The compromise of Islamism and democracy in the light of the Tunisian revolution and views of Rachid al-Gannouchi

ABSTRACTThe Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia in 2010 and 2011 catalysed changes in many Arab countries, referred to as the Arab Spring. The Tunisian events of this period led to the flourishing of Islamist tendencies in the country with unexpected results. Over more than two decades, two secular dictatorships collapsed, replaced by a democracy inspired by the Western model but shaped by the ideas of the Islamist movement, represented by Ennahda and its leader Rachid al-Gannouchi. The article presents an analysis of the changes in the Tunisian political scene, dating back to the decolonization and independence of Tunisia in 1956, the period of two regimes, to the elections of 2011, which were crucial for Islamists, and the consequences of their political decisions in the post-revolutionary period. The context for the analysis is the activity of important figure of contemporary Islamism, Al-Gannouchi and his party. It justifies the sense-creating and compensatory importance of religion-based ideology for the secular processes in Tunisia. It also discusses the result of post-revolutionary changes based on the principle of political pluralism and the principle of ‘consensus’ presented by Al-Gannouchi, who, after years of exile from the country, returned to become the face of Islamic democracy. Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Vladimir Tismăneanu, Wizje zbawienia (Fantasies of Salvation: Democracy, Nationalism and Myth in Post-Communist Europe) (Warsaw: Muza, 2000), 139.2 Patrick Van Inwegen, Understanding Revolution (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2011), 3–4.3 Ibid., 4.4 Ibid., 4–7.5 Jack A. Goldstone, ‘Toward A Fourth Generation of Revolutionary Theory’, Annual Reviews of Political Science 4 (2001): 142.6 Ibid., 142.7 Habib Ayeb, ‘Social and political geography of the Tunisian revolution: the alfa grass revolution’, Review of African Political Economy 38/129 (2011): 467.8 Tismăneanu, Wizje, 139.9 Robert S. Robins and Jerrold M. Post, Paranoja polityczna. Psychologia nienawiści (Political Paranoia The Psychopolitics of Hatred) (Warsaw: Książka i Wiedza, 2007), 147–8.10 Tismăneanu, Wizje, 58.11 Marek Dziekan, ‘Islam i polityka we współczesnej Tunezji: Raszid al-Ghannuszi i Harakat an-Nahda’, in Bunt czy rewolucja? Przemiany na Bliskim Wschodzie po 2010 roku, eds. Katarzyna Górak-Sosnowska and Katarzyna Pachniak (Łódź: Ibidem, 2012), 69.12 Ayeb, ‘Social and political’, 467.13 William L. Cleveland and Martin P. Bunton, A History of the Modern Middle East (New York—London: Routledge, 2016), 537.14 Ibid., 537.15 Ibid., 539.16 Ibid., 539.17 Ayeb, ‘Social and political’, 468, 469.18 Nazih Ayubi, Political Islam. Religion and Politics in the Arab World (London—New York: Routledge, 2006), 113.19 Olivier Roy, The Failure of Political Islam (Cambridge—Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1996), 29.20 Shabbir Akhtar, Islam as Political Religion. The future of an imperial faith (London—New York: Routledge, 2011), 222.21 Sayyid Qutb is one of the most important figures of contemporary Islamism associated with the Egyptian environment. He has become a key figure in the Muslim Brotherhood. – See: Gilles Kepel, Jihad. The Trial of Political Islam (London-New York: I.B. TAURIS, 2003); Nicholas P. Roberts, Political Islam and the Invention of Tradition (Washington DC: New Academia Publishing, 2015); Ayubi, Political Islam; and for the ideology of Qutb—Sayyid Qutb, Social Justice in Islam (New York, Oneonta, 2000) transl. J. B. Hardie.22 Mehdi Mozaffari, Islamism. A new totalitarianism (Boulder London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2017), 141.23 Ibid., 283–4.24 Dziekan, ‘Islam i polityka’, 69.25 Azzam S. Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’ in The Oxford Handbook of Islam and Politics, eds. John L. Esposito and Emad El-Din Shahin (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 212; Dziekan, ‘Islam i polityka’, 72. A brief biography of Al-Gannouchi in the article of Dziekan (pp. 71–75) was also prepared on the basis of Tamimi, and Emad E. Shahin, ‘Ghannushi, Rashid al-‘, in The Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Modern Islamic World, ed. John L. Esposito (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, vol. 2).26 Joseph A. Kéchichian, A genuine Islamist democrat, September 16, 2011, https://gulfnews.com/lifestyle/a-genuine-islamist-democrat-1.865958 (access: 20.12.2022).27 