In his novel, Political Islam, Justice, and Governance, Professor Mbaye Lo presents an analysis of the changing political climate in the Arab World, following some pivotal events occurring in the world, including 9/11 and the Arab Spring. In providing the context of the political setting into which he is writing the novel, Dr. Lo begins to address some of the main factors that goes into the understanding the sources of conflict and turmoil between the West and the Middle East.
In the first chapter of the novel, he acknowledges the fact that the main reason behind the split between political Islam and militant Islam was the result on ideological differences in how to approach the intruding west. Using case studies and a variety of historical rhetoric, Dr. Lo is able to effectively introduce some explanation regarding the age-old conflict between the Middle Eastern powers and those of the west. In considering the predominantly western audience of his novel, Dr. Lo is very much successful at providing substantial context about the region, framing the novel in such a manner that eliminates some of the cultural bias and ignorance that may have been preexisting.
It is in the second chapter of the novel that Dr. Lo introduces the concept of neo-liberalism, the free market capitalism as a means by which to obtain freedom and justice in society, compared to the Islamist concept of literal justice which is heavily influenced by God above all else. This was another source of clash between the Middle East and the West due to the fact that citizenship, in the increasingly western influenced world, has increasingly become intertwined with monetary values. In chapter three, Dr. Lo introduces the existence of literalists in Islam, readily acknowledging the fact that religious definition of justice and freedom is more likely to be in competition with the secular definitions of justice and freedom. In his fourth chapter, Dr. Lo breaks down the ideology of militant Islam, breaking down the ideology behind such individuals, exploring countless possibilities about the direction in which they could go.
The fifth chapter reimagines the Egyptian Revolution as being a battle between secular justice/freedom and Islamic justice/freedom, prioritizing the representation of revolutionary fervor of the people as a means of presenting the different ideals that dominated people’s revolutionary ideals. In chapter six of the book, Dr. Lo is able to successfully outline the roots of vigilante justice under the Islamic State, using prominent theorists such as Qutb and prominent groups such as al-Qaeda to provide substance to his brilliantly crafted claim. Using Sudan as the focus of his seventh chapter, the author is then able to analyze the effects of the Arab Spring on the country, emphasizing how the insurgence of militant Islamism with newfound support from radical groups like al-Qaeda directly came into conflict with the country’s existing political Islamist tendencies. In the final chapter before the conclusion, Dr. Lo is able to use Egypt’s Muhammad Morsi and his ousting from office as a central point in explaining the shift towards democracy.
Despite the fact that there are an abundance of arguments in this novel, varying in focus from chapter to chapter but still able to relate back to the central argument that is presented in the first section of the novel. Overall, this book does an amazing job at crafting presenting an argument and using many sub arguments as a means of supporting the original argument. The abundance of information presented through the case studies displays the amount of time and research that went into creating such an academic masterpiece. If not already clear, this novel displayed the brilliance and expertise that Dr. Lo is capable of for creating such a novel with such a radical departure from many of the traditional arguments that dominate this field of academia.
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