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Islamic modernism is a movement that has been described as "the firstMuslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge",[Note 1] attempting to reconcile theIslamic faith with values perceived as modern such asdemocracy,civil rights,rationality,equality, andprogress.[2] It featured a "critical reexamination of the classical conceptions and methods ofjurisprudence", and a new approach toIslamic theology andQuranicexegesis (Tafsir).[1] A contemporary definition describes it as an "effort to re-read Islam's fundamental sources—the Qur'an and the Sunna, (the practice of the Prophet)—by placing them in their historical context, and then reinterpreting them, non-literally, in the light of the modern context."[3]
It was one of severalIslamic movements—includingIslamic secularism,Islamism, andSalafism—that emerged in the middle of the 19th century in reaction to the rapid changes of the time, especially the perceived onslaught ofWestern civilization andcolonialism on theMuslim world.[2] Islamic modernism differs from secularism in that it insists on the importance of religious faith in public life, and fromSalafism orIslamism in that it embraces contemporary European institutions, social processes, and values.[2] One expression of Islamic modernism, formulated by Mahathir, is that "only when Islam is interpreted so as to be relevant in a world which is different from what it was 1400 years ago, can Islam be regarded as a religion for all ages."[4]
Prominent leaders of the movement includeSir Sayyid Ahmed Khan,Namık Kemal,Rifa'a al-Tahtawi,Muhammad Abduh (former Sheikh ofAl-Azhar University),Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, and South Asian poetMuhammad Iqbal. Since its inception, Islamic modernism has suffered fromco-option of its original reformism by both secularist rulers and by "the officialulama "whose "task it is to legitimise" rulers' actions in religious terms.[5]
Some themes in modern Islamic thought include:
Syed Ahmad Khan sought to harmonize scripture with modern knowledge of natural science; to bridge "the gap between science and religious truth" by "abandoning literal interpretations" of scripture, and questioning the methodology of the collectors ofsahih hadith, i.e. questioning whether what are thought to be some of the most accurately passed down narrations of what the Prophet said and did, are actually divinely revealed.[9]
Some non-literal interpretations Ahmed Khan came to were:
Chiragh Ali (1844–1895)[10] and Syed Ahmad Khan (1817–1898)[11] argued that "the Islamic code of law is not unalterable and unchangeable", and instead could be adopted "to the social and political revolutions going on around it".[10]
These more or less radical (re)interpretations (above) of the authoritative sources applied particularly to cases of Quranic verses or hadith where literal interpretations conflicts with "modern" views:polygyny, thehadd (penal)punishments (chopping off hands, administering lashes, etc.), treatment ofunbelievers, waging ofjihad, banning ofusury or interest on loans (riba).[Note 3]
Contrary to the traditional (and especially theIslamist) belief that theCaliphate orimamate is "mandated" by Islam, some modernists argue that this is not supported by the Quran or what is known about the preaching and life of Muhammad.Taha Hussein (1889-1973) says:
Government in the time of the Prophet was not delegated from heaven in its details; people were left free to manage their affairs as they wish within the limits of fairness and justice. Furthermore, the Quran did not propose, in general terms or in detail, a political system, and the Prophet did not indicate who should be his successor either orally or in written form.[36]
Searching the Quran and Hadith, Egyptian religious scholar and judge in religious courtsAli Abdel Raziq (1888-1966) also found no mention of the position of caliph, of the caliphate, of government or state.[37]
In the same vein, late 20th century Modernist historican Jebran Chamieh writes that Muhammad
"exercised the executive power but did not form a government; he was the administrator but did not establish an administrative system; he was the supreme judge but did not create a judicial system or procedure; he was the military commander but did not organize an army; and he controlled the finances and revenues but did not have a budget. Moreover, the Prophet had ample time before his death to organize the Moslem community politically. The most pressing measure was to establish a system for the legal transmission of power. He was aware of the rivalry among his followers over the succession and could have delegated his authority to prevent dissensions among them. But he did not. These observations lend credence to those who argue that the Prophet never intended to form a state and that his mission was purely religious."[38]
