Islam: Between Divine Message and History

Chapter Seven – Institutionalizing Religion

CHAPTER SEVEN INSTITUTIONALIZING RELIGION Like other religions and doctrines, Islam was subjected to the requirements of organization and institutionalization. The principles carried by the mission could not have materialized in history, and particularly in the seventh century, had they not answered such requirements. Institutionalization is in fact the transition from theory to practice, from what exists potentially to what exists actually. In this transition the principles inevitably lose part of their power and acquire certain particularities dictated by the characteristics, divergences , and contradictions of reality. Thus, it is quite understandable that a certain exegesis, from among the many that are theoretically possible or that actually exist and have been adopted by individuals or groups, will gain ascendancy over others. Such an exegesis will gradually acquire the character of truthfulness, correctness, and intuitiveness because it most befits people’s mentality and the balance of social, political, and economic powers at a specific time. The institutionalization of Islam is manifested in three ways: First, it is manifested in the differences between Islam and other religions, and between Muslims and other human groups, such as polytheists, $KO DO .LW­E (those who possess a Holy Scripture) and others. This is not surprising because Muslims were a minority among the peoples of the invaded region and they were afraid of merging with the neighboring religious and racial elements. Thus, it was necessary for them to create ways in which they could easily recognize 118 ISLAM each other, for instance by their clothing, food, and their conduct in general. The Muslims’ desire to remain distinct expresses itself in the many rules known as the c Umarian stipulations119 —including the obligation imposed on Ahl al Dhimmah (the people of the covenant) to wear a special kind of overcoat (DO JKÀ\­U) or precluding them from horseriding, building churches or purchasing property—regardless of how accurate this reference to c Umar is and how successful these stipulations were in producing the desired effect. The jurists’ constant reminders of the need to respect them may be a sign that they were not actually adhered to. Moreover, rulers often announced their rejection of them, for example by abolishing certain taxes, as a maneuver to conciliate the populace when the need arose. However, things would soon return to what they were before.120 The Muslims’ procedure did not significantly differ from that of the followers of other religions after the death of prophets or messengers, when the founders of these religions as institutions—e.g. the dispersed Jews after the Babylonian captivity in the sixth century and the Christian disciples of Paul—created factions sharing a number of characteristics , such as ritual prohibitions and doctrines. The tendency to create such distinct factions gradually emerged among Muslims during the reign of c Umar as a direct result of the expansion of the territory under Islamic power and the spread of Muslims within it. However, it is worth noting that the formation of a Muslim group distinct in its behavior from non-Muslim groups was an urbanite tendency rather than a Bedouin or rural one. This was due to the fact that, on the one hand, the Bedouins adopted Islam, and were introduced to its texts, rites, and rules of conduct later than the urbanites121 and, on the other hand, that in a Bedouin society 119 With reference to cUmar b. DO.KDWW­E. 120 On this subject, see Abdelmajid Sharfi, Al-Fikr Al-Islami Fil Rad cAla $O1DV­UD (Islamic thought in response to Christianity), pp. 183–185. 121 Al-Tijani says in his account of the journey he made at the beginning INSTITUTIONALIZING RELIGION 119 people found it both easier to identify with, and harder to stand out as distinct from, one another. When Islam reached the Bedouins none of them thought of imposing on women obligations such as wearing the veil and being confined to the home, which prevailed in the urban areas. This shows that the will to stand out as distinct has its limits, set primarily by social considerations and the dominant way of life. At the same time, attempts at distinction always take on a religious coloring, which varies in different environments and circumstances, and which always seeks to exclude the other by focusing on what distinguishes peoples and not on what unites them into like-minded groups. Secondly, institutionalization manifests itself in the transformation of the different forms of worship into unified...