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 212.28 Ibid., 212–3.29 John L. Esposito, Islam and Politics (Syracuse—New York: Syracuse University Press, 1998), 62.30 Janusz Danecki, Arabowie (Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 2001), 378.31 Esposito, Islam, 97.32 Ibid., 62.33 One of the oldest Islamist parties, founded by Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani in Jerusalem in 1953 as a faction of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood. – See: Khaled Hroub, ‘Hamas: Hamas: Conflating National Liberation and Socio-Political Change’, in Political Islam. Context versus Ideology, ed. Khaled Hroub (London: SAQI & London Middle East Institute SOAS, 2010), 163–4.34 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 213.35 Dziekan, ‘Islam i polityka’, 73.36 Kéchichian, A genuine Islamist, (access: 22.12.2022).37 The Tablighi Jamaat (Society of Preachers) comes from India in the late 1920s. Founded by Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi, it preaches a return to rigorously understood law and strict orthopraxy. The movement spread from the Indian district of Mewat to the entire subcontinent and then to the Arab world, Africa, Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. – See: Dale F. Eickelman and James Piscatori, Muslim Politics (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004), 148.38 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 214.39 Ayubi, Political Islam, 113.40 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 215–6.41 Ayubi, Political Islam, 113–4.42 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 214.43 Krzysztof Izak, Leksykon organizacji i ruchów islamistycznych (Warszawa: Dialog, 2016), 255.44 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 216.45 Ayubi, Political Islam, 114–5.46 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 215; Ayubi, Political Islam, 115.47 Ayubi, Political Islam, 115.48 Kéchichian, A genuine Islamist, (access: 22.12.2022).49 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 217.50 Ibid., 217; Kéchichian, A genuine Islamist, (access: 22.12.2022).51 At the peak of MTI’s activity, the average age of supporters and sympathizers was about 25 years old. On the other hand, about 80% of members were under 30 years old (primarily students, but also teachers), not counting the leadership and authorities of the movement from the Ez-Zitouna University. – See: Ayubi, Political Islam, 115–116.52 Ibid., 116.53 Ibid., 115, 117; Izak, Leksykon, 256.54 Franck Frégosi, Malika Zeghal, ‘Religion et politique au Maghreb: les exemples tunisien et marocain’, Policy Paper 11 (2005), 24.55 Ibid., 24.56 Kéchichian, A genuine Islamist, (access: 03.01.2023).57 Mustafa al-Ahnaf, ‘Tunisie: Un débat sur les rapports état/religion’, Maghreb-Machrek 4/126 (1989), 94–5.58 Szymon Niedziela, Fundamentalizm muzułmański w Algierii. Znaczenie wewnętrzne i oddziaływanie międzynarodowe (Toruń: Dom Wydawniczy Duet, 2013), 153–4.59 Frégosi, Zeghal, ‘Religion et politique’, 23–4.60 Ibid., 23; Al-Ahnaf, ‘Tunisie: Un débat’, 106.61 Frégosi, Zeghal, ‘Religion et politique’, 25–6.62 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 218.63 Ayubi, Political Islam, 117.64 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 218.65 Frégosi, Zeghal, ‘Religion et politique’, 27.66 When the organization ran for election in April, it still had no political party licence. Their application was rejected in June, and its members were accused of belonging to an illegal organization. – See: Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 218.67 Frégosi, Zeghal, ‘Religion et politique’, 27.68 Izak, Leksykon, 256.69 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 218.70 Izak, Leksykon, 257–8.71 https://www.globalmbwatch.com/rachid-ghannouchi/(access: 03.01.2023).72 Jerzy Zdanowski, Bliski Wschód 2011: bunt czy rewolucja? (Kraków: Oficyna Wydawnicza AFM, 2011), 12–3.73 Konrad Pędziwiatr, Przemiany islamizmów w Egipcie i Tunezji w cieniu Arabskiej Wiosny (Kraków: NOMOS, 2019), 154.74 Dziekan, ‘Islam i polityka’, 69.75 Fawaz A. Gerges, ‘The Many Voices of Political Islam’, The Majalla 1573 (2012), 14–18.76 Pędziwiatr, Przemiany islamizmów, 156.77 Ibid., 157; Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 219–20.78 Gerges, ‘The Many Voices’, 16. ‘Troika’ is the unofficial name of the agreement between En-Nahda, the social-democratic Forum Démocratique pour le Travail et les Libertés (FDTL, or Ettakatol) and the centre-left, secularist Congrès Pour la République (CPR, or El Mottamar).79 