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Last edited:
09 August, 2005
Lana Peshkova
- 1 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
i-Islam@hizb-ut-tahrir.org
ABSTRACT: In this
paper I investigate the role of new media in culture change through considering
reproduction of
Islamic knowledge and political mobilization on the Web. While using
Hisb-ut-
Tahrir’s
(the Party of Liberation) website as a case study of new media technologies and
a practicing
Muslim community
in the Ferghana oblast’ as a particular community of practice, I argue that in
order
to understand the
role of the new media in culture change one needs to consider three main domains
(1) production
(representation, messages on the Web), (2) reception (reading and discussion on
the
Web or/and within
a community at question), and (3) reproduction (practice). In the following
analysis
I will trace the
relationships among these seemingly unrelated domains.
[1] SOCIAL
SITUATION: Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, several Central Asian
governments have
embarked on a campaign against oppositional religious groups. One of these
groups in the
region is Hisb-ut-Tahrir, the Party of Liberation. New York-based Human
Rights
Watch (HRW) (May
2002) and Associated Press (May 2002) reported a growing number of
women affiliated
with Hisb-ut-Tahrir who were arrested for alleged extremist activities in
Central
Asia.
i
On the
24
th
of April 2002,
four women were sentenced in a Tashkent court
(Tashkent is the
capital of Uzbekistan) for their participation in the activities of the Party of
Liberation. The
sentences ranged from a two-year suspended sentence to four years
imprisonment.
Some of the arrested women were accused of distributing Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s
leaflets and
publicizing the Party’s ideas.
[2] Islam
Karimov, the current president of Uzbekistan, publicly labeled
Hisb-ut-Tahrir as a
radical and
extremist group and insisted on a systematic persecution of this organization.
Some
of the human
rights activists, however, warned the Uzbek government that such a persecution
would only fuel
the militancy and secrecy of this group: “If [the repression] continues, it’s
only
going to
continue to feed the ground for the fostering of more extremist groups that have
no
other avenue to
voice their peaceful beliefs” (Marie Struther, 2002, an HRW’s interim
representative
in Tashkent).
ii
I suggest that
in order to understand the Uzbek government’s
Lana Peshkova
- 2 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
reaction to
Hisb-ut-Tahrir activities, which is a relatively recent phenomenon, one
should create
a theoretical
bridge between (1) the messages propagated by the Party as they are for example
represented on
the Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s website and discussed on the list serves and group
e-mails
and (2) the
activities taking place in the region.
[3] METHODOLOGY:
Methodological framework applied in this analysis is centered on the
following three
methodological paradigms: (1) Content analysis; (2) Ethnographic research; and
(3) Literature
review.
[4] 1.
Content analysis: I take Internet communication to be a form of human
communication
that utilizes
the Net as a communication channel. The means of Web communication is the
exchange of
information data of certain content. The content of Internet communication
includes, but is
not limited to text, graphics, sound, and/or video. The content is crucial to
our
understanding of
political messaging and mobilization on the Web. It is often overlooked in
research on
religious political parties by way of prioritizing practice over content, or by
superimposing a
set of preconceived characteristics such as “extremist” and “terrorist” on their
practice without
considering content of their ideological platforms (c.f. Hroub 2000).
[5] The World
Wide Web is a space for the dissemination and retrieval of information. There
are three broad
categories of Internet communication (1) communication, (2) interaction, and (3)
information.
These categories are often used as complimentary. By this I mean that one may be
simultaneously
interacting, communicating and gathering information on the Web. Additionally,
Internet
communication can be utilized individually or shared as a group experience (c.f.
Black
et al.
1983).
[6] Internet
communication often leaves a number of artifacts as evidence of an on-going flow
of information.
For example, an e-forum, which is basically an Internet discussion group,
Lana Peshkova
- 3 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
produces sets of
messages on different (often related) topics – e-threads. There are other
e-
artifacts, such
as Web pages and Listserv discussion lists. These artifacts can be further
examined and
analyzed by a researcher. The interpretive construal of these and other
artifacts
depends on the
goals of the study. The goal of this study is to understand the role of the new
media in culture
change. More specifically I will attempt to create a theoretical bridge between
(1) the messages
propagated by the Party of Liberation (Hisb-ut-Tahrir) as they are
represented
on the
Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s website and discussed on the list serves and group
e-mails and (2) the
activities
taking place in the region. Consequently, the units of content analysis for this
paper are
as follows:
(1)
Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s website, more specifically the web pages that constitute
the website
(2)
Several e-threads from Ali Shariati e-forum
(3)
Personal e-mail messages
(4)
Transcripts of Hisb-ut-Tahrir Listserv
(5)
Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s leaflets
(6)
Transcripts of e-news
[7] Content
analysis often is thought of in terms of conceptual or thematic analysis (Smith
1992). In the
latter, the analysis involves quantifying and totaling the presence (or absence)
of an
examined concept
or a category and additionally may focus on looking at the implicit or explicit
occurrence of
selected terms (or categories) within a text (see the units of analysis above).
The
data used in
this paper is gathered through the following steps:
Steps 1. Finding
code for a concept (category)
I used three
categories for this content analysis political, economic, and socio-cultural.
Step 2. Finding
what would qualify as an implicit form of this concept (category)
The implicit and
explicit forms of the following categories are qualified by the following
questions:
Lana Peshkova
- 4 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
“Does it
contribute more to a (1) political-ideological (2) economic, and (3)
socio-cultural
change? In what
ways?”
Step 3. Coding
the units of analysis for existence or/ and frequency of this concept
(category)
I hand-coded the
units of analysis.
Step 4. Deciding
on a level of generalization
For example,
such words as “political, politics, politician, politicized,” and their synonyms
(government,
political views, etc.) constitute political-ideological category.
