Transcript Traditionalist Salafis

Themes in Islam and Modernity
• What is Modernity? Is it Western?
• Now Major Challenges are from the West
– Political: why/how do unbelievers have control
over us politically/militarily
– Economic: why/how are they so much wealthier
than us?
– Scientific/Technical: why/how are they so much
more advanced than us?
– Social: to what extent do we have to meet the
expectations of social modernity/progress?
How does the truth and greatness of Islam
fit with Muslim failure to achieve parity with
the West in these areas?
• ‘Awakening’, ‘Revival’, ‘Reform’= the idiom
• Islamic heritage vs. Islamic society
What is Modernity?
‘The Great Western Transmutation’: 1780-today
– Economic: Industrial Revolution in England in the
late 1700’s  massive capital amassed
– Legal/Political: states emphasize ownership rights as
foundation of international system  respect for
ownership; state becomes vehicle for mercantile
interests; democracy
– Intellectual: scientific explanation, technicalization
(“impersonal efficiency through technical
precision”), rationalization  Positivism
– Social: landed aristocracy loses control to industrial
and mercantile bourgeoisie
Investment encouraged and protected  innovation
prized, progress and enrichment expected
Modernity is inevitable (Ali Pasha agreed: “It is not
humanly possible to put a stop to the forces of
nationalism and socialism.”
Major Landmarks of West / Islam
Relations
• 1764 British running Bengal and Bihar, collecting
taxes
• 1798-1801 Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt
• 1830: France annexes Algeria from Ottomans
• 1838 Treaty of Balta Liman, beginning of major
European political/economic interference in
Ottoman realm
• 1857 ‘Indian Mutiny’ crushed by British
• 1882 British suzerainty in Egypt
• 1872 De Reuters Concession – 1892 Tobacco
Concessions: perceived selling of Iran to
foreigners
• 1914-18 WWI  reason cannot give all answers
• 1979-81 Islamic Revolution in Iran
Knot of Politics, Society and Religion
• For many Muslim intellectuals (and the
populace), there is no real ‘crisis’ until after
the 1870’s
– Al-Jabarti’s reaction to Napoleon’s invasion:
contempt!
– Tanzimat Period (1839-76): Ottoman reforms,
instituting European schooling, government
structure and legal system… from 1805 on in Egypt
under Mehmet Ali Pasha
– Rifa’at al-Tahtawi (d. 1873): Egyptian sent to Paris;
unqualified admiration; Europeans learned from
Muslims, now we must relearn our greatness
1875 Ottoman Bankruptcy, 1878 Massive defeat
of Ottomans… Ottoman Empire is once again
Muslim in population, Islam important political
rallying point under Sultan Abd al-Hamid (r.
1876-1909). Concessions in Iran  same
How do we approach the Islamic Heritage?
1. Modernists: scholars like Fatima Mernissa, Ishad
Manji, Ayaan Hirsi Ali… reject aspects of Islam
that are incompatible with expectations of
modernity with no apology.
2. Modernist Salafis: bypass the Late Sunni
Tradition to go back to the original purity of
Islam… which just happens to meet the
expectations of modernity
3. Traditionalist Salafis: like Wahhabis, return to
original sources of the Quran and Sunna but to
heck with what modernity expects.
4. Late Sunni Traditionalists: the institutions of
classical Islam, properly used, will lead us to the
right path (even better than modernity!)
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (d. 1897)
• Originally Iranian/Afghan, possibly Shiite,
became Pan-Islamic activist, intellectual,
and eventually political trouble-maker
• His goal was essentially political = Islamic
unity against West, while learning from them
and eventually matching them
• The Means = Revival of rationalism in Islam:
Mu’tazilite and Islamic philosophical tradition
– Anti-Fatalism
– Anti-superstition (and thus Sufism)
Muhammad ‘Abduh (d. 1905)
• Azhar trained Egyptian, worked as journalist
and editor in Cairo
• Supported revolt against British/Khedive
government of Egypt in 1882
• Studied with Afghani, then went to Paris and
Beirut with him to publish their journal, alUrwa al-wuthqa.
• Became Mufti of Egypt
• Modernist Salafi
• Maslaha = public interest, outweighs
revealed text; reason outweighs revelation
Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani (d. 1999)
• Albanian immigrant to Syria
• Rejected father’s Hanafi school when
he read issue of Abduh’s Manar
magazine  Traditionalist Salafi
• Turned to Hadith as the only real
means to understand the pure Islam of
the early Muslim community
• Became one of the most influential
Traditionalist Salafis and modern
Hadith scholars
The Big Questions
• What is Modernity? Is it Western?
• Major Challenges from West
– Political: why/how do unbelievers have control
over us politically/militarily
– Economical: why/how are they so much wealthier
than us?
– Scientific/Technical: why/how are they so much
more advanced than us?
– Social: why do we feel like we have to meet their
expectations of social modernity/progress?
How does Truth and Greatness of Islam Fit
with Muslim Failure to Achieve Parity with
the West in these areas?
• Islamic heritage vs. Islamic society
Answers #1
The West has attained material success,
but Islam possesses the keys to
spiritual and moral success (ex. Ahmad
Faris Shadyaq (d. 1887)
• Western society is corrupt at heart
• Western society is destined for moral
and spiritual ruin
• Or… is Modernity is inherently wrong
for mankind?(‘Perennialist’ Sufi school)
Answer #2
The West IS Real Islam: we need to
learn Western sciences, political
systems, worldview
• The Renaissance derived from Muslim
learning…
• Tension: how can we adopt positive
elements of Western culture without
adopting negative ones?
Answer #3
Don’t be deceived by what you see,
prosperity and technology have
nothing to do with what God wants
from us… focus on purifying your
practice and belief
• Al-Hasan al-Banna and the Muslim
Brotherhood
• Salafi/Wahhabi movement
Finding the Answers
Find the West in Islamic Sources:
• Young Ottomans, Jamal al-Din al-Afghani,
Muhammad ‘Abduh, Sayyid Ahmad Khan
• Spectrum of Criticism of Islamic Tradition:
ex. do we reject hadith if they contradict
reason or try to contextualize them?
Following the Late Sunni Tradition is the
key (can this be done in a vacuum?)
• Shaykh ‘Ali Jum’a, Muhammad al-Ghazali (d.
1996)
Ignore the West, we cause our own
problems on our own (taqlid, bid’a…)
• Traditionalist Salafis like al-Albani
Modern Political Islam – The Islamic
State
Islam vs. the West/Nationalism:
• Afghani, Shaqib Arslan (d. 1946) and the 1930
Berber ‘Dahir’ Law
Fundamentalist Resistance to Local Regimes:
• Sayyid Qutb (d. 1966)
• Ayatollah Khomeini (d. 1989)
The Goal = Islamic Law (why?)
• Islamic law means society has chosen Islam over
Westernism/Western modernity… a just society
• Islamic law means the victory of native culture of
foreign interference
• Islamic law is the necessary step to regaining
greatness
Islamic Law in Modern Period
Turkey: 1924-36 Shariah law totally
abolished
Egypt: 1955 Shariah courts abolished, but
modified Shariah still governs family law
• Lawyer Abd al-Razzaq al-Sanhuri in 1947
says that Egyptian law is based on 1)
customary law 2) principles of Shariah 3)
natural law
• Using talfiq (picking and choosing) from
different schools, “Shariah” rulings
meeting expectations of Modernity are
found (ex. 1923 marriage for girls at 16)
Saudi Arabia: Shariah law still applied in full
Friday Question
How are the challenges that
Modernity/The West poses to ‘Islam’
(however you see it) new? How are
they a continuity of the past?