Ali Abdel Raziq
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Ali Abdel Raziq ( ar, ﻋﻠﻲ ﻋﺒﺪ ﺍﻟﺮﺍﺯﻕ) (1888–1966) was an Egyptian scholar of Islam, judge and government minister.Marshall Cavendish Reference. Illustrated Dictionary of the Muslim World Muslim World. Marshall Cavendish, 2010 p.79. His writings, some controversial, debated the role of religion and Islamic history in 20th-century politics and government. While the implication of his arguments still remain a point of debate, his 1925 book ''Islam and the Foundations of Governance'' argued against a role for religion in politics or the political prescriptive value of religious texts.Souad T. Ali. A religion, not a state: Ali 'Abd al-Raziq's Islamic justification of political secularism. University of Utah Press, 2009. Thomas M. Leonard (ed). Encyclopedia of the Developing World, Volume 2. Taylor & Francis, 2006. . p.878. He argued that Islamic texts were and should remain neutral in political debate and civil institution building. He attended
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
, and he was a scholar and jurist at
Al-Azhar Al-Azhar Mosque ( ar, الجامع الأزهر, al-Jāmiʿ al-ʾAzhar, lit=The Resplendent Congregational Mosque, arz, جامع الأزهر, Gāmiʿ el-ʾazhar), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt in the historic ...
,
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
.


Biography

Ali Abdel Raziq was born in
Minya Governorate Minya Governorate ( ar, محافظة المنيا ') is one of the governorates of Upper Egypt. Its capital city, Minya, is located on the left bank of the Nile River. Etymology The name originates from the chief city of the governorate, origi ...
in 1888 to a well-off family. His father, Hassan Abdel Raziq, was of Arab origin. He was a large farm-owner and was, in 1907, among the founders of the Umma Party. Ali Abdel Raziq's mother was of North African origin. His brother, Mustafa Abd al-Rizq, a well known philosopher, studied at Al-Azhar University under the famous reformer Muhammad Abduh. He later received his
'alim In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
degree from Al-Azhar in 1911. In 1912, he traveled to Oxford University to study economics and political science, but he returned to Cairo at the outbreak of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Back at Al-Azhar in 1915, he became a
qadi A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
(religious judge) in
Mansoura Mansoura (' , rural: ) is a city in Egypt, with a population of 960,423. It is the capital of the Dakahlia Governorate. Etymology ''Mansoura'' in Arabic means "victorious". The city is named after the El Mansoura Battle against Louis IX of Fr ...
. Ali became famous for his book ''Islam and the Foundations of Governance'' (''Al-Islam Wa Usul Al-Hukm''), published in 1925, and ''Consensus and Islamic Law'' (''Al-Ijma´ Fi Ash-Shari´ah Al-Islamiyyah''), published in 1947. Following popular debate about his 1925 book, Al-Azhar stripped him of his office, but he got it back in the 1940s. Ali, his father and his brother remained close to the Liberal Constitutional Party. He eventually became a government minister and lost his position as scholar and jurist at Al-Azhar. He twice served as Minister of Endowments, one of the three highest positions in religious administration, beside the Rector of Al-Azhar and the Grand Mufti. He died in 1966.


Work

The argument of his 1925 book has been summarized as "Islam does not advocate a specific form of government". He focused his criticism both at those who use religious law as contemporary political proscription and at the history of rulers claiming legitimacy by the caliphate.Bertrand Badie, Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Leonardo Morlino (eds). International Encyclopedia of Political Science, Volume 1. SAGE, 2011. p.1350. The focus of this debate was Turkish leader
Mustafa Kemal Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name ...
's abolition of the
caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
in 1924, and the response of some Arab Muslim scholars that it was incumbent upon Arabs, in particular, to reinstate the caliphate in Arab lands. He wrote that past rulers spread the notion of religious justification for the caliphate "so that they could use religion as a shield protecting their thrones against the attacks of rebels". The journalistic and academic debate that his book set off projected him into fame. The thesis ''Islam and the Foundations of Governance'' (''Al-Islam Wa Usul Al-Hukm'') was published recently by Hamed, the grandson of Abdel Raziq, with a familial introduction. He remains controversial, and his specific arguments are part of a longer tradition of
jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
and
scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...
. His work has since been both praised and condemned, as a precursor of secularist philosophy in Muslim societies. It has been criticized as having drawn on the works of Orientalist western writers.


Secularism

He was regarded as the intellectual father of Islamic secularism (the separation of state and religion, not the
secularization In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
of society). Its controversial standpoints regarding the necessity of the
caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
and religious government made the book trigger an intellectual and political battle in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. In essence, it claims that the Muslims may agree on any kind of government, religious or worldly, as long as it serves the interest and common welfare of their society.


