"Which Islam Is the Right One for Tomorrow?"

Malek Chebel is one of the best-known Arab intellectuals in France. In his latest book, "L'Islam et la Raison" (Islam and Reason), he turns his attention once again to his favorite subject: the compatibility of Islam with modernity. A review by Susan Javad

Malek Chebel made a modest name for himself in Germany in the 1990s with his encyclopedia "Die Welt der Liebe im Islam" ("The World of Love in Islam") and the art book "Symbole des Islam" ("Symbols of Islam"). In his chosen homeland of France, however, Chebel publishes with persistent regularity, at least one book a year, oscillating between his two special themes: love and sexuality in Islam, and the question of whether Islam is compatible with modernity.

"L'Islam et la Raison" now joins the series of works Chebel has devoted to the latter theme, this time answering the question of whether a "modern Islam" is possible with a resounding "yes."

Innovative, rebellious and intelligent experiences

In his latest book on this topic, Chebel introduces the reader to the great moments in Islamic intellectual history. By doing so, the author hopes to highlight what he believes is a potential for reform that has always been inherent in Islam.

He already gets to the crux of his argument in the very first line of the introduction: "The idea behind this book is simple: Islamic history preserves the memory of innovative, rebellious and intelligent experiences that opened up new paths and set signposts. But who still remembers this past?"

Chebel describes the reasons for this forgetfulness in ten short chapters that review some 1,400 years of Islamic history.

He begins his tale – in the classic manner – with the death of the Prophet and the subsequent struggle to anoint a successor. Chebel identifies the resulting decision in favor of Abu Bakr, the first of the "Righteous Caliphs" (632-634 AD), as the moment that would set the course for all further developments. With the caliphate of Abu Bakr, Chebel claims, "Islam as doctrine" gained the upper hand over the "spontaneous Islam" of the early days.

"Rigorous mentality, based on prohibitions"

The Islamic orthodoxy that began to evolve in the ensuing years is in Chebel's eyes the root of all of the problems facing today's Muslims since it cemented the relationship between individuals and their faith as a "rigorous mentality, based on prohibitions."

This orthodoxy, he continues, bans free discourse, defines the dogma and tolerates no deviations. It thus deprives the individual believer of the right to think for himself and make his own choices.

Chebel juxtaposes this monolithic understanding of religion with various currents in Islamic intellectual history whose principles cast doubt on the prevailing dogma. He sees these opposing views as being wrapped up in a centuries-long "battle of ideas" with the Islamic orthodoxy.

The rationalist mu´tazila school of thought in the 8th and 9th centuries is one of the instances he cites. He also describes in detail the advanced Arab civilization in Andalusia, where tolerance between the various peoples – Muslims, Jews and Christians – set a shining example as one of the noblest chapters of Islamic history.

"The spirit of Cordoba has changed camps"

Nevertheless, as Chebel concludes at the end of his Andalusian excursion, "Today, the spirit of Cordoba no longer exists. It is elsewhere. Perhaps in Paris or Brussels, in New York, in Berlin ... Today, the spirit of Cordoba, its famed tolerance, has changed camps."

Chebel, who was born in Algeria and has lived for over twenty-five years in France, thus comes to the heart of his book and his entire oeuvre. Islam, he writes, must reform itself: "everyone agrees on this – but it can't be done without the help and solidarity of the West." The reader is kept guessing, however, when it comes to exactly what form this assistance should take.

While reading it becomes evident that the author views his own book as a contribution to this reform process. On almost 150 pages of text Chebel provides a sweeping overview of the various ideological approaches in the annals of Islamic thought that he believes might serve as springboards for today's reform efforts.

Unfortunately, his undertaking does not depart much from the usual well-trodden paths. The spirit of Andalusia, the mu'tazila school and Sufism are always invoked to demonstrate the "other" side of Islam. If we are to glean any new insights from these admittedly interesting aspects of Islam, however, a much more deep-reaching analysis is necessary than Chebel offers in his book.

By all means praiseworthy, by contrast, are the biographies of the protagonists in the Islamic ideological debate that Chebel provides at the end of the book, which are surely helpful for those just embarking on a study of this field.

Nonetheless, after reading the book, one is left feeling unsatisfied. Chebel's recommendation that Islam today try to pick up again from where its glory days left off, trading in its egocentricity and nostalgia for a greater measure of realism, reminds one of Bassam Tibi's call for a Euro Islam. The question is whether Chebel's admonishment will succeed at getting through to his true "target group."

One has a sneaking suspicion, when Malek Chebel asks in his final chapter: "Which Islam is the right one for tomorrow?" that he doesn't know the answer himself.

Susan Javad

Translated from the German by Jennifer Taylor-Gaida

Malek Chebel: L'Islam et la Raison – Le Combat des Idées. 2006 (Perrin), 238 pages.

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