Islam and modernity
Encyclopedia
Islam and modernity is a topic of discussion in contemporary sociology of religion
. Neither Islam
nor modernity
are simple or unified entities. They are abstract quantities which could not be reduced into simple categories. The history of Islam, like that of other religions, is a history of different interpretations and approaches. "There is no a-historical Islam that is outside the process of historical development." Similarly, modernity is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon rather than a unified and coherent phenomenon. It has historically had different schools of thoughts moving in many directions.
was undergoing major transformations as the new ideas of the Enlightenment, which stressed the importance of science, rationality, and human reason, and the new technologies of the Industrial Revolution
were sweeping through much of Europe. This proved to be a turning point in world history as Europe began to gain power and influence. In the last quarter of the 18th century “the gap between the technical skills of some western and northern European countries and those of the rest of the world grew wider.” The rise of modern Europe coincided with what many scholars refer to as the decline of the Ottoman Empire
, which by the 18th century was facing political, military, and economic breakdown. While prior to the 18th century the Ottomans had regarded themselves to be either of superior or, by the mid-18th century, of equal strength to Europe, by the end of the 18th century the power relationship between the Ottoman Empire and Europe began to shift in Europe’s favor.
In 1798 the army of Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the Ottoman province of Egypt
. Although the occupation lasted only three years, it exposed the people of Egypt to the ideas of the Enlightenment and the new technology of Europe. The values of the European Enlightenment, which challenged the authority of religion, were alien to the local Muslim population. Al-Jabarti
, a Muslim intellectual and theologian who witnessed the occupation, wrote critically of the French calling them “materialists, who deny all God’s attributes.” Nevertheless, the exposure to European power and ideas would later inspire the new governor of Egypt, Muhammad Ali
, to draw on European ideas and technology in order to modernize Egypt setting an example for the rest of the Ottoman Empire. From the end of the 18th century the Ottoman Empire began to open embassies and send officials to study in Europe. This created conditions for the “gradual formation of a group of reformers with a certain knowledge of the modern world and a conviction that the empire must belong to it or perish.”
One of the scholars sent by Muhammad Ali to Europe in 1826 was Rifa'a Rafi' al-Tahtawi
. The five years he spent in Paris left a permanent mark on him. After his return to Egypt he wrote about his impressions of France and translated numerous European works into Arabic. Tahtawi was impressed with Europe’s technological and scientific advancement and political philosophy. Having studied Islamic law, he argued that “it was necessary to adapt the Sharia
to new circumstances” and that there was not much difference between “the principles of Islamic law and those principles of ‘natural law’ on which the codes of modern Europe were based.”
Like Tahtawi, Khayr al- Din was also sent to Paris where he spent four years. After his return from Europe he wrote a book, in which he argued that the only way to strengthen the Muslim States was by borrowing ideas and institutions from Europe and that this did not contradict the spirit of the Sharia.
, many of these reforms involved adopting successful European practices. In addition to military and administrative reforms, Ottoman rulers implemented reforms in the sphere of education, law, and the economy:
"New universities and curricula were created and modern curricula were introduced to allow students to acquire the knowledge necessary to modernize. European legal codes became the basis for legal reforms, and Islamic law was restricted to personal status or family law (marriage, divorce, inheritance). Modern economic systems and institutions were established."
Some conservative Muslims denounced the Tanzimat reforms for “introducing un-Islamic innovations into state and society.”
) of Islam.”
Islamic modernism was both an attempt to provide an Islamic response to the challenges presented by European colonial expansion and an effort to reinvigorate and reform Islam from within as a way to counter the perceived weakness and decline of Muslim societies in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Islamic modernists argued that Islam and modernity were compatible and “asserted the need to reinterpret and reapply the principles and ideals of Islam to formulate new responses to the political, scientific, and cultural challenges of the West and of modern life.” The reforms they proposed challenged the status quo maintained by the conservative Muslims scholars (ulama
), who saw the established law as the ideal order that had to be followed and upheld the doctrine of taqlid
(imitation / blind following). Islamic modernists saw the resistance to change on the part of the conservative ulama as a major cause for the problems the Muslim community was facing as well as its inability to counter western hegemony.
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani
(1838–97) is regarded as one of the pioneers of Islamic modernism. He believed that Islam was compatible with science and reason and that in order to counter European power the Muslim world had to embrace progress.
