Not a while ago, Rachid Ghannouchi – the top leader of Tunisia’ key Islamist movement – declared that his political party (Ennahda) would separate the movement’s religious mission (Dawa) from its political mission. This announcement came as a logical and gradual development in the democratic life of Tunisia.
Many Ennahda members will naturally find it difficult to adapt to this drastic change in the party’s policies. Obviously, this move will not go unnoticed by other Islamist movements across the region. The key question that arises is whether this move will have any repercussion for the party itself and for other similar movements in the Arab world. Many people are of the view that Ennahda’s decision may be a step toward secular politics.
While it is still early to judge how this move will impact the public life in Tunisia and beyond, we may need to remind ourselves of the Turkish experience over the last two decades. Religion remains at the heart of the ruling political party.
But the party has managed to set up effective institutions and cast aside the mission of preaching. Its main interest has been to compete in the political game and to focus on politics.
In an interview with Christiane Amanpour from CNN shortly after declaration of the new path for Ennahda, Ghannouchi stressed that his party would be committed to religion in the public arena. However, he added that commitment to this issue does not prevent him or his party from separating the duties and responsibilities within the wider movement. It is not as if Ghannouchi came up with this new approach all of a sudden. In fact, key members within the movement had been simmering for sometime and Ghannouchi brought them to boil. The demands for such an important and historic move were given impetus by the people around Ghannouchi himself. In a sense, it is a positive reaction to the new realities in Tunisia.
To be sure, the Tunisian society is somehow different from the rest of societies in North Africa due to decades of imposed secularism. The ruling generation in the post-independence era was secular.
It is the first time in the Arab world that we see an Islamist movement as big as the Muslim Brotherhood dropped Dawa from its agenda and focus instead on politics.
This apparent secularization does not mean exclusion of religion from the public sphere.
Many Ennahda members will naturally find it difficult to adapt to this drastic change in the party’s policies. Obviously, this move will not go unnoticed by other Islamist movements across the region. The key question that arises is whether this move will have any repercussion for the party itself and for other similar movements in the Arab world. Many people are of the view that Ennahda’s decision may be a step toward secular politics.
While it is still early to judge how this move will impact the public life in Tunisia and beyond, we may need to remind ourselves of the Turkish experience over the last two decades. Religion remains at the heart of the ruling political party.
But the party has managed to set up effective institutions and cast aside the mission of preaching. Its main interest has been to compete in the political game and to focus on politics.
In an interview with Christiane Amanpour from CNN shortly after declaration of the new path for Ennahda, Ghannouchi stressed that his party would be committed to religion in the public arena. However, he added that commitment to this issue does not prevent him or his party from separating the duties and responsibilities within the wider movement. It is not as if Ghannouchi came up with this new approach all of a sudden. In fact, key members within the movement had been simmering for sometime and Ghannouchi brought them to boil. The demands for such an important and historic move were given impetus by the people around Ghannouchi himself. In a sense, it is a positive reaction to the new realities in Tunisia.
To be sure, the Tunisian society is somehow different from the rest of societies in North Africa due to decades of imposed secularism. The ruling generation in the post-independence era was secular.
It is the first time in the Arab world that we see an Islamist movement as big as the Muslim Brotherhood dropped Dawa from its agenda and focus instead on politics.
This apparent secularization does not mean exclusion of religion from the public sphere.