Chamieh also points out that this practice (or lack thereof) was followed by theRashidun caliphate. They never established a police force to enforce their law, so that there was no security force to defend the head of state (Caliph Othman) when rebels attacked and killed him in his house. "The caliphs did not establish an administration, a fiscal system, or a budget ... In the conquered lands, they retained the previous Byzantine and Persian administrative systems and kept the local employees to administer the country."[39]
According to Henri Lauzière, during the second half of the 19th century numerous Muslim reformers began efforts to reconcile Islamic values with the social and intellectual ideas of theAge of Enlightenment by purging (alleged) alterations from Islam and adhering to the basic tenets of Islam held during theRashidun era. Their movement is regarded as the precursor to Islamic Modernism.[43] According to Voll, when faced with new ideas or conflicts with their faith Muslims operated in three different ways: adaptation, conservation, and literalism. Similarly, when juxtaposed with the modern European notion ofreformation, which primarily entails the alignment of conventional doctrines withProtestant andEnlightenment principles, it led to the emergence of two contrasting and symbiotic camps within the Muslim sphere: adaptionist modernists and literal fundamentalists. Modernists, in their divergence fromtraditionalist reformers, take umbrage with the term “reform,” deeming it an inaccurate descriptor for the latter’s objectives. Conversely, fundamentalists, driven by their Eurocentric convictions, perceive any semblance of reform as inherently malevolent.[44]
Mansoor Moaddel argues that modernism tended to develop in an environment where "pluralism" prevailed and rulers stayed out of religious and ideological debates and disputes. In contrast, Islamic fundamentalism thrived in "bureaucratic authoritarian" states where rulers controlled the means of cultural production, (even though they may have opposed fundamentalism).[35]
Islamic modernist discourse emerged as an intellectual movement in the second quarter of nineteenth century; during an era of wide-ranging reforms initiated across theOttoman empire known as theTanzimat (1839–1876 C.E). The movement sought to harmonise classical Islamic theological concepts withliberalconstitutional ideas and advocated the reformulation of religious values in light of drastic social, political and technological changes. Intellectuals likeNamık Kemal (1840–1888 C.E.) called for popular sovereignty and "natural rights" of citizens. Major scholarly figures of this movement included theGrand Imam of al-AzharHassan al-Attar (d. 1835),Ottoman VizierMehmed Emin Âli Pasha (d. 1871),South Asian philosopherSayyid Ahmad Khan (d. 1898), andJamal al-Din Afghani (d. 1897). Inspired by their understanding of classical Islamic thought, these rationalist scholars regarded Islam as a religion compatible withWestern philosophy andmodern science.
At least one branch of Islamic Modernism began as an intellectual movement during the Tanzimat era and was part of theOttoman constitutional movement and newly emerging patriotic trends ofOttomanism during the mid-19th century. It advocated for novel redefinitions ofOttoman imperial structure, bureaucratic reforms, implementing liberal constitution, centralisation, parliamentary system and was supportive of theYoung Ottoman movement. Although modernist activists agreed with the conservative Ottoman clergy in emphasising the Muslim character of the empire, they also had fierce disputes with them. While the Ottoman clerical establishment called for Muslim unity through the preservation of the dynastic authority and unquestionableallegiance to theOttoman Sultan; modernist intellectuals argued that imperial unity was better served through parliamentary reforms and enshrining equal treatment of all Ottoman subjects; Muslim and non-Muslim. The modernist elites frequently invoked religious slogans to gain support for cultural and educational efforts as well as their political efforts to unite the Ottoman empire under a secular constitutional order.[45]
On the other hand,Salafiyya movement emerged as an independentrevivalist trend inSyria amongst the scholarly circles of scripture-orientedDamasceneulema during the 1890s. Although Salafis shared many of the socio-political grievances of the modernist activists, they held different objectives from both the modernist and the wider constitutionalist movements. While the Salafis opposed the autocratic policies of theSultan Abdul Hamid II and the Ottoman clergy; they also intensely denounced thesecularising and centralising tendencies ofTanzimat reforms brought forth by the Constitutionalist activists, accusing them of emulatingEuropeans.