Muhammad Abduh
(1849–1905) was a disciple and collaborator of al-Afghani. He was even more influential than his master and is often referred to as the founder of Islamic modernism. Abduh was born and raised in Egypt and was a scholar of Islam (alim). He taught at al-Azhar and other institutions and in 1899 became Mufti
of Egypt. Abduh believed that the Islamic world was suffering from an inner decay and was in need of a revival. Asserting that “Islam could be the moral basis of a modern and progressive society", he was critical of both secularists and the conservative ulama. He called for a legal reform and the reinterpretation (ijtihad) of Islamic law according to modern conditions. While critical of the West, he believed that it was necessary to borrow or assimilate what was good from it.
Other notable Islamic modernists include Rashid Rida
(1869–1935), and Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817–98) and Muhammad Iqbal
(1877–1938) in the Indian subcontinent. Like al-Afghani and Abduh they rejected the doctrine of taqlid and asserted the need for Islam to be reinterpreted according to modern conditions.
Although Islamic modernists were subject to the criticism that the reforms they promoted amounted to westernizing Islam, their legacy was significant and their thought influenced future generations of reformers.
with Islam. The first modern Turkish chemistry text was published in 1848, and the first modern Biology text in 1865. Eventually, the Turks adopted the metric system in 1869. These shifts in scientific thought coincided with Tanzimat
, a reform policy undertaken by the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire that was inspired by French civil law
. This reform confined sharia
to family law. The key figure in the Turkish modernist movement was Namik Kemal
, the editor of a journal called Freedom. His goal was to promote freedom of the press
, the separation of powers
, equality before the law
, scientific freedom, and a reconciliation between parliamentary democracy and the Qur'an
.
In 19th century Iran
, Mirza Malkom Khan arrived after being educated in Paris
. He created a newspaper called Qanun, where he advocated the separation of powers
, secular law, and a bill of rights
. Jamal al-Din al-Afghani
, also educated in France, proclaimed that Europe had become successful due to its laws and its science. He became critical of other Muslim scholars for stifling scientific thought, and hoped to encourage scientific inquiry in the Muslim world
.
Muhammad Abduh
became a leading judge in Egypt
, after political activities and studies in Paris. He pushed for secular law, religious reform, and education for girls. He hoped that Egypt would ultimately become a free republic, much like how France had transformed from an absolute monarchy. Muhammad Rashid Rida also became active in the Egyptian modernization movement, although he was born and educated in Lebanon
. Al-Manar was his journal, through which he advocated greater openness to science and foreign influence. He also stated that sharia was relatively silent about agriculture, industry, and trade, and that these areas of knowledge needed renewal. Qasim Amin
was another reformer in Egypt heavily concerned with the rights of women.
Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi was similarly educated in Paris around the same time. He surveyed the political systems of 21 European countries in an effort to reform Tunisia
.
Other major Islamic modernists included Mahmud Tarzi
of Afghanistan
, Chiragh Ali
of India
, Achmad Dachlan of Java
, and Wang Jingshai of China
.
Legal reform was attempted in Egypt, Tunisia, the Ottoman Empire, and Iran, and in some cases these reforms were adopted. Efforts were made to restrict the power of government. Polygamy was ended in India. Azerbaijan granted suffrage to women in 1918 (before several European countries).
At the recommendations of reform-minded Islamic scholars, western sciences were taught in new schools. Much of this had to do with the intellectual appeal of social Darwinism
, since it led to the conclusion that an old-fashioned Muslim society could not compete in the modern world.
and the domination of the Middle East by European powers such as Britain and France. Intellectual historians such as Peter Watson suggest that World War I marks the end of the main Islamic modernist movements, and that this is the point where many Muslims "lost faith with the culture of science and materialism". He goes on to note that several parallel streams emerged after this historical moment.
.
In Egypt, Hassan al-Banna
founded the Muslim Brotherhood
.
of Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party
and Nasserite
movement emerged as a stream of thought that played down the role of religion.
between Israel
and its neighbours ended in a decisive loss for the Muslim side. Many in the Islamic world saw this as the failure of socialism. It was at this point that "fundamental and militant Islam began to fill the political vacuum created".
