LESSON 12
INDEPENDENCE AND MODERN TRENDSThe shock of colonial rule or influence in the 19th and 20th centuries produced different reactions among Muslims, but the strongest early reaction was modernism, a movement which professed faith in Islam but insisted that it had taken the wrong course in history by ignoring secular learning and social progress. Modernism took many forms, the most extreme demanding a total revision of the history of early Islam and of Qur'ān and Hadīth interpretation.
Modernism ran into difficulties when independence and Western forms of government in the 1960s did not deliver the countries from poverty and backwardness. Defeat at the hands of the Israelis in 1967 and 1973 was taken as an indication of Western hostility or disinterest towards Muslims. More and more Muslims then claimed that the problems of their countries came from abandoning traditional values and imitating alien ways.
Fundamentalism has since grown very strong, but it has an old history. There is the example of Muhammad's harshness to his critics, Abū-Bakr's treatment of tribal independence as apostasy, and above all the Khārijites' principle that Muslims who do not carry out the duties of Islam, particularly jihād, are apostates and have no rights in this life and no place in heaven.
Amad ibn-Hanbal (d. 855), following ash-Shāfi`ī (d. 820), echoed the Khārijites in their reverence for the Qur'ān, and they insisted on its literal interpretation without any allegorical or philosophical speculation. They therefore rejected any social system of laws apart from what is laid down in divine revelation, as contained in the Qur'ān and Hadīth. Ibn-Hanbal lived in Baghdad during the reign of the `Abbāsid caliph al-Ma'mūn (813-33), who founded the famous Bayt al-Hikma, a university and research centre where Greek philosophical works were translated into Arabic and this learning was developed by the best brains of the empire, whether Muslims, Christians or Jews. In this environment of free thought a new theology emerged which used philosophy in order to present the articles of faith in an organized and apologetic way. In particular, Al-Ma'mūn compelled all theologians to subscribe to the teaching that the Qur'ān was the created word of God. Ibn-Hanbal would not agree, because it played down the authority of the Qur'ān and, besides, was based on philosophical reasoning, which he rejected.
Ibn-Hanbal was kept in prison until the death of al-Ma'mūn, but he had great influence on the masses, who looked on him as a holy martyr. At his prompting, they demonstrated in the streets of Baghdad against the intellectual liberalism of the regime. At last in 847 the caliph al-Mutawakkil was forced all but to shut down the university and send away all the philosophers and other liberal thinkers.
Hanbalism was developed later on by Ibn-Taymiyya (d. 1328), who is very influential today especially for his ideas on Islamic society. Ibn-Taymiyya's ideas were taken up by `Abdalwahhāb in 18th century Arabia, and Hanbalite Wahhabism is the ideology of the present Saudi regime. Pilgrims pick it up and carry it throughout the world, especially to Africa, where their efforts are subsidized by grants from the Saudi government for the propagation of Islam.
Hanbalism also influenced the modernist reformer al-Afghānī (d. 1897), who was followed by Muhammad `Abduh (d. 1905) and Rashīd Ridā (d. 1935). These had influence mostly in academic circles rather than on society at large. Abandoning the style of the decadent Ash`arite theology which prevailed in the schools, these modernists tried to develop a modern apologetics based on concordism between the Qur'ān and modern science. Taking the offensive, they asserted that Islam, and not Christianity, promoted women's liberation and religious tolerance. Jihād was only defensive, and Islamic government is democratic, based on consultation (Q 3:159). The same line of thought was continued by the Pakistani writer Abū-l-`Alā Maududi (d. 1979), who developed Islamic political theory along radical lines. He is much read in Nigeria.
In Egypt, especially since 1935, Hasan al-Bannā established the fundamentalist Muslim Brothers, with branches throughout the Middle East. Bannā, who was assassinated in 1949, was a friend of Nasser. His brotherhood helped Nasser's 1952 revolution, but afterwards broke with him because he would not share power with them. In this way Nasser alienated the influential Sayyid Qutb. Imprisoned for refusing to cooperate with Nasser, he wrote a commentary on the Qur'ān which took up the ideas of Rashīd Ridā and Maududi, but went much further. Interpreting the Qur'ān literally, he rejected the modernism of Muhammad `Abduh and Ridā, whom he accused of borrowing the ideas of Christians and Jews. For Qutb, Muslims should not try to prove the Qur'ān by modern science or adapt it to modern thought. Rather science and history must give way to the supreme truth of the Qur'ān. Besides, reason has nothing to say about morality and social life. So, for Qutb, one must adhere to all the Qur'ānic provisions concerning the non-exposure of women, polygamy, divorce and inequality in inheritance and witnessing in court. Christians and Jews have no right to the tolerance given to them by the early verses of the Qur'ān, because they are unbelievers (kāfirūn), having gone back to polytheism and broken their pact with God. Therefore they should be attacked, according to the provisions of Qur'ān 9:1-35; and this is what the followers of Qutb do up to today. Qutb did not limit jihād to defensive war, but made it an obligation of every individual, who must constantly fight for the establishment of Sharī`a law, first in traditionally Islamic societies, and then in the whole world.
Qutb's refusal to accept any modification of the Qur'ānic condemnation of usury or interest gave rise to a movement to set up an Islamic banking system without any fixed interest. Qutb looked forward to the revival of an Islamic state with an imam or caliph really devoted to Sharī`a. Although executed in prison in 1966, Qutb's influence has continued to grow. In Egypt his thought was taken up by the still more radical movement, al-Jihād. Its founder, Muhammad `Abdassalām al-Farā, insisted on the obligation of each individual Muslim to fight for the establishment of an Islamic state. His followers assassinated President Sadat for not fully implementing Sharī`a.
Radical Hanbalism continues to spread among Sunnite Muslims throughout the world. Nigeria has seen the Maitatsine movement, which is a self-made Khārijism with Mahdist historical influence, but is akin to Hanbalism. anbalism, marked by Saudi Wahhabism and Sayyid Qutb, was also represented by Abubakr Gumi, patron of the Jamā`at izālat al-bid`a wa-iqāmat as-sunna (Society for the removal of heresy and the establishment of Sunna), commonly known as Izala. This organization not only fights Christians in demanding an Islamic state, but also the Sufic brotherhoods and any Muslims who promote modernization or a revival of traditional African culture. So we see not only the burning of churches, but also fights among Muslims in the mosques.
Besides Hanbalism, Shī`ism is also sometimes associated with violent action, but is most often pacifist. The principle underlying these changes of mood is that Shī`ites are supposed to follow the call of the imām (or his representative) when he proclaims a jihād. When no representative of the imam, who has been in hiding for centuries, calls for jihād, Shī`ites are dispensed from the obligation of jihād and can passively to accept any regime in power, even if it is not legitimate according to Shī`ite principles.
The martyrdom of `Alī and of Husayn continues to inspire Shī`ites up to today. They are ready to sacrifice themselves willingly for the cause of Islam when the imam awakens them. Such was the case when Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran called on his people to fight Iraq and to assassinate Rushdie.
QUESTIONS
- Explain the dilemma facing Muslims in the face of the power of non-Muslim countries in the world.
- Explain the principles and influence of Ibn-Hanbal on Muslims today.
- Outline the thought of Sayyid Qutb.
- Explain the principles of Shī`ism regarding violence for the sake of Islam.
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