The Triangle Space

Professor Naveed H. Sandeelo.

 For answering this important question we shall have to find out some concrete reasons which provide the revivalist movements fertile ground in the Muslim world to spread their ideas among the masses. We are commonly aware that political Islam is also known as Islamic revival and for political Islamists Islam is not limited to the religion alone but it is a complete code of life, which includes also political system and brings a change in the society. While looking at Islamic history we find that its revivalist movement’s history belongs to the remote past. In the year of 1928, Hasan-al-Banna established Muslim Brotherhood in the country of Egypt and it was so influential, systematized, and organized that it was counted as the largest Islamic group in the world. We also find that some prominent persons like Rashid Rida and Ali Abdel Raziq are also counted as some of the well-known revivalist thinkers. It is worth remembering that Islamist revivalists in every age are produced by Islam.

It is thought that the first revivalist is Al-Ghazali who strictly criticized philosophers with resulting entire death of scientific outlook and philosophical approach towards things in the Muslim world. He attempted to introduce his own ideas and this gave his writing the name of Ahya-e- Uloom-u-Din (Revival of the religious sciences). Including Al-Ghazali, there also were some other prominent revivalists who affected masses with their thoughts are included Ibn Taymiyyah, Ahmed Sirhindi, Shah Wali Allah, and Muhammad Ibn Abd-al-Wahab. After this now we come to the point with this important question that what is the main reason that Muslim lands are considered more fertile for revivalist movements to breed their agendas? And people have not been attracted by the movements of liberation and enlightenment. What are its magical peculiarity and intellectual tide which pushes Muslim minds on the seashore of revival and the past? What is the main reason they don’t attract enlightenment, liberal and scientific approaches?

Here we can see this in the glaring example of remarkable philosopher Ibn Rashid’s case whose books were banned, publicly burned, and he was excommunicated and persecuted. For his philosophical orientation, he has declared a Jew. The main reason was that his philosophical ideas were not part of orthodox Islam and he strictly adapted the Aristotelian approach towards the truth. Ibn Rashid’s significance lies in his evaluation of revelation, discursive theology, and philosophical thinking. According to Mr. Ahmed Fouad El-Ehwani, “his (Ibn Rashid’s) disgrace, persecution and exile were the results of that conflict.” We see this reality never ceased in past for the political power between orthodox and religious representatives and liberal philosophers. By his liberal thoughts and open-minded outstanding Muslim philosopher, Al-Kindi had described this dispute and thus we find in his book he is supporting philosophers and defending them from every side. According to him, the people of religious learning were so near to the masses that were impressed by them. In utter need of their support, Muslim rulers abandoned the philosophers to the anger of the common.  

Another prominent thinker Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid has raised a very important question in his most famous work under the title, Reformation of Islamic thought that why was Islam reduced only to the rigidity of Sharia or law alone, while that is not focusing on its other essential aspects and dimensions? He gives the answer to this in these words that the reason behind reducing and narrowing Islam to the paralyzing Sharia (law) is that since the 5th century of the Islamic theology has been gradually marginalized philosophers and the non-orthodox  theologians were persecuted or attacked by both of fiqh  (legal scholars) and the political authorities.” While studying history we become aware enough that from its inception Islam had been politicized through the rise of various kinds of theological schools that were connected with power politics.

Behind the succession of these revivalist movements in the Muslim world are some thinkers’ grave efforts that grounded its ideology. Ibn Taymiyyah is considered one of the most important revivalists who had strong hatred and dislikes for philosophy, theology, and mysticism. He is thought of as a forerunner of Wahabism, Sanusim, and staunch conservative. He in his Minhaj and in other writings declares philosophy and theology of no use or place in Islam. Even towering scholars like Al-Ghazali openly raised voices against philosophy and declared the philosophers as infidel. This should be remembered that Abd al-Wahab was the product of Ibn Taymiyyah. He was a Hambalite and was a violent opponent of mysticism and philosophy. He succeeded in his efforts and revived the spirit of Imam Hanbal in the 18th century. He entirely destroyed the beautiful constellation of philosophical ideas in Islam with violence and aggression. We see almost the same role was played by Mohammad Ibn Ali Sanusi in Algeria and he fought against western culture and thought. His Sanusi movement was conservative in outlook and revivalist in nature. Both of these movements were strongly against enlightenment and struggled to keep away it from Muslims. They endeavored to promote tradition, aggression and developed scorn for modernity in the cloak of religious reform. Even the poet of the East Allama Mohammad Iqbal could not admonish his sentiments to admire Abd al-Wahab’s sufficient popularity and his conservative ideas. Another writer of Islamic revivalism Jan A. Ali like Iqbal also giving his supporting views for this movement says, “Constituted by a large diversity of revivalist movements, Islamic revivalism is a complex and heterogeneous reality.”1 (Ali, 2012)

