This article was originally written around 2008 and published on Google Knol. It is republished here as a historical document and reflects the author’s ideas at the time of writing.

This is part of the Project Policrateia series.

Muslim Anarchism sounds to many like an illusion, as most Muslim nations are known for harsh governments and suppression. However, Islam has many anarchist tendencies incorporated. This article will study these anarchist components and offer an alternative for Islamic politics.

Introduction

Anarchism is an ideology which deeply affected human life since the 19th century — in both positive and negative ways. Anarchists have influenced historical events and societies all over the world. The deeper philosophy of anarchism has been laid down by the likes of the French philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, the Russian thinkers Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin, and the famous writer Leo Tolstoy. The last is of special notice here, because his thoughts combine the anarchist idea with religion. Tolstoy is one of the leading figures of the Christian Anarchist movement.

It was this movement, combined with developments in Islamic societies, that made me wonder. Many Muslims would prefer the Caliphate and a Khalifa to return to rule them, as it is to many the only true Islamic form of government. Though their version of the Khalifa does in most cases not differ from the average corrupt and despotic rule in the Middle East to date. When we look at the few cases in which an Islamist revolution succeeded, a corrupted state emerged. Iran and Afghanistan under the Taliban are notorious examples of how such a corrupted worldview would occur. By thinking along the lines of the mullahs and ayatollahs, these people ignore the concept of Shûra and other important Islamic thought. Perhaps they ignore Shûra because most Muslims have never experienced any form of it in their lives, living as they do under some form of oppressive government. As Shûra is said to require an Amir/Emir/Ameer to lead the people and consult them before making a decision, they accept any ruler even when this ruler does not consult them. They probably do not know what to do when consulted.

From a Muslim Anarchist point of view, such an Emir does not have to be a human. A Muslim Anarchist considers Allah (swt) to be the only Emir to whom he or she pays allegiance. That stems from the anarchist view that no human can make another human listen, unless it is the free will of that other person to do so. Combined with the aforementioned concept of Shûra, this enables Muslim Anarchists to create consensus in accordance with the will of Allah (swt) as laid down in the Qur’an and the Hadith, and to prevent chaos from ruling their society.

Islam is, according to many, a religion that can be simple in all its complexity, as well as complex in all its simplicity.

Working on a workable Muslim Anarchist framework will take time. The nature of anarchism also means that people will tend to disagree with each other. In this regard, Islam will provide a natural constitution for anarchists to agree upon, as the Qur’an and Hadith provide straightforward guidelines for humankind to live by.

Historical anarchist tendencies in Islam

Throughout history there have been anti-authoritarian movements within Islam, though they are not well documented and it is unclear how much impact they have had on mainstream Islam.

The first recorded strand of anti-authoritarian Islam dates back to the death of the third Caliph Uthmān ibn Affān. A dispute over his succession resulted in the Shia–Sunni split. There was a third group, however — the Kharijites — who opposed both sects and claimed that any qualified Muslim could be an Imam. They held that all people were individually responsible for the good or evil of their acts, challenged all authority, and encouraged everyone — especially the poor and dispossessed — to see the struggle against injustice as divinely sanctioned. Although the Kharijites saw all believers as completely equal regardless of social differences, they believed that non-believers had no rights. At least one sect of the Kharijites, the Najdiyya, believed that if no suitable imam was present in the community, the position could be dispensed with altogether.

A strand of Mutazalite thought paralleled that of the Najdiyya: if rulers inevitably became tyrants, then the only acceptable course of action was to stop installing rulers.

As both Sunni and Shia Islam developed into authoritarian ideologies, the libertarian ideas within Islam continued most strongly through Sufism — the mystical strand of Islam. Sufism was widespread at the edges of the Islamic empires, in secluded areas, developing under the influence of eastern philosophy; anti-authoritarian and revolutionary ideas are present throughout its history. Many Sufi orders and Sufis advocated and struggled for women’s equality and social justice. Sufism also provided much of Islamic poetry and literature where these tendencies are visible. One of the most famous Sufi poets was the Persian writer Farid al-Din Attar (13th century CE). In one of his works, he tells the story of a Sufi teacher, Fozail-e Iyaz, and the fifth Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid: as Harun seeks someone in his kingdom to tell him the truth about himself, he finds Fozail — the only person who speaks honestly, without fawning. Fozail tells him that he respects no authority and that “to obey God for one moment is better than a thousand years of people obeying you.”

The French cartoonist Gustave-Henri Jossot, a frequent contributor to anarchist magazines, converted to Islam in 1913, citing “simplicity, no priests, no dogmas and almost no ceremonies” as reasons. After the change, he continued to criticise the idea of a fatherland, demanded equal payment for all, and rejected political action, violence and formal education. He rejected social action with the rationale that change is only possible on an individual level.

An important and influential figure in the 20th century was Ali Shariati, one of the ideologues of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, of whom Jean-Paul Sartre said: “I have no religion, but if I were to choose one, it would be Shariati’s.” After the revolution took on a particularly vicious authoritarian note, Shariati was imprisoned for his lectures — enormously popular with students — and was forced to flee Iran. He was assassinated shortly afterwards. Although Shariati was not an anarchist, his vision of Islam was one of a revolutionary religion siding with the poor. He believed that the only true reflection of the Islamic concept of Tawhid (unity and oneness of God) is a classless society.

On 20 June 2005, Yakoub Islam, a British-born convert to Islam, published his online Muslim Anarchist Charter. The charter asserted a set of basic principles for anarchist thought and action founded on a Muslim perspective. It reaffirmed some of the core principles of Islam — belief in God, the prophecy of Muhammad and the human soul — but asserted the possibility that a Muslim’s spiritual path might be achieved by refusing to compromise with institutional power in any form, be it judicial, religious, social, corporate or political.

The Qur’anic verse that perhaps most powerfully encapsulates this thought:

“If you were to obey a human being like yourselves, then verily you indeed would be losers.” — Surah 23, Al-Mu’minun, Ayat 34

This verse proves that Islam does contain anarchist elements. The renouncement of human government appears clearly in the Qur’an: no Muslim should obey any other Muslim, but only listen to others in order to make up their own mind.

See also the Project Policrateia series.