Chapter VI
ISLAM AND MODERNISM - I

The eighteenth century, which is generally viewed as a lean period of Islamic history with reference to the political disintegration and socio-moral decline, happened to be the seed bed of the Islamic revivalism. During this century, various movements started in different parts of the Muslim world to regenerate the society. This continued during the nineteenth century. To arrest the decadence and infuse new vitality in a society in which they were convinced that religion must remain the focal point, the  reformers advocated a return to the movements and masters of Islamic theology and philosophy. The essential diagnosis arrived at by the leaders of these reform movements was that Muslims reached this stage because they ceased to be "pure" Muslims since the purity of pristine Islam has been compromised with un-Islamic accretions both in doctrine and practice.

The eighteenth century revivalism attempted to rehabilitate the theory and practice of Islam by insuring its authenticity and workability in changing situations.  The revivalists slashed much of law and theology and rejected Sufism in its popular and speculative form. It was an attempt to ensure that the new orientation of the Muslim world view in the limits set by Hadith studies and Neo-sufism would not only maintain the continuity and Islamic authenticity but would be a meaningful answer in the changing situation in terms of socio-moral reconstruction. The resivivalist efforts have gone a long way to liberate Islam from the numbing Medieval influences. Their influence has been certainly salutary in activating creative forces and in this connection the term "Ijtihad" (independent judgment) has once again assumed great importance, at least in theory.

The spirit of socio-moral reconstruction reached its zenith in the movement of Mohammad ibn Abdul Wahab (1703-1792), in the Arabian peninsula,  who stressed that Islam was not static but a dynamic religion wh ich in itself contained forces that would enable the Muslims to seek scientific and technical knowledge to put them on a level with the advancing nations of the world. He condemned Sufiism and saint-worship. He denied all acts implying polytheism  and advocated a return to the original teachings of Islam as incorporated in the Quran and Hadith, with condemnation of all innovations  (bid'ah). His rejection of medieval authorities left enough room for right of independent analysis of the fundamentals of faith.  Mohammad ibn Abdul Wahab's theology and jurisproducence is based on the reachings of Ibn Taymiyah and on the legal school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

In India, Shah Walihullah, [1703-1762] a contemporary of  Abdul Wahab, was of the view that Islamic code of life was meant for all ages and for all peoples could prove true only if it had enough elasticity to provide an answer to the growing needs of a progressive civilization and the new problems which humanity would have to face f rom time to time. The Muslim jursits in every age would therefore necessarily be called upon to exercise their judgement in re-interpreting and making new provisions in law, of course within the framework of the fundamentals of Shariah. He believed that it was the duty of Muslim scholars and Ulema of every age to exercise ijtihad and laments that the simple-minded people of his time were too ignorant to attach due importance to it.

Since the nineteenth century, the Muslim world has felt the impact of the West—first political and then cultural. Therefore, the main intellectual concern regarding the direction of the Muslim world, during the past two centuries,  has been with the demands of modernity placed upon traditional societies. The main thrust of modernism was the search for an acceptable formula to reconcile Islam with the secularized West. In this effort, modernists begin with internal criticism of the existing state of Muslims in history. They sought a return to the first principles of Isl am to unburden it of all the unnecessary dogmas accumulated over the centuries, and face the challenge of the new world by being favourably disposed toward it.

The modernist perspective was shaped in the milieu of colonial imperial expansion of European powers into the Muslim world, and at the peak of Europe's confidence of itself as the most highly evolved civilization. The reality of the 19th century Europe favorably influenced a great many Muslim intellectuals of the period. The situation of Muslims in general was now the reverse of the one they occupied in the preRenaissance period, when Europe borrowed from the IslamicArabPersian civilization. The most distressing reality for modernists was the state of decay of the Musilm world when compared to the dynamism of the European. The primary concern for the first generation of modernist thinkers was the need to reorient the direction of Muslim history, to reinterpret Islam in the context of modern science and learning, to put a brake on further decay of the Mulism world.

The intellectual challenge for modernists was to convince Muslims that the demands of both Islam and the West "were not incompatible with each other.'' The five most prominent modernists during the latter half of the 19th century were: Sayed Ahmad Khan and Sayed Amir Ali in India, Jamal alDin alAfghani in Iran, Namik Kemal in Turkey and Muhammad Abduh in Egypt. They insisted on returning to the undiluted first principles of Islam through a new reading of the Quran which would show that the new science based on the principles of observation and experimentation was Quranic in its impulse. They recommended the revitalization of ijtihad (independent reasoning) in Muslim thinking and practice, and called for the rejection of taqlid (imitation), the submission to the authority of classical jurists in interpreting the Quran and the Sunnah.

Technological modernity intrinsic to western civilization, it is said, allows ultimately no alternative to Muslims or anyone clinging to pretechnical values. According to Daniel Pipes, "worldly success requires modernization; modernization requires Westernization; westernization requires secularism; secularism must be preceded by a willingness to emulate the West." The development gap made continuously wider by technological modernity places Muslims on the lower side of the gap, and presents them with the most difficult of all historical questions: can a traditional society achieve industrial development by importing technology which undermines its cultural heritage, opens a breach in its tradition and undermines its world view?   However, very few Muslims believe that the appropriation of modern technology would necessitate a change in ideological commitment.