Step 5. Deciding
on translation rules – interpretation and its criteria.
I had to
concentrate on the aforementioned categories, consider historical context around
the postings and
leaflets and thus interpret the data.
Step 6.
Rejecting irrelevant information
I had to reject
all the irrelevant information such as the books prohibited and permitted by
the Hizb
(the Party), and e-threads that had promotional or personal notes, which did not
include any
political discussions.
Step 7. Analysis
of the data
I analyzed the
data as I went through the process of writing and plan to review the analysis
when time
permits.
[8] Content
analysis has its advantages and disadvantages. In terms of its advantages
content
analysis (1)
focuses on the central aspect of social interaction by looking directly at the
texts or
transcripts; (2)
allows for both quantitative and qualitative operations; (3) provides valuable
socio-cultural
and political insights over time through analysis of communication; (4) provides
a
venue for an
unobtrusive means of analyzing interactions; and (5) provides insight into both
cultural models
that underline the practice and practice itself through an analysis of language
use. The
disadvantages of content analysis are as follows. It is (1) extremely time
consuming; (2)
subject to error
during interpretation; (3) too liberal to draw meaningful inferences about the
relationships
among the actors of the study; and (4) inherently reductive. Most importantly,
it
often disregards
the context of the text. In order to overcome these limitations, I also utilized
ethnographic
analysis and extensive review of the relevant literature.
[9] 2.
Ethnographic paradigm: I carried out a five-week ethnographic pilot-study in
the
Ferghana
oblast’s (Summer 2001). An oblast’ is an administrative unit which
is smaller than a
Lana Peshkova
- 5 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
region but
larger than a county. I met more than forty families, extended and nuclear, and
over
two hundred
individuals during this pilot-study. Some of these individuals, i.e., about
sixty, are
the members of
the aforementioned families. Others (about one hundred and forty) were either
consultants or
experts in such areas as Islamic beliefs and practices, medical practices or
reproductive
health. Although the methodology applied in that study was constructed to enable
me to learn more
about an Islamic approach to reproductive health, some of the data, which I
call, residual
data was related to Hisb-ut-Tahrir activities in the area.
[10] In order to
carry out an efficient research, my methodological framework consisted of the
following
ethnographic methods:
(1) Through the
application of participant-observation, I both participated in and observed
religious
practices, individual religious rites and rituals such as qirq (a ritual
performed on the
40
th
day after the
funeral), or duba (feasting and crying at the gravesite). I also observed
and
participated in
interactions among local religious leaders and local populations, among male and
female religious
leaders, and among religious leaders and non-locals (such as migrants and
foreigners).
While staying on the weekends in the individuals’ homes, I tried to
systematically
observe their
everyday lives. Sometimes I took part in domestic chores pertaining to
different
times of the
day, in the social interactions surrounding them, and in religious rites and
rituals
performed at
home. Thus, participant-observation allowed me to gain an insight into the
domestic chores,
religious rites, religious celebrations, family gatherings, intra-family and
communal
conflicts, debates, inconsistencies and compromises in families’ everyday lives
(e.g.
Lamb 2000).
(2) Structured
interviews. Structured interviews were used in the early stage of the project.
They included a
preconceived set of questions regarding religious practices and beliefs,
religious
Lana Peshkova
- 6 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
networks and
institutions (its members, fluidity of the membership, frequencies of their
gatherings), and
their interconnectedness with other socio-cultural institutions in the area such
as
political
parties represented in the area. This method helped me to identify religious
beliefs and
practices, and
communal religious leaders, both male and female.
(3) Unstructured
or open-ended interviews. Unstructured or open-ended interviews covered
such thematic
topics as (1) religious beliefs and practices; (2) among the members of
religious
networks. I hope
that this open-ended method created a comfortable and safe environment
between the
interviewee and interviewer, which was important in the process of building a
rapport. It also
allowed for the discussion of such sensitive issues as Islam and politics.
[11] I also used
other methods in the pilot study. They, however, are not immediately
important to the
main subject of this paper. Thus, interpretations and suggestions put forward in
this report are
not absolute. They are informed by my experiences in and of the peoples living
in
the region
during the duration of the project. In order to supplement the aforementioned
methods
in this study, I
also utilized discourse analysis. I want to clarify what I mean by discourse in
this
paper. Discourse
can be understood in two senses as linguistic and social. The former
understanding of
discourse refers to “connected segments of speech or writing, larger than single
utterance”
(Conley & O’Barr 1998: 6). In this linguistic sense, discourse includes, for
example,
conversation,
stories and interpersonal discussions (both actual and electronic). The study of
how
the segments of
speech are structured and how they are used in communication is discourse
analysis.
[12] The second
sense of discourse is as an abstract social phenomenon; “discourse in this
sense is the
broader range of discussions that takes place within a society about an issue or
set of
issues” (Conley
& O’Barr 1998: 7).
iii
In other words,
discourse in its social sense is the way in
Lana Peshkova
- 7 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
which something
is talked about rather than act of talking itself; it is “a locus of power” and
is
contested
(Conley & O’Barr 1998:7). The dominance of a discourse in the social world
is
constantly
challenged by alternative discourses. Thus, a dominant discourse is always
negotiating with
and competing against different resisting discourses and is neither ultimate,
nor
inevitable
(Conley & O’Barr 1998).
[13]
Analytically, one might want to distinguish between discourse in the linguistic
sense as
micro-discourse,
and discourse in the social sense as macro-discourse. Yet, this analytical
distinction
should not make one think that micro-discourse and macro-discourse are
disconnected.
Discourse, as everyday talk, is an entry point into discourse as social
phenomenon.
