Daily Times

Since the dawn of political Islam in the 20^th century, a new political confrontation came into the colonial discourse along with other revolutionary ideologies. Perhaps, 20^th century can be regarded as the most subjective epoch of human history because the civilizations had fought two great wars in the name of human realm.

But the with beginning of decolonization across the third world, pan-Islam and Political Islam has taken position of resurgent transformation across the newly independent post-colonial Muslim states. The reformation of Pan-Islamism, the brainchild of Jamal Uddin Afghani, was revived by Hassan Al Banna of Egypt and Maulana Maududi of Pakistan. They confronted the liberal-centric and western inspired elites in the newly independent Muslim states and stressed on the Islamization of the all the Muslim states based on Shariah. Though, the grand project of Pan-Islamism faced a mammoth failure in both Egypt and Pakistan, but their legacy still exists.

On the other hand, the dawn of 21^st century can be termed as “Branding Pan-Islamic ideals” that refers to the marketing of Islamic ideals in the form of Islamic economics, Islamic banking and now with new phenomenon Islamic open market.

But I guess the context of open market should be defined first, before relating it with the principles of Islam. Basically, the word open Market was deduced from Henri Bergson’s famous book “The two sources of religion and morality”, published in 1932, in which he differentiated the concept of closed societies from the open societies.

Likewise, the same concept was also broadened by Karl Popper in his book “Open society and its enemies’, which profess that the open societies are threatened by the universal ideologies that claim to possess the ultimate truth. Is Islam a universal ideology? If so, now it seems that the universal ideologies are trying for unholy alliance with open societies and market.

Initially, the concept of open societies was genuinely in the socio-political context stressing on wider freedom to individualist ideals in both social and political domain. But this concept was further emboldened by Frederick Hayek in the 1940s through his famous work on open-Markets in resemblance with the ideals of open society. Perhaps, the same concept today is the central theme of neo-liberal economics, which the Pan-Islamist used to condemn in the framework of Western imperialism and economic slavery.

What is going on now? Recently on 14-15 November, International Islamic University has organized two-day conference on the topic “Islamic open Market” in which the renown scholars from Pakistan and abroad were invited to discuss on the latter topic. I went there on the first day. When I entered the room a scholar from Germany was on the rostrum—throughout his speech he didn’t made even a single sentence on “Islamic open market’ instead he was discussing the major divisions in Islam particularly Sufi versus Salafi. The same pattern of discussion was initiated by other scholars, who were there as guest speakers leaving the topic into open air. Why this bigotry? I have the right to ask this question as an attendee because every Tom, Dick and Harry knows the ills brought by the modern-day Capitalism came through Washington consensus, the formal inauguration of global open market economics in the 1990s, that stressed on deregulation of Banks and markets ciphering the role of government intervention in business. They are skeptics, if they are creating a new case for open market in contrast with Islamic ideology because they are simply reforming capitalism. What famous philosopher Condorcet once said?

“Doubtless man will never become immortal, but the progress of preventive medicine, more healthy food and lodging, a way of life that will develop the body through proper exercise without damaging it through over work and extreme wealth, may bring a time, when death shall be the result of ever more decay of the vital forces.”

I don’t really understand, what these skeptic scholars want to do, whether they want to immortalize Islam via open market by making it compatible with capitalism or is it a preventive medicine. But what I understood with my own dint is that these scholars are the proponents of ‘Perfect Society’ via new dimension of Islamic economics without having a basic understanding of the principles of economics.

But I want to suggest these scholars should take a reflexive flashback of human history because earlier there have been various such attempts in Europe that ended in widespread destruction. For instance, Napoleon and Hitler are the best examples of such attempts towards perfection but ended with severe failure because their economic and political vision of the world was not promising better future to the ordinary masses. Though Hegel confessed about the initial Prussian attempt of perfecting the European continent, which he called the incarnation of his absolute idea—The march of God in history. And, it seems to me that this new brand of scholars is attempting to march Allah towards Islamic neo-liberalism without the defining the essence of “Islameconomics” via objective principles. Thus, I must call it Islamic branding, which is far-beyond the real domain of Pan-Islam and Islamic context.

In contrast, the case of Islamic open market is going to give birth to a new version of Islamic economics based on branding that is only going to enrich the neo-liberal Islamic elites, who have already gained a foothold in the neo-liberal market through billion dollar halal food industry and Islamic banking.