The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (18 page)

Ayat Allah
, a sign, a mark, an exemplar of God. This designation came into use in the twentieth century among the
Imamis
, or Twelvers, the majority tradition in
Shiite
Islam
‘Ayatollah’ denotes a religious scholar of outstanding quality and reputation. He is a
mujtahid
, a specialist in law who is capable of formulating independent interpretations (
ijtihad
) in legal and theological matters based on the Ja'fari school of jurisprudence.
Mujtahids
are
ulama
(recognized religious scholars). Among the
Imamis
, by the end of the seventeenth century and into the eighteenth century,
mujtahids
came to perform a more enhanced role within the Shiite
ulama
. A practice emerged which was accepted that all Shiites throughout their lifetime should follow the religious guidance of a
mujtahid
and, should the
mujtahid
die, to choose a successor. A
mujtahid
of the
Imamis
came to be regarded as representing the will of the Hidden Imam (the twelfth Imam), as His deputy until His return. By the early nineteenth century, a further development in the differentiation of the
Shiite ulama
led to the recognition of the
marja'
^c
i taqlid
(source of imitation), that is, the most pre-eminent of the
mujtahids
. As the number of
marja'
^c
i taqlid
grew, the designation Ayatollah began to be used in the twentieth century to refer to the outstanding
marja'
^c
. This particular evolution of an informal hierarchy arrived at via consensus within the Shiite
ulama
had the effect, amongst other things, of facilitating the accommodation of the religion to the changing times.
BAR 

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

The Arab Ba'ath or Renaissance Party was founded in 1943–4 by three French-educated Syrian intellectuals: Michel Aflaq , a Greek Orthodox Christian; Salah al-Din Bitar , a Sunni Muslim, both of whom had a particular vision of Arab socialism and nationalism; and Zaki al-Arsuzi , an Alawi.
Aflaq, the party's philosopher, was strongly influenced by the ideas of Sati' al-Husri , a Syrian of French culture and outlook, who in turn had been influenced by German romantic nationalists and their ideas of the nation. Al-Husri saw the Arab nation, comprising the Arab east and North Africa, as a cultural community united by a common language. As a disciple of al-Husri, Aflaq grafted the doctrine of Arab socialism on to this idea of the Arab nation, to form the guiding principles of Ba'athism. In Aflaq's view, there was no Syrian or Egyptian or other nations in the Middle East. The unity of the Arab Nation would lead to the regeneration of the Arab character and society. Arab socialism did not focus on the needs of the dispossessed class but on the people as a whole. It was spiritual and nationalistic. Ba'athi doctrine showed little confidence in gradual reform achieved through elections and pluralistic politics. Rather, revolution, if need be via military coup, which would call forth and awaken the Arab spirit or lead to its renaissance or
Ba'ath
as well as pursue the Ba'athi political programme. Islam, for Aflaq, was a part of Arabism and not incompatible with nationalism.
The Party's
pan-Arab ideology
affected its organization. It began in Syria but soon spread to other Arab countries and local party organizations were set up in Transjordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya. As it spread, these parties were viewed as regional extensions of the umbrella organization, each of the states becoming a region of the future allembracing single Arab state.
From 1953 onward, the Ba'ath gradually became a mass party in Syria. In 1957–8, it was in a position to support and press for the unity of Syria with a somewhat reluctant Egypt to form the United Arab Republic. The idea of unity with Egypt had considerable appeal in Syrian politics as an antidote to domestic instability and regional threats. As a condition of the merger, Jamal Abd al-Nasir (President of Egypt) required that all political parties and their activities, including the Ba'ath party, be suspended. After three years, the expectations engendered by the original enthusiasm for union dissipated in the inability of the merger to address the domestic political and economic concerns of crucial Syrian interest groups. Despite these failures, the idea of Arab unity persisted. Subsequent attempts at merger in 1963 also failed. Even when Ba'athist governments committed ideologically to Arab unity were involved (Syria and Iraq), attempts at political unity foundered on political realities. In these circumstances the reality of regional as well as domestic politics required that Ba'athist states pursue national interests. As a consequence, the idea of a national state emerged in tension with the legitimacy of a state founded on the greater interests of the Arab nation.
BAR 

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Babe-uf , Franois-Noel
,
known as ‘Gracchus’

(1760–97)
French socialist. Before the
French Revolution
, he proposed moderate reform of land tenure based on collective leases. After it, he proposed a centralized distribution system for all produce to ensure complete equality, and collectivization of the industrial sector. He was executed after failure of a
coup d'état
based on that of the
sans-culottes
in 1793.
CS 

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Legislator who is a member neither of the government nor of the opposition leadership. Traditionally, especially in Britain, party leaders sit on the front benches of the legislature and their followers sit behind them.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Hostile reaction to reform, especially white backlash against
civil rights
, and anti-feminist backlash.