Islamic Reform Movements
In the last two centuries, many movements have aimed to reform local Muslim communities and the worldwide umma. As we discussed earlier in this chapter, in their early history, the Muslims rapidly grew into an important world power.
Various Muslim empires remained powerful for many centuries, through the Abbasid period and into the later Ottoman, Mughal, and Safavid sultanates. European powers were generally eclipsed by the Islamic world during this time. However, in the eighteenth century, European empires began to gain prominence as economic and political world powers. European power continued to grow with the advent of industrialization. Eventually, the British, French, and Dutch empires colonized much of the Muslim world. The British and French colonized much of Muslim Africa and the Middle East; the British and the Dutch controlled Muslim lands in South and Southeast Asia.The “Wahhabi” Movement
During the eighteenth century, several Muslim reform movements developed. These movements were spearheaded by factions concerned about what they viewed as a decline in Muslim communities and in Muslim power worldwide. One of the most well-known reforms was the “Wahhabi” movement. It was originated by a scholar named Muhammad Ibn Abd al- Wahhab (d. 1792), and it is still influential today. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab disapproved of Muslim practices that he perceived as falling outside of the Qur’an and sunna and that had developed after the time of Muhammad. The Wahhabi movement was especially critical of venerating saints and visiting tombs. Al-Wahhab argued that these practices and others were considered innovations and had contributed to the decline of Islam and the Muslim world. As a result, al- Wahhab’s followers razed many saints’ tombs and shrines, including those of Muhammad, his companions, and Husayn.
In the late eighteenth century, followers of al-Wahhab formed significant ties with the ruling family of Arabia.
To this day, the movement remains influential in Saudi Arabia and in other parts of the Muslim world, where it has sent teachers and established schools. Followers of the movement call themselves Muwahiddun, though they are commonly called “Wahhabis” in the news media. Sometimes movements like the Wahhabis that advocate living according to models from the past are known as salafi or salafist, from the Arabic term salafal-salih, which means “righteous ancestors.”The Wahhabi movement is often characterized as very conservative and “fundamentalist.” However, we must be careful in using the term “fundamentalist” when discussing any religious movement. This is because not all movements called fundamentalist are the same. The Wahhabi movement is often termed “fundamentalist” because of its emphasis on the primacy of the Qur’an and the sunna and its criticism of later developments in Muslim thought and practice. The movement thus emphasizes the “fundamentals” of Islam—the Qur’an and the model of the Prophet. Today, the Wahhabi movement is often portrayed very negatively in the Western media, owing to its influence on notorious extremists such as Osama bin Laden and the emphasis some Wahhabis place on bringing their version of Islam to other parts of the Muslim world. Although followers of Wahhabi Islam are generally more conservative than other Muslims, not all embrace a political version of Islam.
Resisting Colonialism and Westernization
During the nineteenth century, European powers increasingly dominated Muslim lands. Many Muslim thinkers lamented the loss of a cohesive and powerful umma and regretted the decline of several important Muslim empires. The Mughals had dominated much of South Asia for several generations, but the introduction of British rule in the nineteenth century saw the end of the Mughals. The Ottoman Empire, too, had thrived in the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa, but by the early nineteenth century it was threatened by increasing European power.
As a result, reformist movements developed that prioritized revitalizing the umma. Some focused on trying to revive the lost glory and power of the umma. Other movements directly resisted European imperialism and, later, American expansion and influence. And some reformers tried to deflect the criticism of the Islamic world that was coming from powerful Western governments. European leaders and scholars were often quick to criticize Islam and Muslim cultures as being “backward,” and some Muslim reformers made concerted efforts to combat these developing stereotypes.
These movements took several forms. One reformer was Muhammad Ahmed ibn Abdallah (1844-1885), more commonly known as the Sudanese Mahdi. The Sudanese Mahdi organized a powerful military uprising against the Egyptian and British forces that occupied the Sudan in the nineteenth century. Many people have claimed the title of Mahdi over the years, and Abdallah convinced people that he was indeed the Mahdi heralding the end of days. In this way, he was able to recruit a large number of followers. His movement emphasized social equality, and he entirely revamped the five pillars. For example, he incorporated a declaration of himself as Mahdi in the shahada, and he dropped the hajj as a requirement. His revamping of the pillars was highly controversial, and many Sudanese Muslims did not support his efforts. However, his aims were more political than religious, and he successfully took the city of Khartoum in 1885 from the British and Egyptian armies.