Turkey has continued to be at the forefront of modernising Islam. In 2008 its Department of Religious Affairs launched a review of all the hadith
s, the sayings of Mohammed upon which most of Islamic law
is based The School of Theology at Ankara University
undertook this forensic examination with the intent of removing centuries of often conservative cultural baggage and rediscovering the spirit of reason in the original message of Islam. One expert at London's Chatham House
compared these revisions to the Christian Protestant Reformation
. Turkey has also trained hundreds of women as theologians, and sent them senior imam
s known as vaizes all over the country, away from the relatively liberal capital and coastal cities, to explain these re-interpretations at town hall meetings.
, who are voicing their dislike of concepts such as democracy
and modernity, which are, in the Middle East, most commonly associated with imposing Western secular beliefs and values. The spread of secularism has caused great concerns among many Islamic political groups. It has indeed been the reasoning for the Islamization of politics and protest, due to the large Muslim majority in the Middle East as well as the region's imperial past. For Islamic countries in the Middle East, there is not necessarily a problem as such with modernity, however, "the problem is when modernity comes wrapped with wersternization, with absolutely and utterly rampant materialism".
In the book, Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Arab World(1994), the author N. Ayubi continues this debate by explaining, what he believes to be the two main concerns of Islamic political movements and extremist groups in the Middle East; namely the Western belief in a bureaucratic state and secondly, what is mentioned above, the secular values and beliefs associated with concepts such as modernity.
These concerns are exemplified in an interview with the well-known Islamic fundamentalist, Osama Bin Laden who states, after being asked about the message he wants to send to the West:
for condemnation, and exaggerate what are often unknown terrorists into forerunners of "Islamic jihad." This causes the creation of stereotypes of Muslims in the Middle East and moreover, results in the grants of prominence to Islamic fundamentalists who might otherwise have been insignificant political characters, and legitimises extremist opinions and views which might otherwise have been shunned by mainstream Muslims. However, as John Esposito notes:
Sociology of religion
The sociology of religion concerns the role of religion in society: practices, historical backgrounds, developments and universal themes. There is particular emphasis on the recurring role of religion in all societies and throughout recorded history...
. Neither Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
nor modernity
Modernity
Modernity typically refers to a post-traditional, post-medieval historical period, one marked by the move from feudalism toward capitalism, industrialization, secularization, rationalization, the nation-state and its constituent institutions and forms of surveillance...
are simple or unified entities. They are abstract quantities which could not be reduced into simple categories. The history of Islam, like that of other religions, is a history of different interpretations and approaches. "There is no a-historical Islam that is outside the process of historical development." Similarly, modernity is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon rather than a unified and coherent phenomenon. It has historically had different schools of thoughts moving in many directions.
Islam's First Encounters with European Modernity
In the 18th century EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
was undergoing major transformations as the new ideas of the Enlightenment, which stressed the importance of science, rationality, and human reason, and the new technologies of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
were sweeping through much of Europe. This proved to be a turning point in world history as Europe began to gain power and influence. In the last quarter of the 18th century “the gap between the technical skills of some western and northern European countries and those of the rest of the world grew wider.” The rise of modern Europe coincided with what many scholars refer to as the decline of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, which by the 18th century was facing political, military, and economic breakdown. While prior to the 18th century the Ottomans had regarded themselves to be either of superior or, by the mid-18th century, of equal strength to Europe, by the end of the 18th century the power relationship between the Ottoman Empire and Europe began to shift in Europe’s favor.
In 1798 the army of Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the Ottoman province of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. Although the occupation lasted only three years, it exposed the people of Egypt to the ideas of the Enlightenment and the new technology of Europe. The values of the European Enlightenment, which challenged the authority of religion, were alien to the local Muslim population. Al-Jabarti
Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti
Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti or in Egyptian Arabic el Gabarti was a Somali–Egyptian Muslim scholar and chronicler who spent most of his life in Cairo.-Biography:While little is known of his life, according to Franz Steiner, al-Jabarti was...
, a Muslim intellectual and theologian who witnessed the occupation, wrote critically of the French calling them “materialists, who deny all God’s attributes.” Nevertheless, the exposure to European power and ideas would later inspire the new governor of Egypt, Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali of Egypt
Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha was a commander in the Ottoman army, who became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan...
, to draw on European ideas and technology in order to modernize Egypt setting an example for the rest of the Ottoman Empire. From the end of the 18th century the Ottoman Empire began to open embassies and send officials to study in Europe. This created conditions for the “gradual formation of a group of reformers with a certain knowledge of the modern world and a conviction that the empire must belong to it or perish.”