Eventually the modernist intellectuals formed a secret society known asIttıfak-ı Hamiyet (Patriotic Alliance) in 1865; which advocatedpolitical liberalism and modernconstitutionalist ideals ofpopular sovereignty through religious discourse.[46][47] During this era, numerous intellectuals and social activists like Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938 C.E.) and EgyptianNahda figureRifaa al-Tahtawi (1801–1873). introduced Western ideological themes and ethical notions into local Muslim communities and religious seminaries.[48]
Away from the Ottoman Empire in British IndiaSyed Ahmad Khan (1817–1898) was "the first of the modernist thinkers to have a substantial impact upon the Muslim world at large. He founded theMuhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh with the intent of producing "an educated elite of Muslims able to compete successfully with Hindus for jobs in the Indian administration". The college provided both training in the "European arts and sciences" and "traditional Islamic studies". He sought to "reconcile the contradictions between Islam as traditionally understood and the modern sciences he so much admired."[49]
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The theological views of theAzharite scholarMuhammad 'Abduh (d. 1905) were greatly shaped by the 19th century Ottoman intellectual discourse. Similar to the early Ottoman modernists, Abduh tried to bridge the gap betweenEnlightenment ideals and traditional religious values. He believed that classical Islamic theology was intellectually vigorous and portrayedKalam (speculative theology) as a logical methodology that demonstrated the rational spirit and vitality ofIslam.[50] Key themes of modernists would eventually be adopted by the Ottoman clerical elite who underpinned liberty as a basic Islamic principle. Portraying Islam as a religion that exemplified national development, human societal progress and evolution;Ottoman Shaykh al-Islam Musa Kazim Efendi (d. 1920) wrote in his article "Islam and Progress" published in 1904 that "the religion of Islam is not an obstacle to progress. On the contrary, it is that which commands and encourages progress; it is the very reason for progress itself."[51]
Commencing in the late nineteenth century and impacting the twentieth-century,Muhammed Abduh and his followers undertook an educational and social project to defend, modernize and revitalize Islam to match Western institutions and social processes. Its most prominent intellectual founder,Muhammad Abduh (d. 1323 AH/1905 CE), was Sheikh ofAl-Azhar University for a brief period before his death. This project superimposed the world of the nineteenth century on the extensive body of Islamic knowledge that had accumulated in a different milieu.[2]
These efforts had little impact at first. After Abduh's death, his movement was catalysed by the demise of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924 and promotion of secular liberalism – particularly with a new breed of writers being pushed to the fore including EgyptianAli Abd al-Raziq's publication attacking Islamic politics for the first time in Muslim history.[2] Subsequent secular writers of this trend includingFarag Foda,al-Ashmawi,Muhamed Khalafallah,Taha Husayn,Husayn Amin, et al., have argued in similar tones.[2]
Abduh was skeptical towards many Ahadith (or "Traditions"). Particularly towards those Traditions that are reported through few chains of transmission, even if they are deemed rigorously authenticated in any of the six canonical books of Hadith (known as theKutub al-Sittah). Furthermore, he advocated a reassessment of traditional assumptions even in Hadith studies, though he did not devise a systematic methodology before his death.[52]
TunisianMaliki scholar Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur (1879–1973 C.E) who rose to the position of chief judge atZaytuna university was a major student of Muhammad 'Abduh. He met 'Abduh in 1903 during his visit toTunisia and thereafter became a passionate advocate of 'Abduh's modernist vision. He called for a revamping of the educational curriculum and became noteworthy for his role in revitalising the discourse ofMaqasid al-Sharia (Higher Objectives of Islamic Law) in scholarly and intellectual ciricles. Ibn Ashur authored the bookMaqasid al-Shari'ah al-Islamiyyah in 1946 which was widely accepted by modernist intellectuals and writers. In his treatise, Ibn Ashur called for a legal theory that is flexible towards 'urf (local customs) and adopted contextualised approach towards re-interpretation of hadiths based on applying the principle ofMaqasid (objectives).[53][54]
After its peak during the early 20th century, the modernist movement would gradually decline after theDissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the 1920s and eventually lost ground to conservative reform movements such asSalafism. Following theFirst World War,Western colonialism of Muslim lands and the advancement ofsecularist trends; Islamic reformers felt betrayed by the Arab nationalists and underwent a crisis.
This schism was epitomised by the ideological transformation ofSayyid Rashid Rida, a pupil of 'Abduh, who began to resuscitate the treatises of Hanbali theologianIbn Taymiyyah and became the "forerunner ofIslamist thought" by popularising his ideals. Unlike 'Abduh and Afghani, Rida and his disciples susbcribed to theHanbali theology. They would openly campaign against adherents of other schools, like theShi'ites, who they considered deviant. Rida transformed theReformation into a puritanical movement that advanced Muslim identitarianism,pan-Islamism and preached the superiority ofIslamic culture while attackingWesternisation. One of the major hallmarks of Rida's movement was his advocacy of a theological doctrine that obligated the establishment of anIslamic state led by theUlema (Islamic scholars).[56][57]