Jamal al-din al-Afghani (1838-1897) was a reformer who sought to inspire Muslims by convincing them that the roots of revitalization were within their own faith and their own history. Born in Iran, al-Afghani traveled extensively in the Middle East and Central Asia and advocated the idea that all Muslims worldwide should join together with the goal of revitalizing the umma and defeating Western imperialism. He called upon his fellow Muslims to unify against Western influence.
Al-Afghani is often considered the originator of the antiimperialist sentiment among many Muslim thinkers of the time. In addition, he argued that Islam was the religion most amenable to scientific knowledge. Al-Afghani was also well known as an activist for the poor and downtrodden, and he called for social reform in Muslim countries to alleviate their plight.Through calling for unification of the umma, al-Afghani is often considered the father of panIslamism, and he was a great inspiration to other reformers. Perhaps the best known of his followers is Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905), who was born in Egypt and achieved great renown as an advocate of Egyptian nationalism. Like al-Afghani, Abduh saw no conflict between religion and science, and he asserted that Islam had always embraced scientific methodologies. And like many reformers of his time, Abduh thought that the Qur’an should be interpreted in light of social changes. Abduh argued that although certain Islamic doctrines were absolute and unchangeable, some teachings should change with the times. For example, he is well known for his criticisms of polygamy, discussed in more detail later in this chapter.
A third reformer of the same period was the modernist thinker Sayyid Ahmed Khan (1817- 1898). Khan is best known for his educational reforms in South Asia and his support of the British. Unlike reformers such as al-Afghani, Khan admired the West, particularly the British, and attempted to bring Western ways of thought and education to his native India. Although he did not advocate imperial rule, he believed that the Muslims of South Asia could only move forward through embracing certain Western ways. In light of these views, it is not surprising that he was criticized by other reformers of his time as being too sympathetic with the British. He is also known for advocating interpretation of the Qur’an in a rational way in light of social changes. Like Abduh and Afghani, he embraced developments in science and argued that there was no conflict between Islam and science.
The Muslim Brotherhood
The reformist spirit of the nineteenth century carried over into the twentieth. Several important and wide-reaching twentieth-century movements responded to and built on the developments of the nineteenth century. A key goal for many twentieth-century reformers involved finding a path to economic development for Muslim countries that did not follow Western models. More specifically, many thinkers have sought a path that allows Muslim countries and cultures to maintain their Muslim identities and still embrace certain ideas and technologies that originated in the West. Even in the postcolonial world, Europe and the United States are criticized for cultural imperialism because Western cultural models and products are spread throughout the world, particularly through business and media.
One of the most influential contemporary movements has been the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood has been in existence for several decades. It is based in Egypt, though it has been influential all over the globe. The founder was Hassan al-Banna, who organized the movement in 1928 to revitalize Islam from within by focusing on a return to the Qur’an and the sunna. Like other reformers of his time, al-Banna was opposed to Western imperialism. He argued that encroaching Western values were contributing to the decline of Islamic societies.
Sayyid Qutb, one of the more influential members of the Brotherhood and an outspoken critic of Western influence, aimed to revitalize the Islamic world solely through Islamic principles. Qutb was executed in 1966 by the Egyptian government after being repeatedly accused of treason, terrorism, and a plot to kill President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Qutb’s writings have continued to influence certain Islamic activists and some extremists, including those highly critical of Western influence on the Muslim world, such as Osama bin Laden and members of al-Qaeda. However, it is important to note that many members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been very critical of Sayyid Qutb’s radical views.
Throughout its existence, the Brotherhood has had a fractured relationship with the Egyptian government. It was banned in the 1950s, after members of the Brotherhood attempted to assassinate Egyptian President Nasser. Despite this ban, the Brotherhood remained active, and in later years it attempted to reconcile with the government of President Hosni Mubarak, who was deposed in 2011. In 2012, Muhammad Morsi was the first member of the Brotherhood to be elected president in Egypt. He was ousted in 2013, however, and the Brotherhood was again banned by the new government.