Islamic modernism

For Liberal movements in Islam, see Liberal Muslim movements. For the topic of Islam in the contemporary sociology of religion, see Islam and modernity.

See also: Liberalism and progressivism within Islam

Islamic modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge," ^{[Note 1]} attempting to reconcile the Islamic faith with modern values such as democracy, civil rights, rationality, equality, and progress. ^[2] It featured a "critical reexamination of the classical conceptions and methods of jurisprudence", and a new approach to Islamic theology and Quranic exegesis ( 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 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. ^[2] 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. ^[2] One expression of Islamic modernism, formulated by Mahathir Mohammed, 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 include Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan, Namık Kemal, Rifa'a al-Tahtawi, Muhammad Abduh (former Sheikh of Al-Azhar University), Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani and South Asian poet Muhammad Iqbal. In the Indian subcontinent, the movement is also known as Farahi , and is mainly regarded as the school of thought named after Hamiduddin Farahi. ^[5]

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 it is to legitimise" rulers' actions in religious terms. ^[6]

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. ^[7]
  • 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." ^[8]
  • Sayyid Ahmed Khan was said to have not only admired the accomplishments of Britain but to have had an "emotional attachment" to the country. ^[9]

Beliefs

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 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. ^[10]

Some non-literal interpretations Ahmed Khan came to were that:

• Angels are not beings created from light but "'properties' of things or conceptionalizations of the divine moral support which encourages man in his endeavors. ^[10]
• Jinn are not beings with free will created from fire, but "projections of evil desires". ^[10]

Islamic law

Cheragh Ali ^[11] and Syed Ahmad Khan ^[12] 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". ^[11]

• "Objectives" of Islamic law ( maqasid al-sharia) in support of "public interest", (or maslahah , a secondary source for Islamic jurisprudence) were invoked. ^{[13] [14]} 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." ^{[15] [16] [17]}
• Traditional Islamic law was reinterpreted using the four traditional sources of Islamic jurisprudence – the holy book of Islam (Quran), the reported deeds and sayings of Muhammad (hadith), consensus of the theologians ( ijma ) and juristic reasoning by analogy ( qiyas ), plus another source -- independent reasoning to find a solution to a legal question '('ijtihad ). ^[18]
  • the first two sources (the Quran and hadith) were taken and reinterpreted "to transform the last two (ijma and qiyas) in order to formulate a reformist project in light of the prevailing standards of scientific rationality and modern social theory." ^[1]
  • traditional Islamic law was restricted by limiting its basis to the Quran and authentic Sunnah, i.e. limiting the Sunna with radical hadith criticism. ^{[Note 2] [20]}
  • 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. ^[21]
• These more or less radical (re)interpretations of the authoritative sources applied particularly to cases of Quranic verses or hadith where literal interpretations conflicts with "modern" views: polygyny, the hadd (penal) punishments (chopping off hands, administering lashes, etc.), treatment of unbelievers, waging of jihad, banning of usury or interest on loans ( riba ). ^{[Note 3]}
  • On the topic of Jihad, Islamic scholars like Ibn al-Amir al-San'ani, Muhammad Abduh, Rashid Rida, Ubaidullah Sindhi, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Shibli Nomani, etc. distinguished between defensive Jihad (Jihad al-daf) and offensive Jihad (Jihad al-talab or Jihad of choice). They refuted the notion of consensus on Jihad al-talab being a communal obligation (fard kifaya). 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." ^{[23] [24] [25]} 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. ^[26] According to Mahmud Shaltut and other modernists, unbelief was not sufficient cause for declaring jihad. ^{[25] [27]} The conversion to Islam by unbelievers in fear of death at the hands of jihadists (mujahideen) was unlikely to prove sincere or lasting. ^{[25] [28]} Much preferable means of conversion was education. ^{[25] [29]} They pointed to the verse "No compulsion is there in religion".^{[Quran   2:256] [30]}
  • On the topic of riba (usury), Syed Ahmad Khan, Fazlur Rahman Malik, Muhammad Abduh, Rashid Rida, Abd El-Razzak El-Sanhuri, Muhammad Asad, Mahmoud Shaltout all took issue with the jurist orthodoxy that any and all interest was riba and forbidden, believing that there was a difference between interest and usury. ^[31] 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. ^[32] Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, the student of Ibn Taymiyya, also distinguished between riba al-nasi'ah and riba al-fadl, maintaining that only riba al-nasi'ah was prohibited by Qur'an and Sunnah definitively while the latter was only prohibited in order to stop the charging of interest. According to him, the prohibition of riba al-fadl was less severe and it could be allowed in dire need or greater public interest ( maslaha ). Hence 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. ^[33]
  • 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. ^[9]