Rida'sfundamentalist/Islamist doctrines would later be adopted by Islamic scholars andIslamist movements like theMuslim Brotherhood. According to the German scholarBassam Tibi, "Rida's Islamic fundamentalism has been taken up by the Muslim Brethren, a right wing radical movement founded in 1928, which has ever since been in inexorable opposition to secular nationalism."[58]
Contemporary Muslim modernism is characterised by its emphasis on the doctrine ofMaqasid al-sharia to navigate the currents of modernity and address issues related tointernational human rights. Another aspect is its promotion ofFiqh al-Aqalliyat (minority jurisprudence) during the late 20th century to answer the challenges facing the growing Muslim minority populations in theWest. Islamic scholarAbdullah Bin Bayyah,professor ofIslamic studies atKing Abdul Aziz University inJiddah, is one of the major proponents ofFiqh al-Aqalliyat and advocates remodelling the legal system based on the principles ofMaqasid al-Sharia to suit the sensitivities of the modern era.[59][60]
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The modernist movement led byJamal Al-Din al-Afghani,Muhammad 'Abduh,Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur,Syed Ahmad Khan, and to a lesser extentMohammed al-Ghazali; shared some of the ideals of the conservative revivalistWahhabi movement, such as endeavoring to "return" to the Islamic understanding of the first Muslim generations (Salaf) by reopening the doors of juristic deduction (ijtihad) that they saw as closed.[52]
The connection between modernists and Salafists is disputed, with various academics asserting there never really was one.[61][62][63][64] There are those scholars maintain that they used to share the "salafi" designation, but nothing else (Oxford Bibliographies,[65] Quintan Wiktorowicz);[66] or that modernists "al-Afghani and Abduh were hardly Salafis to begin with" (Henri Lauziere);[67][Note 5] or contrary to that, call Al-Afghani, Abduh, and Rida founders ofSalafiyya and go on to describe their creation without ever mentioning modernism (Olivier Roy).[69] Those that believe they did have the same ancestors (a view propagated in early 20th century by FrenchOrientalistLouis Massignon),[70][71] do not always agree on what happened: Salafists starting out on the side of "enlightenment and modernity" and "inexplicably" turned against these virtues and to puritanism (World News Research);[72] or the term "Salafist" was coined byRashid Rida, a student of Abduh, who later distanced himself from Abduh's teachings in favor of puritanism but was appropriated by oneMuhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, so that the world now associates it with al-Albani and his disciples but not with Rida his movement (Ammaar Yasir Qadhi);[73] or that it was Muhammad ʿAbduh and Rida who established "enlightened Salafiyya" (modernism) and it was Rashid Rida (no mention of al-Albani) who incrementally transformed it into the Wahhabi-friendly Salafiyya we know today (Raihan Ismail).[74] In any case, it is generally agreed that in the early 21st century, conservativeSalafi Muslims see their movement as understanding "the injunctions of the sacred texts in their most literal traditional sense", looking up toIbn Taymiyya rather than 19th century Reformers.[75]
Olivier Roy describes the characteristics of the 19th-century movement of the likes of Al-Afghani and Abduh as rejection of cultural themes (adat, urf), rejection ofmaraboutism (belief in the powers of intervention of those blessed with divinecharisma, orbarakah), and opposition to rapprochement with other religions. These were standard fundamentalist reformist doctrines. Where Salafists were different was in their rejection of the tradition of theulama (Islamic clergy), the ulama's "body of additions and extensions" to the Sunnah and Quran: thetafsir commentary on the Quran, the four legal schools ofmadhahib, philosophy, culture, etc.Salafiyya were traditional in their politics or lack thereof, and unlike later Islamists "made no wholesale condemnations of existing Muslim governments". Issues of governance they were interested in were application ofsharia and the reconstitution of theummah (Muslim community), and particularly with the restoration of thecaliphate.[69] Yasir Qadhi argues that modernism only influencedSalafism.[73] According to Quintan Wiktorowicz:
There has been some confusion in recent years because both the Islamic modernists and the contemporary Salafis refer (referred) to themselves as al-salafiyya, leading some observers to erroneously conclude a common ideological lineage. The earlier salafiyya (modernists), however, were predominantly rationalist Asharis.[66]
Similarly,Oxford Bibliographies distinguishes between the early Islamic modernists, such as Muhammad Abdu who used the term "Salafiyya",[65] for example to refer to their attempt at renovation of Islamic thought,[76] and the very different, more purist, and traditionalSalafiyya of movements, such asAhl-i Hadith andWahhabism, among others.[Note 6] Both groups wanted to strip awaytaqlid (imitation) of post-Salaf doctrine they thought not truly Islamic, but for different reasons. Modernists thought taqlid prevented the Muslims from flourishing because it got in the way of compatibility with the modern world, traditional revivalists simply because (they believed) it was impure. What was needed was not reinterpretation but a religious revival of pure Islam. Muhammad 'Abduh and his movement have sometimes been referred to as "Neo-Mu'tazilites"[77] because his ideas are congruent to theMu'tazila school of theology.[78] Abduh himself denied being eitherAsh'ari or aMu'tazilite, although only because he rejected stricttaqlid (conformity) to any one group.[79] After World War I, some Western scholars, such asLouis Massignon categorising many scripture-orientedrationalist scholars and modernists as part of the paradigm of "Salafiyya"; other scholars dispute this description.[70][80][71]
