Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization

Appendix: Analysis of the Questionnaires

Questionnaires were distributed in universities, hotels, cafés, mosques, and homes in Turkey, Qatar, Syria, Jordan, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Responses averaged 120 per country and provide a sampling of contemporary and historical role models, as follows. Demographics Most respondents ranged in age from the teens (high school age) to late twenties. Therefore, our data generally reflect the perceptions and views of youth in the countries we visited. Since we usually started our project by visiting universities and high schools, we continued this approach throughout our trip. Despite this bias toward educated youth (those enrolled in school), we sought a balance between male and female respondents and between low and high socioeconomic backgrounds. For example, in Jordan we visited an elite, Western-oriented high school, the Amman Baccalaureate School, and a similar school in Pakistan, Karachi Grammar School. Both schools are attended by the children of diplomats, government officials , and the upper class. At madrassahs, respondents reflected a lower socioeconomic class. We also included middle-class universities, such as Quaid-i-Azam University, University of Jordan, Abu Nour Institute, Islamic University of Malaysia, and Qatar University. Appendix Analysis of the Questionnaires Hadia Mubarak with the “Islam in the Age of Globalization” Team 275 08-0132-3 appendix 4/6/07 3:56 PM Page 275 276 Appendix: Analysis of the Questionnaires One interesting finding is that although our sampling represents a variety of elite, upper-class, middle-class, and lower-class professionals and youth, respondents were consistent in their selections of religious figures. Those mentioned by one set of students in a religious school were also mentioned in the secular schools. Hence the responses reflect a strong sense of religious identification. Contemporary Role Models Responses showed no consensus on a contemporary role model. Furthermore , most of the contemporary role models are region-specific: most selected in the Arab world do not coincide with those selected in South Asia or Southeast Asia, with some exceptions. Contemporary figures as a whole fall into three categories: 1. Nongovernmental figures from the Deoband model. Some represent a modernist Islamic approach that is politically pragmatic, encouraging political participation and recognizing the legitimacy of the modern nation-state system in order to advance its Islamic cause. Examples of such figures identified in nearly all of the countries were Yousef al-Qaradawi, a charismatic preacher, Abu A’la Maududi, an influential Muslim theologian , and Hassan Al-Banna, founder of the Islamic Brotherhood. Respondents who identified other popular Deoband figures, such as Osama bin Laden, were opposed to participation in any electoral process. 2. Deoband figures involved in government, either heads of state or other political figures who are perceived as revolutionary and who have stood up to the West or Israel at some point in their political career. Some examples are Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Yasser Arafat, Hasan Nasrallah, and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. 3. Muslims from the Ajmer and Aligarh models. Many are icons of a newly emerging Islamic pop culture or are leaders of an interpretation of Islam that seeks to “modernize” Islam in a traditional context or attempt to synthesize Islam and the West. Examples are Sami Yusuf, an IranianBritish singer and songwriter, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), and Hamza Yusuf, an American convert to Islam. Amr Khaled stands out as the top contemporary role model in every country we visited in the Arab world. He was selected by 45 percent to 60 percent of the populations in each Arab country. There is a sense among the respondents that the image of 08-0132-3 appendix 4/6/07 3:56 PM Page 276 Islam, and hence of all those who follow Islam, is being defined and negotiated by current political events. Thus they are looking to role models who can either undo the damage or at least impose some damage control by presenting the “proper image of Islam.” Amr Khaled’s presentation of Islam resonated loudest with Jordanian, Syrian, and Qatari youth. Where most Muslim youth in all countries surveyed believe that the West’s “incorrect image of Islam” is the number one problem facing the Muslim world, there is an attempt to restore the “authenticity” or true image of Islam. Thus one of the most common reasons cited for Amr Khaled’s popularity is his proper representation or love of the religion and his strength, determination, and sacrifice for Islam. Other more politically active names associated with the Aligarh model included Mahathir bin...