One of the scholars sent by Muhammad Ali to Europe in 1826 was Rifa'a Rafi' al-Tahtawi
Rifa'a el-Tahtawi
Rifa'a al-Tahtawi was an Egyptian writer, teacher, translator, Egyptologist and renaissance intellectual...
. The five years he spent in Paris left a permanent mark on him. After his return to Egypt he wrote about his impressions of France and translated numerous European works into Arabic. Tahtawi was impressed with Europe’s technological and scientific advancement and political philosophy. Having studied Islamic law, he argued that “it was necessary to adapt the Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
to new circumstances” and that there was not much difference between “the principles of Islamic law and those principles of ‘natural law’ on which the codes of modern Europe were based.”
Like Tahtawi, Khayr al- Din was also sent to Paris where he spent four years. After his return from Europe he wrote a book, in which he argued that the only way to strengthen the Muslim States was by borrowing ideas and institutions from Europe and that this did not contradict the spirit of the Sharia.
Modernization Reforms in the Ottoman Empire
In the period between 1839 and 1876 the Ottoman government began instituting large-scale reforms as a way to modernize and strengthen the empire. Known as the TanzimatTanzimat
The Tanzimât , meaning reorganization of the Ottoman Empire, was a period of reformation that began in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. The Tanzimât reform era was characterized by various attempts to modernize the Ottoman Empire, to secure its territorial integrity against...
, many of these reforms involved adopting successful European practices. In addition to military and administrative reforms, Ottoman rulers implemented reforms in the sphere of education, law, and the economy:
"New universities and curricula were created and modern curricula were introduced to allow students to acquire the knowledge necessary to modernize. European legal codes became the basis for legal reforms, and Islamic law was restricted to personal status or family law (marriage, divorce, inheritance). Modern economic systems and institutions were established."
Some conservative Muslims denounced the Tanzimat reforms for “introducing un-Islamic innovations into state and society.”
Islamic Modernism
“The reformist spirit of the times was especially evident in the emergence from Egypt to Southeast Asia of an Islamic modernist movement that called for a “reformation” or reinterpretation (ijtihadIjtihad
Ijtihad is the making of a decision in Islamic law by personal effort , independently of any school of jurisprudence . as opposed to taqlid, copying or obeying without question....
) of Islam.”
Islamic modernism was both an attempt to provide an Islamic response to the challenges presented by European colonial expansion and an effort to reinvigorate and reform Islam from within as a way to counter the perceived weakness and decline of Muslim societies in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Islamic modernists argued that Islam and modernity were compatible and “asserted the need to reinterpret and reapply the principles and ideals of Islam to formulate new responses to the political, scientific, and cultural challenges of the West and of modern life.” The reforms they proposed challenged the status quo maintained by the conservative Muslims scholars (ulama
Ulama
-In Islam:* Ulema, also transliterated "ulama", a community of legal scholars of Islam and its laws . See:**Nahdlatul Ulama **Darul-uloom Nadwatul Ulama **Jamiatul Ulama Transvaal**Jamiat ul-Ulama -Other:...
), who saw the established law as the ideal order that had to be followed and upheld the doctrine of taqlid
Taqlid
Taqlid or taklid is an Arabic term in Islamic legal terminology connoting "imitation", that is; following the decisions of a religious authority without necessarily examining the scriptural basis or reasoning of that decision, such as accepting and following the verdict of scholars of...
(imitation / blind following). Islamic modernists saw the resistance to change on the part of the conservative ulama as a major cause for the problems the Muslim community was facing as well as its inability to counter western hegemony.
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani
Sayyid Muḥammad ibn Ṣafdar Husaynī , better known as Sayyid Jamāl-ad-Dīn al-Afghānī and Sayyid Jamal-ad-Din Asadabadi , , was a political activist and Islamic ideologist in the Muslim world during the late 19th century, particularly in the Middle East, South Asia and Europe...
(1838–97) is regarded as one of the pioneers of Islamic modernism. He believed that Islam was compatible with science and reason and that in order to counter European power the Muslim world had to embrace progress.
Muhammad Abduh
Muhammad Abduh
Muhammad Abduh was an Egyptian jurist, religious scholar and liberal reformer, regarded as the founder of Islamic Modernism...