Alternative
discourses - for example discourses of resistance - can also be accessed through
analysis of
discourse in the linguistic sense. The data that are analyzed in this paper –
e-
discussions –
offer dissident commentaries on the dominant discursive and social
representations
of both
religious orthodoxy and state practices. These commentaries in part reflect the
speaking
or e-mailing
subjects’ various strategies of speaking and writing.
[14] I proceeded
with discourse analysis of the data (identified above p.3) through the
linguistic into
the social sense of discourse, extrapolating the sign-poles of political
mobilization
and dissidence
through attentive analysis of the themes and the order of messages in a thread.
In
the body of the
paper, I used some of the discursive vignettes from a Listserv and e-forums in
order to
exemplify some of the theoretical points, but more importantly, to give a taste
of and to
provide glimpses
into the boardees’ participation in the reproduction and change of their
religious-political
world via e-strategies.
[15] 3. I
also made use of an additional literature about political communication and its
contemporary
theorizing. I reviewed vast printed material about (1) other Islamic movements
Lana Peshkova
- 8 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
(e.g. Hroub
2000), (2) critical discussions of Islam, as it is represented in the writing
and public
media (e.g.
Naficy & Gabriel 1993, Karim 2000), (3) the role of media in Islamic
communities
(e.g. Curran
& Park 2000), (4) the variety of Islamic sources on the Web (e.g. Lawrence
2002),
and (5) critical
approaches to political communication (e.g. Eickelman & Anderson 1999).
//
domain of:
[PRODUCTION]
UPLOADING
ISLAM: STREAMING POLITICS
[16] By the end
of the XX century, Islam had conquered the Web. An overwhelming
diversity of
Muslim voices is now represented by a variety of websites, Listserv-s, e-chat
boards,
and e-magazines.
As a result of the recent “media-sation of Islam” (Eickelman & Anderson
1999) one can
find information about and presented by independent cultural associations (e.g.
Muslim Students
Association [www.msa-natl.org]), governments (e.g. Saudi Arabia
[www.arab.net/saudi/saudi_contents.html]),
private individuals and small groups (Muslim
women
[www.jannah.org]) surfing the Web. Thus, the Internet became a space and a tool
that
both reproduces
and challenges existing Islamic knowledge via e-debates. It also became a tool
in the on-going
perpetuation of stereotypes about, a space for propaganda against (e.g.
www.bnp.org.uk/articles/article77.html. Accessed 3-June-02) and exotization of Islamic
communities
worldwide (see numerous travel and entertainment websites).
[17] Islam is
often spoken about not only as a body of religious beliefs and practices, but
also
as a polity
(Lawrence 2002:238). This is to say that in a Muslim community religious
authority is
also considered
being political authority (and vice verse). This amalgamation of religious and
political
authority resulted in the Western media’s representation of Islam as a primary
“Other”
Lana Peshkova
- 9 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
(Karim 2000: 4).
This Othering of Islam (1) informs the public perception of its religious
beliefs
and practices
and bears practical consequences (see the post effects of 9/11/01).
[18] The media
coverage of the civil war in Lebanon, Palestine, and the Gulf War and the
images of the
Islamic movements associated with these events have been primarily negative.
Karim (2000)
argues that although a growing number of “Northern opinion leaders (journalists
included)” try
to distinguish between the vast diversity of Muslim groups “the dominant
perspectives on
Islam tend to subvert these alternative approaches” (p. 4). Not only are
politically
active Islamic groups represented as a threat to Western civilization, but
cultural
practices such
as veiling and Islamic dress have also been perceived as a threat to the Western
way of life as
well (op. cit., Lueg 1995:8). Seeing Islam as the threat, argue some
scholars, “our
shortsightedness
achieves exactly what it fears: the continued encouragement of Islamist
tendencies and
their radicalization” (Lueg 1995: 15).
[19] Islamic
parties/networks have always been a part of Islamic discourse (Lapuidus &
Burke 1988).
These religious links play different roles within and outside Islamic
communities.
Some states
utilize Islamic links as a way of maintaining administrative control over their
citizens
abroad. Others try to use these Islamic links as a way of extending secular
political
interests (e.g.
Uzbekistan, Egypt, and Turkey).
[20] Islamic
networks expand beyond the state boundaries by building their networks abroad.
For example,
the Jama’at-i-Islam of Pakistan (the Society of Islam, originated in
India 1941), a
right-wing
group with Saudi connections that has strong support among Muslims in Britain,
“organizes
Pakistanis in Britain in support of campaigns both there and in Pakistan”
(Halliday
1995:75). Such
Islamic networks are modern movements, which “should not be seen as mere
reactions to
modernism, but as a cultural and social product that is itself modern” (Bishara
1995:
Lana Peshkova
- 10 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
85). Bishara,
in the analysis of politico-religious movements in the Middle East, argues that
these
movements
“should not be confused with romantic aspirations to restore a lost harmony
between
the individual
and society or between society and nature...political religion should not be
confused with
popular or folk religion” (p. 85).
[21] Finally,
Islamic movements are simply the passive objects of media discussion. They
have gained a
platform in different kinds of media, Internet included. Starting with posting
Islamic texts
on-line in the 1980s, the so-called “technological adapts” (Anderson 2001)
brought
Islam on the
Web. The e-Holy Qur’an and e-Hadith of the Prophet prompted different responses
from those
Muslims that had an access to the Internet and a specialized knowledge of Web
navigation.
E-discussion groups, Listserv-s, e-forums sprung up on the fertile soil of
digital space
over time, thus
creating a foundation for a new public space on the Web.
