CHAPTER 12: OLD AND NEW IDEAS
CHAPTER 12: OLD AND NEW IDEAS
Key points from this chapter:
With Islam declining, many scholars from different backgrounds attempted to revive Islam
WW1 resulted in a conquest over the Muslim world more severe and complete than the Mongol conquest
Even after gaining independence, Muslim countries have been unable to rise again
In the final chapter of this book, the author goes through the events following World War I and the eventual collapse of the Muslim World. He also briefly looks at intellectual revival efforts by Muslim scholars. The summary of this chapter is divided into five sections:
Revival efforts by Muslim scholars
The collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the events that followed
How Muslim states gained independence from European control
The rise of Nationalism in the Muslim World and secular ideas
Why the Muslims were not able to rise again following their collapse
There were many revival efforts within the Muslim world throughout the 18th – 20th centuries. The first revivalist the author speaks about is Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab (1703-1792). Born and raised in the deserts of Arabia, his life was very similar to that of the 6th and 7th-century Nomadic Arabs. He was a follower of the Hanbali Madhab and stressed the importance of following the prophetic traditions. Believing that Muslims had declined due to innovative practices, he called for Sufis, Shi’as, modernists and many other groups to be intellectually battled. He and his followers “argued that the vast majority of Muslims had fallen into disbelief.” Through his ideas, there was a growth of ‘Salafism’ but this was very small. It was only after he promised his political support to Ibn Sa’ud that the latter promoted Abdul Wahhab’s ideas throughout his growing kingdom. The pact continued after his death and following the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, his ideas became even more prominent and were adopted by all 4 corners of the Arabian Peninsula and many other parts of the world.
Another revivalist was Shah Waliullah (1703-1762). Fearing the disunity of India, he called for a return to traditional Islam but, unlike the previously mentioned revivalist, promoted the broad unity of various traditions, ethnicities and ideas to slow down the decline of the Muslims. He played a significant intellectual role in India and although his efforts slowed down the decline of the Muslims, the Mughal empire collapsed in the century following his demise.
The last revivalist he mentions is Hassan al Banna (1906-1942). He was an Egyptian school teacher who wanted to unite traditional Islamic values and Western modernism. In attempting to do so, he created the ‘Muslim Brotherhood’. This group established schools, hospitals and other social welfare organisations in an effort to reach all levels of Egyptian society. Although they did not adopt secularism like other Muslim bodies, they adopted Western sciences and organisational ideas. This middle ground was very popular amongst the Egyptians but secular nationalism amongst Arabs led to decades of persecution of the Brotherhood.
Despite their efforts, none of these three revivalists have been completely successful in creating a global Muslim revival.
The collapse of the Ottoman Empire occurred following World War I. The Ottomans, led by Isma’il Enver, Muhammad Talaat and Ahmed Djemel, joined the war in October 1914 in an effort to regain some of their lost territory and win forgiveness for their foreign debts. However, due to an outdated military, ethnic tensions and poor leadership, they were defeated. Although the author does not mention this, the Ottomans did score a few memorable victories over the Triple Entente such as the battle of Galliopli in 1916 and the recapture of Kut al-Amare in 1917.
There were also external factors which contributed to the collapse of the last standing flag-bearers of Islam. A great deal of “backdoor scheming” led to “three agreements regarding rebellion within the empire and a post-Ottoman Middle East.” These were “engineered by the British” and “created a political mess that even they were not capable of handling”.
In 1915, the British made contact with the Sharif of Makkah – Husayn. In exchange for British promises of an Arab Kingdom and fertile lands alongside gold and weapons, he and the rest of the Hejaz agreed to rebel against the Ottomans. This enabled the British to defend Egypt and conquer Jerusalem from Ottomans who had to divert some of their forces to deal with the Arab rebels. The British, however, did not intend to entirely honour this promise. In the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916, European powers agreed on the partition of the Ottoman Empire after its eventual conquest. France was to be given control over northern Syria and Lebanon whilst Britain would take Mesopotamia and Palestine. This agreement “left no room for the pan-Arab kingdom promised to Husayn”. To further their treachery, Arthur Balfour promised British support for a Zionist state in Palestine and this “quagmire that the British created, would dominate Middle Eastern politics throughout the twentieth century”. Following the defeat of the Ottomans, the British and French attempted to honour the three conflicting agreements they made but this further worsened matters. Out of the Ottoman Levant and Mesopotamia came the new nations Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine, all with new, arbitrary borders drawn at the whim of the winning powers. Sharif Hussain was given control over Syria, Iraq and Jordan but only held onto Jordan in the long run.
