‘Ulamā,’ Maṣlaḥah, and the Politics of Fatwa: The Shifting of Ali Gomaa's Fatwa Approach during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution
Abstract views: 371 PDF downloads: 189
Abstract
Numerous scholars have advanced the thesis that rulers in Muslim-majority countries engage ‘ulamā’ to legitimize their political authority. This assertion seems pertinent to the actions of the state mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, who issued a fatwa prohibiting demonstrations during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Applying the scholars' thesis to Gomaa's fatwas reveals complexity, as it turns out that Gomaa revised his fatwas, particularly those related to the transition from prohibiting demonstrations to endorsing peaceful assemblies. This research aims to analyze two aspects: exploring the motivating factors behind the changes in Gomaa's fatwas and identifying the inherent substantive shifts in his fatwas. By employing Foucault's discourse theory, the study delves into Gomaa fatwas during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, meticulously documented on digital platforms. The research findings indicate that Gomaa's shift in fatwas stems from a vested desire for his pronouncements to achieve widespread acceptance and authority among a populace that embraces protest as an expression of freedom of speech. Gomaa modifies his fatwa, transitioning from an outright prohibition of demonstrations to permitting peaceful assemblies while encouraging demonstrators to exercise restraint through a suggestive fatwa allowing for leaving Friday prayer. Gomaa has orchestrated a paradigmatic shift in his fatwa approach, moving away from interpreting demonstrations as opposition to the rulers, grounded in preserving soul and property, toward recognizing them as manifestations of free speech rooted in citizens' rights.
Banyak sarjana telah mengemukakan teori bahwa penguasa di negara-negara mayoritas Muslim melibatkan ‘ulamā’ untuk melegitimasi otoritas politik mereka. Pernyataan ini tampak relevan dengan tindakan mufti negara Mesir, Ali Gomaa, yang mengeluarkan fatwa melarang demonstrasi selama Revolusi Mesir tahun 2011. Penerapan teori para sarjana ke fatwa-fatwa Gomaa mengungkap kompleksitas, karena ternyata Gomaa merevisi fatwanya, khususnya yang terkait dengan peralihan dari melarang demonstrasi menjadi mendukung demonstrasi damai. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis dua aspek: mengeksplorasi faktor-faktor motivasi di balik perubahan fatwa Gomaa dan mengidentifikasi pergeseran substantif yang melekat dalam fatwanya. Dengan menggunakan teori wacana Foucault, studi ini menunjukkan bahwa pergeseran fatwa Gomaa berasal dari keinginan yang kuat agar pengumumannya diterima secara luas dan memiliki otoritas di kalangan masyarakat yang mendukung protes sebagai bentuk ekspresi kebebasan berbicara. Gomaa memodifikasi fatwanya, beralih dari larangan demonstrasi secara mutlak menjadi mengizinkan pertemuan demontrasi yang damai, sambil secara bersamaan mendorong para demonstran untuk menahan diri melalui fatwa yang mengizinkan meninggalkan salat Jumat. Gomaa mengatur pergeseran paradigma dalam pendekatan fatwanya, yakni dari menjauhi interpretasi demonstrasi sebagai bentuk perlawanan terhadap penguasa berdasarkan konsep pemeliharaan jiwa dan properti, menuju pemahaman bahwa demonstrasi adalah manifestasi kebebasan berpendapat yang didasarkan atas hak-hak warga negara.
References
Alfughi, Mohamed. “Historical Origins of the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya: A Theoretical Analysis.” Dissertation, Universitat Wien, 2015.
Al-Muftī: Miṣr Maḥsūdah li Annahā ‘alā Nāṣiyah, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqcNMrdpaVM.
Althusser, Louis. “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Notes towards an Investigation).” In Mapping Ideology, edited by Slavoj Zizek. London dan New York: Verso, 1994.
Anani, Khalil al-. “The ‘Anguish’ of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.” In Rouledge Handbook of the Arab Spring: Rethinking Democratization, 227–39. London dan New York: Routledge, 2015.
Asad, Talal. Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam. JHU Press, 1993.
Bachar, Shmuel, Shmuel Bar, Rachel Machtiger, and Yair Minzili. “Establishment Ulama and Radicalism in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.” Center on Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World/Research Monographs on the Muslim World 1, no. 4 (2006): 1–42.