The rise ofpan-Islamism across theMuslim World after theFirst World War and thecollapse of the Ottoman empire, would herald the emergence of Salafi religious purism that fervently opposedmodernist trends. Theanti-colonial struggle to restore theKhilafah would become the top priority; manifesting in the formation of theMuslim Brotherhood, a revolutionary movement established in 1928 by theEgyptian school teacherHassan al-Banna. Backed by theWahhabi clerical elites ofSaudi Arabia, Salafis who advocated pan-Islamist religious conservatism emerged across the Muslim World, gradually replacing modernists during thedecolonisation period,[72] and then dominatingfunding for Islam via petroleum export money starting in the 1970s. According toAbu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi:
Rashid Rida popularized the term 'Salafī' to describe a particular movement that he spearheaded. That movement sought to reject the ossification of the madhhabs, and rethink through the standard issues of fiqh and modernity, at times in very liberal ways. A young scholar by the name of Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani read an article by Rida, and then took this term and used it to describe another, completely different movement. Ironically, the movement that Rida spearheaded eventually became Modernist Islam and dropped the 'Salafī' label, and the legal methodology that al-Albānī championed – with a very minimal overlap with Rida's vision of Islam – retained the appellation 'Salafī'. Eventually, al-Albānī's label was adopted by the Najdī daʿwah as well, until it spread in all trends of the movement. Otherwise, before this century, the term 'Salafī' was not used as a common label and proper noun. Therefore, the term 'Salafī' has attached itself to an age-old school of theology, the Atharī school.[73]
Islamic revivalists, such asMahmud Shukri Al-Alusi (1856–1924 C.E),Muhammad Rashid Rida (1865–1935 C.E), andJamal al-Din al-Qasimi (1866–1914 C.E), usedSalafiyya as a term primarily to denote the traditionalist Sunni theology,Atharism. Rida also regarded theWahhabi movement as part of theSalafiyya trend.[81][82] Apart from the Wahhabis of Najd,Athari theology could also be traced back to the Alusi family inIraq,Ahl-i Hadith inIndia, and scholars such as Rashid Rida inEgypt.[83] After 1905, Rida steered his reformist programme towards the path offundamentalist counter-reformation. This tendency led by Rida emphasized following thesalaf al-salih and became known as theSalafiyya movement, which advocated a re-generation of pristine religious teachings of the early Muslim community.[84] According toDallal's interpretation, for Rida, revival and reform were not a function of the quality of the thought of the reformer, nor the extent of reception of the reformer's ideas; rather, a reformer's sphere of influence might be any "large or small locality," and the criterion for judging his views is solely the extent to which these ideas are needed at a particular point in time. He links it toIbn 'Abd al-Wahhab being offered stands on the same footing (and in the same paragraph) with that ofShawkani in Rida's list of revivers. This outlook diminishes the significance of a reformer's ideas having universal value beyond their local origins. Furthermore, the intellectual merit of these ideas becomes of secondary importance in Rida's framework.[85]
The progressive views of the early modernists Afghani and Abduh were soon replaced by the puritanAthari tradition espoused by their students; which zealously denounced the ideas ofnon-Muslims andsecular ideologies likeliberalism. This theological transformation was led by Syed Rashid Rida who adopted the strict Athari creedal doctrines ofIbn Taymiyyah during the early twentieth century. TheSalafiyya movement popularised by Rida would advocate for anAthari-Wahhabi theology. Their promotion ofIjtihad was based on referring back to a strictly textual methodology.[86] Its traditionalist vision was adopted by the Wahhabi clerical establishment and championed by influential figures such as theSyrian-AlbanianHadith scholarMuhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani (d. 1999 C.E/ 1420 A.H).[87]
As a scholarly movement, "Enlightened Salafism" had begun declining some time after the death of Muhammad ʿAbduh in 1905. The puritanical stances of Rashid Rida, accelerated by his support to the Wahhabi movement; transformedSalafiyya movement incrementally and became commonly regarded as "traditional Salafism". The divisions between "Enlightened Salafis" inspired by ʿAbduh, and traditional Salafis represented by Rashid Rida and his disciples would eventually exacerbate. Gradually, the modernist Salafis became totally disassociated from the "Salafi" label in popular discourse and would identify astanwiris (enlightened) or Islamic modernists.[74] This is how Rida including his lineage of teachers,Abduh andAfghani, pioneered aProtestant styled reform in the late 19th and early 20th century Muslim world as Afghani always aspired for.[88][89] They recognized the challenges posed by imperialism but sought integration into the modern European era. They redefined Islamic values and institutions to adapt to the changing times while emphasizing historical precedents to legitimize European institutions with an Islamic touch.[90]
Islamist movements likeMuslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwān al-Muslimūn) were highly influenced by both Islamic Modernism andSalafism.[91][92][93] Its founderHassan Al-Banna was influenced byMuhammad Abduh and particularly his Salafi studentRashid Rida. Al-Banna attacked thetaqlid of the officialulama and insisted only the Qur'an and the best-attestedahadith should be sources of theSharia.[8] He was a dedicated reader of the writings ofRashid Rida and the magazine that Rida published,Al-Manar. Sharing Rida's central concern with the decline ofIslamic civilization, Al-Banna too believed that this trend could be reversed only by returning to a pure, unadulterated form ofIslam. Like Rida, (and unlike the Islamic modernists) Al-Banna viewed Westernsecular ideas as the main danger to Islam in the modern age.[94] The Brotherhood moved gradually in a traditionalist and conservative direction asIslamic Modernist beliefs were co-opted by secularist rulers and official`ulama, and as the group became "the only available outlet" for pious Muslims "whose religious and cultural sensibilities" were outraged by "the impact ofWesternisation".[95] The Brotherhood argued for a Salafist solution to the contemporary challenges faced by theMuslims, advocating the establishment of anIslamic state through implementation of theShari'ah, based on Salafi revivalism.[96]
