Capitalist Anarchist Movements and Islamic Strategic Response◈ Origins and Evolution of Anarchism
Anarchism is a capitalist ideology that emerged in the early 19th century. Its founder was William Godwin (1756–1836), an English clergyman. However, the theory did not gain popularity in England. Major anarchist thinkers emerged from France and Russia, and during the 19th and early 20th centuries, anarchism became a powerful movement in Spain, Russia, and Mexico.
◈ Prominent Anarchist Thinkers
✔ Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
✔ Leo Tolstoy
✔ Mikhail Bakunin
✔ Prince Peter Kropotkin
✔ Emma Goldman
◈ Modern Influence of Anarchism
In today’s world, anarchist movements are active in the USA, Ukraine, Mexico, Bolivia, and China. Among Muslim countries, Iran and Tunisia appear to show influences from these ideologies.
◈ Core Concepts of Anarchism
✔ Autonomy:
Every individual has the right to define good and evil on their own terms. No one should impose their interpretations on others.
✔ Anti-State Ideology:
According to anarchists, the state is the greatest obstacle to autonomy and equal liberty, and thus must be abolished.
✔ Self-Government:
Anarchists advocate that a human should be a slave only to their own desires, and not be under any external authority.
◈ Anarchism and Democracy
Anarchists consider democracy to be the “purest form of democracy”, as it promotes self-interest and individual rule. They oppose familial and traditional societal institutions, regarding them as barriers to personal freedom.
◈ Violent vs. Non-Violent Anarchism
Violent Anarchism:
- Russian anarchists like Bakunin, Kropotkin, and Nechayev were prominent figures of this school of thought.
- They believed violence is essential for revolution, and considered the elimination of state agents, including clergy, as necessary.
- Nechayev’s anti-Islam stance and his association with the Narodnik movement in Russia are noteworthy.
Non-Violent Anarchism:
- Proudhon was the most notable figure of this ideology.
- He considered private property as theft and supported Marx’s labor theory of value.
- He promoted non-violent labor syndicates and rejected violent uprising.
◈ Anarchist Movements in the Modern Era
In the 1960s, anarchist movements reemerged in Europe and America alongside the spread of sexual libertinism. The rise of neoliberalism and individualistic anarchism, inspired by Max Stirner, laid the foundation of these new movements.
Thinkers like Ayn Rand and Robert Nozick upheld self-interest and individual liberty as the cornerstone of human progress.
◈ New Social Movements and Anarchism
Key New Social Movements:
① Feminist Movement
② Environmental Movement
③ LGBTQ+ Movement
④ Anti-Globalization Movement
⑤ Human Rights Campaigns
⑥ Anti-Nuclear Movement
⑦ Peace Movements
✔ Shared Characteristics:
- Promotion of Freedom: These movements claim to advance liberty but in fact reinforce capitalist structures.
- Cultivation of Self-Interest: They emphasize personal autonomy and self-worship.
- Destruction of the Family Unit: They erode traditional social and familial structures.
- Survival of Capitalist System: These movements work to reform, rather than dismantle, the capitalist order—thus reinforcing it.
◈ Relationship Between New Social Movements and Colonialism
These movements often operate as instruments of colonialism, especially in protecting American interests. For example, the Zapatista Movement in Mexico served to strengthen capitalist American interests under the guise of social reform.
◈ Islamic Movements and Anarchism
Modern anarchist movements oppose Islamic principles, as they promote freedom, self-interest, and narcissism—values that conflict with the Islamic concept of submission to Allah.
◈ Strategic Guidelines for Islamic Movements (e.g., Ikhwan al-Muslimun)
✔ Reject the policies of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).
✔ Promote Islamic spirituality within society.
✔ Expose New Social Movements as agents of Israel and the USA.
✔ Use mosques and madrasas to exert influence over state institutions.
✔ Dismantle the capitalist state structure and establish an Islamic system of governance.
❀ Conclusion
If Islamic movements do not strive for complete liberation from the capitalist system, they risk ending up like Turkey’s AKP, which was once labeled by Obama as “NATO’s Islamist”—a tool of Western interests.
True Islamic reform requires rejecting capitalist paradigms and constructing a Shari‘ah-based Islamic order from the ground up.
