Rashid Rida’s Struggle to Establish A Modern Islamic State

Abstract

Reform movements are important religious phenomena which have occurred throughout Islamic history. Medieval times saw the appearance of religious reformers, such as al-Ghazali, Ibn Taimiyah, Ibn Qayim al-Jawziyah and others; however, these reform activities differed significantly from the modern reform movement. The medieval reformers worked within Muslim society; it was not necessary to deal with the external challenge presented by Europe as it was for the modern Muslim reformers after the world of Islam lost its independence and fell under European rule. The powers of Europe believed that Islam was the only force that impeded them in their quest for world dominance and, relying on the strength of their physical presence in Muslim countries, tried to convince the Muslim peoples tgat Islam was a hindrance to their progress and development. Another problem, no less serious than the first, faced by the modern Muslim reformers was the shocking ignorance of the Muslim peoples of their religion and their history. For more than four centuries, scholarship in all areas had been in an unabated state of decline. Those religious studies which were produced veered far from the spirit of Islam, and they were so blurred and burdened with myths and legends, that they served only to confuse the masses. The ‘Ulama were worst of all: strictly rejecting change, they still had the mentality of their medieval forebearers against whom al-Ghazali, Ibn Taimiyah and others had fought. Hundreds of years behind the times, their central concern was tuqlid (the imitation of that which had preceeded them through the ages). For centuries, no one had dared to question this heritage or point out the religious innovations it impaired. In conjunction with their questioning of the tuqlid, the modern reformers strove to revive the concept of ijtihad (indmendent judgement) in religious matters, an idea which had been disallowed since the tenth century. The first to raiseanew the banner of $tihad in the Arab Muslim world was Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani; after him Sheikh Muhammad ‘Abduh in Egypt, and after him, his friend and ...