In this part of the globe which is separately called the Muslim world, we see an entirely different kind of situation where religious thinkers in the guise of Islamic revival were preaching the masses to re-associate themselves with the remote past and incessantly advising them to find refuge in the traditional way of life in order to protect themselves from any kind of inventions, knowledge, and philosophy of the west. Through this attitude, it was clearly seen the worst decline of the entire Muslim world that it began losing its wealth, vigor, and military power. They were not in a position to face the expanding progress of the well-equipped west. After the failure of socialism in the USRR world has again become uni-polarization. Lack of enlightenment, absence of rationality, dearth of scientific approach and critical thinking, increasing of illiteracy ratio at a high margin, poverty of genuine philosophy and scorn with modernity all these factors have always succeeded the revivalist movements in the Muslim world. By the emergence of post-modernism, which introduced new globalization phenomena and market-oriented society, empowered extremism; and the political power in these Muslim regions, being least democratic, came to the hands of dictatorial governments.

Remarkable Pakistani philosopher C. A. Qadir declares Muslims themselves were peculiarly responsible for their decadence. The main reason was their intellectual, moral, and spiritual bankruptcy. The insufficiency of Muslim rulers and colossal ignorance of the masses abetted and helped the imperialistic nations. While looking at history we find that for a long time Muslims were in the vanguard position and they progressed in every field of science and philosophy and led the civilized world in culture. But later on due to disorientation in scientific knowledge and lack of interest in free-thinking of the inquiring method they ceased to exist as a dynamic force. It is regrettable as well as surprising to note that we don’t find any single scientist from the beginning of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century but we find only condemnation of modern science and rational knowledge. While glorifying the achievements of the past they had kept aside the modern tools of inquiry and analytical methods of western academia. This was the main reason Muslims remained aloof from science, technology, and modernity. Hence they lacked the capacity to cope with the demands of modern life and scientific world outlook. They only consoled their wounded souls in the myths, vain desires, and dreams at an extreme level, just fabricated the false consciousness for vain hope and could not progress furthermore in the exigency, thus they left their masses in the lurch. This happens so with any nation that clings to the past while leading itself to mental morbidity, doom, and destruction. The same case is there with Muslim revivalists, they made themselves entirely barren. For Mr. Bob Olivier “The Muslim world consequently stagnated for hundreds of years while the nations of Western Europe were experiencing the Enlightenment, the reformation, and the Industrial Revolution.”2 (Olivier, 2020)

In the light of the above discussion, we may summarize the underlying motives of the revivalist movements in the world of Islam which became the main cause of making their closed society. These areas:

1. They had utter fear of disintegration and dispersion.
2. There was lack of confidence and courage among them to face the new challenges of modern science and technology.
3. While clinging to the long exploded myths and dreams they lost the vigor and became victim of intellectual laziness.
4. Instead of developing futuristic vision to vivify their institutions they were lurching behind the past.
5. They had this false idea that reverting back to past will inevitably restore their glorious past and lost grandeur in the world.
6. While neglecting scientific thought and enlightenment they made erroneous connection of power with religion, ethics and values.
7. Instead of modern democratic system the Muslim regimes were mostly groaning under the clutches of dictatorial power.

The current Arab spring and the brutal resistance of Arab tyrants is a live example. Their rulers are not loyal to the interest of the masses. For their vested interests, they have enslaved their own innocent people and kept them deprived of any kind of edifying modern intellectual treasures to enrich their minds. This looks entirely treacherous mentality act and nonserious attitude of the Muslim ruling elite that deliberately keep them far from enlightenment, modernism, education, and some related academics and ideas of modernity. Therefore, the present fiasco and ignominious future of the Muslim world in every field and its disastrous and dismal condition, and devastating scenario are not the causes of modernization of the west rather it is their own responsibility not to take interest in them. Even democratic and moderate outlook has been ever discouraged. We find its result in the worst form of reactionary movements which are strictly practicing methodologies of brutality as of those against which they are perennially struggling. 

                                               Bibliography

Ali, J. A. (2012). Islamic Revivalism Encounters the Modern World. Sterling Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi.

Lack of Enlightenment in the Muslim world: An Analysis.

Olivier, B. (2020). Islamic revivalism and Politics in Malaysia. Palgrave Macmillan.