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 ...