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Islam In The Modern World
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Contents
"Most surely man is
in loss, except those who believe and do good, and enjoin on each
other truth, and enjoin on each other patience." (Quran, Surah [103:
2-3]).
At the height of European colonial expansion in
the 19th century, most of the Islamic world was under colonial rule
with the exception of a few regions such as the heart of the Ottoman
empire, Persia, Afghanistan, Yemen and certain parts of Arabia. But
even these areas were under foreign influence or, in the case of the
Ottomans, under constant threat. After the First World War with the
breakup of the Ottoman empire, a number of Arab states such as Iraq
became independent, others like Jordan were created as a new entity
and yet others like Palestine, Syria and Lebanon were either mandated
or turned into French colonies. As for Arabia, it was at this time
that Saudi Arabia became finally consolidated. As for other parts of
the Islamic world, Egypt which had been ruled by the descendents of
Muhammad Ali since the 19th century became more independent as a
result of the fall of the Ottomans, Turkey was turned into a secular
republic by Ataturk, and the Pahlavi dynasty began a new chapter in
Persia where its name reverted to its eastern traditional form of
Iran. But most of the rest of the Islamic world remained under
colonial rule.
Arab
It was only after the Second World War and the
dismemberment of the British, French, Dutch and Spanish empires that
the rest of the Islamic world gained its independence. In the Arab
world, Syria and Lebanon became independent at the end of the war as
did Libya and the shaykdoms around the Gulf and the Arabian Sea by the
1960's. The North African countries of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria
had to fight a difficult and, in the case of Algeria, long and
protracted war to gain their freedom which did not come until a decade
later for Tunisia and Morocco and two decades later for Algeria. Only
Palestine did not become independent but was partitioned in 1948 with
the establishment of the state of Israel.
India
In India Muslims
participated in the freedom movement against British rule along with
Hindus and when independence finally came in 1947, they were able to
create their own homeland, Pakistan, which came into being for the
sake of Islam and became the most populated Muslim state although many
Muslims remained in India. In 1971, however, the two parts of the
state broke up, East Pakistan becoming Bengladesh.
Far East
Farther east still, the Indonesians finally gained their independence from the
Dutch and the Malays theirs from Britain. At first Singapore was part
of Malaysia but it separated in 1963 to become an independent state.
Small colonies still persisted in the area and continued to seek their
independence, the kingdom of Brunei becoming independent as recently
as 1984.
Africa
In Africa also major countries with large or
majority Muslim populations such as Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania
began to gain their independence in the 1950's and 1960's with the
result that by the end of the decade of the 60's most parts of the
Islamic world were formed into independent national states. There
were, however, exceptions. The Muslim states in the Soviet Union
failed to gain their autonomy or independence. The same holds true for
Sinkiang (called Eastern Turkestan by Muslim geographers) while in
Eritrea and the southern Philippines Muslim independence movements
still continue.
National States
While the world of Islam has entered
into the modern world in the form of national states, continuous
attempts are made to create closer cooperation within the Islamic
world as a whole and to bring about greater unity. This is seen not
only in the meetings of the Muslim heads of state and the
establishment of the OIC (Organization of Islamic Countries) with its
own secretariat, but also in the creation of institutions dealing with
the whole of the Islamic world. Among the most important of these is
the Muslim World League (Rabitat al-alam al-Islami ) with its
headquarters in Makkah. Saudi Arabia has in fact played a pivotal role
in the creation and maintenance of such organizations.
Muslims did not wish to gain only their political independence.
They also wished to assert their own religious and cultural identity.