Arguments

* The two main sources of Islamic law ( sharia), the
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
and the Sunnah (the tradition of Muhammad), neither demand nor reject the rule of a
caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
or imam. * There is no real
ijma ''Ijmāʿ'' ( ar, إجماع , " consensus") is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of the Islamic community on a point of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims regard ''ijmā as one of the secondary sources of Sharia law, after the Qur' ...
(consensus) on the necessity of the caliphate. * Experience shows that the caliphate was a series of disasters for the Muslim community, and there is no single rational argument for the re-establishment of the caliphate. As he recounts the horrors of the caliphate, among other things, one can conclude that he advocated a humanist kind of governance, probably a democratic state. The word 'secular' entered the Arab lexicon at the turn of the 20th century, bringing with it a host of meanings and interpretations. It was first introduced into Arab discourse, as a reference to the separation between religion and state. That later evolved to become "la dini", irreligious. In current circles, secularism is often both understood as "almaniya" and associated with immorality or the lack of ethics.


Criticism

Syrian Islamic theologian
Muhammad Rashid Rida Muḥammad Rashīd ibn ʿAlī Riḍā ibn Muḥammad Shams al-Dīn ibn Muḥammad Bahāʾ al-Dīn ibn Munlā ʿAlī Khalīfa (23 September 1865 or 18 October 1865 – 22 August 1935 CE/ 1282 - 1354 AH), widely known as Sayyid Rashid Rida ( ar, ...
(d. 1935) was one of the most fierce critics of 'Ali Abd al-Raziq and his ideas. Rida described the reaction to his controversial work ''al-Islam wa ’usul al-hukm'' slam and the Foundations of Political Powerto the "sudden arrival of the
Day of Judgment The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
". Through ''
Al-Manar Al-Manar ( ar, المنار, ''al-Manār'', lit='' The Lighthouse'') is a Lebanese satellite television station owned and operated by the political party Hezbollah,
'', Rashid Rida charged ‘Abd al-Raziq with blasphemy and ''
Kufr Kafir ( ar, كافر '; plural ', ' or '; feminine '; feminine plural ' or ') is an Arabic and Islamic term which, in the Islamic tradition, refers to a person who disbelieves in God as per Islam, or denies his authority, or rejects ...
'' (disbelief) that no '' batini'', '' Mu’tazili'', or ''
Jahmi Jahmī ( ar, جهمي) was a pejorative term used by early Islamic scholars to refer to the followers of Jahm ibn Safwan (d. 128/746). The four schools of jurisprudence (''fiqh'') reject the Jahmi belief and the fourth Imam, Ahmad ibn Hanbal was ...
'' have ever uttered before.
Excommunicating Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
'Ali Abd al-Raziq as an apostate (''
murtad Apostasy in Islam ( ar, ردة, or , ) is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslim, in thought, word, or through deed. An apostate from Islam is referred to by using the Arabic and Islamic term ''murtād'' (). It includes no ...
''), Rida praised the Azhari court verdict stripping Abd al-Raziq of his scholarly titles as a "great manifest victory for the believers over the atheists". Rida condemned the work as
“.. a destruction and uprooting of the Islamic regime and its legislation; a tearing apart of its
community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...
, and a complete endorsement of disobedience of Allah and His messenger and all religious rules pertaining to the secular order, whether personal, political, civil or criminal... it considers ignorant all generations of Muslims: The Companions, Successors, ''
Imams Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...
'', '' Mujtahids'',
Hadith scholars Hadith studies ( ar, علم الحديث ''ʻilm al-ḥadīth'' "science of hadith", also science of hadith, or science of hadith criticism or hadith criticism) consists of several religious scholarly disciplines used by Muslim scholars in th ...
, and theologians. All in all, it calls for taking a path other than that of the believers, one at a conflict with Islam as it is understood by Muslims from the first generations to the present.”


See also

*
Muhammad Bakhit al-Muti'i Muhammad Bakhit al-Muti'i (1854 or 1856 — 1935) was the Grand Mufti of Egypt, judge in the Shari'a Courts, rector of al-Azhar, and one of the leading Hanafi-Maturidi scholars of his time. He was educated at al-Azhar and was teaching in this ...
*
Mustafa Sabri Mustafa Sabri Effendi ( ota, مصطفى صبري أفندي; 1869 – 1954) was the last Shaykh al-Islām of the Ottoman Empire. He is known for his opinions condemning the Turkish nationalist movement under Kemal Atatürk. Due to his resist ...
* Muhammad Rashid Rida


Writings

* Abdel Raziq, Ali: ''Al-Islam Wa Usul Al-Hukm: Bahth Fi-l Khilafa Wa-l Hukuma Fi-l Islam'' (Islam and the Foundations of Governance: Research on the Caliphate and Governance in Islam). Critique and commentary by Mamdooh Haqqi (Beirut, 1978). * Abdel Razek, A., trans. by Loutfi, M., ed. Filali-Ansary, A.
Islam and the Foundations of Political Power
'. In Translation: Modern Muslim Thinkers Vol. 2. Aga Khan University-Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) / Edinburgh University Press, 2013.


References

* Adams, Charles C.: Islam and Modernism in Egypt. Russell & Russell, New York, 1968 (2ndd Edition). Page: 259–68. * Meier, Andreas: Der Politische Auftrag des Islam (The Political Mission of Islam). Wuppertal (GER), 1994. Page: 106–114.


External links


Islam and the Foundations of Political Power
(full eBook) at Aga Khan University eCommons * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raziq, Ali Abdel 1888 births 1966 deaths 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Sharia judges Alumni of the University of Oxford Al-Azhar University alumni People from Minya Governorate Endowments Ministers of Egypt