The Erasure of Arab Political Identity : Colonialism and Violence

This book discusses how present day struggles in many Arab countries to redefine polities and politics is related to the past colonization of Arab lands by Mamluks and Ottomans. The book argues that, before European colonization, these earlier Turkic colonizations had already altered the nature of Arab Islamic society, changing legal and social norms, affecting religious practices, notions of individualism and the state, and attitudes towards minorities. The book considers how the political consciousness of Arabs which resulted from Mamluk and Ottoman rule continued during European imperialism and continues still, with unfortunate adverse consequences for politics in Arab countries.

This book explores the long history of the evolution of Arab political identity, which predates the time of the Prophet Muhammad and is characterized by tolerance, compassion, generosity, hospitality, self-control, correct behaviour, equality and consensus. The author argues that present-day struggles in many Arab countries to redefine polities and politics are related to the fact that the underlying political culture of the Arabs has been overridden for centuries by successive political regimes which have deviated from the original political culture that the Prophet adhered to.  The book outlines the political culture that existed before Islam, examines how the Conquests and the rule of the early dynasties (Umayyad and Abbasid) of the Islamic world found it necessary to override it, and analyses the effect of rule by non-Arabs – successively Mamluks, Ottoman Turks and Western colonial powers. It discusses the impact of these distortions on present day politics in the Arab world, and concludes by appealing for a reawakening of, and respect for, the cultural elements underlying the origins of Arab political identity.