[22] Since the
1980s, the contents of i-Islam expanded dramatically. Not only textual
representations
of the authoritative Islamic writings but also alternative, often radical views
calling for
cultural and political change in different social contexts joined the
multivocality of the
Web (Anderson
2001; also see Gaffney 1995). Hisb-ut-Tahrir, the Party of Liberation, is
one
these voices.
[23] THE
CASE STUDY: The case study for this paper is Hisb-ut-Tahrir, the
Party of
Liberation, and
its website www.Hisb-ut-Tahrir.org. In the following sections of the paper I will
briefly review
the production of Islamic knowledge by the Party, i.e. the contents of the
website
(leaflets,
news, Islamic literature, and its analyses of the current political developments
globally).
The following
analysis is based solely on the contents of the website and excludes additional
sources, such
as the Party’s printed publications.
Lana Peshkova
- 11 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
[24] Following
Hroub (2000), I suggest that Hisb-ut-Tahrir is an emerging actor of
culture
change in
Uzbekistan and elsewhere, and needs to be studied, analyzed and understood on
its
own terms, i.e.
the political sources put forward by the Party and the Party’s praxis. A
half-
century history
of Hisb-ut-Tahrir and the current empirical evidences from Uzbekistan
signal a
critical
deficit of understanding of this Islamic political movement. The Web on the
other hand,
offers
comprehensive material about the political agenda and ideological underpinnings
of the
movement’s
activities. This material, although available, is often ignored by the public
and press
assessments’ of
Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s activities. In the historical context of the year 2002, the
banner
of Islam and
Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s criticism of America’s and other European countries’
foreign and
national
polities (see the Party’s criticism of the US Afghanistan’s campaign) often
preclude the
readers from
indulging into a critical reading and analysis of the Party’s ideological
statements
and political
methodology.
[25] THE
PARTY: Hizb-ut-Tahrir is a political Party that claims to propagate
Islam as its
ideology. The
Party was established in 1953 (1372 AH) under the leadership of the scholar of
Islamic Law and
politician, qadi (jurist, judge) in the Court of Appeals in al-Quds
(Palestine),
Taqiuddin
al-Nabhani. It was established primarily as a response to the founding of the
State of
Israel. The
political goals of the Party are to work within and (larger Islamic community)
towards the
restoration of the Khilafah (Islamic State) ruled by the Shari’ah
(Islamic Law): the
Party’s purpose
is “to revive the Islamic from the severe decline that it had reached, and to
liberate it
from the thoughts, systems and laws of Kufr [non-Muslims], as well as the
domination
and influence
of the Kufr states. It also aims to restore the Islamic Khilafah
State so that the
ruling by what
Allah (s.w.t.) revealed returns.”
Lana Peshkova
- 12 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
[26]
Hisb-ut-Tahrir defines an Islamic State as the Khilafah State, i.e.
the state in which
Muslims appoint
a Khaleefah (the Ruler, Guardian), listen and obey his orders on
condition that
he rules
according to the Book of Allah (Qur’an) and the Sunnah of the
Messenger of Allah
(Hadith
of the Prophet). The ruler is also expected to convey Islam as a message to the
world
through
da’wah (good deeds) and jihad (holy struggle through education).
The revival of the
Ummah
(global Muslim community) is to be carried out “through enlightened thought”
(see the
section on the
Party Culture http://www.Hisb-ut-Tahrir.org/english/english.html).
[27] In terms
of its membership, the Party accepts Muslim men and women as its members
regardless of
their nationality and ethnicity, colours (sic.) and madhahib
(Schools of Islamic
Thought). The
Party members are expected to adopt the thoughts and opinions of
Hisb-ut-Tahrir.
The women’s
part of the Party is separate from its males’ counterpart. The women’s part is
expected to be
supervised by either women’s husbands, relatives who they cannot marry or by
other women.
[28] Hizb
ut-Tahrir’s definition of the Party’s activities is limited by its political
agenda and
exclusive of
academic, educational or charity activities. By this I mean that Hizb ut-Tahrir
does
not debate
theological issues and is not concerned with a socio-educational agenda like
other
Islamic
movements (e.g. Hizballah in Lebanon or Islamic Renaissance Party in
Tajikistan). It
aims at
changing “the society’s existing thoughts… and emotions” (sic.) to
“Islamic thoughts
…and emotions”
(sic.) until Islamic thoughts and emotions will become the overwhelming
public opinion
and feelings among the members of a community at question, who, then, will be
driven to
implement and act upon these Islamic thoughts and emotions. By “Islamic” the
Party
means
everything that is pleasing to Allah (God): by “non-Islamic” – the opposite,
i.e. that which
is detestable
to Allah.
Lana Peshkova
- 13 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
[29] Finally,
the Party works to change the relationships in the society until they become
Islamic
relationships, i.e. social relationships that are in accordance with the
Shari’ah (Islamic
Law). These
actions Hisb-ut-Tahrir considers to be political actions, which are
manifestations of
the Party’s
intellectual and political struggle. Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s political struggle
also includes
radical
criticism of the existing governments in the Muslims communities worldwide: the
Party’s
political
activism “appears in challenging the rulers, revealing their treasons and
conspiracies
against the
Ummah , and by taking them to task and changing them if they denied the
rights of
the
Ummah , or refrained from performing their duties towards her, or ignored
any matter of her
affairs, or
violated the laws of Islam” (see http://www.Hisb-ut-Tahrir.org/english/english.html).
[30] Islam is a
universal ideology, yet because of the linguistic, socio-cultural and political
diversity of
Muslims globally; Hisb-ut-Tahrir finds it necessary to start working in
one country,
or a few
countries, until the Islamic State is established in these countries. Thus, the
Arab
countries,
according the Party’s agenda, “are the most suitable location to start carrying”
its
activities.