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. ^[34] 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. ^{[Note 4]}

History of Modernism

Further information: Islam and modernity § Islamic modernists until 1918

Origins

Islamic Modernism and Fundamentalism Genealogy

During the second half of the 19th century, according to Henri Lauzière, numerous Muslim reformers began efforts to reconcile Islamic values with the social and intellectual ideas of the Age of Enlightenment by purging (alleged) 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. ^[37] 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, 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. ^[38]

Ottoman Tanzimat

Further information: Tanzimat era

Ottoman intellectual and activist Namık Kemal (d. 1888)

Indian educationist and philosopher Syed Ahmad Khan (1817–1898)

Islamic modernist discourse emerged as an intellectual movement in the second quarter of nineteenth century; during an era of wide-ranging reforms initiated across the Ottoman empire known as the Tanzimat (1839–1876 C.E). The movement sought to harmonise classical Islamic theological concepts with liberal constitutional ideas and advocated the reformulation of religious values in light of drastic social, political and technological changes. Intellectuals like Namık Kemal (1840–1888 C.E) called for popular sovereignty and "natural rights" of citizens. Major scholarly figures of this movement included the Grand Imam of al-Azhar Hassan al-Attar (d. 1835), Ottoman Vizier Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha (d. 1871), South Asian philosopher Sayyid Ahmad Khan (d. 1898), Jamal al-Din Afghani (d. 1897), etc. Inspired by their understanding of classical Islamic thought, these rationalist scholars regarded Islam as a religion compatible with Western philosophy and modern science.

At least one branch of Islamic Modernism began as an intellectual movement during the Tanzimat era and was part of the Ottoman constitutional movement and newly emerging patriotic trends of Ottomanism during the mid-19th century. It advocated for novel redefinitions of Ottoman imperial structure, bureaucratic reforms, implementing liberal constitution, centralisation, parliamentary system and was supportive of the Young 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 unquestionable allegiance to the Ottoman 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. ^[39]

On the other hand, Salafiyya movement emerged as an independent revivalist trend in Syria amongst the scholarly circles of scripture-oriented Damascene ulema 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 the Sultan Abdul Hamid II and the Ottoman clergy; they also intensely denounced the secularising and centralising tendencies of Tanzimat reforms brought forth by the Constitutionalist activists, accusing them of emulating Europeans.

Spread

Eventually the modernist intellectuals formed a secret society known as Ittıfak-ı Hamiyet (Patriotic Alliance) in 1865; which advocated political liberalism and modern constitutionalist ideals of popular sovereignty through religious discourse. ^{[40] [41]} During this era, numerous intellectuals and social activists like Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938 C.E), Egyptian Nahda figure Rifaa al-Tahtawi (1801-1873), etc. introduced Western ideological themes and ethical notions into local Muslim communities and religious seminaries. ^[42]

India

Away from the Ottoman Empire in British India Syed Ahmad Khan (1817–1898) was "the first of the modernist thinkers to have a substantial impact upon the Muslim world at large. He founded the Muhammadan 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." ^[43]

Egypt

Muhammad Abduh, Grand Mufti of Egypt's Dar al-Ifta government body during 1899–1905 C.E

Egyptian Islamic jurist and scholar Mahmud Shaltut

See also: Muhammad Abduh

The theological views of the Azharite scholar Muhammad '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 between Enlightenment ideals and traditional religious values. He believed that classical Islamic theology was intellectually vigorous and portrayed Kalam (speculative theology) as a logical methodology that demonstrated the rational spirit and vitality of Islam. ^[44] 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:

"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" ^[45]

Azharite philosopher 'Ali Abd al-Raziq (1888–1966 C.E), one of the earliest modernist intellectuals who theorized the separation of state from Islamic religion

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 of Al-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 Egyptian Ali Abd al-Raziq's publication attacking Islamic politics for the first time in Muslim history. ^[2] Subsequent secular writers of this trend including Farag 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 the Kutub 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. ^[46]

Tunisian judge Ibn Ashur, author of the work "Maqasid al-Shari'ah al-Islamiyyah" (Objectives of Islamic Law)

Ibn Ashur's Maqasid al-Sharia

See also: Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur and Maqasid al-shari'a

Tunisian Maliki scholar Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur (1879-1973 C.E) who rose to the position of chief judge at Zaytuna university was a major student of Muhammad 'Abduh. He met 'Abduh in 1903 during his visit to Tunisia 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 of Maqasid al-Sharia (Higher Objectives of Islamic Law) in scholarly and intellectual ciricles. Ibn Ashur authored the book "Maqasid 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 of Maqasid (objectives). ^{[47] [48]}

Decline

See also: Salafi movement

English-educated South Asian lawyer and Islamic poet Muhammad Iqbal (d. 1938 CE) called for a "reconstruction" of Islamic religious thought by differentiating Qur'anic values from its practical expositions in daily life.

After its peak during the early 20th century, the modernist movement would gradually decline after the Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the 1920s and eventually lost ground to conservative reform movements such as Salafism. Following the First World War, Western colonialism of Muslim lands and the advancement of secularist trends; Islamic reformers felt betrayed by the Arab nationalists and underwent a crisis.

Islamism

This schism was epitomised by the ideological transformation of Sayyid Rashid Rida, a pupil of 'Abduh, who began to resuscitate the treatises of Hanbali theologian Ibn Taymiyyah and became the "forerunner of Islamist thought" by popularising his ideals. Unlike 'Abduh and Afghani, Rida and his disciples susbcribed to the Hanbali theology. They would openly campaign against adherents of other schools, like the Shi'ites, who they considered deviant. Rida transformed the Reformation into a puritanical movement that advanced Muslim identitarianism, pan-Islamism and preached the superiority of Islamic culture while attacking Westernisation. One of the major hallmarks of Rida's movement was his advocacy of a theological doctrine that obligated the establishment of an Islamic state led by the Ulema (Islamic scholars). ^{[50] [51]}

Rida's fundamentalist/Islamist doctrines would later be adopted by Islamic scholars and Islamist movements like the Muslim Brotherhood. According to the German scholar Bassam 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." ^[52]

Contemporary Era

Contemporary Muslim modernism is characterised by its emphasis on the doctrine of "Maqasid al-sharia" to navigate the currents of modernity and address issues related to international human rights. Another aspect is its promotion of Fiqh al-Aqalliyat (minority jurisprudence) during the late 20th century to answer the challenges facing the growing Muslim minority populations in the West. Islamic scholar Abdullah Bin Bayyah, professor of Islamic studies at King Abdul Aziz University in Jiddah, is one of the major proponents of Fiqh al-Aqalliyat and advocates remodelling the legal system based on the principles of Maqasid al-Sharia to suit the sensitivities of the modern era. ^{[53] [54]}

Influence on Revivalist movements

See also: Islamic revival

Salafiyya Movement

Further information: History of Salafiyya Movement

Origins

The modernist movement led by Jamal Al-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad 'Abduh, Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur, Syed Ahmad Khan and, to a lesser extent, Mohammed al-Ghazali; shared some of the ideals of the conservative revivalist Wahhabi 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. ^[46]

