Sumaira Muhammad Qasmi.

Dep. of Islamic studies, IUB.

Speakers information
Name: Sumaira Muhammad Qasmi.
M.Phil (2013-15), Department of Islamic Studies, IUB.
Field of interest: Al-Quran, Hadith, Islamic History.. etc.



The Ottoman Empire /

(Devlet-i liyye-i Osmniyye)
(12991923)


Motto
Devlet-i Ebed-mddet / / The Eternal State



Badi uz zaman Said Naurasi
Young Badi uz zaman

In Old Age.
Mahdi Movement

Product of the Islamic Decline.
Fall of the Ottoman empire.
Decline in Islamic sciences (religious and secular
sciences headed by Muslims).
Colonial invasion of the Muslim lands.
Impact of the World Wars and the subsequent
carving up of the lands of Muslims.
Different parts of Islam emphasised differently by
different people. Arguably there is a center?
Defining the Islamic revival
Few waves of revivalism generally that have
existed in the Muslim world.
Not all these waves of revival can be called Islamic,
nor are they Islamic revivalism.
Islamic revivalism must be distinguished from
cultural or racial revivalism so as not to
confused between the two.
The two are distinct phenomena that have their
own separate goals and ambitions.
Defining the Islamic revival
Refers to a wave of Arab-centric revival that took
place in Arabia from the 1830s onwards well into
the 1900s. Arguably only ended in 1970s or so.
Response to the Egyptian occupation by Frances
emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1798).
France installed an Arab ruler by the name of
Muhammad Ali in Egypt who in essence was an
Egyptian proxy. The Ottoman Caliphate was forced
to recognise him.
An Nahdah (Cultural revival)
Muhammad Ali of Egypt
Spread from Egypt into modern day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan,
Palestine.
Tenets were:
intellectual modernization and reform.
Arab-centric revival (the idea of pan-Arabism was born
here).
Advocating the freedom of the Arabs, not just from the
French/British but ALSO the Turks (i.e. the Ottoman
Empire)
Eventually it was this idea that inspired post WW2 pan-
Arabism and to push to have a state for Arabs (which was
tried for a time but failed).
An Nahdah (Cultural revival)
Is by definition based on Islam not notions of Arab, or
sub-continental, or any other racial, superiority.
Driven by a desire to return to Islamic temporal rule (ie
religious law being implemented in lifes affairs).
Due to the differences of opinion within Islam,
there have been a few waves of this Islamic revival.
But broad underlying exists on several important
issues.
Methodologies of how to achieve change not
unified (reflection of interpretations)
Islamic revival (a distinction)
At times, Islamic revivalistic movements and trends have
had their aims or ambitions frustrated by the political
circumstances or machinations of others.
But we can and should still view them as Islamic revivalistic
efforts.
E.g.: Saudi Arabia and the thought of Muhammad ibn Abdul
Wahhab (many argue that the Muhammamad ibn Saud ie
the Saudi family) used this thought for their own authority.
E.g.: The Taliban in Afghanistan and the collapse of their
government post-invasion.
E.g.: Hamas and its participation in Palestine.
Role of political machinations
The approaches that Islamic revivers have taken
towards it have not always been the same.
Are without doubt influenced by context.
Earlier vs later revivalism: several trends can be noted.
Arguable that these differences have become sharper
as the situation of the Muslims has become worse.
Islamic revival: shifting perspectives
Some might ask: Should Islamic revival be defined
broadly, to include personal practice, or should it be
defined to refer specifically to the revival of political
Islamic thought?
Argument 1: This question is redundant as Islam is
complete.
Argument 2: Should be based on the former.
Argument 3: Should be based on the latter.
1/3 are similar; 2 is unique does not have support in:
A) Islamic scripture B) academia C) politics D) Islamic
scholarship.
A revival of all things Islamic?
While the Islamic revival might not by definition refer
to the revival of Islamic practice, it has been the
inevitable result.
Reason: the re-politicisation of Islam by revivalists
is based on more than just temporal objectives (ie: not
a power grab).
Islamic revivalism isnt a sociological phenomenon it
is a religious phenomenon.
Justified by revivalistsic figures/movements on the
basis of Islamic scriptures (Quran/Sunnah etc).
A revival of all things Islamic?
At the first lecture by Dr. Jan Ali, to which this lecture
was a response, we heard that the three key figures in
modern Islamic revival were the following figures:
Jamal al Deen Afghani (Egypt)
