The book Islam, religione e politica by Francesca Corrao, Professor of Arabic Culture and Language and Director of the School of Government’s master’s program in Economics and Institutions of Islamic Countries, retraces the history of Islamic culture over the centuries. Published as part of the Piccole Introduzioni series from LUISS University Press, the book was presented on Wednesday, October 28 at Rome’s Istituto Luigi Sturzo with a talk with Professor Sebastiano Maffettone and journalist Pietrangelo Buttafuoco.
“The world of Islam is often considered a problem,” says Professor Corrao, “when for Mediterranean countries, it should be seen as a resource. The book retraces the evolution of classic and modern Islamic states, explaining how we arrived at the present through economic, social, cultural, political and legal evolutions that help the reader to understand how multi-faceted and complex Islamic culture is, and how different the positions of intellectuals within the 22 countries of the Arab world are.”
Like other cultures with long, complex histories, Islam contains a wide variety of ideas that are not always compatible. “Within Islam, different thoughts coexist, from moderate conservatives to radicals, from tolerant liberals to uncompromising nationalists, from fundamentalists to mystics. Reaching consensus is one of the society’s pillars: in Islam, harmony within a community is a fundamental principle. In the past, when there was strong opposition, even if presented by a small minority, it was marginalized and expelled from the community. There were violent forms of heterodoxy, famous for their brutality, such as the Ḥashshāshīn (a violent fringe of Ismailism during the Crusade era, from rich the word assassin derives). However, those groups follow unique interpretations of select verses of the Koran.”
The self-proclaimed caliphate known as IS is guided by a deviation of Islam and the Koran. “Studying Islamic ethics and politics, we realize that the forces of the so-called Islamic State present policies that are far from those of classic Islam. The fundamental principles that a good Muslim should express in his or her daily life are compassion, tolerance and solidarity with the poor. The information we get from the press tends to generalize the views of a group of intolerant extremists. The actions of terrorists derive from a violent fringe of Islam, the first victims being Muslims, as the murder of the caretaker of Ebla (an archeological site in Syria) illustrates. The so-called clash of civilizations is the reflex to a violent attack against the government in power, due to its corruption and connection to the West.”
While the threats are well-noted and condemned by many Muslims, the contribution to European history is not well-studied. “The presence of Islam in Medieval Europe was fundamental for the development of the banking system, philosophy, mathematics, literature and poetry. This is why I maintain that understanding, built through dialog and willingness to listen, is so important. There are such great opportunities wherever there is willingness to establish shared values.”
Professor Corrao’s work is more than a report on ethical through and political institutions in the Arab world, but a reflection on integration. “To cite Pico della Mirandola, we have to put human dignity at the center of the discussion. Charity, brotherhood and respect for mankind are universal languages. We mustn’t let those who scream to scare or intimidate us with terror. In doing so, we only play ISIS’s game.”