FIRST MODERN MUSLIM WRITERS
At the last part of the 19th century, a very influential but small group of Muslim thinkers and writers emerged and became the figures of Islamic modernism. Muhammad Iqbal, who also later made an important mark in the modernism of Pakistan, noted that Islamic philosophy has inspired European thoughts yet "Ismaic relisious thorughs have became stagnant.” (Geering, 2003) Other Muslim thinkers also thought about their religion being absoerbed and further developed by the greater scientific and modern infleunces of western thoughts. Hence, religion became a more central facet of modern social and political thoughts.
The following writers are ilustration of how the intellectuals of the Muslim world have perceived new ideas in relation to their faith and int he context of their political times. Their life biogrpahies and significant works and contributions are summarized below.
Sayyid Ahmad Khan 1817- 1898
He was born in India at the end of the Mughal Era. He came from a prominent family. Sayyid Ahmad Khan was the forerunner of the other five major Muslim modernists who greatly contributed to the reshaping of Muslim political and social thoughts during the later part of the nineteenth century. Like the other influential thinkers such as al-Afghânî, cAbduh, and others, he was very concerned about the status of the Muslim affairs in relations with its Western colonizers. (Malik, 1980)
Ahmad Khan was an ardent religious and political reformer and an educator who conceived the notion of the "Two-Nation Theory" in Islamic India during the later part of the nineteenth century. He founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College and led the Aligarh movement. His initiatives were to introduce the British influences to the Indian consciousness while reorienting his countrymen to European science, literature and technology. (Ibid.)
In the 1857 Revolt, Ahmad Khan maintained his support of the British monarchy. Later, he released his own writings criticizing the British colonial policies. His most popular writings were the “Loyal Mohammadans of India" and "Cause of Indian Revolt." (Ibid.)
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani 1833 1897
He is considered to be the “founding father of Muslim modernism.” (Siddiqi, 1982) Although his birth place was ocntroversial, his earl education was in several religious schools located in Kabul, Afghanistan, Qazwin and Tehran, Iran. He went to India when he turned seventeen and became greatly influenced by the modernist thoughts of Sayyid Ahmad Khan. Jamal al-Din al-Afghani wrote his masterpiece, The Truth about the Neichari Sect and an Explanation of the Necharis (Hakikat-i Madhhab-i Naychari wa Bayan-i Hal-i Naychariyan). (Siddiqi, 1982)
Afghani’s intellectual thoughts and activism greatlt infleunced the Muslim world. His ideology was defined as an interlinking of the "traditional" religious antipathy toward non-Muslims "to a modern critique of western imperialism and an urge to unite the Muslims. He also advocated the adoption of Western sciences and institutions which might empower Islam. He is still a very good source of inspiration for many Musli leaders today. He beieved, as expressed in his treatise, that Islam is the best religion which can cope with the modern day challenges. This has then became a hallmark statemen of the modern Muslim thinkers. (Ibid.)
Muhammad Abduh 1849 – 1905
He is an Egyptian religious scholar, liberal reformer, and jurist. He led the late 19th-century modern movement in Egypt and other Islamic countries. Abduh was born in the nIle River in Egypt in 1849 and he died in July 1905 near Alexandria. (Ibid.)
In the midst of the growing western influences during his times, Abduh distrusted the colonizers. He thoughts that the Persian and Greek elements that were dominant in the Muslim traditions were not parallel with modernity. Thus, he labored to transform the Greek philosophy into modern thoughts. He interpreted several portions o fthe Qur’an like the the world of jinn or the angels to conform with new discoveries. (al-Mawdudi, 1976) He translated it to become the layman’s understanding of microbes and astronomical subjects. Abduh also created a sort of a Darwinian theory of evolution that parallels the Genesis of the western world’s Holy Bible. He referred to the concept of evolution to point out that Muhammad was the true Prophet. (Ibid.)
Hassan Al-Banna 1906 – 1949
He was born in a little town by the Nile River in 1906. He studied in al-Azhar. (Soage, 2008) He was educated in a liberal fashion. Later, Al-Banna authored several works on Islamic jurisprudence. His father, a prayer leader, taught Al-Banna his religious values.
Al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood or Society of the Muslim Brothers. This organization was considered as the biggest and the most influential Sunni revivalist group in the 20th century. He initiated this group in Egypt in 1928 as the original mass-based, greatly political movement to contradict the main influences of the western secular thoughts in their own country.
Al-Banna’s direction contributed significantly to the group’s massive growth during the 1930s and 1940s. This then branched out into several organizations in other parts of the Muslim world such as in Jordan, Syria and Sudan. Its influences have been transported all the way to the Gulf countries, including Iran, and even into the Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Pakistan, and Indonesia. (Ibid.)
Sayyid Qutb 1906-1966
Qutb was an Egyptian writer and he was a popular figure in modern revitalization of Sunnite Islam. He was from a family of impoverished rural notables. He was a teacher most of his life. He has adopted various Islamic views even when he was originally a secularist. He joined the Muslim Brotherhood shortly after he realized the western corruptions when he studied in the U.S. from 1948 to 1950. He found most of his enlightenment when he was imprisoned. He wrote his ideas of injustice through various publications such as Signposts in the Road (1964). This book then became a blueprint of the modern activism of the Sunnites. After being released from prison in 1964, Qutb was again arrested and tried for treason. He was executed in 1966.
Abu - l - A'la al Maududi 1903 - 1979
Al-Maududi was one of the pillars of modern Islamic resurgence. He was also the most brilliant Islamic thinker and writer during his period. He gave his entire life to interpret the real meanings and messages of the Islamic religion and to spearhead a collective movement which will build the Islamic Order. (Al-Mawdudi, 1976) He suffered while doing these. From 1948 to 1967, Al-Maududi was imprisoned on four instances. Thus, he spent five years in various jails in Pakistan. He was also sentenced to death by a Martial Law court in 1953. This was because of his “seditious” writings. This sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. In 1941, Al-Maududi established Jama'at-I Islami, which he presided over as its Amir (chief) till 1972. This was one of the staunchest Islamic movements at present. He also wrote more than one hundred works on Islam. These writings have been translated into more than thirty nine languages.
Salafismi and Wahhbismi
Among these writers, Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1839-1897) and Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905) were among the three leaders of salafismi. It is an intellectual movement found in the mid to late nineteenth century at al-Azhar University. The Muslim brotherhood is a segment of the broad foundations of the salafism. (Al-Mawdudi, 1976)
Wahhabismi are the Muhawideen or the monotheists. It was led by Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. He reasoned that the fall of the Muslim world was because of the was caused by destructive interventions of the foreigners (called bida’). It included the influence of modern Europe. Al-Wahhab also reasoned that it was because the elements of traditional Islam were not familiar to the Najdi Bedouins. He preached for the dismissal of these negativeinfluences through a form of an Islamic revival. (Ibid.)
References:
Al-Mawdudi, Abu al-A'la. (1976). Political Theory of Islam. Lahore: Islamic Publications. pp. 13, 15–7, 38, 75–82.
Malik, Hafeez. (1980). Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Muslim Modernism in India and Pakistan. Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 88-89.
Siddiqi, Mazheruddin. (1982). Modern Reformist Thought in the Muslim World. Islamabad: Islamic Research Institute.
Soage, Ana B. (2008). "Hasan al-Banna or the politicisation of Islam". Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions 9 (1): 21–42.