Later Hisb-ut-Tahrir expanded its activities into non-Arab Muslim
countries as well
(e.g.
Uzbekistan and Turkey). The criterion that marked this transition from the
Party’s activities
in the Arab
world into non-Arab Muslim countries is unclear.
[31] Using the
Prophet Muhammad as an example, and especially the Prophet’s experiences
and practice in
Makkah (a holy city in Saudi Arabia where Muhammad was first sent as a
Messenger), the
Party’s praxis, its methodology for action, is based on the following stages
(cited directly
from “The Party Culture” section http://www.Hisb-ut-
Tahrir.org/english/english.html):
iv
(1)
The stage of
culturing to produce people who believe in the idea and the method of the
Party, so that
they form the Party group.
Lana Peshkova
- 14 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
(2)
The stage of
interaction with the member, to let them embrace and carry Islam, so that
they take it up
as their issue, and thus work to establish it in the affairs of life.
(3)
The stage of
establishing government, implementing Islam generally and
comprehensively, and
carrying it as a message to the world.
[32]
POLITICAL PROCESS: In the first stage, the current Party members approach
and
make contacts
with the members of the Islamic community at question, presenting on an
individual
basis Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s goals and methods. Those who accept the basic
goals of Hisb-
ut-Tahrir
then undergo an intensive study in the circles of the Party “so that he became
purified
by the thoughts
and rules of Islam adopted by the Party and thus in the process became an
Islamic
personality.” When a person reaches this stage, s/he becomes a member of the
Party.
After the Party
structure is formed out of a number of devoted members and a society at question
recognize it,
the Party moves to the second stage. In this stage, Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s
members start to
not only
approach individuals, but also talk to the masses collectively, what Hizb calls
“the
collective
culturing of the masses.” Utilizing lessons, lectures, and talks in the mosques,
Islamic
centers and
other gathering places, whilst using all possible media outlets, such as books,
press,
Listserv-s and
leaflets, Hisb-ut-Tahrir confronts “the fraudulent concepts by exposing
their
falsehood,
defects and contradiction with Islam, in order to deliver the Ummah from
them and
from their
effects.”
[33] Thus,
Hizb-ut-Tahrir’s political struggle against “the Kufr [non-Muslim,
unbelievers]
colonialist
states which have domination and influence on the Islamic countries” through
intellectual,
political, economic and military domination involves exposing the plans and
conspiracies of
the current “colonialist” regimes in order to liberate the Ummah (global
Islamic
community). The
rulers represent the colonialist regimes. Thus, Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s more
specific
Lana Peshkova
- 15 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
objective is to
struggle against the rulers in the Arab and Muslim countries, “by exposing them,
taking them to
task, acting to change them whenever they denied the rights of the Ummah
or
neglected to
perform their duty towards her, or ignored any of her affairs, and whenever they
disagreed with
the rules of Islam, and acting also to remove their regimes so as to establish
the
Islamic rule in
its place.”
[34]
Hisb-ut-Tahrir, following the example of the Prophet Muhammad, commits
itself to the
non-violent
activities: “…the Party restricted itself to political actions alone and did not
exceed
them by
resorting to material actions against the rulers or against those who opposed
its da’wah
(faith),
following the example of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) who restricted himself
in
Makkah solely
to the da’wah and he (s.a.w.) did not carry out any material actions
until he had
migrated to
Madinah.” Yet the Party does not restrict its members to fight in defense of
their
respective
homelands: “whenever the disbelieving enemies attack an Islamic country it
becomes
compulsory on
its Muslim citizens to repel the enemy. The members of Hizb ut-Tahrir in that
country are a
part of the Muslims and it is obligatory upon them … to fight the enemy and
repel
them. Whenever
there is a Muslim amir [ruler] who declares jihad [holy struggle]
to enhance the
Word of Allah
(s.w.t.) and mobilizes the people to do that, the members of Hizb ut-Tahrir will
respond in
their capacity as Muslims in the country where the general call to arms was
proclaimed.”
[35] THE
WEBSITE: Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s website is multilingual. The material is
presented in
eight languages
Turkish, Arabic, Dutch, Russian, English, French, Danish, and Urdu. Some of
the e-pages of
the site that correspond to the aforementioned languages are still under
construction.
The main page www.Hisb-ut-Tahrir.org brings out a multilingual menu that
consists of the
table of multilingual pages. After choosing the language of the page, one is
Lana Peshkova
- 16 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
prompted to the
menu of the pages’ contents. There are eight hyperlinks in the English version
of
the site with
the immediate connection to the Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s publications, recent
news
discussed in
the leaflets, the Party’s analyses of the current political issues globally, and
approved and
disapproved Islamic literature. Finally, one can contact the Party by sending a
message to the
site administrator info@hiz-bu-tahrir.org.
Unfortunately, I was not able to get any
response from
the site administrator in time for the completion of this
project.
v
[36] THE
LEAFLETS: Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s leaflets represent a special interest to
this project.
They are posted
monthly in the “Wilaya Publications” section and address the most current
political
issues. For example, the April 2002 leaflet denounces George Bush’s position
towards
the conflict
between Israel and Palestine, which Hizb (the Party) considers to be “the third
crusade against
Muslims” (http://www.Hisb-ut-Tahrir.org/english/english.html Accessed 10-Jun-
02). In the
December 2001 leaflet Hisb-ut-Tahrir rhetorically attacks American
incursion into
Afghanistan and
calls on Muslims to mobilize public criticism of their governments’ positions on
this issue in
their respective communities.
