Meir Hatina's book examines intellectual debates about the role of Islam in the state in twentieth-century Egypt. After a historical discussion of the subject until roughly the present, Hatina examines the life and ideas of Faraj Fuda, an important Egyptian liberal thinker who was assassinated in 1992. Hatina examines Fuda's ideas and writings in part as a window into debates between liberal and Islamist ideological currents in Egypt in the second half of the twentieth century.
The first two chapters are largely historical and establish a genealogy of liberal thought in early twentieth-century Egypt. This section includes a discussion and analysis of the intellectual debates generated by, ‘Ali ‘Abd al-Raziq and his important work, Islam and the Sources of Political Authority, as well as the writings of Khalid Muhammad Khalid. Chapter 2 surveys the revival of religious politics under presidents Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak and includes a discussion of the Muslim Brotherhood's ideas and political participation during this period.
Chapter 3 begins the discussion of Faraj Fuda's life and intellectual engagement. The single largest section of the book focuses on Fuda's championing of liberal principles and secular politics. Fuda also spent considerable energy challenging the Islamist trend in Egypt. Hatina recounts Fuda's family and educational background and his early ventures into politics, painting a sympathetic picture of the man and his ideas. The chapter ends with Fuda's murder at the hands of radical Islamists in 1992. Subsequent chapters devote greater attention to Fuda's ideas and his intellectual battles with prominent Islamist thinkers.
Chapters 4 through 6 take up Fuda's intellectual production, especially his confrontation with Islamist thinkers. Hatina analyzes Fuda's writings, particularly his analysis of Islamic history and arguments about the place of Shari‘a in modern politics. Fuda argued that early Islamic history did not represent a model of a perfect, harmonious, just political system. From this point of departure, Fuda differentiated between Islam and Muslims and railed against the idea of a religious state. He criticized the Muslim Brotherhood's slogan that “Islam is the solution” and attacked the notion that implementing Shari‘a would immediately solve society's ills.
Chapters 5 and 6 take up Fuda's analysis of the Islamic trend and his assessment of the Muslim Brotherhood. Highly skeptical of the movement, Fuda did not believe the Brotherhood was genuinely committed to democracy. Nor did he believe that the Egyptian state could compromise with Islamists who viewed democracy only as a means to power. Chapter 7 compares Fuda's views with those of other Egyptian liberal intellectuals who also put forward modernist interpretation of Islam, especially Husayn Ahmad Amin and Muhammad Sa‘id al-‘Ashmawi.
Chapter 8 explores the ideas of a group of influential Islamist thinkers associated with a centrist, or wasateyya, discourse. This group includes Muhammad al-Ghazali, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Muhammad ‘Imara, and Fahmi Huwaydi. These authors understand shura (consultation) to be similar to Western principles of representative government and are said to be committed to political pluralism, tolerance, and a civic form of Islamic governance. The chapter skillfully presents the relatively progressive views of these thinkers as well as their limitations.
Chapter 9 recounts the attempt by the Muslim Brothers to split from the wider Muslim Brotherhood in order to form a distinct party based on the ideas of the wasateya thinkers. The party espoused tolerance, moderation, and pluralism and viewed Islam as a civilizational heritage rather than a governing blueprint. The Egyptian government never awarded the party legal status.
The book also contains a useful appendix with translated sections of the political platform of the Mustaqbal Party, the party Fuda attempted to establish before his assassination. This interesting document provides direct insight into Fuda's thinking and political principles. Overall, Hatina presents a valuable analysis of Fuda's views and arguments regarding citizenship, national unity, Islamism, Shari‘a, as well as his interpretations of Islamic history. The book provides insight into intellectual debates among some of the leading Egyptian liberal and Islamist intellectuals in the second half of the twentieth century.
Hatina could have gone further, however, in critically examining Fuda's intellectual trajectory. For example, the extent of Fuda's liberalism concerning Islamist political participation is unclear. Fuda also seems to have misunderstood or ignored the extent of the Egyptian regime's authoritarianism. Fuda's understanding of secularism and liberal views of government are also insufficiently analyzed. At times, Hatina also seems not to fully appreciate the extent of authoritarianism in Egypt as when he writes of a “democratization process” (179) in the country.
Hatina could have profitably devoted a few more pages to the events immediately preceding Fuda's murder. For example, although it is well known that Fuda participated in a highly publicized public debate with Muhammad al-Ghazali, a prominent Islamist thinker whose ideas are discussed in the book, during the Cairo Book Fair in 1992, the debate receives no mention. The incident is important because Al-Ghazali famously testified as a defense witness in the trial of Fuda's accused murderers. Al-Ghazali's controversial testimony was widely considered to be a justification of Fuda's murder on the grounds that he was an apostate. Finally, at times Hatina seems to uncritically employ the modernization-era categories of “tradition” and “modernity” without benefit. Notwithstanding these minor shortcomings, the book will prove valuable for students and scholars interested in twentieth-century Egyptian intellectual history and debates between liberal and Islamist intellectual currents, especially for those who cannot utilize Arabic sources.
