Hasan Hanafī is a Muslim liberal leftist thinker who is a professor in philosophy at Cairo University since 1988.

 

Education, Career and Personal Background

 

Hasan Hanafī was born in 1935 in Egypt. He studied philosophy at Cairo University where he obtained his BA (1955). After that he went to France and completed his PhD studies at Sorbonne University in Paris (1966). In 1988 he returned to Egypt and has became a professor at Cairo University.

 

During his time in Paris he began his career as a prolific writer while working on his doctorate. Motivated by his great interest in the relation between Western and Arabic thinking he later translated many Western philosophical works into Arabic such as Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-Politicus.

 

Hanafī studied Husserl, Kierkegaard, Sartre, Kant, Fichte, Hegel, Spinoza and the theologist G.E. Lessing among many other Western thinkers. Regarding the Arab-Islamic tradition he is, according to himself, especially indebted to Sayyid Qutb, a radical Islamist ideologist of the Muslim Brotherhood, the rationalist philosophy of the Muctazilah group, and Middle Age Aristotelian philosophy of Ibn Rushd (Averroes).

 

His vast knowledge on a broad field of philosophy and religion has given him many positions and invitations throughout his career. Thus Hanafī has been visiting professor at the following universities: University of Toulouse 1969, University of Louvain 1970, Temple University 1971-1975, University of Khartoum 1976-1977, University of Kuwait 1979, University of Fez, Morocco 1982-1984, and the University of Tokyo 1984-1985.

 

Hanafī's thinking addresses the political situation of the Arab World in a wider historical and philosophical perspective, and his political engagement is reflected in the wide range of topics he is dealing with in his work.

 

Views on religion and politics

 

As early as 1948, Hanafī wanted to volunteer in the Muslim Brotherhood fighting the Palestinian war, but due to his age of 13 years he was rejected.

 

Throughout his life he has been devoted to the Palestinian cause and the thought of a united Palestinian nation. He was also involved in the popular national movement in Egypt and was critical of Nāsir's brutal imprisonment and torturing of Muslim Brotherhood members in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

 

Hanafī says that he was continuously critical to the regime in Egypt, and still today he feels a certain connection with the Muslim Brotherhood:

 

‘I am part of the Islamic revivalist movement, and the way I interacted with the 1952 Revolution was influenced by the intricate relations between it and the Brotherhood. Even now, this relation plays an important role in my life. I have followed the intellectual path mapped out by Sayyid Qutb, whom I consider one of the early Islamist leftists.’(1)

 

He also supported the Iranian revolution in the early years and supervised the publishing of two books by Khumaynī in Arabic. And in 1981 he launched the Islamic left magazine (Al-Yasār Al-Islāmī), but it was never published more than the first issue.

 

His passion was the intellectual endeavor to create a spiritual revolution by revitalizing the Arab-Islamic heritage and to make Western philosophy known to the Arabic public. On this basis, his audience became primarily his students at Cairo University and elsewhere.

 

 

Hanafī as a ‘Communist Muslim Brother’

 

By placing Qutb on the Islamic left Hanafī challenges the prevailing perception of Qutb's thinking as the majority of Qutb's followers are understood as right wing Islamists. For his controversial opinions Hanafī has been allegedly labeled a "communist Muslim Brother" in the security files from the time of his political activism.(2) Ironically, he was not really accepted by either communists or the Muslim Brothers each side accusing him of being the other. His tries to synthesize opposing ideologies with his ideas and he objects the idea that there is a dichotomy between religion and revolution. He found support and inspiration in the liberation theology of Latin America which combines Marxist ideas with Christian teachings and ethics.

 

In an article in 2006 he commented on the current situation of the Muslim brotherhood:

 

"No one has an interest in clashing with the Muslim Brotherhood nowadays, as they are descendants of the reform movement, where all national liberation movements came from."

 

Hanafī defends the political legitimacy of the Muslim Brotherhood and he is worried that the continuous marginalization and criminalization of the organization will lead to violent groupings and instability in Egypt.(3)

 

 

‘Islamic Democracy’?

 

In a 2002 article, Ray Takeyh, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, called Hanafī an Islamist liberal thinker who envisions an 'Islamic democracy.'(4)

 

Hanafī, however, thinks that the term Islamic democracy is somehow not comparable with the Muslim meaning of a just Islamic society, because it is a concept coming from outside Islam. Even so, Hanafī finds Islam's spirit in the ideals of social justice, equality and a democratic election of the ruler. Concerning the latter, he refers to the Qur'ānic principle of Shūrá ('mutual consultation') which he interprets as being against the monopoly of opinion and giving votes to the masses.(5) In his view, the religion of Islam is political, but not aiming at theocracy:

 

‘The spirit of Islam is life, not religion. Religion is only a tool to implement a good life, to create a perfect man and a perfect society.’(6)

 

Stressing Islam's worldly and social focus, Hanafī interprets Islam as an activist religion and a political tool which can be used both by liberating political powers or by conservative forces as in current Iranian policy. He claims that every religion expresses socio-political forces through two main trends: a stabilizing trend which is the state and an oppositional trend aiming at social change.