“Bawwābah Dār Al-Iftā’ al-Miṣriyyah.” Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.dar-alifta.org/AR/Default.aspx.
Bayat, Asef. Making Islam Demokratic: Social Movements and the Post-Islamist Turn. Stanford University Press, 2007.
Belal, Youssef. “Islamic Law, Truth, Ethics: Fatwa and Jurisprudence of the Revolution.” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East 38, no. 1 (2018): 107–21.
Burdah, Ibnu. Islam Kontemporer, Revolusi, Dan Demokrasi: Sejarah Revolusi Politik Dunia Islam Dan Gerakan Arab Dalam Arsu Demokrasi Global. Malang: Intrans Publishing, 2014.
———. Menuju Dunia Baru Arab: Revolusi Rakyat, Demokratisasi, Dan Kekuasaan. Yogyakarta: Tiara Wacana, 2013.
Fadel, Mohammad. “Islamic Law and Constitution-Making: The Authoritarian Temptation and the Arab Spring.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2711859.
Farag, Mona. “Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and the January 25 Revolution: New Political Party, New Circumstances.” Contemporary Arab Affairs 5, no. 2 (April 1, 2012): 214–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/17550912.2012.673069.
Fatwā Dr. ‘Alī Jum‘ah Bi Khuṣūṣ Taẓāhurāt Yaum al-Jum‘ah, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98tPO8eC310.
Foucault, Michael. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews & Other Writings 1972-1977. Edited by Colin Gordon. Translated by Colin Gordon, Leo Marshall, John Mephem, and John Soper. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980.
Gazālī, Abū Ḥāmid al-. Al-Mustaṣfā Min ‘Ilm al-Uṣūl. Beirut: DKI, 2014.
Ghanem, Hiba. “The 2011 Epyptian Revolution Chants: A Romatic-Mu’tazilī Moral Order.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 1-13, 2017.
Hilāl, ’Imād Aḥmad. Al-Iftā al-Miṣriyyah: Min al-Ṣāḥābī ‘Uqbah Ibn ‘Āmir Ilā al-Duktūr ‘Alī Jum‘ah. Vol. 7. 7 vols. Cairo: Dār al-Iftā’ al-Miṣriyyah, 2020.
Hoffman, Michael, and Amaney Jamal. “Religion in the Arab Spring: Between Two Competing Narratives.” Journal of Politics 76, no. 3 (July 2014): 593.
Høigilt, Jacob, and Frida Nome. “Egyptian Salafism in Revolution.” Journal of Islamic Studies 25, no. 1 (January 1, 2014): 33–54. https://doi.org/10.1093/jis/ett056.
Ibrahim, Zakyi. “To Revolt or Not to Revolt: A Muslim Perspective on the Egyptian Experiment.” American Journal of Islam and Society 28, no. 1 (2011): i–viii.
Jum’ah, ‘Alī. Ru’yah al-Fiqhiyyah Ḥaḍāriyyah Li Tartīb al-Maqāṣid al-Syar‘iyyah. Mesir: Nahḍah Miṣr, 2010.
Khalāf, ‘Abd al-Wahhāb. ‘Ilm Uṣūl al-Fiqh. Surabaya: al-Haramain, n.d.
Maqṭā’ Ṣautī Li al-Muftī ‘Alī Jum‘ah Aṡnā al-Ṡaurah Wa Yu‘alliq ‘alaih al-Syaikh Sa‘d al-Azharī, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzf_79q9fKo.
Moussa, Mohammed. “Protest, Islamism, and the Waning Prospect of Revolution in Egypt.” The Journal of North African Studies (2015): 784–96.
Mudawam, Syafaul. “The Uṣūl al-Fiqh Approach on the Understanding of Islamic Law in Contemporary Era: Source and Contextualization.” Asy-Syir’ah: Jurnal Ilmu Syari’ah dan Hukum 55, no. 2 (August 31, 2021): 315–34. https://doi.org/10.14421/ajish.v55i2.1004.
Muftī Miṣr, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7leQws-tEB0.