(1849–1905) was a disciple and collaborator of al-Afghani. He was even more influential than his master and is often referred to as the founder of Islamic modernism. Abduh was born and raised in Egypt and was a scholar of Islam (alim). He taught at al-Azhar and other institutions and in 1899 became Mufti
Mufti
A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...
of Egypt. Abduh believed that the Islamic world was suffering from an inner decay and was in need of a revival. Asserting that “Islam could be the moral basis of a modern and progressive society", he was critical of both secularists and the conservative ulama. He called for a legal reform and the reinterpretation (ijtihad) of Islamic law according to modern conditions. While critical of the West, he believed that it was necessary to borrow or assimilate what was good from it.
Other notable Islamic modernists include Rashid Rida
Rashid Rida
Muhammad Rashid Rida is said to have been "one of the most influential scholars and jurists of his generation" and the "most prominent disciple of Muhammad Abduh"...
(1869–1935), and Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817–98) and Muhammad Iqbal
Muhammad Iqbal
Sir Muhammad Iqbal , commonly referred to as Allama Iqbal , was a poet and philosopher born in Sialkot, then in the Punjab Province of British India, now in Pakistan...
(1877–1938) in the Indian subcontinent. Like al-Afghani and Abduh they rejected the doctrine of taqlid and asserted the need for Islam to be reinterpreted according to modern conditions.
Although Islamic modernists were subject to the criticism that the reforms they promoted amounted to westernizing Islam, their legacy was significant and their thought influenced future generations of reformers.
Islamic modernists until 1918
Turkey was the first Muslim country where modernity surfaced, with major shifts in scientific and legal thought. In 1834, Ishak Efendi published Mecmua-i Ulum-i Riyaziye, a four volume text introducing many modern scientific concepts to the Muslim world. Kudsi Efendi also published Asrar al-Malakut in 1846 in an attempt to reconcile Copernican astronomyCopernican Revolution
The Copernican Revolution refers to the paradigm shift away from the Ptolemaic model of the heavens, which postulated the Earth at the center of the galaxy, towards the heliocentric model with the Sun at the center of our Solar System...
with Islam. The first modern Turkish chemistry text was published in 1848, and the first modern Biology text in 1865. Eventually, the Turks adopted the metric system in 1869. These shifts in scientific thought coincided with Tanzimat
Tanzimat
The Tanzimât , meaning reorganization of the Ottoman Empire, was a period of reformation that began in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. The Tanzimât reform era was characterized by various attempts to modernize the Ottoman Empire, to secure its territorial integrity against...
, a reform policy undertaken by the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire that was inspired by French civil law
Civil law (legal system)
Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...
. This reform confined sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
to family law. The key figure in the Turkish modernist movement was Namik Kemal
Namık Kemal
Namık Kemal, born as Mehmed Kemal was a Turkish nationalist poet, translator, journalist, and social reformer.-Biography:...
, the editor of a journal called Freedom. His goal was to promote freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
, the separation of powers
Separation of powers
The separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle, is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
, equality before the law
Equality before the law
Equality before the law or equality under the law or legal egalitarianism is the principle under which each individual is subject to the same laws....
, scientific freedom, and a reconciliation between parliamentary democracy and the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
.
In 19th century Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Mirza Malkom Khan arrived after being educated in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He created a newspaper called Qanun, where he advocated the separation of powers
Separation of powers
The separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle, is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
, secular law, and a bill of rights
Bill of rights
A bill of rights is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement. The term "bill of rights" originates from England, where it referred to the Bill of Rights 1689. Bills of rights may be entrenched or...
. Jamal al-Din al-Afghani
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani
Sayyid Muḥammad ibn Ṣafdar Husaynī , better known as Sayyid Jamāl-ad-Dīn al-Afghānī and Sayyid Jamal-ad-Din Asadabadi , , was a political activist and Islamic ideologist in the Muslim world during the late 19th century, particularly in the Middle East, South Asia and Europe...
, also educated in France, proclaimed that Europe had become successful due to its laws and its science. He became critical of other Muslim scholars for stifling scientific thought, and hoped to encourage scientific inquiry in the Muslim world
Muslim world
The term Muslim world has several meanings. In a religious sense, it refers to those who adhere to the teachings of Islam, referred to as Muslims. In a cultural sense, it refers to Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization...
.
