Islam and Modernity in contemporary world|The emergence of Islamic modernism (part 3)

 1: Revivalist leaders:

During the 18th and 19th centuries, Revivalist leaders and movements had sprung up across the Islamic/Muslim world.

In other words,in diverse circumstances, Muslims initiated various revival and reform movements in the 18th and 19th centuries Stretched across the Muslim world from north Africa to South and Southeast Asia, Muslim responses to colonialism and imperialism were conditioned,both by the source of threat and by the Islamic tradition -ranging from Holy war (Jihad)to immigration Hijra ,non cooperation to adaptation and cultural synthesis.

Some Muslims, ranging from secular to the  Islamic modernists,pursued a path of accommodation to harness the west'scientific and and technological power to revitalize the community and to regain independence.

That is, Muslim views of the west and responses to its power and ideas varied from rejection and confrontation to admiration and imitation.

In the emergence of Islamic modernism,it is evident that it called throughout the Muslim world for a reformation (Islah)and reinterpretation (Ijtihad) of Islam.responding to the plight of Muslim communities and the intellectual and religious challenge of the west , Islamic modernism sort to bridge the gap between Islamic traditionalists and secular reformers or conservative religious scholars,characterized by following and emulating the past blindly (taqlid)and western secular elites, regarded as uncritical in their imitation of the west and insensitive to Islamic tradition.The blame for the backwardness and plight of the Muslim  community was credited to the Ulema's static sanctification of Islam's classical or medieval formulations and their resistance to change;So Islamic modernists wished to produce a new synthesis of Islam with modern science.

2: Efforts done by Muhammad Iqbal:

Muhammad Iqbal , inheriting the legacy of Shah Waliullah and sir Syed, gracefully combined western and Islamic thought.

For Iqbal,Islam was a dynamic religion _and throughout his philosophical

magnum opus The reconstruction of religious thought in Islam he describes his vision of Islamic history as a dynamic, creative and adaptive tradition and it was Islam's dynamism that had made it a potent force .

In Iqbal's mind Islam dynamism had been corrupted and ossified by the Ulema, sequestered behind the walls of their Madaris .

He denounced the conservative mullahs saying that their obscurantist world view Served no other function than "sowing corruption, perseverance and in the name of ALLAH ";and for considering shariah to be "sacrosanct ".

He appealed to use Ijtihad judiciously, to revise the shariah in the light of Quran and Sunnah,in order to meet the requirements of contemporary Muslim societies.

He views the shariah as the" cultural backbone"of the Muslim community, arguing that 

It provides both an "anchor of stability". According to him,Ijtihad should reflect the opinion of society and meet it's interests.

Rejecting the closing of the door of Ijtihad,therefore he called for and end to "conservatism, inflexibility and intellectual stasis."

Muslim reformers emphasized the "dynamism, flexibility and adaptability"during the early development of Islam.

This time period was distinguished by Islamic accomplishments in the sciences,law and education.

In Iqbal's judgement,one of the major reason for the decline of the Muslims in the past many centuries was their inability or unwillingness to subject the legal system of intellectual scrutiny , particularly with reference to Ijtihad,which is one of the acknowledged sources of Islamic law .

He saw Ijtihad as the catalyst for Islam's intellectual resurgence.

For Iqbal Ijtihad is the principal of movement of and legal advance in Islam ;and desire to reconstruct Islamic law or shariah according to the needs and requirements of of modern times.

3:Role of Sir Sayyed:

Sir Sayyed helped the Muslims in India to emerge again . Various writting have emphasized different areas of Sir Sayyed's thought and activity -social and political, educational and cultural -in which he made reforms But almost all agree that his prime achievement as was a revival of Muslim morale and prestige in British India and that to him goes the credit for having reestablished the dynamism of the Muslims in India as a social and political force .

His effort are regarded as a" dynamic and constructive achievement "that made a tremendous impression on modern Islam.

In the words of Al-Bruin ,Sir Sayyed not only filled the big void created in the life Muslim community ny the disappearance of Muslim rule ,but he did more He bridged the gap between medieval and modern India and gave the Indian Muslims "a new cohesion,a new policy,new educational ideals,a new prose ,a new approach to their individual and national problems and built up an organization which could carry on his work .(Al Qanun Al -Masudi (Canon Masudicus ).