Although the Muslim Brotherhood officially describes itself as a Salafi movement, theQuietist Salafis often contest its Salafist credentials. The Brotherhood differs from more purist salafis in their strategy for combating the challenge of modernity, and is focused on gaining control of the government. Despite this, both the Brotherhood and more thorough-going Salafists advocate the implementation ofsharia and emphasizes strict doctrinal adherence to the Quran and Sunnah and theSalaf al-Salih.[97] TheSalafi-Activists who have a long tradition of political involvement; are highly active inIslamist movements like theMuslim Brotherhood and its various branches and affiliates.[98] Some Brotherhood's slogans and principles expressed by former Egyptian presidentMohammed Morsi includes "the Koran is our constitution, the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him, is our leader, jihad is our path, and death for the sake of Allah is our most lofty aspiration ... sharia, sharia, and then finally sharia. This nation will enjoy blessing and revival only through the Islamic sharia."[97]
Although not all of the figures named below are from the above-mentioned movement, they all share a more or less modernist thought or/and approach.
In 2008, the state directorate of religious affairs (Diyanet) for the Republic of Turkey launched the review of all the Ahadith. The school of theology atAnkara University undertook this forensic examination with the aim of removing the centuries-old conservative cultural burden and rediscovering the spirit of reason in the original message of Islam. Fadi Hakura ofChatham House in London compared these revisions to the 16th century Protestant Reformation of Christianity.[108] Turkey has also trained women as theologians, and sent them as seniorImams known as 'vaizes' all over the country, to explain these re-interpretations.[108]
According to Charles Kennedy, in Pakistan as of 1992 the range of views on the "appropriate role of Islam" runs from "Islamic Modernists" at one end of the spectrum to "Islamic activists" at the other. "Islamic activists" support the expansion of "Islamic law and Islamic practices", "Islamic Modernists" are unenthusiastic to this expansion and "some may even advocate development along the secularist lines of the West".[109]
The Indonesian Islamic organizationMuhammadiyah was founded in 1912. Often described as Salafist,[110][111][112] and sometimes asIslamic modernist,[113] it emphasized the authority of theQur'an and theHadiths, opposingsyncretism andtaqlid (blind-conformity) to theulema. As of 2006, it is said to have "veered sharply toward a more conservative brand of Islam" under the leadership ofDin Syamsuddin, the head of theIndonesian Ulema Council.[114]
Many orthodox, fundamentalist, puritan, and traditionalist Muslims strongly opposed modernism asbid'ah and the most dangerousheresy of the day, for its association with Westernization and Western education,[115] although some orthodox/traditionalist Muslims, and Muslim scholars agree that going back to the Qur'an and the Sunnah to update Islamic law would not be in violation of the principles offiqh.[citation needed]
One of the leadingIslamist thinkers and Islamic revivalists,Abul A'la Maududi agreed with Islamic modernists that Islam contained nothing contrary toreason, and was superior in rational terms to all other religious systems. However, he disagreed with them in their examination of the Quran and the Sunna using reason as the standard. Maududi, instead started from the proposition that "true reason is Islamic", and accepted the Book and the Sunna, not reason, as the final authority. Modernists erred in examining rather than simply obeying theQuran and the Sunna.[Note 7]
ScholarMalise Ruthven argues that the beliefs that were "integral" to at least one prominent modernist (Abduh) -- namely that the basic revealed truths of Islam and the observable, rational truth of science must be, "in the final analysis be identical"—is problematic. This is because the idea is "based on the essentially medieval premise that science, like scripture itself is a finite body of knowledge awaiting revelation", when in fact science is "a dynamic process of discovery subject to continual revision". The establishment of non-religious institutions of learning in India, Egypt and elsewhere, which Abduh encouraged, "opened the floodgates to secular forces which threatened Islam's intellectual foundations".[117]
Advocates of political Islam argue that insofar as Modernism seeks to separate Islam and politics it is adopting the Christian and secular principle of "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's", but that politics is inherent in Islam, since Islam encompasses every aspect of life. Some, (Hizb ut-Tahrir for example), claim that in Muslim political jurisprudence, philosophy and practice, the Caliphate is the correct Islamic form of government, and that it has "a clear structure comprising a Caliph, assistants (mu'awinoon), governors (wulaat), judges (qudaat) and administrators (mudeeroon)."[118][119]
Theologically, Banna's views were fairly close to those of Abduh and his Salafi disciple, Rashid Rida. He attacked the taqlid of the official 'ulama, insisting that only the Quran and the best-attested hadiths should be the sources of the Sharia.
