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Tunisian Islamist Party is pro-free market, Anti-Sharia, pro-women, an

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Jennifer

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Was not sure which forum section to put this in.

Could someone explain this to me. I was visiting a friends facebook page where they were commenting on how the Islamist party won 61% of the vote in Egypt:

http://www.newser.co...egypt-vote.html

Someone commented on their thread stating this:

"So starts the oppression of women and religious minorities."

A woman responded with this:

"‎.....Islamist doesnt mean women will be oppressed and a dictator will pop back on. Its incredibly naive to equate the two. You should do more research before you make such conclusions. Islamist don't write off free market capitalism or liberal social policies (UAE). Take ennahda party of Tunasia, who just won a majority of seats in the election, is a Islamic political party who favors free markets. http://en.wikipedia....nnahda_Movement"

So here is my question:

How would Ayn Rand/Objectivists explain this? It seems to be a moderate Islamist party that:

http://en.wikipedia....nnahda_Movement

Based on what I have read of Objectivist literature on this topic, this is not supposed to be possible over the long term, but this seems to be the case to a certain degree.

The party is generally described as socially centrist with mild support for economic liberalism. The party wishes to revise the strong secular, Arab nationalist, and socialist principles that predominate among the other parties, and instead allow Islam into public life and be more accommodating to other viewpoints such as closer relations with the West and greater economic freedom. The party currently rejects radical Islamism as a form of governance appropriate for Tunisia; in a debate with a secular opponent Al-Ghannushi stated, “Why are we put in the same place as a model that is far from our thought, like the Taliban or the Saudi model, while there are other successful Islamic models that are close to us, like the Turkish, the Malaysian and the Indonesian models; models that combine Islam and modernity?”[29]

Ghannushi has denounced Sayyid Qutb, supported worker's rights and women's education, and stated Sharia law has "no place in Tunisia."

Edited by Jennifer
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Based on what I have read of Objectivist literature on this topic, this is not supposed to be possible over the long term, but this seems to be the case to a certain degree.

Here's a good talk by a Muslim free market advocate.

Some "Objectivist literature" on the topic of Islam is truly god-awful, IMO.

I haven't been following the developments in Tunisia, however.

Edited by Ninth Doctor
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I assume an Objectivist would explain this the same way they do any religious group who gains enlightenment. Islam is not different. It's not a special case.
Exactly.

I have no idea whether any of these parties are really moderate or simply putting their best foot forward at this moment in history. However, it is not surprising to see people try to introduce reason into their thinking. In fact, history would hint that this is the norm rather than the exception.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So here is my question:

How would Ayn Rand/Objectivists explain this? It seems to be a moderate Islamist party that:

http://en.wikipedia....nnahda_Movement

Based on what I have read of Objectivist literature on this topic, this is not supposed to be possible over the long term, but this seems to be the case to a certain degree.

The long term is not here yet. From the wiki article at the bottom:

On 13 November 2011, the party's general secretary Hamadi Jebali held a joint rally in Sousse together with a parliamentary deputy of the Palestinian Hamas party. In a tone sharply in contrast to official statements of the party, Jebali referred to the occasion as "a divine moment in a new state, and in, hopefully, a 6th caliphate," and that "the liberation of Tunisia will, God willing, bring about the liberation of Jerusalem."[34]

Respecting human rights and 'dreaming of the 6th caliphate and the liberation of Jerusalem' are not compatible goals. Time will tell how it turns out.

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The long term is not here yet. From the wiki article at the bottom:

Respecting human rights and 'dreaming of the 6th caliphate and the liberation of Jerusalem' are not compatible goals. Time will tell how it turns out.

If their proposed economic policies actually come to fruition we should be able to invest them in the world economy, and maybe they will forget that they ever said anything that stupid.

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