Nakissa, Aria. “The Fiqh of Revolution and the Arab Spring: Secondary Segmentation as a Trend in Islamic Legal Doctrine.” Muslim World 105, no. 3 (July 2015): 398–421. https://doi.org/10.1111/muwo.12098.
Negm, Ibrahim. The Epistemology of Exellence: A Journey into the Life and Thoughts of the Grand Mufti of Egypt. Beirut: Innovatio Publishing, 2012.
Nurhayati, Nurhayati, and Muhammad Syukri Albani Nasution. “Maqāsīd Al-Sharīa in the Fatwa of the Indonesian Ulama Council Regarding Congregational Worship During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Asy-Syir’ah: Jurnal Ilmu Syari’ah Dan Hukum 54, no. 2 (September 10, 2020): 251–75. https://doi.org/10.14421/ajish.v54i2.895.
Prihantoro, Hijrian Angga. “Ulama Dan Politik Pengetahuan Dalam Ushul Fikih: Relasi Kuasa, Paham Teologis, Dan Geopolitik.” Dissertation, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, 2023.
Purwanto, Tinggal. “Kesetaraan Gender Dan Relasi Kuasa Dalam Tafsir Al-Qur’an Tematik Kementerian Agama Republik Indonesia.” Disertasi, UIN Sunan Kalijaga, 2018.
Purwanto, Tinggal. “Kesetaraan Gender Dan Relasi Kuasa Dalam Tafsir Al-Qur’an Tematik Kementerian Agama Republik Indonesia.” Dissertation, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, 2018.
Qaraḍāwī, Yūsuf al-. 25 Yanāyir Sanah 2011 Ṡaurah Sya’b. Cairo: Maktabah Wahbah, 2011.
Ricardo, David Akhmad. Catatan Harian Revolusi Mesir: Revolusi Rakyat. Jakarta: Arus Timur, 2011.
Safi, Omid. The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry. Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press, 2006.
Scherer, Matthew. “Political Theology, Democracy, and the Exception in Egyptian Revolution.” Political Ideology (2017): 1–17.
Sulaiman, Akhmad. “Ijtihād Maqāṣidī Dan Politik Pengetahuan: Pergumulan Diskursus Keagamaan Revolusi Mesir Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī Dan ‘Alī Jum‘ah.” Dissertation, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, 2022.
Syāṭibī, Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Mūsā al-. Al-Muwāfaqāt Fī Uṣūl al-Syarī‘ah. Edited by ‘Abd Allah Darāz. Vol. 2. 4 vols. Beirut: DKI, 2011.
“Timeline of the Revolution in Egypt | World | Breaking News and Perspectives from around the Globe | DW | 11.02.2011.” Accessed August 19, 2021. https://www.dw.com/en/timeline-of-the-revolution-in-egypt/a-14837364.
“Wapres Mesir Siap Berdialog Dengan Oposisi - Global Liputan6.Com.” Accessed February 14, 2022. https://www.liputan6.com/global/read/318440/wapres-mesir-siap-berdialog-dengan-oposisi.
Warren, David H. “Religion, Politics, and the Anxiety of Contemporary Maṣlaḥa Reasoning: The Production of a Fiqh al-Thawra after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, 226–48. London & Boston: Brill, 2019.” In Locating the Sharī’a: Legal Fluidity in Theory, History, and Practice, 226–48. London & Boston: Brill, 2019.
———. “The ‘ulamā’ and Arab Uprisings 2011-13: Considering Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the ‘Global Mufti’, between the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Legal Tradition, and Qatari Foreign Policy.” New Middle East Studies 4 (2014): 1–32.
Zaman, Muhammad Qasim. The Ulama in Contemporary Islam: Custodians of Change. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.
Zuḥailī, Muḥammad Wahbah al-. Uṣul Al-Fiqh al-Islāmī. Vol. 2. 2 vols. Damaskus: Dār al-Fikr, 1986.
Zulfiqar, Adnan A. “Revolutionary Islamic Jurisprudence: A Restatement of the Arab Spring.” International Law and Politics 49, no. 443 (2017): 443–97.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Akhmad Sulaiman, Mohammad Yunus Masrukhin, Ibnu Burdah
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Asy-Syir'ah : Jurnal Ilmu Syari'ah dan Hukum by Faculty of Sharia and Law, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.