"For Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, jihad is always a defensive military action. Here he is synchronous with Islamic modernist writers, who narrow the confines of jihad to defensive action. ... In Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's writings, jihad is a special and specific type of warfare, which can be declared only by the religious leader (imam) and whose purpose is the defense of the Muslim community from aggression." ... "What Shaltut calls for here is not only a defensive response but also the right to live peacefully without fear for life, home, or possessions, all of which is consistent with Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's assertion of jihad as a defensive activity designed to restore order and preserve life and property."... "Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's definition of jihad is restricted to a defensive military action designed to protect and preserve the Muslim community and its right to practice its faith".
The Koran: A Very Short Introduction literally a godsend.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Prior to the fall of the Ottoman Empire, leading reformers who happened to be Salafi in creed were surprisingly open-minded: although they adhered to neo-Hanbali theology,.. The aftermath of the First World War and the expansion of European colonialism, however, paved the way for a series of shifts in thought and attitude. The experiences of Rida offer many examples... he turned against the Shi'is who dared, with reason, to express doubts about the Saudi-Wahhabi project... . Shi'is were not the only victims: Rida and his associates showed their readiness to turn against fellow Salafis who questioned some of the Wahhabis' religious interpretations.
Western colonialists established in these countries political orders... that, even though not professing enmity to Islam and its institutions, left no role for Islam in society. This caused a crisis among Muslim reformists, who felt betrayed not only by the West but also by those nationalists, many of whom were brought to power by the West... Nothing reflects this crisis more than the ideological transformation of Rashid Rida (1865–1935)... He also revived the works of Ibn Taymiyah by publishing his writings and promoting his ideas. Subsequently, taking note of the cataclysmic events brought about by Western policies in the Muslim world and shocked by the abolition of the caliphate, he transformed into a Muslim intellectual mostly concerned about protecting Muslim culture, identity, and politics from Western influence. He supported a theory that essentially emphasized the necessity of an Islamic state in which the scholars of Islam would have a leading role... Rida was a forerunner of Islamist thought. He apparently intended to provide a theoretical platform for a modern Islamic state. His ideas were later incorporated in the works of Islamic scholars.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Although it long served as a paradigm, this conception of Salafism is flawed in many respects, especially because it is based on claims that remain unsubstantiated. The firstknown association between al-Afghani, Abduh, and a movement called 'the salafiyya' appeared in 1919 in a short notice that French scholar Louis Massignon (d. 1962) wrote in Revue du monde musulman. Massignon did not initially claim that the two reformers founded the movement, but this idea gained momentum and found its formal expression in 1925, at which time Massignon added Rashid Rida to the narrative and presented him as the leader of the salafiyya. Since then, Massignon's narrative and its resulting typology have been reiterated in countless works through a chain of Western scholars who trusted each other's authority, thereby becoming one of the fundamental postulates on which the study of modern Islamic thought is based. Although it is true that al-Afghani and Abduh provided the initial elan for a type of Islamic reformism that later became known as modernist Salafism, primary sources do not corroborate the claim that they either coined the term or used it to identify themselves in the late 19th century.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the term 'Salafiyya' was linked to a transnational movement of Islamic reform whose proponents strove to reconcile their faith with the Enlightenment and modernity. Toward the end of the twentieth century, however, the Salafi movement became inexplicably antithetical to Islamic modernism. Its epicenter moved closer to Saudi Arabia and the term Salafiyya became virtually synonymous with Wahhabism... the rise of a transnational and generic Islamic consciousness, especially after the First World War, facilitated the growth of religious purism within key Salafi circles. The Salafis who most emphasized religious unity and conformism across boundaries usually developed puristic inclinations.. they survived the postcolonial transition and kept thriving while the modernist Salafis eventually disappeared.
ʿAbduh was critical of the Wahhabis and made no attempt to cultivate them. However, his disciple Rashid Rida,.. published the works of Najdi and classical Salafi scholars.... Enlightened Salafism as a movement faded away with the death of ʿAbduh and with Rida's flirtation with the Wahhabism that came to be identified with traditional Salafism.. Within Salafi circles, it is widely accepted that Rida directed Salafism away from the Islamic modernism espoused by Afghani and Abduh and brought it closer to the puritanical approaches to Islam... the divide between enlightened Salafis, who largely followed Muhammad ʿAbduh and Jamaluddin al-Afghani's modernist ideals, and the increasingly puritanical Rida and his disciples. Over time, the enlightened Salafis became disassociated from the Salafi label (which they had never assumed anyway) and became identified as tanwiris (enlightened) or modernists.