Muhammad Abduh (Egypt)
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (India)
[4
th
referred to: Rashid Rida (Egypt)]
What you heard about last time
1838 1897
Origin hotly debated: as to whether
Iranian or Afghani.
Travelled widely; including India,
Afghanistan, Egypt, other provinces of the
Ottoman empire; Western lands including
London, Russia, France, Germany.
Jamal Al Deen Afghani
Views: Anti-imperialism | Muslim (or at least Arab) unity as a
response to imperialism | Quran as basis for legislation (but at
times this wasnt clear).
Criticisms: his links to western intelligence services and more
generally foreign powers | Pragmatism | personal
habits/reality | recourse to rationalism.
1849 1905
Student of Afghani.
Eventually became Mufti of Egypt under
the control of the British.
Travelled extensively to Europe (France
and England) and became well impressed
with doctrines of law in these nations.
Muhammad Abduh
Views: Pan-Arabism and a lesser form of pan-Islamism |
modernisation | heavily relied on rationalism (to the point of
being called a neo-Mutazili)
Criticisms: links to western colonial powers (in spite of
advocating anti-imperliaism) | Excessive modernism | maslaha
(benefit) | Over reliance of rationality.
Muhammad Abduh
So many thoughts, that served this orientation appeared, for
example; religion is flexible and evolving, take and then demand,
accept what agrees with the Shara or that which does not
contradict the Shara, committing the lesser of two harms or evils,
if you cannot take the whole of it, dont throw away most of it,
gradualism in taking Islam, it is not rejected that rules change
with the time and place, wherever there is an interest, that is the
Shara of Allah. These thoughts and their l ike became the
intellectual standpoint or principle that they called the modern
Islamic revival. Their most important protagonist was the
freemason Jamal ud-deen al-Afghani and his freemason student
Muhammad Abduh, who was known as the Shaykhul Islam.
- Dawah to Islam; Sheikh Ahmed Mahmoud.
1817 - 1898.
Indian educator, academic.
Founded the world-famous Aligarh
Muslim University.
Also travelled to, and gained education
from, England, which occupied India.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
Views: education as way forward for Muslims | Muslim
empowerment
Criticisms: Founder of quraniyoon? | Not advocating for Islamic
self determination; rather, Islam within a nation state and / or
an Islam that borrows from the west without implementing its
own unique system.
Depends on the angle of analysis.
Perhaps indicative of the intellectual decline of the
Muslims that even those things vaguely Islamic
were seen (at their time, nor not long thereafter)
as being islamic in nature, even if the thoughts
were combined with other thoughts.
Nominal influence no doubt existed, but its
questionable if from TODAYs trends of Islamic
revival this is considered particularly momentous.
Impact of these figures on Islamic
revival
It was ultimately with the destruction of the
Caliphate in 1924 (though the post of Caliph was
last occupied by Sultan Muhammad VI in 1918)
that the impetus was most strongly felt.
Personalities, movements, organisations rose up;
conferences were organised to try to bring back
the Islamic Caliphate even as it had just been
destroyed.
Analysis: immediate aftermath and longer-term
efforts.
Post-Caliphate revivalism
One cannot say that there was an outcry at the
time. Nationalism and division had weakened the
Muslims considerably.
This can be understood by the very nominal control
the Ottoman Caliphate had over its provinces.
Most notable reaction was from the Indian
subcontinent with the formation of the Khilafat
Movement.
Immediate aftermath of the
Caliphates destruction
Founded in what is modern day India at the time
India/Pakistan didnt exist as they do today.
It was a movement that called for pan-Islamic unity
and voiced its support for the Ottoman Caliphate it
strove to make Muslims want to be part of the empire.
The Treaty of Versailles (at the end of WW1) abolished
the office of the Caliph in 1919.
Movement folded in 1922, but its members remained
active as many were well educated scholars and
academics.
Khilafat movement (India)
Great personalities such as Mohammad Ali Jouhar
were among its leading figures.
While some of the means contestable with our
hindsight (eg Jouhar petitioned the British not to have
the Sultan removed unlikely they would listen)
nonetheless the sentiment was based on Islam.
Educated at Oxford University, in Britain.
Jailed for 4 years for advocating resistance to the
British and support for the caliphate.