[37] For the
purposes of this project, I reviewed and analyzed Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s
leaflets that
address issues
in Central Asia and in Uzbekistan specifically. As I have identified in the
previous
section of the
paper the Hizb’s political activities include radical criticism of the existing
governments and
rulers through “revealing their treasons and conspiracies against the
Ummah,
and by taking
them task” for violating the laws of Islam (see “the Party Culture” section).
Neither
Uzbekistan’s government and country’s social structure nor its president Karimov
escape
this radical
criticism:
Karimov the
president of Uzbekistan does not care about this [Muslims] strong desire for
Islam; instead
he slaughtered this desire and transformed the county from the authority of
Lana Peshkova
- 17 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
godless,
Kaafir [unbeliever] communism into the authority of Kaafir
capitalist United
States.
[38]
Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s criticism of the existing regime in Uzbekistan is
constructed along three
lines:
political, economic, and socio-cultural. In terms of politics – the Party
denounces the
current
government’s national and international relations and policies as well as its
political
structure. The
leaflets are particularly concerned with the government’s policies against
practicing
Muslims and members of Hisb-ut-Tahrir. The leaflet of 01-Jun-2001 is
constructed as
a list of
“torments and tortures carried out against members of Hizb-ut Tahrir
(sic.) in prisons of
Navoi, Qarshi
and Zarafshan of the Republic of Uzbekistan.” It recounts the human rights
abuses
that the
members of the Party are experiencing while in detention and presents excerpts
from the
testimonies of
the detainees and their relatives.
[39]
Hisb-ut-Tahrir also finds the Uzbek economic system to be inadequate. While
the current
system benefits
the government, ruling elites in particular, and international corporations
(e.g.
Newmont Mining
Corporation, headquarters in Denver Colorado, produces 17 tons of pure gold
per annum in
Uzbekistan and it at 50% stock share with Uzbek
government)
vi
, the majority
of
Uzbekistan’s
population, according to the leaflet of 16-Sep-2000, struggles to make both ends
meet. The root
of Uzbekistan’s politico-economic problems, argues Hisb-ut-Tahrir, is in
its
social
structure, namely in the disintegration of Islamic Ummah into separate
nations (Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan). This systematic effort to undermine
the
unity of
Islamic Ummah is obscured by the government’s affirmation of
independence,
nationalism and
patriotism.
[40] Finally,
the Constitution and laws of Uzbekistan trigger Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s
criticism as
well (see the
leaflet of 07-Dec-2001). The Constitution adopted in December 1992 by the
Supreme Council
of Uzbekistan contradicts Islamic doctrine that establishes Qur’an as the
law.
Lana Peshkova
- 18 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
According to
Hisb-ut-Tahrir “the major law of the state, that defines the basic
construction of the
society and
state, the system of state laws, rights and obligations of citizens” should be
Shari’ah
(Islamic Law).
Hence, the solution advocated by Hisb-ut-Tahrir is the struggle against
colonial
Kaafir
rule (whether it is Russia, America or Britain) and unity of the Ummah
(here the Muslims
of Central
Asia) under one Khaleefah (the ruler).
[41] The Party
propagates these and other messages via their representations on the
www.Hisb-ut-Tahrir.org. Indeed, “the encounter between Islam and the
transnational
technologies of
communication [is]…as multifaceted as the religion itself” (Mandaville 1999:23
cited in
Lawrence 2002). Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s encounter with the Web, through its
utilization of this
technology of
communication, is one of the existing representations of Islam on the Internet.
The
Party’s
platform and e-activities, on the one hand, reinforce conservative Islamic
Orthodoxy by
accepting only
the Qur’an and the Hadith as authoritative literary sources and by
excluding any
contestation of
its ideology both theologically and spatially. Theological elimination of any
debate is
reproduced through grounding Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s politically ideology in the
Qur’an and
the Prophet’s
Muhammad activities, and these are unchallengeable and unquestionable sources in
Islamic
discourse. The spatial elimination of the debate is reproduced through a lack of
e-space
for discussion
of the Party’s doctrine, activities, and publications.
[42] On the
other hand, although the site’s construction and theological underpinnings
preclude the
receiving side from participating, it does provide alternative and critical
assessments
of the current
socio-political and economic issues in Central Asia and elsewhere. It serves as
a
channel of
communication for a broad transnational audience, which experiences
interactivity
and discussion
of the Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s information elsewhere: the lack of public space
on the site
is regained by
the receivers through their utilization of other e-spaces on the Web. Hence,
this
Lana Peshkova
- 19 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
media channel
both constrains and enables public participation (op. sit., Hanson 1998).
Indeed,
the digital
space acquires secondary agency (cf. Gell, 1999), by providing other public
spaces for
those ruled out
of participation at the site. The following sections of the paper will analyze
how
and where the
information presented @ www.Hisb-ut-Tahrir.org is then discussed in the
cyberspace.
//
domain of:
[RECEPTION AND CONSUMPTION]
E-DISCUSSIONS@LIST
SERVES, WWWBOARDS, YAHOOGROUPS, E-MAILS
[43] Following
Lawrence (2002) I want to start this analysis with the recognition that one’s
participation
on the Web is predicated on one’s technological knowledge (one’s ability to surf
the Web),
linguistic competency (one’s performance of spoken and written language), and
one’s
economic
condition (whether or not one has resources to access and utilize cyberspace).
Thus,
the expensive
and seemingly expansive technology of the Web is not “as democratic in access as
it is global in
scope” (Lawrence 2002:241).
[44]
Furthermore, considering social power and control exercised by site
administrators and
some
governmental institutions (e.g. Echelon surveillance on the US
Web,
vii
or Saudi
sponsorship of
majority of Islam-related websites e.g. www.islam.org, www.islamcity.org) one
might want to
question the Net global scope. Finally, e-censorship does not need to have
global
or country
parameters. It takes place on individual e-forums and in individual e-mails:
Hossein on
October 28, 2001 at 05:00:27 (Ali Shariati e-board):
Surprisingly
there is censorship in this site too.
