Islamic modernism


Islamic modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge", attempting to reconcile the Islamic faith with values perceived as modern such as democracy, civil rights, rationality, equality, and progress. It featured a "critical reexamination of the classical conceptions and methods of jurisprudence", and a new approach to Islamic theology and Quranic exegesis. A contemporary definition describes it as an "effort to re-read Islam's fundamental sources—the Qur'an and the Sunna, —by placing them in their historical context, and then reassessing them in the light of the modern context."
It was one of several Islamic movements—including Islamic secularism, Islamism, and Salafism—that emerged in the middle of the 19th century in reaction to the rapid changes of the time, especially the perceived onslaught of Western civilization and colonialism on the Muslim world. Islamic modernism differs from secularism in that it insists on the importance of religious faith in public life, and from Salafism or Islamism in that it embraces contemporary European institutions, social processes, and values. One expression of Islamic modernism, formulated by Mahathir Mohamad, 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."
Prominent leaders of the movement include Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan, Namık Kemal, Rifa'a al-Tahtawi, Muhammad Abduh, Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, and South Asian poet Muhammad Iqbal. Since its inception, Islamic modernism has suffered from co-option of its original reformism by both secularist rulers and by "the official ulama" whose task is to legitimise rulers' actions in religious terms.

Themes, arguments and positions

Some themes in modern Islamic thought include:
  • The acknowledgement "with varying degrees of criticism or emulation", of the technological, scientific and legal achievements of the West; while at the same time objecting "to Western colonial exploitation of Muslim countries and the imposition of Western secular values" and aiming to develop a modern and dynamic understanding of science among Muslims that would strengthen the Muslim world and prevent further exploitation.
  • *After traveling to Europe in the late 19th century, Muhammad Abduh came back so impressed with the order and prosperity he saw, he told Egyptians: "I went to the West and saw Islam, but no Muslims; I got back to the East and saw Muslims, but no Islam."
  • *Sayyid Ahmed Khan was said to have not only admired the accomplishments of Britain but to have had an "emotional attachment" to the country.

    Beliefs

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 of sahih 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.

Supernatural beings

Some non-literal interpretations Ahmed Khan came to were:
  • Angels are not beings created from light but "properties" of things or conceptualisations of the divine moral support which encourages man in his endeavors.
  • Jinn are not beings with free will created from fire, but "projections of evil desires".

    Islamic law

and Syed Ahmad Khan 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".
  • "Objectives" of Islamic law in support of "public interest", were invoked. This was done by Islamic reformists in "many parts of the globe to justify initiatives not addressed in classical commentaries but regarded as of urgent political and ethical concern."
  • Traditional Islamic law was reinterpreted using the four traditional sources of Islamic jurisprudence – the holy book of Islam, the reported deeds and sayings of Muhammad, consensus of the theologians and juristic reasoning by analogy, plus another source—independent reasoning to find a solution to a legal question.
  • * the first two sources were taken and reinterpreted "to transform the last two in order to formulate a reformist project in light of the prevailing standards of scientific rationality and modern social theory."
  • * traditional Islamic law was restricted by limiting its basis to the Quran and authentic Sunnah, i.e. limiting the Sunna with radical hadith criticism.
  • * ijtihad was employed not to only in the traditional, narrow way to arrive at legal rulings in unprecedented cases, i.e. where Quran, hadith, and rulings of earlier jurists are silent, but for critical independent reasoning in all domains of thought, and perhaps even approving of its use by non-jurists.