The connection between modernists and Salafists is disputed, with various academics asserting there never really was one. ^{[55] [56] [57] [58]} There are those scholars maintain that they used to share the "salafi" designation, but nothing else (Oxford Bibliographies, ^[59] Quintan Wiktorowicz); ^[60] or that Modernists "al-Afghani and Abduh were hardly Salafis to begin with" (Henri Lauziere); ^{[61] [Note 5]} or contrary to that, call Al-Afghani, Abduh and Rida founders of Salafiyya and go on to describe their creation without ever mentioning Modernism (Olivier Roy). ^[63] Those that believe they did have the same ancestors (a view propagated in early 20th century by French Orientalist Louis Massignon), ^{[64] [65]} don't 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); ^[66] or the term "salafist" was coined by Rashid Rida, a student of Abduh, who later distanced himself from Abduh’s teachings in favor of puritanism, but was appropriated by one Muhammad 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); ^[67] 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). ^[68] In any case, it is generally agreed that in the early 21st century, conservative Salafi Muslims see their movement as understanding "the injunctions of the sacred texts in their most literal traditional sense", looking up to Ibn Taymiyya rather than 19th century Reformers. ^[69]

Olivier Roy describes the characteristics of the 19th century movement of Al-Afghani, Abduh, etc. as rejection of cultural themes (adat, urf), rejection of maraboutism (belief in the powers of intervention of those blessed with divine charisma, or baraka), 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 the ulama (Islamic clergy), the ulama's "body of additions and extensions" to the Sunnah and Quran: the tafsir commentary on the Quran, the four legal schools of madhahib , 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 of sharia and the reconstitution of the ummah (Muslim community), and particularly with the restoration of the caliphate. ^[63]

Yasir Qadhi claims modernism only influenced Salafism. ^[67] 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. ^[60]

Similarly Oxford Bibliographies distinguishes between the early Islamic Modernists -- (such as Muhammad Abdu) who used the term "salafiyya" ^[59] to refer to their attempt at renovation of Islamic thought ^[70] -- and the very different (more purist and traditional) Salafiyya of movements such as Ahl-i Hadith , Wahhabism, etc. ^{[Note 6]}

Both groups wanted to strip away taqlid (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" ^[71] because his ideas are congruent to the Mu'tazila school of theology. ^[72] Abduh himself denied being either Ash'ari or a Mu'tazilite, although only because he rejected strict taqlid (conformity) to any one group. ^[73]

After World War I, some Western scholars, such as Louis Massignon categorising many scripture-oriented rationalist scholars and modernists as part of the paradigm of " Salafiyya ", but other scholars dispute this description. ^{[64] [74] [65]}

Revivalism

The rise of pan-Islamism across the Muslim World after the First World War and the collapse of the Ottoman empire, would herald the emergence of Salafi religious purism that fervently opposed modernist trends. The anti-colonial struggle to restore the Khilafah would become the top priority; manifesting in the formation of the Muslim Brotherhood, a revolutionary movement established in 1928 by the Egyptian school teacher Hassan al-Banna. Backed by the Wahhabi clerical elites of Saudi Arabia, Salafis who advocated pan-Islamist religious conservatism emerged across the Muslim World, gradually replacing modernists during the decolonisation period, ^[66] and then dominating funding for Islam via petroleum export money starting in the 1970s. According to Abu 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. ^[67]

Islamic revivalists like Mahmud Shukri Al-Alusi (1856–1924 C.E), Muhammad Rashid Rida (1865–1935 C.E), Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi (1866–1914 C.E), etc. used "Salafiyya" as a term primarily to denote the traditionalist Sunni theology, Atharism. Rida also regarded the Wahhabi movement as part of the Salafiyya trend. ^{[75] [76]} Apart from the Wahhabis of Najd, Athari theology could also be traced back to the Alusi family in Iraq, Ahl-i Hadith in India, and scholars such as Rashid Rida in Egypt. ^[77] After 1905, Rida steered his reformist programme towards the path of fundamentalist counter-reformation. This tendency led by Rida emphasized following the salaf al-salih and became known as the Salafiyya movement, which advocated a re-generation of pristine religious teachings of the early Muslim community. ^[78] According to Dallal'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 to Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab being offered stands on the same footing (and in the same paragraph) with that of Shawkani 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. ^[79]