Khilafat movement (India)
Famous Islamic scholar from India. Scholar of
Islamic history, Fiqh, Seerah, etc.
Wrote the famous seerat An Nabi, Al
Faruq (biography of Omar RA) and the most
famous English biography of Imam Abu
Hanifah (RH).
Shibli Nomani (1857-1914)
SIGNIFICANT: Met both Muhammad Abduh during his travels
to Egypt and worked with Sir Syed Ahmed Khan of India.
Ultimately disagreed with Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and
advocated Pan-Islamism (unification of Muslims under one
land).
Legacy: Considered one of the greatest scholars India has
produced in the last 150 years.
1) Due to you, we feel that the grandeur of Badr, the dignity
and splendor of the Haramain (the two sacred mosques) is
only due to you.
2) Who else except yourself is the supporter and defender of the
love of the Holy Prophet (saw). To you is owed the sweetness of
the faith of the Holy Prophet (saw). The areas of Islam are
strong just because of you.
3) Through your majesty and authority the Shariah laws
acquired a high status and through your orders the splendour
of Islam has risen high.
[The Rise and fall of Muslims, Saeed Akbarabadi, Pg. 133]

Shibli Nomanis letter to Caliph Abdul
Hamid II in Istanbul
In response to what was by now seen as a crisis, conference
of Muslim personalities and scholars was organised to
address the Caliphate Issue.
1925: The Mecca Conference. World Muslim Congress held
in Mecca and convened by Ibn Saud, with delegates from
Palestine, the Hijaz, Egypt, the Sudan, Russia, Turkey, India
and Java.
The Egyptian Caliphate movement was another movement
and they held separate conferences in Cairo: 1925-1927.
Blocs formed: Indian movements vs Saudis (clearly backed
by Britain).
1931 Jerusalem Conference by now the matter was a
farce and success was impossible.


Caliphate Conferences: 1925-1933
Clearly these moves, which sent delegations on the basis of
the very nation states that they sought to replace, were not
going to work.
People wanting Islamic revival increasingly saw state
institutions and governments as part of the problem.
Thus arose movements, personalities that would work
outside these state institutions to create change.
These movements reflected an understanding in the people
of the futility of individualised action.
Caliphate Conferences: 1925-1933
Individual/family focused
Tablighi Jamaat (founded 1926)
Gulen Movement Turkey (1960s)
Political/activism focus
Muslim Brotherhood (founded 1928) with offshoots:
Jamaati Islam Pakistan (founded 1941) | Jamaate Islam
Bangladesh (1971) | Jamate Islam Hind (India) (1948)
Hamas (also militant at one stage)
Hizb ut Tahrir (founded 1953)
Tanzeem e Islami (founded 1957)
Sufi tariqah cum-political movement
Murabitun (1970 or so)
Physical resistance/action
Islamic Jihad Egypt (1970s)
Jamaah Islamiyyah Indonesia (1988/1993)

Islamic Revivalistic methods/movements
Individual/family/social focused
Sheikh Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi (founder of TJ)
Said Nursi (Turkey; precursor to Gulen Movement)
Fethullah Gulen (Turkey)
Political/activism focus
* Shaheed Imam Hasan Al Banna (Muslim Brotherhood)
Shaheed Syed Qutb (Muslim Brotherhood)
Sheikh Taqiuddin Nabahani (Hizb ut Tahrir)
Sheikh Ahmed Yaseen (Hamas)
Syed Abul Ala Mawdudi (JI Pakistan)
Sheikh Dr. Israr Ahmed (Pakistan)
Sufi tariqah cum-political movement
Sheikh Umar Vardillo
Shaykh Abdalqadir as-Sufi
Famous personalities and associations
Physical resistance/action
Imam Anwar al Awlaki (deceased; Yemen)
Ayman Al Zawahiri
Osama ibn Laden (deceased)
Sheikh Abu Muhammad al Maqdisi (Jailed in Jordan)
Abu Musab al Zarqawi (deceased; Iraq)
Amir Khattab (Chechen Resistance)
Abdullah Azzam (Palestine)


Famous personalities and associations
Other figures
Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini (Iran)
Abu Bakr Bashir (JI Indonesia)
Mullah Mohammad Omar (Taliban; Afghanistan)
Tareq Suwaidan (preacher)
Sheikh Muhammad al Arifi (Saudi Arabia)
Sheikh Nabil al Awady (Gulf)
Sheikh Yusuf al Qaradawi (Egypt; exile)
Sheikh Wajdi Ghunaim (Egypt, Tunisia)
Sheikh Khalid Yasin (America)
Sheikh Imran Hossein (Caribbean; eschatology)
Sheikh Faisal (jihad)




Famous personalities and associations
1906-1949. Founded the MB. (assassinated)
Established it in 1928. Hated the British
perversion of Egyptian/Islamic culture and
the Muslims passivity to it.
Method of activism was a combination of
politics and social activism.
Social activism: mosques, Islamic welfare
associations, and neighbourhood groups.
Established businesses, clinics, and schools
Hasan al Banna: Muslim Brotherhood
Called for Islamic order in Egypt. All Muslims are guilty if the
Islamic State is not installed. This amounts to betrayal not to
one Muslim alone but to the entire humanity
Method of 4 stages:
Individual Family Community State.
1906-1966. Death by Hanging..
Was initially a secularist, but had an Islamic
education from his youth.
Travelled to the USA, where he was
disgusted by various aspects of the
materialistic life led in the west.
Clash of Civilisations: Islam vs the West
was a central thesis of Qutb. Saw them as
mutually irreconcilable.