Muhammad Abduh
Muhammad Abduh
Muhammad Abduh was an Egyptian jurist, religious scholar and liberal reformer, regarded as the founder of Islamic Modernism...
became a leading judge in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, after political activities and studies in Paris. He pushed for secular law, religious reform, and education for girls. He hoped that Egypt would ultimately become a free republic, much like how France had transformed from an absolute monarchy. Muhammad Rashid Rida also became active in the Egyptian modernization movement, although he was born and educated in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. Al-Manar was his journal, through which he advocated greater openness to science and foreign influence. He also stated that sharia was relatively silent about agriculture, industry, and trade, and that these areas of knowledge needed renewal. Qasim Amin
Qasim Amin
Qasim Amin born on 1 December 1863 Alexandria died April 22, 1908 Cairo was an Egyptian jurist and one of the founders of the Egyptian national movement and Cairo University. Qasim Amin was considered by many as the Arab world’s “first feminist”...
was another reformer in Egypt heavily concerned with the rights of women.
Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi was similarly educated in Paris around the same time. He surveyed the political systems of 21 European countries in an effort to reform Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
.
Other major Islamic modernists included Mahmud Tarzi
Mahmud Tarzi
Mahmūd Bēg Tarzī was one of Afghanistan's greatest intellectuals. He is known as the father of Afghan journalism...
of Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Chiragh Ali
Chiragh Ali
Moulví Cherágh Ali was an Indian Muslim scholar of the late 19th century. As a colleague of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan He made a contribution to the school of Muslim Modernists and presented reformative thinking about the Qu'ran...
of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Achmad Dachlan of Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
, and Wang Jingshai of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
Impact of early Islamic modernists
The influence of modernism in the Islamic world resulted in a cultural revival. Dramatic plays became more common, as did newspapers. Notable European works were analyzed and translated.Legal reform was attempted in Egypt, Tunisia, the Ottoman Empire, and Iran, and in some cases these reforms were adopted. Efforts were made to restrict the power of government. Polygamy was ended in India. Azerbaijan granted suffrage to women in 1918 (before several European countries).
At the recommendations of reform-minded Islamic scholars, western sciences were taught in new schools. Much of this had to do with the intellectual appeal of social Darwinism
Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism is a term commonly used for theories of society that emerged in England and the United States in the 1870s, seeking to apply the principles of Darwinian evolution to sociology and politics...
, since it led to the conclusion that an old-fashioned Muslim society could not compete in the modern world.
1918-1968
The aftermath of World War I resulted in the fall of the Ottoman EmpirePartitioning of the Ottoman Empire
The Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire was a political event that occurred after World War I. The huge conglomeration of territories and peoples formerly ruled by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire was divided into several new nations.The partitioning was planned from the early days of the war,...
and the domination of the Middle East by European powers such as Britain and France. Intellectual historians such as Peter Watson suggest that World War I marks the end of the main Islamic modernist movements, and that this is the point where many Muslims "lost faith with the culture of science and materialism". He goes on to note that several parallel streams emerged after this historical moment.
Continued modernization
In some parts of the world, the project of Islamic modernity continued from the same trajectory before the great war. This was especially the case in the new Republic of Turkey, under Mustafa Kemal AtatürkMustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey....
.
In Egypt, Hassan al-Banna
Hassan al-Banna
Sheikh Hasan Ahmed Abdel Rahman Muhammed al-Banna known as Hasan al-Banna was a schoolteacher and imam, best known for founding the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the largest and most influential 20th century Muslim revivalist organizations.-Early life:Banna was born in 1906 in Mahmoudiyah, Egypt...
founded the Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
.
Arab socialism
On the other hand, Arab socialismArab socialism
Arab socialism is a political ideology based on an amalgamation of Pan-Arabism and socialism. Arab socialism is distinct from the much broader tradition of socialist thought in the Arab world, which predates Arab socialism by as much as fifty years...
of Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party
Baath Party
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party was a political party mixing Arab nationalist and Arab socialist interests, opposed to Western imperialism, and calling for the renaissance or resurrection and unification of the Arab world into a single state. Ba'ath is also spelled Ba'th or Baath and means...
and Nasserite
Nasserism
Nasserism is an Arab nationalist political ideology based on the thinking of the former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. It was a major influence on pan-Arab politics in the 1950s and 1960s, and continues to have significant resonance throughout the Arab World to this day. It also...
movement emerged as a stream of thought that played down the role of religion.