 

Hanafī would like to see Islam as a revolutionary means to liberating the people and suppressed nations through renewal of the Islamic tradition and thus an education of the mind and spirit of Muslims.

 

 

Separation Religion and State

 

Regarding the concept of 'secularism,' Hanafī stresses the importance of distinguishing between the separation of religious and political authority on one side, which he adheres to, and the separation of religion and social life on the other, which he claims is strange to most Muslims. According to Hanafī Islam currently functions as political ideology in developing countries and thus as authority among the masses, because they are not educated enough to be able to separate the concepts. He believes that proper education of the masses will minimize the reference to religion in the political field.(7)

 

Hanafī acknowledges the present need for tactical usage of Islamic concepts to reach the Arab audience. To avoid being marginalized as 'Westernized' it is crucial to use the indigenous vocabulary instead of the dominating Western one. His main point, beyond the tactical one, is that the Arab-Islamic inheritance does contain useful concepts for modern, rational thinking. He believes that most of this part of the tradition has been hidden and marginalized for political reasons throughout the history of Islam.

 

‘For instance, if I would like to defend reason why should I go to Kant when I can go to Mutazilism?’ he asked rhetorically when interviewed in 2006.(8)

 

His political understanding of religion builds on a contextual approach to the Qur'ān and the Islamic heritage, because in his view Islam must always be actualized in the specific historical moment. Therefore, Hanafī rejects any stagnated, literal readings of the holy text and the claims of eternal meaning in the Qur'ān. He finds this a misinterpretation of the dynamics and dialectical nature of Islam.(9)

 

In this sense, he belongs to the line of religious reformers such as Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī formulating his thought on reforms thus:

 

‘Taking from the old what you need and leaving what you do not.’(10)

 

 

‘The Qur'ān is a supermarket…’ (11)

 

According to Hanafī ‘the Qur'ān is a supermarket, where one takes what one wants and leaves what one doesn't want.’(11)

 

Due to the contradictory content of the Qur'ānic verses Hanafī argued that you can find support for many different viewpoints in it and thus use the text according to current time and needs. His remark was met by fierce responses by other scholars and al-Azhar shaykhs. Shaykh Mustafá al-Shackah of the Azhar's Islamic Research Academy, accused Hanafī of being a "Marxist" talking nonsense and he added that:

 

‘If apostasy is proven, he who becomes an ex-Muslim should be executed.’ In Hanafī's case, however, ‘he deserves medical treatment, because he has a psychiatric problem.’(12)

 

Equally controversial Islamic reformist, Jamāl al-Bannā supported Hanafī in this case saying:

 

‘I have to say it wasn't very intelligent comparing the Qur'ān with a supermarket but, in the end he's not wrong,’ says Bannā, asserting that ‘one finds different opinions in the Qur'ān.’(13)

 

 

Incidents with al-Azhar Scholars Front

 

Hanafī had been accused already in a incident in 1997, when he was called murtadd.(14) Dr. Yahyá Ismācīl Hablūsh, secretary general of the Azhar Scholars Front, filed the 1997 case against Hanafī and the body of the Azhar Scholars Front distributed Yahyá Ismācīl's critical book on Hanafī The Main Concepts of Hasan Hanafī.(15)

 

Meanwhile another al-Azhar scholar, Dr. cAbd al-Mu'tī Bayyūmī, however came to the public defense of Hanafī and accused the Front of a dangerous use of their authority, which could lead to sanctioned violence and aggression toward Hanafī. Bayyūmī argued that Hanafī's statements should at least be debated publicly before it was judged and he claimed that Yahyá Ismācīl quoted Hanafī's sentences out of their context. Also the Azhar's grand imām, Muhammad Tantāwī, rejected the case publicly in the big Cairo-based newspaper al-Ahrām. Placing himself in obvious conflict with the Front and Dr. Yahyá Ismācīl in particular.(16)

 

The internal controversy among the scholars caused the president of the Azhar Scholars Front, Dr. Muhammad cAbd al-Muncim al-Birrī, to close the file, although he maintained his view that Hanafī's thoughts were 'poisoned.'(17)

 

 

Progress and the Role of Religion

 

One of the theses in Hanafī's doctorate (1965) was that Western culture is declining while the Eastern cultures are on the rise. He maintains this thesis in his recent writings and it is his personal aim to contribute to the rise and spiritual revolution of Eastern culture. He believes progress in religion can be a driving force to the intellectual progress of cultures.

 

Some arguments in the thesis were put forth in a 2002 paper.(18) He stated that no culture can be forever in progress. Rather, the progress of any specific culture is bound to stagnate in some of its historical phases. Hanafī claims that progress is not a material thing alone, but a movement that must be accompanied by spiritual, intellectual and moral dimensions. If not, progress will end in regression and decline.