The progressive views of the early modernists Afghani and Abduh were soon replaced by the puritan Athari tradition espoused by their students; which zealously denounced the ideas of non-Muslims and secular ideologies like liberalism. This theological transformation was led by Syed Rashid Rida who adopted the strict Athari creedal doctrines of Ibn Taymiyyah during the early twentieth century. The Salafiyya movement popularised by Rida would advocate for an Athari-Wahhabi theology. Their promotion of Ijtihad was based on referring back to a strictly textual methodology. ^[80] Its traditionalist vision was adopted by the Wahhabi clerical establishment and championed by influential figures such as the Syrian-Albanian Hadith scholar Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani (d. 1999 C.E/ 1420 A.H). ^[81]

However, Rida's shift towards fundamentalism was not solely a matter of theological conviction but was influenced by the changing post-Ottoman empire landscape. In his core goal was the vision of a pan-Islamic state influenced by Afghani, as he says: "In sum, what I mean by Islamic unity is that the leaders (ahl al-hall wa'l- 'aqd) among the scholars and notables should meet and compile a book of ordinances which is based on the deeply-rooted fundamentals of the divine law, agrees with the needs of the time, is easy to use, and is free of disagreement (khilaf)... The supreme Imam should then order the rulers of Muslims to apply it (al-'amal bihi)." ^[82] To this end, Rida took an antithetical approach from his earlier association with the ultrarationalists, as he recognizes them even after turning to Athari-Wahhabi theology: "How can this be true when the upholders of the Mu'tazili school were the caliphs of Islam during the Abbasid era, the judges [of these caliphs], and a large portion of their scholars. Moreover, they [i.e., the Mu'tazila] provide evidence for what they claim, and prove what they maintain; thus, even if they make mistakes, they are mujtahids... It is clear that whoever provides evidence for his opinion and proves his claim, then he is allowed to exercise ijtihdd. Such a person is committed to the truth in what he seeks and pursues. Even if his demonstration is contradicted, and his proof is rebutted, the most that can be said about such a person is that he is a mistaken mujtahid; as such he is not only excusable but also worthy of reward, since he only sought the truth." ^[83] This proves to be a symbiotic relationship between the fundamentalism and modernism conundrum in the Salafi movement.

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; transformed Salafiyya 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 as tanwiris (enlightened) or Islamic modernists. ^[68]

This is how Rida including his lineage of teachers, Abduh and Afghani, pioneered a Protestant styled reform in the late 19th and early 20th century Muslim world as Afghani always aspired for. ^{[84] [85]} 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. ^[86]

Muslim Brotherhood

See also: Ikhwani Movement

Islamist movements like Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwān al-Muslimūn) were highly influenced by both Islamic Modernism and Salafism. ^{[87] [88] [89]} Its founder Hassan Al-Banna was influenced by Muhammad Abduh and particularly his Salafi student Rashid Rida. Al-Banna attacked the taqlid of the official ulama and insisted only the Qur'an and the best-attested ahadith should be sources of the Sharia. ^[9] He was a dedicated reader of the writings of Rashid Rida and the magazine that Rida published, Al-Manar . Sharing Rida's central concern with the decline of Islamic civilization, Al-Banna too believed that this trend could be reversed only by returning to a pure, unadulterated form of Islam. Like Rida, (and unlike the Islamic modernists) Al-Banna viewed Western secular ideas as the main danger to Islam in the modern age. ^[90] As Islamic Modernist beliefs were co-opted by secularist rulers and official `ulama, the Brotherhood moved in a traditionalist and conservative direction, as it drew more and more of those Muslims "whose religious and cultural sensibilities had been outraged by the impact of Westernisation" -- being "the only available outlet" for such people. ^[91] The Brotherhood argued for a Salafist solution to the contemporary challenges faced by the Muslims, advocating the establishment of an Islamic state through implementation of the Shari'ah , based on Salafi revivalism. ^[92]

Although the Muslim Brotherhood officially describes itself as a Salafi movement, the Quietist Salafis often contest their 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 of sharia and emphasizes strict doctrinal adherence to the Quran and Sunnah and the Salaf al-Salih . ^[93]

The Salafi-Activists who have a long tradition of political involvement; are highly active in Islamist movements like the Muslim Brotherhood and its various branches and affiliates. ^[94] Some Brotherhood's slogans and principles expressed by former Egyptian President (currently incarcerated) Mohammed Morsi:

"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." ^[93]

Islamic modernists

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.

