppressive means. In other words, intellectual thinking needs to replace extremism for the sake of democracy.
Part I
It is imperative that we avoid an atheist outlook and depend on a scientific study when looking at religion. Nonetheless, atheists also try to explore the role of religion but they lack a realistic outlook and therefore cannot be seen as the only alternative with which to understand religious concepts. Thus, the most appropriate perspective toward religion is the one that is based on knowledge and consideration for the reality on the ground.
This will require a clear definition for humanity and an assessment of the historical stages man has passed. Returning to history will take us back to the first acquisition of knowledge by human beings. It is exactly that 10,000-year timeframe during which religious perspectives came into being. In that specific period, different religions were born; then began a process of developing and enriching themselves, after which they started fighting against each other.
The fact that the history of humanity is not that ancient cannot be argued. One of the most important historical turning points for man was the steps he took to know himself in order to understand his surroundings and explain events of his time that his predecessors could not even comprehend.
This very understanding of self later led man to realize his inability and helplessness to confront and overcome natural and social threats and plunge into a living environment of insecurity and instability. No matter what perspective we revisit, we come to a common understanding of religion that stems from the belief held by primitive societies within a timeframe that does not exceed 25,000 years. For the modern man, this timeline is too short. Moreover, we cannot go further back than that because it is the historians who determine the history of mankind.
I would like to attract the attention to the fact that Kurdish people are a religiously dominated people. Therefore, the majority of questions raised by the individual are described as taboo or blasphemy and thus categorized as acts of profanity.
Religious mediums used to say that certain questions about religion were not permitted. This point of view implies that there are indeed certain truths about religion of which man should remain unaware. There is no explanation as to why, a fact that raises suspicions and eventually makes the individual curious. And what does curiosity do to the individual? It puts him on a journey to seek answers.
Apparently, this curiosity causes the individual to trespass certain religious borders in hopes to get to the needed answers, and religious authorities have always tried to prevent man from taking the journey, warning that taking such paths could bring mankind closer to evil and satanic thoughts. This kind of religious understanding about human questioning is wrong, for questions get human beings to answers that enable them to overcome their restrictive surroundings. The knowledge leads to reforms and not satanic thinking. It teaches man how to argue instead of blindly giving in. Eventually, mankind can enter a new stage.
From a religious standpoint, the initial attempts of man to leave the jungles and caves and inhabit villages and small community settlements where he began taming animals and using crops for his prosperity and luxury marks the beginning of some kind of ease of mind and assurance that mankind began to enjoy. Before that period and similar to any other animal on earth, mankind was under the constant threat of extinction. At that time, human beings did not have the experience and knowledge they own today.
Why was mankind always so concerned about security? The answer is easy; it is because he could not easily defend himself. Human beings are classified under the category of those species that have difficulty protecting themselves. For example, he could not hunt down and eat his foes like feline animals such as lions, tigers, and wolves can because he lacked biological and physical skills such as strong vision and sense of smell, running speed, and long jumps to complete the job. This helplessness encouraged mankind to find ways to protect himself and the only way to do that was to get to know his surroundings.
We have learned from legends and myths that difficult times in history have led to the birth of saviors and heroes. The reason legendary heroes are not born today is because these things are native only to the age where mankind was incapable of defeating his surroundings. People were dependent on a well-built and strong man to protect them from danger. This very man would then be applauded and praised for his strength and good deeds, characteristics that later defined a hero. These legends were made by the people who lived under the protection of the heroes.
Take a close look at human beings and you will realize his jaws are too weak to even pull herb and eat it like the goat does. A bull could do much better, though. Other species could easily peel a tree and eat its branches. Man had to use his hands to get food to his mouth. As you can see, the lifestyle of mankind is much harder than the way animals live.
This is when religious thought came into being. It started within small communities where there were experienced and knowledgeable people whom the common people looked up to and resorted for help.