Abduh is often categorized as Maturidi, but his ideas approach neo-Mutazila-ism
Beginning with Louis Massignon in 1919, it is true that Westerners played a leading role in labeling Islamic modernists as Salafis, even though the term was a misnomer. At the time, European and American scholars felt the need for a useful conceptual box in which to place Muslim figures such as Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad Abduh, and their epigones, who all seemed inclined toward a scripturalist understanding of Islam but proved open to rationalism and Western modernity .. They chose to adopt salafiyya – a technical term of theology, which they mistook for a reformist slogan and wrongly associated with all kinds of modernist Muslim intellectuals.
As Rida explained in 1914, "the appellation 'reform,' as well as its understanding, is broad; it varies over time and from place to place." It also varied from individual to individual. Indeed, some balanced reformers considered Salafi theology to be a pillar of their multifaceted reform program. Chief among them were al-Qasimi, Mahmud Shukri al-Alusi, and, to some extent from 1905 onward, Rida (all of whom identified themselves as Salafi in creed at one point or another)"... "Unlike al-Afghani and Abduh, Rida did refer to himself as a Salafi in creed and law..
In the most explicit passages of their correspondence, both al-Qasimi and al-Alusi continue to use Salafi epithets in a purely theological sense. While the former distinguishes the Salafis from the Jahmis and the Mutazilis, the latter describes a Moroccan scholar as "Salafi in creed and athari in law" (al-salaf¯ı –aq¯ıdatan al-athar¯ı madhhaban).It is interesting to note that this is how Rashid Rida first used and understood Salafi epithets as well. In 1905, he spoke of the Salafis (al-salafiyya) as a collective noun, in contradistinction with the Ash'aris (al-asha'ira). Although he and some of his disciples later declared themselves to be Salafis with respect to fiqh (in 1928 Rida even acknowledged his passage from being a Hanafi to becoming a Salafi), the available evidence suggests that the broadening of Salafi epithets to encompass the realm of the law was a gradual development that did not bloom in full until the 1920s."... "This is why, in 1905, Rida casually referred to the Wahhabis as Salafis (al-wahhabiyya al-salafiyya )
The ideas of the Atharis of the Najd were not limited to Wahhabites either, but can be traced elsewhere, especially to Iraq (e.g., al-Alusi family), India, as well as to the figures such as Rashid Rida (d. 1935 CE) and Hasan al-Banna (d. 1949 CE) in Egypt.
(Rida) was initially a disciple of Abduh's, pushing his reformist enterprise - after Abduh's death in 1905 and especially from the 1920s on – in the direction of a fundamentalist counter-reformation... Islamic counter-reformation was far more reactionary than its sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Catholic predecessor, a development the more paradoxical in that the Islamic version seems to have emerged as a mutation from the reformist movement itself rather than being, as in the Christian case, the product of a frontal assault on it. This mutation, engineered by Rida, explains the double meaning of what is known as Salafism (salafiyya)... it eventually came to designate literalist, fundamentalist adhesion to the legacy of early Islam
These thinkers, which included Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (d. 1897) and Muhammad ' Abduh (d. 1905),... the early progressive liberalism of these modernists quickly gave way to the arch-conservatism of Athari thinkers who held even greater contempt for the ideas of the nonbelievers (as well as liberals). This shift was most pronounced in the person of Rashid Rida (d. 1935), once a close student of 'Abduh, who increasingly moved to rigid Athari thought under Wahhabite influences in the early twentieth century. From Rida onward, the "Salafism"... became increasingly Athari-Wahhabite in nature, as it remains today.
But it was Abduh's disciple, the Syrian Rashid Rida (1865–1935), who most influenced Al-Banna... He shared Rida's central concern with the decline of Islamic civilization relative to the West. He too believed that this trend could be reversed only by returning to an unadulterated form of Islam.. Like Rida at the end of his life – but unlike Abduh and other Islamic modernists – Al-Banna felt that the main danger to Islam's survival in the modern age stemmed... from the ascendancy of Western secular ideas.
the development of Salafi in Indonesia has inspired the emergence of anumber of organizations reformers of modern Islam in Indonesia. Organizationssuchas Muhammadiyah, Al-Irsyad, shared similar intentions to purify faith with the call back to the Quran and Sunnah, and leave many traditional customs that are claimed to be contaminated by heresy,tahayyul, and superstition... For Muhammadiyah, the purification of faith and the return to the Quran and Sunnah is an obligation... Muhammadiyah doctrine theology agrees with salafi, namely puritanist by going back to Al-Quran and As-Sunnah...