• Muhammad Abduh ^[1] (Egypt)
• Jamal al-Din al-Afghani ^[1] (Afghanistan or Persia/Iran)
• Mohammed al-Ghazali (Egypt)
• Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur (Tunisia) ^[95]
• Chiragh Ali (British India) ^{[1] [96]}
• Syed Ameer Ali (British India) ^[1]
• Qasim Amin ^[97] (Egypt)
• Malek Bennabi ^[98] (Algeria)
• Musa Jarullah Bigeev (Russia)
• Ahmad Dahlan (Indonesia) ^[96]
• Farag Fawda (neomodernist) (Egypt)
• Abdulrauf Fitrat (Uzbekistan, then Russia)
• Muhammad Iqbal (British India) ^[99]
• Wang Jingzhai (China) ^[96]
• Muhammad Ahmad Khalafallah (Egypt) ^{[100] [101]}
• Syed Ahmad Khan (British India) ^[1]
• Shibli Nomani (British India) ^[1]
• Ğäbdennasír İbrahim ulı Qursawí (Russia)
• Mahmoud Shaltout (Egypt)
• Ali Shariati (Iran)
• Mahmoud Mohammed Taha (neomodernist) (Sudan)
• Rifa'a al-Tahtawi (Egypt)
• Mahmud Tarzi (Afghanistan) ^[96]

Contemporary Modernists

• Mohammed Arkoun (Algeria) ^[102]
• Khaled Abou El Fadl (United States) ^[103]
• Gamal al-Banna (Egypt) ^[100]
• Soheib Bencheikh (France) ^[100]
• Abdennour Bidar (France) ^[100]
• Javed Ahmad Ghamidi (Pakistan)
• Taha Hussein (Egypt) ^[103]
• Wahiduddin Khan (India)
• Irshad Manji (Canada)
• Abdelwahab Meddeb (France) ^[100]
• Mahmoud Mohammed Taha (Sudan) ^[103]
• Ebrahim Moosa (South Africa) ^[103]
• Tariq Ramadan (Switzerland) ^[46]
• Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri (Pakistan) ^[104]
• Amina Wadud (United States) ^[103]
• Mahathir Mohamad (Malaysia)

Contemporary use

Turkey

The logo of 'Diyanet', the directorate of religious affairs in Turkey

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 at Ankara 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 of Chatham House in London compared these revisions to the 16th century Protestant Reformation of Christianity. ^[105] Turkey has also trained the women as the theologians, and sent them as the senior Imams known as 'vaizes' all over the country, to explain these re-interpretations. ^[105]

Pakistan

The works of the Pakistani modernist Islamic scholar Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, who belongs to Farahi school of thought

According to at least one source (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 lukewarm to this expansion and "some may even advocate development along the secularist lines of the West." ^[106]

Muhammadiyah

See also: Muhammadiyah

The Indonesian Islamic organization Muhammadiyah was founded in 1912. Often Described as Salafist, ^{[107] [108] [109]} and sometimes as Islamic Modernist, ^[110] it emphasized the authority of the Qur'an and the Hadiths , opposing syncretism and taqlid (blind-conformity) to the ulema. As of 2006, it is said to have "veered sharply toward a more conservative brand of Islam" under the leadership of Din Syamsuddin, the head of the Indonesian Ulema Council. ^[111]

Criticism

Many orthodox, fundamentalist, puritan, and traditionalist Muslims strongly opposed modernism as bid'ah and the most dangerous heresy of the day, for its association with Westernization and Western education, ^[112] 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 of fiqh .^{[ citation needed ]}