1968-present
The Six-Day WarSix-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
between Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and its neighbours ended in a decisive loss for the Muslim side. Many in the Islamic world saw this as the failure of socialism. It was at this point that "fundamental and militant Islam began to fill the political vacuum created".
Turkey has continued to be at the forefront of modernising Islam. In 2008 its Department of Religious Affairs launched a review of all the hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
s, the sayings of Mohammed upon which most of Islamic law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
is based The School of Theology at Ankara University
Ankara University
Ankara University is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in the Turkish Republic....
undertook this forensic examination with the intent of removing centuries of often conservative cultural baggage and rediscovering the spirit of reason in the original message of Islam. One expert at London's Chatham House
Chatham House
Chatham House, formally known as The Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in London whose mission is to analyse and promote the understanding of major international issues and current affairs. It is regarded as one of the world's leading...
compared these revisions to the Christian Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
. Turkey has also trained hundreds of women as theologians, and sent them senior imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
s known as vaizes all over the country, away from the relatively liberal capital and coastal cities, to explain these re-interpretations at town hall meetings.
The Middle East, Modernity and the proliferation of Islamic fundamentalism
In recent years the world has witnessed the proliferation of Islamic extremist groups all over the world and in the Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, who are voicing their dislike of concepts such as democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
and modernity, which are, in the Middle East, most commonly associated with imposing Western secular beliefs and values. The spread of secularism has caused great concerns among many Islamic political groups. It has indeed been the reasoning for the Islamization of politics and protest, due to the large Muslim majority in the Middle East as well as the region's imperial past. For Islamic countries in the Middle East, there is not necessarily a problem as such with modernity, however, "the problem is when modernity comes wrapped with wersternization, with absolutely and utterly rampant materialism".
In the book, Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Arab World(1994), the author N. Ayubi continues this debate by explaining, what he believes to be the two main concerns of Islamic political movements and extremist groups in the Middle East; namely the Western belief in a bureaucratic state and secondly, what is mentioned above, the secular values and beliefs associated with concepts such as modernity.
These concerns are exemplified in an interview with the well-known Islamic fundamentalist, Osama Bin Laden who states, after being asked about the message he wants to send to the West:
After the September 11 attacks, the Western media often has its focus on personalities such as Osama bin Laden
Their presence [in the Middle East] has no meaning save one and that is to offer support to the Jews an Palestine who are in need of their Christian brothers to achieve full control over the Arab peninsula, which they intend to make an important part of the so called Greater Israel…They rip us of our wealth and of our resources and of our oil. Our religion is under attack. They kill and murder our brothers. They compromise our honor and our dignity and if we dare to utter a single word of protest against the injustice, we are called terrorists.
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
for condemnation, and exaggerate what are often unknown terrorists into forerunners of "Islamic jihad." This causes the creation of stereotypes of Muslims in the Middle East and moreover, results in the grants of prominence to Islamic fundamentalists who might otherwise have been insignificant political characters, and legitimises extremist opinions and views which might otherwise have been shunned by mainstream Muslims. However, as John Esposito notes:
Yet the number of militant Islamic movements ‘calling for an Islamic state and the end of Western influence is relatively small’. Nevertheless, these groups are causing great fear among people in the Middle East and in the West. According to various polls, the majority of world's Muslim want to be governed by Islamic Law (Sharia).
The tendency to judge the actions of Muslims in splendid isolation, to generalize from the actions of the few to the many, to disregard similar excesses committed in the name of other religions and ideologies…is not new.
People
- Namik KemalNamık KemalNamık Kemal, born as Mehmed Kemal was a Turkish nationalist poet, translator, journalist, and social reformer.-Biography:...
- Ishak Efendi
- Kudsi Efendi
- Mirza Malkom Khan
- Khayr al-din al-Tunisi
- Qasim AminQasim AminQasim Amin born on 1 December 1863 Alexandria died April 22, 1908 Cairo was an Egyptian jurist and one of the founders of the Egyptian national movement and Cairo University. Qasim Amin was considered by many as the Arab world’s “first feminist”...
- Mahmud TarziMahmud TarziMahmūd Bēg Tarzī was one of Afghanistan's greatest intellectuals. He is known as the father of Afghan journalism...
