The text discusses a recent article published on the Maydan website entitled «The Modernist Roots of Islamic Autocracy: Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah and the UAE-Israel Peace Deal». The article examines the position of the UAE Fatwa Council, headed by Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah, which considers the UAE-Israel peace agreement to be legitimate from an Islamic perspective. The article highlights the division within the Islamic intellectual community regarding this position, with some scholars such as Hamza Yusuf distancing themselves from it.
The text also discusses the concept of modernism and its various forms within the Islamic world. It mentions the presence of modernist and anti-modernist ideologies and their political implications. The author argues that modernism, in its various forms, dominates Muslim states and political forces in the contemporary political and economic sphere. However, there is a schism within modernism, illustrated by the differing views of Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah and Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi on the Arab Spring.
The paper concludes by arguing that the modernism embraced by the UAE and Egyptian regimes is only possible through autocratic domestic policies, as their populations would reject this ideology under conditions of political freedom. It raises the question of whose interests these regimes and their supporting scholars really serve.
Please note that the translation is a rough interpretation and may not capture all the nuances of the original text.