One of the leading Islamist thinkers and Islamic revivalists, Abul A'la Maududi agreed with Islamic modernists that Islam contained nothing contrary to reason, 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 the Quran and the Sunna. ^{[Note 7]}

Scholar Malise 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". ^[114]

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)." ^{[115] [116]}

See also

• Islam and modernity
• Islamic revival
• Islamism
• Liberalism and progressivism within Islam
• Contemporary Islamic philosophy
• Muslim Reform Movement
• Reform (religion)
• Tafazzul Husain Kashmiri

Notes

1. "Islamic modernism was the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge. Started in India and Egypt in the second part of the 19th century [...] reflected in the work of a group of like-minded Muslim scholars, featuring a critical reexamination of the classical conceptions and methods of jurisprudence and a formulation of a new approach to Islamic theology and Quranic exegesis. This new approach, which was nothing short of an outright rebellion against Islamic orthodoxy, displayed astonishing compatibility with the ideas of the Enlightenment." ^[1]
2. Muhammad 'Abduh, for example, said a Muslim was obliged to accept only mutawatir hadith, and was free to reject others about which he had doubts. ^[19] Ahmad Amin, in his popular series on Islamic cultural history, cautiously suggested that there were few if any mutawatir hadith (especially, Fajr al-Islam, 10th edition Cairo: Maktabat al-Nahda al-Misriyya, 1965, p. 218; see also G. H. A. Juynboll, The Authenticity of the Tradition Literature: Discussions in Modern Egypt (Leiden: Brill, 1969), and my Faith of a Modern Muslim Intellectual, p. 113.
3. See Quran   4:3 on polygyny in Islam, Quran   5:38 on cutting off the hand of the thief, Quran   24:2, 24:3, 24:4, and 24:5 on whipping for fornication (the provision of stoning for adultery is in the hadith). On jihad and the treatment of unbelievers, the difficult passages for modernists are the so-called "Verses of the Sword", such as Quran   9:5 on the Arab Pagans and Quran   9:29 on the People of the Book. ^[22]
4. Smith's criticism of Farid Wajdi in Islam in Modern History ^[35] and Gibb's complaint about "the intellectual confusions and the paralyzing romanticism which cloud the minds of the modernists of today" ^[36]
5. Associate Professor of Middle Eastern History at Northwestern University ^[62]
6. "Salafism is, therefore, a modern phenomenon, being the desire of contemporary Muslims to rediscover what they see as the pure, original and authentic Islam, [...] However, there is a difference between two profoundly different trends which sought inspiration from the concept of salafiyya. Indeed, between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of 20th century, intellectuals such as Jamal Edin al-Afghani and Muhammad Abdu used salafiyya to mean a renovation of Islamic thought, with features that would today be described as rationalist, modernist and even progressive. This salafiyya movement is often known in the West as "Islamic modernism." However, the term salafism is today generally employed to signify ideologies such as Wahhabism, the puritanical ideology of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." ^[70]
7. "He agreed with them [Islamic Modernists] in holding that Islam required the exercise of reason by the community to understand God's decrees, in believing, therefore, that Islam contains nothing contrary to reason, and in being convinced that Islam as revealed in the Book and the Sunna is superior in purely rational terms to all other systems. But he thought they had gone wrong in allowing themselves to judge the Book and the Sunna by the standard of reason. They had busied themselves trying to demonstrate that "Islam is truly reasonable" instead of starting, as he did, from the proposition that "true reason is Islamic". Therefore they were not sincerely accepting the Book and the Sunna as the final authority, because implicitly they were setting up human reason as a higher authority (the old error of the Mu'tazilites). In Maududi's view, once one has become a Muslim, reason no longer has any function of judgement. From then on its legitimate task is simply to spell out the implications of Islam's clear commands, the rationality of which requires no demonstration." ^[113]

