Esposito finds that the premodernist revival movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries contributed to the pattern of Islamic politics that developed and left a legacy for the twentieth century. These movements were motivated primarily in response to internal decay rather than external, colonial threat (Esposito 40-41).
At the same time, many areas of the Islamic world experienced the impact of the economic and military challenge of an emerging and modernizing West beginning in the eighteenth century. Declining Muslim fortunes also reversed the relationship of the Islamic world to the West, from that of an expanding offensive movement to a defensive posture. Muslim responses to these changes ranged from rejection to adaptation, from Islamic withdrawal to acculturation and reform. Some responded by secular reform, and by the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Islamic modernist movements had also developed in an attempt to bridge the gap between tradition and modernity by offering an Islamic rationale for modern political, legal, and social change (Esposito 42-43).
Esposito finds that the modern Muslim response to modernization saw the emergence of Islamic modernist movements in the Arab world and the Indian subcontinent. Islamic conservatives wanted to revive Islam, but so did Islamic modernists. They merely had a different approach, seeing the need to revive the Muslim community through a process of reinterpretation or reformulation of their Islamic heritage in light of the contemporary world. Islamic modernists were not trying merely to restore the past but instead wanted to show the compatibility of Islam with modern ideas and institutions.
The man who was a major catalyst for reform was Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, who in the nineteenth century was the Father of Muslim nationalism. He called on Muslims to unite in order to regenerate their community and culture. He appealed to Islamic faith and pride and reminded the people of Islam's divinely revealed mandate and mission and stressed its past Islamic historical and cultural accomplishments, such as the conquests and expansion of Islam, the establishment of the Islamic Empire, and the flourishing of Islamic civilization. He did not advocate the rejectionist position of many conservative religious leaders, but his call for a return to Islam and for Muslim unity made him acceptable to them. He appealed to the younger generation with his call for acceptance of modern science and for Muslim unity, solidarity, and political action, and he made his appeal at a critical juncture in Muslim history. He identified the major concerns and issues facing the Islamic world, the causes of its growing weakness, and the major challenge to its survival. He saw the internal weakness of the Muslim community along with the external political and cultural threat of European imperialism posed a serious threat to the Islamic community. He saw the weakness of Muslim society as deriving from its stagnation and tendency to follow blindly and cling to past authority. Afghani emphasizes the dynamic, creative, and progressive character of Islam and the fact that Islam was more than a religion in the Western sense -- it was a religion and a civilization. It was the reason for being for the Muslim people both as individuals and as a socio-political community. He also saw Muslim renewal as having the political purpose of liberation from colonial rule. He said that Islam provided the common, more fundamental bond and basis for Muslim solidarity (Esposito 48-49).
Another important leader was Muhammad Abduh, a religious scholar who rejected the blind following of tradition and who called for a new interpretation of Islam that would demonstrate its relevance to contemporary thought and life in the modern world. He saw no inherent conflict between religion and scientific reason: "The renewal of Islam and Muslim society should be based not simply on Western secular modernization. Abduh sought to provide the rationale for the selective integration of Islam with modern ideas and institutions" (Esposito 50).
Esposito concludes that Islamic modernists were pioneers who did not simply seek to return to the straight path of Islam but to chart its future direction: "They were pioneers who planted the seeds for the acceptance of change, a struggle that has continued" (Esposito 56). The movement toward fundamentalism and a return to the past has also continued. Binder says that Islamic fundamentalism is a relatively modern movement with doctrinal roots in the earliest period of Muslim history: "It shares with many historical Islamic movements the recurring impulse to renew the faith, to return to pristine origins, to shed the accretions of time and clime, and to recapture the vigor and simplicity of...
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now