    Polygamy, jihad, bank loans, punishments, feminism

These more or less radical interpretations of the authoritative sources applied particularly to cases of Quranic verses or hadith where literal interpretations conflicts with "modern" views: polygyny, the hadd punishments, treatment of unbelievers, waging of jihad, banning of usury or interest on loans.
  • On the topic of Jihad, Islamic scholars like Ibn al-Amir al-San'ani, Muhammad Abduh, Rashid Rida, Ubaidullah Sindhi, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, and Shibli Nomani distinguished between defensive Jihad and offensive Jihad. They refuted the notion of consensus on Jihad al-talab being a communal obligation. In support of this view, these scholars referred to the works of classical scholars such as Al-Jassas, Ibn Taymiyya, etc. According to Ibn Taymiyya, the reason for Jihad against non-Muslims is not their disbelief but the threat they pose to Muslims. Citing Ibn Taymiyya, scholars like Rashid Rida, Al San'ani, Qaradawi, etc. argues that unbelievers need not be fought unless they pose a threat to Muslims. Thus, Jihad is obligatory only as a defensive warfare to respond to aggression or "perfidy" against the Muslim community, and that the "normal and desired state" between Islamic and non-Islamic territories was one of "peaceful coexistence". Similarly the 18th-century Islamic scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab defined Jihad as a defensive military action to protect the Muslim community, and emphasized its defensive aspect in synchrony with later 20th century Islamic writers.
  • Mahmud Shaltut also argued unbelief was not sufficient cause for declaring jihad, and that the conversion to Islam by unbelievers in fear of death at the hands of jihadists was unlikely to prove sincere or lasting. Much preferable means of conversion was education. They pointed to the verse "There is no compulsion in religion.".
  • On the matter of jurist orthodoxy that forbid any and all interest on bank loans, deposits, etc. as riba, Syed Ahmad Khan, Fazlur Rahman Malik, Muhammad Abduh, Rashid Rida, Abd El-Razzak El-Sanhuri, Muhammad Asad, Mahmoud Shaltout all argued that there was a difference between interest and usury. These jurists took precedent for their position from the classical scholar Ibn Taymiyya who argued in his treatise "The Removal of Blames from the Great Imams", that scholars are divided on the prohibition of riba al-fadl. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, the student of Ibn Taymiyya, argued that under a compelling need, an item may be sold with delay in return for dirhams or for another weighed substance despite implicating riba al-nasi'ah.
  • Concerning Hudud/hadd,, specifically the cutting off the hand of the thief, the "classic modernist argument" is that it should be applied only in a "perfectly just" Islamic society where "there is no want", i.e. where no one steals anything because they need it and can't afford it.
  • According to Mansoor Moaddel, the "modernist exegesis" of the Quran advanced by scholars such as Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Chiragh Ali, Amir Ali, Shibli Nomani, and Mumtaz Ali supported "Islamic feminism" – including women's education and involvement in social affairs, and opposition to polygamy. Triple-talaq divorce has also been attacked by Muslim modernists.

    Government

Contrary to the traditional belief that the Caliphate or imamate 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 says:
Searching the Quran and Hadith, Egyptian religious scholar and judge in religious courts Ali Abdel Raziq also found no mention of the position of caliph, of the caliphate, of government or state.
In the same vein, late 20th century Modernist historican Jebran Chamieh writes that Muhammad
Chamieh also points out that this practice was followed by the Rashidun caliphate. They never established a police force to enforce their law, so that there was no security force to defend the head of state 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."

Apologetics

  • Apologetic writing linked aspects of the Islamic tradition with Western ideas and practices, and claimed Western practices in question were originally derived from Islam. Islamic apologetics has been severely criticized by many scholars as superficial, tendentious and even psychologically destructive, so much so that the term "apologetics" has almost become a term of abuse in the literature on modern Islam.

    History of Modernism

Origins

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 the Age of Enlightenment by purging alterations from Islam and adhering to the basic tenets of Islam held during the Rashidun era. Their movement is regarded as the precursor to Islamic Modernism. 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 of reformation, which primarily entails the alignment of conventional doctrines with Protestant and Enlightenment 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 from traditionalist reformers, denied their work or objectives
were in any way a “reform" of Islam. Conversely, fundamentalists, driven by their Eurocentric convictions, perceive any semblance of reform as bidah, forbidden innovation, and inherently against Islam.
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,.