Peter Mandaville, Islam and Politics (London—New York: Routledge, 2014), 161.80 Ibid., 161.81 After the Revolution, (access: 22.01.2023).82 It is mainly about the Tunisian Salafists. They formed loosely connected right-wing religious groups. Before the revolution, they were relatively invisible and apolitical. Before the fall of Ben Ali’s government, like all opponents of the regime, they were persecuted. Liberation from the secular dictatorship revived the voices of many circles, including the highly religious ones. Shortly after the revolution, many secular Tunisians and the media identified En-Nahda with the Salafists. It is now assumed that Salafism in Tunisia encompasses a wide range of religiously conservative social movements located ‘to the right’ of En-Nahda. – See: Monica Marks, ‘Who are Tunisia’s Salafis?’, Foreign Policy 2012, https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/09/28/who-are-tunisias-salafis/(access: 22.01.2023); Francesco Cavatorta, The Rise and Fall of Uncivil Society? Salafism in Tunisia After the Fall of Ben Ali 2015, https://www.mei.edu/publications/rise-and-fall-uncivil-society-salafism-tunisia-after-fall-ben-ali (access: 22.01.2023).83 Pędziwiatr, Przemiany islamizmów, 160.84 http://www.tunisia-live.net/2013/12/14/mehdi-jomaa-chosen-to-become-new-prime-minister/(access: 23.01.2023).85 Pędziwiatr, Przemiany islamizmów, 187.86 March, ‘What Is „Muslim” about’, 3.87 Kéchichian, A genuine Islamist, (access: 03.01.2023).88 Ibid.89 Ibid.90 Ayubi, Political Islam, 232–3; Rashid al-Ghanushi, ‘Deficiencies in the Islamic Movement’, Middle East Report 153 (1988).91 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 218.92 Dziekan, ‘Islam i polityka’, 76.93 Andrew F. March, ‘What Is „Muslim” about Tunisia’s „Muslim Democrats”?’, Middle East Brief 142 (2021), 2.94 Ibid., 2–3.95 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 218–9; Dziekan, ‘Islam i polityka’, 76–7.96 Gerhard Bowering ed., The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2013), 206.97 Ibid., 206.98 March, ‘What Is „Muslim” about’, 3.99 Abdou Filali-Ansary, ‘Islam and Liberal Democracy: The Challenge of Secularization’, Journal of Democracy 7/2 (1996), 76–80.100 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 219.101 Ibid., 219.102 After the Revolution: Prospects for Tunisia, Sheikh Rached Ghannouchi, Dr Moncef Marzouki, Dr Claire Spencer. Transcript of the audio recording (London: Chatham House, 2012), www.chathamhouse.org (access: 14.01.2023).103 Tarek Osman, Islamism. What it Mean for the Middle East and the World (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2016), 12–3.104 Ibid., 13.105 Ibid., 13.106 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 216.107 Kéchichian, A genuine Islamist, (access: 14.01.2023).108 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 219–20.109 March, ‘What Is “Muslim” about’, 4.110 Ibid., 4.111 Ibid., 4.112 Tadeusz Bodio, ‘Polityka w życiu społecznym’, in Społeczeństwo i polityka. Podstawy nauk politycznych, eds. Konstanty A. Wojtaszczyk, Wojciech Jakubowski (Warszawa: Oficyna Wydawnicza Aspra, 2007), 49.113 March, ‘What Is “Muslim” about’, 4.114 Ibid., 4–5.115 After the Revolution, (access: 14.01.2023).116 Niedziela, Fundamentalizm muzułmański w Algierii, 157.117 Rikke Hostrup Haugbølle and Francesco Cavatorta, ‘Beyond Ghannouchi. Islamism and Social Change in Tunisia’, Middle East Report 262 (2012): 21.118 Yasmine Ryan, ‘Rifts threaten Tunisia’s governing party’, Al Jazeera 28 Aug. 2013, https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2013/8/28/rifts-threaten-tunisias-governing-party (access: 04.09.2023)119 Tamimi, ‘Rashid al-Ghannushi’, 220.120 Dziekan, ‘Islam i polityka’, 71.121 This statement is in a review of the book Azzam S. Tamimi, Rachid Ghannouchi: A Democrat within Islamism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) prepared by Kramer. – See: ‘Rachid Ghannouchi: A Democrat within Islamism. Reviewed by Martin Kramer’, Middle East Quarterly 9/4 (2002), https://www.meforum.org/1492/rachid-ghannouchi-a-democrat-within-islamism (access: 23.01.2023)122 M. Kramer, ‘A U.S. Visa for Rachid Ghannouchi?’, Policywatch, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 121 (1994), https://martinkramer.org/reader/archives/a-u-s-visa-for-rachid-ghannouchi/(access: 23.01.2023).123 Rikke Hostrup Haugbølle and Amine Ghali and Hèla Yousfi, and others, Tunisia’s 2013 National Dialogue. Political Crisis Management. National Dialogue Handbook Case Study (Berlin: Berghof Foundation), 28.124 Ibid., 31.125 Ibid., 34–5.