Through this
site, I was trying to reach my soul mate, which could be one of the people in
this line of
thinking. This
message was deleted. I would like to say, if this site is just for talk and
talk… that is
fine, but it is
to serve the follower of Dr. than, I can not see any reason to delete those
messages.
Lana Peshkova
- 20 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
[45]
E-political participation is also immediately connected to the users’ “day
–to-day reality
which informs
and is the broader context for their communications” (Hanson 1998). This is to
say that one’s
socio-cultural context with its particular cultural models (cf. Rubinstein 1999)
of
and for public
participation will frame one’s communication on the
Web.
viii
These and other
factors result
in a process of pre-selection and filtering of e-massages, e-boardees, i.e.,
those
discussing
issues on e-forums and chat rooms, and e-debated political issues.
[46] Following
Kinsey and Chaffee (1996), I suggest that in order to understand the role
of the Web in
socio-cultural change one has to consider various channels of political
communication
including interpersonal discussions on two levels (1) interpersonal oral
discussion and
(2) electronic discussion on the Web. For the purposes of this paper, I will
first
consider
e-interpersonal discussions. There are different forms of e-interpersonal
discussion such
as personal and
group exchange of e-mails, Listserv-s, e-groups, e-forums and e-chat rooms.
[47]
Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s e-activities, although not discussed on the site, are
talked about in
other e-spaces
on the Web. These spaces are e-mails among those who are familiar with the site
and the issues
raised on it, Listserv-s (e.g. the leaflets distributed via e-mail by
Hisb-ut-Tahrir),
e-forums (e.g.
Ali Shariati forum and Islamic WeBBS), and e-groups (e.g. Hisb-ut-
Tahrir@yahoogroup.com). In the following sections of the paper I will
exemplify and analyze
some of the
issues raised on an e-board of one the e-forums that participate in these
e-
interpersonal
discussions.
[48]
E-FORUMS: E-forum is a collection of related topics. The forum site contains
a number
of pages, the
first page often being a listing of current topics discussed in that forum. Each
topic
contains the
original message and, if applicable, replies to that message.
Lana Peshkova
- 21 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
[49]
E-interpersonal discussions of Islamic issues and polity often involve intended
and
unintended
audience (Hanson 1998) i.e., the audience that chooses to either be anonymous or
use
fictitious
characters to represent itself. This choice of self-representation in the
e-forums may be
predicated on
one’s choice to control the flow of communication by choosing unilateral
(without
expecting or
accepting a response) instead of dialogical form of discussion. On the
Ali-Shariati
e-forum a
message such as “you are all dead wrong – Islam is the great Satan” exemplifies
a
unilateral form
of interpersonal discussion posted by an anonymous boardee; whereas messages
posted by
Hisb-ut-Tahrir include the identical characters in the return address and
the message
title, thus
inviting but not promising a response.
[50] E-forum
also provides a space for debates of issues about relationships between
Islam and other
religious traditions and discussion of theological conundrums internal to Islam,
such as what
are the boundaries of Islamic membership, should members of other than Sunni
Islamic
communities be considered Muslims. For example one of the recent discussions
sprung
out of the
on-going debate about whether Ismaili Muslims are included in Islamic
Ummah
(global Muslim
community). Here is an example of a message posted by “Sali” (sic.) on
February 27 on
Ali Shariati e-board:
Salaam! No one
is given the right to judge others. Islam being the religion of peace and
tolerance,
accepts
everyone regardless of race, origin, previous beliefs, etc. How can such a
widely accepted
religion be
monolithic? everyone has to have their own ways of interpreting islam in its
context. We
ismaili muslims
believe in one God, All the prophets, all the imams and ALL the holy books to be
sacred, and
render no disrespect to anyone with a belief in God. That is what a muslim is!
Not just
practicing what
has been taught through generations (sic.).
[51] The
discussion of Hisb-ut-Tahrir and its activities was also raised on Ali
Shariarti e-
board.
“Enlightened Muslim” posted the first message about the Party on October 12,
2001. The
massage was
presented in a form of political comment – a leaflet - about Islam and the West.
This posting
became an impetus of an on-going exchange of opinions about the Party and
Lana Peshkova
- 22 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
relationships
between Islam and politics. Recently, April 2002, a discussion about the Hizb
began again by
one of the members of the e-forum inquiring about the nature and political
stance
of
Hisb-ut-Tahrir. The message was followed by a reply, which contained a
brief definition of
the Party and
the table of the web sites that provide additional information about
Hisb-ut-Tahrir
and its
political agenda and praxis. This initial stage of communication, an
acquaintance with the
organization
and its political stance, will possibly be followed by an e-discussion of the
Party
and its
political agenda in the future. Below I provide an excerpt from the
Hisb-ut-Tahrir’s
discussion in
2001. I preserved the original spelling of the messages:
Pharaoh on
October 15, 2001 at 19:44:21:
In Reply to:
Political Comment by Hizb ut-Tahrir posted
by “Enlightened Muslim” on October 12,
2001 at
15:03:54:
Ye...ye...all
muslims do this, all muslims do that...
why is it that
all christians, or budist or etc. don't?
is it because
you folks have no sense of individuality?
All
muslims...attack, never mind where they are from, what culture they belong to,
never mind all
that just
follow the leader
And look how
far that thinking got you, show me one advanced muslim country, may be
Talibans???
give it up
dude.