Another event that occurred was the mass migration of Jews from Europe to Palestine. 60,000 Jews arrived in 1918 and by 1939, the population increased to 460,000. There was a more rapid growth after World War 2. The Arabs protested which led to riots but with such a large population, the Jews established their state of Israel in 1948. An Arab coalition attempted to defeat Israel but failed leading to Israel gaining even more territory and the Nakba. This was when the Jews exiled over 700,000 Muslims and Christians from Palestine in the years 1948 and 1949. This conflict “brought into focus the complete political failure of the Muslim world in the twentieth century”.
Further to the East, the British drew Iraq’s borders which clustered Sunnis and Shias as well as different ethnic groups into one region. With neither being able to dominate, decades of conflict ensued leaving the area marked by constant turmoil. Similar situations occurred in other parts of the world such as Lebanon which had no natural borders. The Muslim world was now all but conquered by European powers who drew up arbitrary borders leaving the Muslim world divided. “It was a collapse and conquest even more complete than the Crusades and the Mongols.”
Long before World War I, much of the Muslim World was already under the control of European Powers. One of these regions was the Indian subcontinent. Its population had grown sick of British rule and calls for independence grew in popularity. In an attempt to break away from British rule, an Indian National Congress was established. However, this was dominated by Hindus which meant that the Muslims would likely be overlooked in establishing a post-British India. This led to the rise of the Pakistan movement spearheaded by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Muhammad Iqbal. Their goal was to establish an independent Muslim state near the Indus Valley where Muhammad ibn Qasim first appeared. The movement grew in popularity in the 1930s and 1940s. The Hindus, as expected, opposed this movement but it proved too strong for them to stop. In 1947, the British left the Indian subcontinent and split the land between the two new states: India and Pakistan.
Other regions such as Egypt gained independence in 1952 from Britain. Algeria and much of Sub-Saharan Africa gained independence in the 1960s. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia gained independence in 1949 and Malaysia in 1963 after a long and arduous struggle. These “Muslim nations became free of European control through the 1900s, but were still bounded by the borders drawn by their former colonisers.”
Although the Muslim world was able to gain its independence, they took on many ideas from the Europeans which created deep-rooted issues in the Muslim World. In an attempt to “copy Europe’s rise to power over the rest of the world”, Muslims adopted secularism. Cinemas, bars, and dance houses were opened across the Muslim world. Furthermore, speaking English or French in households was a sign of being part of the higher echelons of society. It is important to note that the meeting of these two cultures, Muslims and Europeans, was not on an equal footing. The latter was far superior in its power and so did not adopt any Muslim practices.
The worst of the characteristics the Muslims adopted was nationalism. Abdul Hamid II’s promotion of pan-Islamism had stopped the rise of nationalism but after he was deposed, there was nothing to stop Muslim groups calling for independence and creating their own states. The first of these were the Arabs which led to Sharif Hussayn’s rebellion. The Turks, following the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, saw the most radical jump. Attaturk spearheaded several reforms in which he attempted to do away with Turkey’s rich Islamic History and model the new republic upon Europe. He abolished the Sultanate in 1922 and the Caliphate in 1924. The Adhan and Quran were no longer allowed to be recited in Arabic and the Hijab was banned. Other ethnic groups were not welcome in Turkey as he tried to create a purely Turkish republic. The rise of Nationalism meant the end of Muslim unity and created a period similar to the Taifa Period in Andalus but on a global scale. Muslims identified themselves “according to new nationalistic labels.”. Sh Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi describes in his book Islam and The World that these ideas the Muslims adopted from the Europeans “were much inferior to their own and consisted of little more than the ardent pursuit of material success.” If one were to compare the early Muslims to those now, they “would find it hard to believe that both professed the same ideology” (end of chapter 6).
The cyclical nature of Muslim History suggests that after a period of decline, the Muslims would rise up once more. Following the events after World War 1 and 2, “the time was ripe for a new, world-dominating Muslim empire.” However this was not to be as the establishment of several competing Muslim states meant that the Muslims were incapable of establishing a large empire. There are those who still advocate for a return to traditional Islamic rule whereas there are those who believe the days of Pan-Islamism are done. The balanced of the two sides believes that it is best to work within the frameworks of the systems we have today as opposed to radical change. The future of Islam is unknown. Those who answer the questions of what role Islam should play in nations and their governance will “dictate a new era for the Muslim world; one that surely cannot be detached from the 1400 years of Islamic history that came before it”
In conclusion, the Muslim World has taken up Western secular ideas and this has been the greatest cause of their downfall and inability to rise once again. However, all hope is not lost. The Muslims possess strength and need only to recognise this and return to their roots to rise again.