 

Hanafī thereby warns the Western world of its cultural arrogance which he thinks relies primarily on its hegemony of power and wealth. From Hanafī's point of view, the Western history of philosophy that runs parallel to the great economical and technological development has itself pointed to an actual regression of culture. He sees the movement from Modernism to Post-Modernism as a loss of meaning in the Western culture and thus a movement from progress to regression.

 

 

Concept of Occidentalism as a Response to Orientalism

 

In his book Introduction to Occidentalism (1989) Hanafī stressed the necessity for Arabs to turn the perspective around and become critical observers of Western culture instead of always being the studied objects of the West. In his perspective occidentalism is the other side of orientalism.(19) He claims that the turn of perspectives and shaking off the West's hegemony is an important means to equalize the relationship between the cultures and a pivotal prerequisite to true dialogue.

 

Hanafī finds it deeply problematic in general that the history is mainly judged and conceptualized from a Western perspective. This one-sided bias creates a defensive reaction in the Arab-Muslim world which carries with it a desire to define itself in opposition to this Western hegemony. He explains the conservatism and fundamentalism of current Islam as mainly a defensive reaction to Western hegemony. Moreover, Hanafī complains that the consequent identification of Islam with this conservative representation, in media and elsewhere, just increases Western domination.

 

‘Everyone is judging Islam according to the main dominant crucial trend which is conservatism, but conservatism is not the only one. I think, this is a little bit cruel if you are emptying me from my own creativity as if the West is the only creative culture.’(20)

 

However, Hanafī even perceives the 'occidentalist paradigm' that he promoted as limited because it reflects a unilateral relation between the civilizations in the same manner as orientalism does. Thus, it can only be seen as a step toward what he sees as a higher level of cooperation. Outlining his idea of going beyond unilateralism he said:

 

‘If we can multiply the system of references we can universalize the high ideals of human beings concerning reason, humanism, nature, science, social justice, fraternity and equality. This will lead to a certain kind of cooperation and more justice in studying comparative cultures.’(21)

 

 

Criticism of Globalization

 

Hanafī's harsh criticism of globalization runs parallel with his critical attitude towards the West and its hegemony. At a German conference on development of cultures in 2002 he said:

 

‘Clash of civilizations prepares the ground for globalization. It spells out what the West has always practiced and denied. It mystifies the clash of interests by the clash of cultures, an appealing discourse in the Third World. Clash of civilizations is a simple cover-up for conflict of interests.’(22)
Hanafī perceives globalization as a game of interests, a globalization of economy alone, in which the most powerful part sets the rules. According to him globalization is by nature hegemonic, monolithic and oppressive.(23)

 

Globalization only supports and enhances the World system of a center (the West) and a periphery, in which the center is the global and the periphery is the local. Accordingly he blamed Western culture of having double standards in norm and practice.(24) While promoting and practicing pluralism and anti-totalitarianism inside its own borders it ‘imposes its own monolithic model on others.’(25)

 

Hanafī rejected the 'clash of civilizations' theory and stressed that the perspective from within the Arab world differs from the dominating Western view. Whereas the Western concept of the 'Middle East' was defined in colonial times from the geographical viewpoint of Britain, the Arabs themselves have their own label which is the 'Arab world' or the Muslim/Islamic world. Opposed to the civilizational thesis behind the 'clash-theory' Hanafī said:

 

‘The identity of this world is not essentially religious but socio-political.’(26)

 

 

Additional Information on Other Issues

1. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/572/profile.htm (interview from 2002)
2. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/572/profile.htm (interview from 2002)
3. AWR 2006, 25, art.18
4. Article from the website of Council on Foreign Relations: http://www.cfr.org/publication/7374/faithbased_initiatives.html?breadcru...
5. Radio interview from 2003, taken from the official website of Abdolkarim Soroush: http://www.drsoroush.com/English/On_DrSoroush/E-CMO-20030928- The_Clash_Within_Islam.html
6. http://www.resetdoc.org/EN/hassan-hanafi-interview.php
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/rep/H008
10. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/572/profile.htm (interview from 2002)
11. http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=3234
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. RNSAW1997, 25, art.3
15. RNSAW 1997, 25, art.1
16. RNSAW 1997, 49, art.2
17. RNSAW 1997, 26, art.5
18. http://www.goethe.de/ins/vb/prj/fort/fur/hah/hab/enindex.htm
19. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/572/profile.htm (interview from 2002)
20. http://www.drsoroush.com/English/On_DrSoroush/E-CMO-20030928- The_Clash_Within_Islam.html
21. http://www.resetdoc.org/EN/hassan-hanafi-interview.php
22. http://www.inwent.org/ef-texte/cultures/hanafi.htm
23. Ibid.
24. http://www.smi.uib.no/pao/hanafi.html
25. http://www.inwent.org/ef-texte/cultures/hanafi.htm
26. http://www.smi.uib.no/pao/hanafi.html