Posted by
“Sammi” on November 09, 2001 at 02:15:18:
In Reply to:
Re: Political Comment by Hizb ut-Tahrir
posted by “Pharaoh” on October 15, 2001 at
19:44:21:
Waco -
Christian cult
Oklahoma
bombing - Christian loon
IRA - Christian
terrorists
Easy to say
muslims suck..better to accept that some butt-plugs in the name of religion do
things that
goes against
the very idea of what they are fighting for. Bin Laden should be strung up along
with
the frigging
taliban and Al-Queda and hizb-ut-tahir and muhajiroon and all the other so
called
'muslim' asses
out there....
They bring
shame on the rest of us...
[52] To
conclude: First, following Giddens (1984) I suggest the human beings
participating
in
e-interpersonal discussions are knowledgeable agents, whose knowledge of the
world is
partially
bordered by the unacknowledged conditions and unintended consequences of their
actions. By
this I mean that the political e-activities of Hisb-ut-Tahrir intended as
a tool of
political and
ideological mobilization occasionally bring about e-discussions that not only
Lana Peshkova
- 23 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
question the
very nature of Hizb political activity, but also vehemently oppose a polity of
this
Islamic Party
(see the message posted by Pharaoh).
[53] Second,
what gets to be discussed on the Web is limited by certain constraints.
These
constraints are associated with both structural properties of the system, the
Web, and
social systems
within which e-boardees are situated. On the one hand, e-surveillance,
e-
censorship and
self-censorship exemplify some of the constraints on individual political
participation
in the e-discussions. On the other hand, economic, political, linguistic and
socio-
cultural
factors (such as gender and age) constrain individuals from participation in
these e-
discussions in
their respective socio-cultural systems.
[54] Third,
power and its unequal distribution and contestation on the Web are some of
the primary
considerations in a study of the role of e-media in social change. Power is a
means to
an end, and
hence is directly involved in the actions of every discussant. For example,
e-boardees
participating
in an e-forum are situated in what Foucault calls panopticon, i.e., a
spatial
arrangement
that makes individuals feel as if they were being watched even in the absence of
an
observer
(Foucault 1983). It represents the actual power and control of those who observe
those
being observed
and induces the subjects’ “compliance with the discipline of the institution
even
in the absence
of the overt surveillance or force” (Surber 1998:214).
[55] Fourth,
e-boardees’ everyday sociological knowledge feeds into their e-behavior. They
have reasons
for holding to their e-positions. Hisb-ut-Tahrir has ideological and
sociological
reasons behind
their political e-activities: some of those reasons are stated in the Party
platform,
others - need
to be further investigated. The knowledge of the boardees’ interactive context
will
help to
understand the reasons behind their e-positions.
Lana Peshkova
- 24 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
//
domain of:
[REPRODUCTION]
FROM
AUDITORY-VISUAL-TACTILE 2 PRINTED & ACTION
[56] In some
counties (e.g. Yemen, Iran) the governments use all possible media outlets
in propagating
religious ideals as political ideology. In contemporary Uzbekistan, however, it
is
the
governments’ opposition that utilized some media technologies to propagate
religious ideals
as political
ideology, thus immediately creating the governments’ resistance towards these
oppositional
movements: Hisb-ut-Tahrir is one these movements. The fear of opposition
and the
challenge to
the existing system of social order and control resulted in the production of
anti-
religious
stance by the current Uzbek government, which is manifested by a growing number
of
arrests and
limited freedom of expression in the country.
[57] The
context of day-to-day interaction, where interpersonal discussions about
Hizb-
ut-
Tahrir’s political agenda and activities take place, is another extremely
important area of the
research. I
want to raise two questions regarding this area: (1) What are the channels
through
which the
leaflets are transmitted and interactive spaces that are discussed? (2) What are
the
consequences of
these discussions?
[58] Lawrence
(2002) defines the Web as a print-auditory-visual-tactile medium.
Following
Lawrence (2002), I take the Web to be a medium which not only allows for a
physical
contact between
the medium and an individual receiver, but also a medium that includes
multiple
outlets of information dissemination via visual, audio and printed material.
Thus, any
piece of
information posted on the Web can possibly be reproduced through the
aforementioned
info-outlets: a
website can be printed out, consumed aurally via a sound bite, reproduced as
photographic
material or as a real-time streaming, quick time video, etc.
Lana Peshkova
- 25 -
Syracuse
University (NY). Anthropology Department (Maxwell School of Public Affairs and
Citizenship), and
Television/Radio/Film
Department (Newhouse School of Communications). Spring 2002
[59]
Hisb-ut-Tahrir utilizes different media technologies for its political
activities. The e-
form of
leaflets is posted on the Hizb website, is e-mailed simultaneously to the
subscribers of
Hisb-ut-Tahrir
Listserv, posted on different e-forums, exchanged among individuals via e-mail
messages and
printed out. This hard form of leaflets is often photocopied and distributed
among
the Party
members in different communities or used as propaganda tools in the process of
the
Party planting,
i.e. acquiring new members.
[60] The social
networks in the Ferghana Oblast as their modes and methods of
ideological
formation utilize these leaflets. By providing a copy of a website in Turkish
and
Russian,
Hisb-ut-Tahrir makes the first step to what some called localization of
the new media
(Eickelman and
Anderson 1999). By localization, I mean that the Party makes the content of
their website
available to individuals that populate this Central Asian region, and provides a
leaflet
template in regional languages, which can be photocopied and distributed on the
first
stage of the
Party’s political mobilization, i.e. making information about political
corruption and
the possibility
of an Islamic state available to the regional Muslims via printed leaflets.
Furthermore,
these leaflets provide information about a number of socio-political issues that
are
later debated
and discussed in the interpersonal meetings among family members (within kin
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