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50. Lauziere, Henri (2016). The Making of Salafism: ISLAMIC REFORM IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. New York, Chichester, West Sussex: Columbia University Press. p. 237. ISBN   978-0-231-17550-0. 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.
51. G. Rabil, Robert (2014). Salafism in Lebanon: From Apoliticism to Transnational Jihadism. Washington DC, USA: Georgetown University Press. pp. 32–33. ISBN   978-1-62616-116-0. 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.
52. G. Rabil, Robert (2014). Salafism in Lebanon: From Apoliticism to Transnational Jihadism. Washington DC, USA: Georgetown University Press. p. 33. ISBN   978-1-62616-116-0.
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58. Historical Development of the Methodologies of al-Ikhwaan al-Muslimeen And Their Effect and Influence Upon Contemporary Salafee Dawah salafipublications.com
59. Salafism, Modernist Salafism from the 20th Century to the Present oxfordbibliographies.com
60. Anatomy of the Salafi Movement Archived 2016-08-03 at the Wayback Machine By Quintan Wiktorowicz, Washington, DC, p. 212
61. Lauzière, Henri (2016). The Making of Salafism: Islamic Reform in the Twentieth Century. Columbia University Press. p. [publisher's advertisement]. JSTOR   10.7312/lauz17550 . Retrieved 28 August 2021.
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65. Lauziere, Henri (15 July 2010). "The Construction of salafiyya: Reconsidering Salafism from the Perspective of Conceptual History". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 42 (3): 374. doi: 10.1017/S0020743810000401 . 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.
66. "The past ten day Salafi led unrest in reaction to an anti-Islamic video spread through the Muslim world, here a look at who is behind it". World news research. 21 September 2012. 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.
67. On Salafi Islam | IV Conclusion Archived 2014-12-20 at the Wayback Machine | Dr. Yasir Qadhi April 22, 2014
68. Ismail, Raihan (2021). Rethinking Salafism: The Transnational Networks of Salafi ʿUlama in Egypt, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 18, 30–31, 145. ISBN   9780190948955. 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.
69. Kepel, Jihad, 2002, p.220
70. Atzori, Daniel (August 31, 2012). "The rise of global Salafism". Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
71. Ahmed H. Al-Rahim (January 2006). "Islam and Liberty", Journal of Democracy 17 (1), p. 166-169.
72. Akhlaq, Syed Hassan (1 December 2013). "Taliban and Salafism: a historical and theological exploration". Research Gate. Retrieved 19 June 2020. Abduh is often categorized as Maturidi, but his ideas approach neo-Mutazila-ism
73. Sedgwick, Mark. Muhammad Abduh. Simon and Schuster, 2014. "By his own later account, Muhammad Abduh denied following the Mutazila on the basis that if he had rejected strict adherence (taqlid) to one group, he would not take up strict adherence to another.
74. Lauziere, Henri (2016). The Making of Salafism: ISLAMIC REFORM IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. New York, Chichester, West Sussex: Columbia University Press. pp. 231–232. ISBN   978-0-231-17550-0. 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.
75. Lauzière, Henri (2016). The Making of Salafism:ISLAMIC REFORM IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 40, 239. 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..
76. Lauzière, Henri (15 July 2010). ""THE CONSTRUCTION OF SALAFIYYA:RECONSIDERING SALAFISM FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF CONCEPTUAL HISTORY"". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 42 3: 375–376. 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 )
77. R. Halverson, Jeffrey (2010). Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 49. ISBN   978-0-230-10279-8. 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.
78. Achcar, Gilbert (2010). The Arabs and the Holocaust:The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives. London, UK: Actes Sud. pp. 104–105. ISBN   978-0-86356-835-0. (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
79. Dallal, Ahmad (2000). "Appropriating the past: Twentieth-Century Reconstruction of Pre-Modern Islamic Thought". Islamic Law and Society. 7 (3): 325–358. ISSN   0928-9380.
80. R. Halverson, Jeffrey (2010). Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 61–62, 71. ISBN   978-0-230-10279-8. 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.
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86. Keddie, Nikki R.; Afġānī, Ǧamāl-ad-Dīn al- (1983). An Islamic response to imperialism: political and religious writings of Sayyid Jamāl ad-Dı̄n "al-Afghānī". California Library reprint series (Repr ed.). Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-04774-7.
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