Al-Nahda, the Tunisian political party whose name is Arabic for “awakening” or “renaissance,” might prove to be just that for political Islam in Tunisia and the Middle East.
The moderate Islamic party’s recent victory in Tunisia’s elections promises to redefine the political role of Islam in a country and a region where Islam often clashes head-to-head with secularism. Al-Nahda swept both the national and regional votes in the first Arab Spring election and signaled the entrance of moderate Islamic political parties into mainstream politics.
These political parties, the likes of Al-Nahda and Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, have existed for decades but had been oppressed by staunchly secular autocrats. Both Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak banned Islamic parties in their country out of fear of their power and the threat they posed to secularism. The fall of these autocrats and their parties left a political vacuum that has allowed Al-Nahda and its peers to return and dominate early elections.
That is not to say that Al-Nahda and the Muslim Brotherhood owe their popularity to the fact that there are no parties able to run against them. The worldview that these parties embody has always been popular in the Middle East, even when there was no legal avenue for its political expression. Islamic political parties were always significantly popular with both Al-Nahda and the Muslim Brotherhood, drawing large crowds of people and garnering significant popular support even while they were banned.
Clearly, the main cause of their popularity is the people’s belief in the political platforms both parties offer. Central to their widespread popularity is the pluralistic worldview that both parties share and their insistence that Islam can exist within a secular framework and does not need Islamic state to function politically. They promise to incorporate a governing model based on Turkey rather than Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Now in power, Al-Nahda’s political agenda steers clear of social change and implementation of religion in public life. Instead, the platform focuses on economic development, national security, and the continuation of Tunisia’s tradition of women’s and workers’ rights. Their first endeavor after the election was to insist on a ruling coalition of Islamic and secular parties, a moderate coalition that represents a moderate Tunisia.
We do not need to wait for Al-Nahda and its peers in other countries to enact policies for us to know that the role of political Islam has changed in the region. The very occasion of an Islamic party rising to power lies in stark contrast to previous political scenarios involving similar parties. In the 1990’s, in neighboring Algeria, Islamists won elections only to be stopped from taking power. What resulted was a bloody civil war that was the height of the regional conflict between secularism and Islam.
The fact that Islamic political parties are now legally allowed to express political opinions that had always been popular in the region represents a vast step towards democracy for the Middle East. This is what Al-Nahda and its peers have been asking for since their founding. Now that power has been handed to them, the world watches as they decide what paths to choose for their countries in this momentous time.
Tunisia, and the Middle East, is at a crossroads. Al-Nahda and moderate Islamic parties promise to change the politics of the entire region and prove to the world whether Islam and secularism are compatible and whether they can pioneer a system for their coexistence.
The moderate Islamic party’s recent victory in Tunisia’s elections promises to redefine the political role of Islam in a country and a region where Islam often clashes head-to-head with secularism. Al-Nahda swept both the national and regional votes in the first Arab Spring election and signaled the entrance of moderate Islamic political parties into mainstream politics.
These political parties, the likes of Al-Nahda and Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, have existed for decades but had been oppressed by staunchly secular autocrats. Both Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak banned Islamic parties in their country out of fear of their power and the threat they posed to secularism. The fall of these autocrats and their parties left a political vacuum that has allowed Al-Nahda and its peers to return and dominate early elections.
That is not to say that Al-Nahda and the Muslim Brotherhood owe their popularity to the fact that there are no parties able to run against them. The worldview that these parties embody has always been popular in the Middle East, even when there was no legal avenue for its political expression. Islamic political parties were always significantly popular with both Al-Nahda and the Muslim Brotherhood, drawing large crowds of people and garnering significant popular support even while they were banned.
Clearly, the main cause of their popularity is the people’s belief in the political platforms both parties offer. Central to their widespread popularity is the pluralistic worldview that both parties share and their insistence that Islam can exist within a secular framework and does not need Islamic state to function politically. They promise to incorporate a governing model based on Turkey rather than Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Now in power, Al-Nahda’s political agenda steers clear of social change and implementation of religion in public life. Instead, the platform focuses on economic development, national security, and the continuation of Tunisia’s tradition of women’s and workers’ rights. Their first endeavor after the election was to insist on a ruling coalition of Islamic and secular parties, a moderate coalition that represents a moderate Tunisia.
We do not need to wait for Al-Nahda and its peers in other countries to enact policies for us to know that the role of political Islam has changed in the region. The very occasion of an Islamic party rising to power lies in stark contrast to previous political scenarios involving similar parties. In the 1990’s, in neighboring Algeria, Islamists won elections only to be stopped from taking power. What resulted was a bloody civil war that was the height of the regional conflict between secularism and Islam.
The fact that Islamic political parties are now legally allowed to express political opinions that had always been popular in the region represents a vast step towards democracy for the Middle East. This is what Al-Nahda and its peers have been asking for since their founding. Now that power has been handed to them, the world watches as they decide what paths to choose for their countries in this momentous time.
Tunisia, and the Middle East, is at a crossroads. Al-Nahda and moderate Islamic parties promise to change the politics of the entire region and prove to the world whether Islam and secularism are compatible and whether they can pioneer a system for their coexistence.
