Final: Module 9

Question 1

What does the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924 represent?

Answer 1

secular modernity replaces a religion-based political order

Question 2

Why did Turkey abolish the Ottoman caliphate?

Answer 2

the government didn’t want to lag behind Europeans and be colonized - they imitated Europeans so they could become more powerful

Question 3

What happened after the abolition of the caliphate?

Answer 3

Islamists began challenging those in power after a secular state was established, but they were largely shut down

Question 4

What are some other secular changes that were made in Turkey?

Answer 4

-religious leaders were stripped of their authority
-switch from Arabic language to Latin-derived language

Question 5

Explain the radical shift in the interpretation of martyrdom in the 1960s and 70s.

Answer 5

As part of a religious revivalist movement, Sunni and Shia Muslims were reacting to the spread of secular ideologies from the West such as communism, nationalism, and socialism
* people are actively seeking martyrdom

Question 6

Which Islamic orthodoxy was the first to revive martyrdom?

Answer 6

Shia Muslims - believed they should MAKE history by resisting and fighting rather than quietly let history happen (no more quietism)

Question 7

Shia revivalism characteristics

Answer 7

-top-down, hierarchical
-controlled and led by classically trained clerics in hierarchical systems
*was successful in Iran in 1979 with the establishment of the Islamic State

Question 8

Why is the Battle of Karbala significant for Shia Muslims?

Answer 8

Husayn’s death established the concept of a willing martyr

Question 9

Were Shia revivalism attacks bottom-up or top-down?

Answer 9

Top-down: strategic military use

Question 10

Examples of Shia attacks and groups

Answer 10

• Iran-Iraq war
  -1983 suicide bombing of US embassy in Bierut
  -Hezbollah in Lebanon

Question 11

What was the first suicide attack?

Answer 11

13 year old Hossein Fahmideh attacked Iraqi troops during the Iran-Iraq war - turned into a martyr

Question 12

Sunni Revivalism Characteristics

Answer 12

-no hierarchy - led by non-clerics with little to no formal theological education - mainly secular educated (e.g. journalists and school teachers)
-no revolutionary Sunni state except Taliban and ISIS unlike the Shia Islamic state
-state-sponsored and sided with the state

Question 13

What was the most significant shift in Sunni revivalism?

Answer 13

They opened the door to radical subjectivism - anyone can interpret the holy writ

Question 14

How did Sunni revivalists recast the meaning of jihad?

Answer 14

They made jihad an individual obligation and eliminated the distinction between lesser and greater jihad

Question 15

First Sunni suicide attack

Answer 15

in 1994 Hamas targeted Israeli teenagers in the middle of an Israel-Palestine conflict

Question 16

What was the consensus and controversy of Sunni suicide attacks?

Answer 16

Consensus: suicide attacks ok for self-defense in asymmetrical warfare

Controversy: suicide outside of the above context

Question 17

What was the consequence of there being no hierarchy in Sunni revivalism?

Answer 17

-targets were self-chosen and chaotic – failure to use martyrdom in a successful manner

Question 18

Were Sunni revivalist attacks top-down or bottom-up?

Answer 18

Bottom-up

Question 19

How is revivalism a departure of both Sunni and Shia muslims?

Answer 19

-in the past Shia were quietists
-Sunni believed in submitting to a tyrannical leader is preferable to chaos and anarchy

Question 20

Did Shia revivalism fail or succeed in Iran and Iraq?

Answer 20

-failed in Iraq under Saddam Hussain
-succeeded in Iran under Khomeini
*has mainly had success

Question 21

Why did Sunni revivalists adopt suicide attacks?

Answer 21

saw Shia success in Lebanon

Question 22

What do different Sunni Muslims think of suicide attacks?

Answer 22

-establishment Sunni clerics condemn it
-radical fringe groups promote it

Question 23

What caused Shia revivalism?

Answer 23

Disparities between Shia and Sunni Muslims under the Sunni Ba’athist regime in the 1960s and 70s

Question 24

Key differences between Sunni and Shia revivalism

Answer 24

1. Shia led by classically trained ulama while Sunni no people not classically trained
2. Shia had more success (e.g. Islamic State in Iran)