Syed Qutb: MB
Gemal Abdul Nasir (President of Egypt) initially tried to woo Qutb: We
will give you whatever position you want in the government, whether it's
the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Arts, etc. He refused.
Said that Islam is a system that requires implementation.
Was jailed, let out, jailed again and after a show trial was killed.
1903-1979. Founded Pakistani JI.
Wrote the most read tafsir of the Indian
subcontinent.
Strong views on politics and Jihad.
Extremely popular due to his publications,
tafsir and the publication of his works.
Famous quote that summarises his thought:
Abul Ala Maududi (JI Pakistan)
"Islam is not a religion in the sense this term is commonly
understood. It is a system encompassing all fields of living.
Islam means politics, economics, legislation, science,
humanism, health, psychology and sociology. It is a system
which makes no discrimination on the basis of race, color,
language or other external categories. Its appeal is to all
mankind. It wants to reach the heart of every human being."
1907-1977
Founded Hizbut Tahrir(Party of Liberation) in
1953.
Had studied in Al Azhar University and
graduated with excellence; became judge in
Palestine.
Wrote extensively. Seeing the decline of the
Muslims, did extensive thought and founded
HT.
Taqiuddin Nabahani (HT; Palestine)
Advocated a method of re-establishing Islam that he
believed followed the Prophetic model: culturing and
creating carriers of Dawah interacting with the Ummah
and creating public opinion for change (by reviving Islamic
thought) implementing Islam through seeking power
from sources of power in society.
1932-2010
Founded Tanzeem e Islami after initially
having contact with TJ.
Gained mass following as a result of
publication of his works and popular slots on
TV/media.
Advocated a method that sought to create
revival through Quranic education.
Sheikh Dr Israr Ahmed (Pakistan)
Tanzeems motto is working for Khilafah.
Was a critic of modern democracy and never took part within the
Pakistani system of politics.
Had warm ties with similar minded organisations like Hizb ut Tahrir
(which invited him to speak at their conferences); his son is also said to
have studied economics with HT. Had slight differences with HT.
Considered himself a product of Mawdudis thought but decried JIs shift.
Syed Qutb was an opponent of participation within political
systems of Jahiliyyah (socities where non-Islamic systems
are implemented).
MBs thought, however, has since evolved.
MB and its offshoots in Pakistan, Bangladesh , Egypt,
Bangladesh , have partaken in elections in a bid to create
change from within the system.
Others, such as HT, Tanzeeme Islami, disagree with this
approach.

Participation within politics different approaches
Some thinkers/scholars advocate/d a method of fighting
resistance, or, in other cases, fighting established armies of
Muslim nations, as a method of change.
Where lands are occupied resist (as a duty) fight
allying national armies remaining forces become the
forces of a new emirate.
Where lands arent national armies (seen as supporters
of kufr law) are fought remaining forces/popular
revolution leads to creation of emirate/Islamic state.
Method criticised for being unrealistic, violent and not in
keeping with Prophetic teaching.
Variations of this exist which are restricted to just occupied
lands and which are more acceptable en mass.
Armed resistance as a methodology
1941-1989 (assassinated).
Advocate of Jihad and the concept of global
obligation as to Jihad upon the Muslims
(starting with Afghanistan).
Widely recognised as pious, brave fighter
who led the Muslims excellently in the
Afghan war vs the USSR. Sought to move
Jihad to Palestine
Sheikh Abdullah Azzam
Focused on Jihad as a manifestation of the highest form of struggle and
epitome of Islamic activism. Thought that lands could only be liberated
through fighting and this would lead to ultimate victory.
Has influenced many others since, including Sheikh Muhammad al
Maqdisi, some of the figures associated with Al Qaeda and arguably
Anwar al Awlaki.
The impact of these personalities cannot be denied.
Poll after poll in the Muslim world finds that Muslims want
to live by divine rule.
The uprisings in the Muslim world have had a strongly
Islamic favour, with scholars and laypeople alike calling for
Shariah (Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Yemen) rule in the
place of the old systems.
While several of these movements disagree with each other
on the detailed methodologies, what ties contemporary
Islamic revivalism together as a thread is the desire to
return to Islamic rule. This is what Dr. Jan Ali said at the last
event and this is what we have explored in greater depth
today.
Impact of these thinkers/movements