From the 18th century onward Muslim reformers appeared upon the scene
who sought to reassert the teachings of Islam and to reform society on
the basis of Islamic teachings. One of the first among this group was
Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, who hailed from the Arabian peninsula and
died there in 1792. This reformer was supported by Muhammad ibn
al-Sa'ud, the founder of the first Saudi state. With this support
Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab was able to spread his teachings not only
in Arabia but even beyond its borders to other Islamic lands where his
reforms continue to wield influence to this day. In the 19th century
lslamic assertion took several different forms ranging from the Mahdi
movement of the Sudan and the Sanusiyyah in North Africa which fought
wars against European colonizers, to educational movements such as
that of Aligarh in India aiming to reeducate Muslims. In Egypt which,
because of al-Azhar University, remains to this day central to Islamic
learning, a number of reformers appear, each addressing some aspect of
Islamic thought. Some were concerned more with law, others economics,
and yet others the challenges posed by Western civilization with its
powerful science and technology. These included Jamal al-Din
al-Afghani who hailed originally from Persia but settled in Cairo and
who was the great champion of Pan-Islamism, that is the movement to
unite the Islamic world politically as well as religiously. His
student, Muhammad 'Abduh, who became the rector of al-Azhar. was also
very influential in Islamic theology and thought. Also of considerable
influence was his Syrian student, Rashid Rida, who held a position
closer to that of 'Abd al-Wahhab and stood for the strict application
of the Shari'ah. Among the most famous of these thinkers is Muhammad
Iqbal, the outstanding poet and philosopher who is considered as the
father of Pakistan.
Reform Organizations
Moreover, as Western
influence began to penetrate more deeply into the fiber of Islamic
society, organizations gradually grew up whose goal was to reform
society in practice along Islamic lines and prevent its
secularization. These included the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan
al-muslimin) founded in Egypt and with branches in many Muslim
countries, and the Jama'at-i Islami of Pakistan founded by the
influential Mawlana Mawdudi. These organizations have been usually
peaceful and have sought to reestablish an Islamic order through
education. During the last two decades, however, as a result of the
frustration of many Muslims in the face of pressures coming from a
secularized outside world, some have sought to reject the negative
aspects of Western thought and culture and to return to an Islamic
society based completely on the application of the Shari'ah. Today in
every Muslim country there are strong movements to preserve and
propagate Islamic teachings. In countries such as Saudi Arabia Islamic
Law is already being applied and in fact is the reason for the
prosperity, development and stability of the country. In other
countries where Islamic Law is not being applied, however, most of the
effort of Islamic movements is spent in making possible the full
application of the Shari'ah so that the nation can enjoy prosperity
along with the fulfillment of the faith of its people. In any case the
widespread desire for Muslims to have the religious law of Islam
applied and to reassert their religious values and their own identity
must not be equated with exceptional violent eruptions which do exist
but which are usually treated sensationally and taken out of
proportion by the mass media in the West.
In seeking to live successfully in the modern world, in
independence and according to Islamic principles, Muslim countries
have been emphasizing a great deal the significance of the role of
education and the importance of mastering Western science and
technology. Already in the 19th century, certain Muslim countries such
as Egypt, Ottoman Turkey and Persia established institutions of higher
learning where the modern sciences and especially medicine were taught.
During this century educational institutions at all levels have
proliferated throughout the Islamic world. Nearly every science
ranging from mathematics to biology as well as various fields of
modern technology are taught in these institutions and some notable
scientists have been produced by the Islamic world, men and women who
have often combined education in these institutions with training in
the West. In various parts of the Islamic world there is, however, a
sense that educational institutions must be expanded and also have
their standards improved to the level of the best institutions in the
world in various fields of learning especially science and technology.
At the same time there is an awareness that the educational system
must be based totally on Islamic principles and the influence of alien
cultural and ethical values and norms, to the extent that they are
negative, be diminished. To remedy this problem a number of
international Islamic educational conferences have been held, the
first one in Makkah in 1977, and the foremost thinkers of the Islamic
world have been brought together to study and ponder over the question
of the relation between Islam and modern science. This is an ongoing
process which is at the center of attention in many parts of the
Islamic world and which indicates the significance of educational
questions in the Islamic world today.
The Islamic world remains today a
vast land stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with an
important presence in Europe and America, animated by the teachings of
Islam and seeking to assert its own identity. Despite the presence of
nationalism and various secular ideologies in their midst, Muslims
wish to live in the modern world but without simply imitating blindly
the ways followed by the West. The Islamic world wishes to live at
peace with the West as well as the East but at the same time not to be
dominated by them. It wishes to devote its resources and energies to
building a better life for its people on the basis of the teachings of
Islam and not to squander its resources in either internal or external
conflicts. It seeks finally to create better understanding with the
West and to be better understood by the West. The destinies of the
Islamic world and the West cannot be totally separated and therefore
it is only in understanding each other better that they can serve
their own people more successfully and also contribute to a better
life for the whole of humanity.