JAMAL AL-DIN AL-AFGHANI [1839-1897]
The idea that science and Islam are compatible is put forward in one form or another in the constr uction of all Muslim ideologues of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1839-1897), the pioneer of pan-Islamism,  was convinced that nothing but science and technology could eliminate economic and cultural backwardness.  Afghani objected to dividing science into European and Muslim. He said modern science as universal, transcending nations, cultures and religion. Afghani criticised the Muslim scholars for not seeing it that way by saying: "The strangest thing of all is that our ulema these days have divided science into two parts. One they call Muslim science, and one European science. Because of this they forbid others to teach some of the useful sciences."

Afghani was indignant that natural science was left out of the curriculum of Muslim educational establishments. He said: 'Those who imagine that they are saving religion by imposing a ban on some sciences and knowledge, are enemies of religion.' In an article, 'The Benefits of Study and Education" ;, Afghani said that the misery in the Eastern countries was due to their ignoring "the noble and important role of the scientists". Afghani himself set a very high value on the public mission of the scientist. In December 1870, speaking at a conference on the progress of science and the crafts held in the New Istanbul University, Dar ul-funun, he described the scientist's work as missionary. He compared the scientist with a prophet, saying that prophecy is a craft (sanat) like medicine, philosophy, mathematics, and so on. The sole difference was that the prophet's verity was the fruit of inspiration, whereas scientific verity was the fruit of reason.

Whilst expounding the virtues and indispensability of science, Afghani was also at pains to stress that science needed another "science" which is more comprehehnsive which would enable man to know how to apply each field in its proper place. This field of knowledge is falsifa (philosophy) or hikam (wisdom) and only it can show man the human prerequisites (values such as what is more important, more fair, more just etc.) Afghani says: "It  is philosophy that  shows the man the proper road and makes man understandable to man."

To Afghani, Islam is a scientific religion and by this he did not mean to circumscribe Islam within mere science either.  He says: "Since it is known that religion is unquestionably the source of man's welfare, therefore if it is placed on firm foundations and sound bases, that religion will naturally become the complete source of total happiness and perfect tranquillity. Above all it will be the cause of material and moral progress. It will elevate the banner of civilization among its followers. It will cause those who are religious to attain all intellectual and spiritual perfection and to achieve good fortune in this world and the next."

He did not advocate a merely negative Islamic reaction against the West. He believed that the Muslim belief is a powerful politica l force. He called for a revitalization of Islam which would permit the Muslim world to absorb modern science. Afghani continued the cosmopolitan tradition of Islamic intellectuals in the course of a migrant life which took him from his native Iran to India, Afghanistan, Turkey, Egypt, France Russia and elsewhere.

In the late nineteenth century, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan  from India and Sheikh Muhammad Abduh  from Egypt recommended reformation of Islamic society along similar lines though from slightly different perspectives. Syed Ahmad Khan was in favor of showing that modern science and technology were in confromity with the articles of Islamic faith. Muhammad Abduh' rulings as the Chief Mufti of Egypt, were influenced by the principle of public interest (maslaha). He observed: "If a ruling has become the cause of harm which it did not cause before, then we must change it according to the prevailing conditions."  

SHEIKH MOHAMMAD ABDUH [1849-1905]
Traditional Islam, Sheikh Mohammad Abduh argued, faced serious challenge by the modern, rational and scientific thought. But he did not believe that the faith of Islam in its pure and permanent core of norms clashed with science. Instead he asserted that the faith and scientific reason operate at different levels. The real Islam, he maintained: "had simple doctrinal structure: it consisted of certain beliefs about the greatest questions of human life, and certain general principles of human conduct. To enable us to reach these beliefs and embody them in our lives both reason and revelation are essential. They neither possess separate spheres nor conflict with each other in the same sphere…"1

Sheikh mohammad Abduh's aim was to interpret the Islamic law in such a way as to free it from the traditional interpretations and prove that Islam and modern Western civilization were compatible. Abd uh was convinced of the supremacy of human reason. Religion merely supplements and aids reason. Reason sits in judgment on religion. Islam is, above all, the religion of reason and all its doctrines can be logically and rationally demonstrated.

Sheikh Abduh was thus the chief exponent of what has been termed as the "Two-Book" school of thought which, though it basically holds the unity of God inseparable from the unity of truth, recognizes two open ways to it: the way of revelation and that of natural science. He contended that since God's purpose in marking His revelation was to promote human welfare, a true interpretation of the Quran and the Sunnah should essentially be the one which best fulfils this purpose. He himself took the lead in this direction. As the Chief Mufti of Egypt, he issued fatwas ranging from the questions of law to those of social morality and employed the same measure of innovation and rationality in his interpretations, assessments and judgements. In matters of Islam ic law, which governed Muslim family relationships, tirual duties, and personal conduct, Abduh tried to break trhough the rigidities of scholastic interpretation and to promote considerations of equity, welfare, and common sense, even if this occasionally meant disregarding the literal texts of the Quran.

Abduh's, rationalism is directed against inert traditional thinking and blind observance of the medieval interpretation of Islam. Also. It is designed to vindicate and defend religion, to adapt it to the new times, and to reconcile it with science. It would be a mistake to think, however, that Abduh and other Muslim reformers confine themselves exclusively to justifying and modernizing religion. Despite the narrowness of their concepts they are sincerely interested in eliminating the obstacles to the development of science and technology essential for the revival of the Muslim peoples and for economic and cultural progress. What they want, however, is to use scientific achievements without heed of th e world outlook implicit in science.

Abdu deplored the blind acceptance of traditional doctines and customs and asserted that a return to the pristiine faith of the earliest age of Islam not only would restore the Muslims' spiritual vitality but would provide an enlightened criterion for the assimilation of modern scientific culture.