Deviant Civilization: The Legacy of the Battle of Siffin as Seen by Malek Bennabi

In Malek Bennabi’s judgement, classical Islamic civilization was great in its cultural achievements, but was “a deviant civilization” by the standard of Islamic political values. The reason for this double judgment is the Battle of Siffin and its persistent legacy in Islamic history. Despite all the artistic and scientific fruits of Islamic civilization, the gap was very wide between what was achieved and the Islamic potential, especially in terms of political values. The Battle of Siffin transferred the nascent Muslim society from “the spirit of Madinah” to “the spirit of Damascus” in Bennabi’s words, and that relocation was not merely geographic; it was—more importantly—a deep transformation in political values. This paper presents the impact of the Battle of Siffin, and its inherited wounds in Islamic political history, as diagnosed and analyzed by Malek Bennabi, who believes that Siffin was not simply a military battle or a political friction, but a deep split in the heart of the Muslim Ummah that persisted over the centuries, and was one of the main causes of its decline. From the perspective of Bennabi, the Islamic civilization that grew out of the Battle of Siffin remained a “deviant civilization” in terms of Islamic political values, regardless of its achievements in other aspects of human life—a harsh judgement that requires a closer look at the Islamic political history, and a serious effort for rectification and recuperation.