- Sayyid Ahmad Khan
- Kijai Hadji Ahmad Dachlan
- Wang Hingshai
- Jamal al-Din al-AfghaniJamal al-Din al-AfghaniSayyid Muḥammad ibn Ṣafdar Husaynī , better known as Sayyid Jamāl-ad-Dīn al-Afghānī and Sayyid Jamal-ad-Din Asadabadi , , was a political activist and Islamic ideologist in the Muslim world during the late 19th century, particularly in the Middle East, South Asia and Europe...
- Muhammad AbduhMuhammad AbduhMuhammad Abduh was an Egyptian jurist, religious scholar and liberal reformer, regarded as the founder of Islamic Modernism...
- Muhammad Rashid Rida
- Al-Saykh Tartawi Jawhari
- Bu Koko Namaya
- Majamabad Roqaya
See also
- Islam and secularismIslam and secularismThe idea of secularism in Islam means favoring a modern secular democracy with separation of mosque and state, as opposed to Islam as a political movement. Secularism in the Muslim countries refers to the ideology of promoting the secular as opposed to the religion. It is often used to describe...
- Islam and democracy
- Islamic ModernismIslamic ModernismIslamic Modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response" to the cultural challenges which attempts to reconcile Islamic faith with modern values regarding nationalism, democracy, civil rights, rationality, equality and progress...
- TanzimatTanzimatThe Tanzimât , meaning reorganization of the Ottoman Empire, was a period of reformation that began in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. The Tanzimât reform era was characterized by various attempts to modernize the Ottoman Empire, to secure its territorial integrity against...
- Religious intellectualism in IranReligious intellectualism in IranReligious intellectualism in Iran reached its apogee during the Persian Constitutional Revolution . The process involved philosophers, sociologists, political scientists and cultural theorists.-Summary:...
- Religious traditionalism in IranReligious traditionalism in IranToday there are basically three types of Islam in Iran: traditionalism , modernism, and a variety of forms of revivalism usually brought together as fundamentalism....
- Liberal movements within IslamLiberal movements within IslamProgressive Muslims have produced a considerable body of liberal thought within Islam or "progressive Islam" ; but some consider progressive Islam and liberal Islam as two distinct movements)...
- Islamic feminismIslamic feminismIslamic feminism is a form of feminism concerned with the role of women in Islam. It aims for the full equality of all Muslims, regardless of gender, in public and private life. Islamic feminists advocate women's rights, gender equality, and social justice grounded in an Islamic framework...
- What Went WrongWhat Went WrongWhat Went Wrong?: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response is a book by Bernard Lewis released in January 2002, shortly after the September 11 terrorist attack, but written shortly before...
by Bernard LewisBernard LewisBernard Lewis, FBA is a British-American historian, scholar in Oriental studies, and political commentator. He is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University... - List of Muslim reformers
- Modernism (Roman Catholicism)Modernism (Roman Catholicism)Modernism refers to theological opinions expressed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but with influence reaching into the 21st century, which are characterized by a break with the past. Catholic modernists form an amorphous group. The term "modernist" appears in Pope Pius X's 1907...
- Modern Orthodox JudaismModern Orthodox JudaismModern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
- Buddhist modernismBuddhist modernismBuddhist modernism consists of the "forms of Buddhism that have emerged out of an engagement with the dominant cultural and intellectual forces of modernity." While there can be no complete, essential definition of what constitutes a Buddhist Modernist tradition, most scholars agree that...
External links
- The Responsibilities of the Muslim Intellectual in the 21st Century
- Islam and Modernity by Prof. Ahmed Afzaal
- Islam and Modernity by Professor Ibrahim Abu Rabi
- BBC NEWS: Analysis: Islam's modernity question
- Modernization article from Encyclopedia Britannica
- Article on Haq (Right) from Encyclopedia of Islam Online
- Article on ḎJ̲umhūriyya (republicanism) from Encyclopedia of Islam Online
- Westernization in Oxford Islamic Studies Online
- Studies in Contemporary Islam
- Digital Islam: A research project on the Middle East, Islam, and digital media.
Further reading
- JL Esposito and JO Voll, Makers of Contemporary Islam, Oxford University Press 2001.
- John Cooper, Ronald Nettler and Mohamad Mahmoud, Islam and Modernity: Muslim Intellectuals Respond, I. B. Tauris, 2000
- C Kurzman (ed), Liberal Islam: A Source Book, Oxford University Press 1998.
- Islam and Modernity, Journal Religion and the Arts, Brill Academic Publishers, Volume 5, Number 4, pp. 495–503