Liberalism and progressivism within
Islam involve professed Muslims who have created a considerable body of
progressive thought about Islamic understanding and practice.
Their work is sometimes characterized as "
progressive Islam" ( ar, الإسلام التقدمي '). Some scholars, such as
Omid Safi
Omid Safi is a Sufi and Iranian-American Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University. He served as the Director of Duke Islamic Studies Center from July 2014 to June 2019 and was a columnist for ''On Being''. Safi special ...
, differentiate between "Progressive Muslims" (post-colonial, anti-imperialist, and critical of modernity) and "Liberal advocates of Islam" (an older movement embracing modernity).
Liberal Islam originally emerged out of the
Islamic revivalist movement of the 18th-19th centuries.
Liberal and progressive ideas within Islam are considered controversial by some
traditional Muslims, who criticize liberal Muslims on the grounds of being too
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
and/or
rationalistic.
The methodologies of liberal and progressive Islam rest on the re-interpretation of traditional
Islamic sacred scriptures (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 other texts (the
Hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
), a process called ''
ijtihad'' (see
below).
This can vary from the slight to the most liberal, where only the ''meaning'' of the Quran is considered to be a
revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities.
Background
Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
, with its expression in words seen as the work of the
Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
in his particular time and context.
Liberal Muslims see themselves as returning to the principles of the early
Ummah
' (; ar, أمة ) is an Arabic word meaning "community". It is distinguished from ' ( ), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. Thus, it can be said to be a supra-national community with a common history.
It is a synonym for ' ...
and as promoting the
ethical
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...
and
pluralistic intent of the Quran.
The reform movement uses
monotheism
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxfo ...
(''tawhid'') "as an organizing principle for human society and the basis of religious knowledge, history,
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
, aesthetics, and ethics, as well as social, economic and world order".
Liberal Muslims affirm the promotion of progressive values such as
democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...
,
gender equality
Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
,
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
,
LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, ...
,
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
,
religious pluralism
Religious pluralism is an attitude or policy regarding the diversity of religious belief systems co-existing in society. It can indicate one or more of the following:
* Recognizing and tolerating the religious diversity of a society or coun ...
,
interfaith marriage,
freedom of expression
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...
,
freedom of thought
Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints.
Overview
Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency ...
, and
freedom of religion
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freed ...
;
opposition to
theocracy
Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs.
Etymology
The word theocracy originates fr ...
and total rejection of
Islamism and
Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a puritanical, revivalist, and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. Islamic fundamentalists are of the view that Muslim-majority countries should return ...
;
and a modern view of
Islamic theology
Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding '' ʿaqīdah'' (creed). The main schools of Islamic Theology include the Qadariyah, Falasifa, Jahmiyya, Murji'ah, Muʿtazila, Batin ...
,
ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...
, ''
sharia'',
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
, tradition, and other ritualistic practices in Islam.
Liberal Islam emphasizes the re-interpretation of the Islamic scriptures in order to preserve their relevance in the 21st century.
Background in Islamic philosophy
The
rise of Islam, based on both the transmission of 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 life of
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
, strongly altered the power balances and perceptions of origin of power in the Mediterranean region.
Early Islamic philosophy emphasized an inexorable link between
religion and science
The relationship between religion and science involves discussions that interconnect the study of the natural world, history, philosophy, and theology. Even though the ancient and medieval worlds did not have conceptions resembling the modern u ...
, and the process of ''
ijtihad'' to find
truth
Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as belie ...
—in effect, ''all'' philosophy was "
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
" as it had real implications for governance. This view was challenged by the "rationalist"
Muʿtazilite philosophers, who held a more
Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
view, emphasizing reason above revelation, and as such are known to modern scholars as the first
speculative theologians of Islam; they were supported by a secular aristocracy who sought freedom of action independent 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 ...
. By the late ancient period, however, the "traditionalist"
Ashʿarīte theology had in general triumphed in Islam. According to the Ashʿarītes, reason must be subordinate to the Quran and the ''
sunnah''.
Ibn Rushd
Ibn Rushd
Ibn Rushd ( ar, ; full name in ; 14 April 112611 December 1198), often Latinized as Averroes ( ), was an
Andalusian polymath and jurist who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astronomy, physics, psychology, ...
, often
Latinized as Averroes, was an
Andalusian polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
. Being described as "founding father of secular thought in Western Europe",
he was known by the nickname ''the Commentator'' for his precious commentaries on Aristotle's works. His main work was ''
The Incoherence of the Incoherence
''The Incoherence of the Incoherence'' ( ar, تهافت التهافت ''Tahāfut al-Tahāfut'') by Andalusian Muslim polymath and philosopher Averroes (Arabic , ''ibn Rushd'', 1126–1198) is an important Islamic philosophical treatise in w ...
'' in which he defended philosophy against
al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111; ), full name (), and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali (Persian: امام محمد غزالی) or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Persian poly ...
's claims in ''
The Incoherence of the Philosophers
''The Incoherence of the Philosophers'' (تهافت الفلاسفة ''Tahāfut al-Falāsifaʰ'' in Arabic) is the title of a landmark 11th-century work by the Persian theologian Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazali and a student o ...
''. His other works were the ''Fasl al-Maqal'' and the ''Kitab al-Kashf''.
Ibn Rushd presented an argument in ''Fasl al-Maqal'' (''Decisive Treatise'') providing a justification for the emancipation of science and philosophy from official
Ash'ari
Ashʿarī theology or Ashʿarism (; ar, الأشعرية: ) is one of the main Sunnī schools of Islamic theology, founded by the Muslim scholar, Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer, and scholastic theologian Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī in t ...
theology and that there is no inherent contradiction between philosophy and religion; thus
Averroism has been considered a precursor to modern secularism.
[ p.48] Ibn Rushd accepts the principle of women's equality. According to him they should be educated and allowed to serve in the military; the best among them might be tomorrow's philosophers or rulers. The 13th-century philosophical movement in
Latin Christian and
Jewish tradition
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites"" ...
based on Ibn Rushd's work is called
Averroism. Ibn Rushd became something of a symbolic figure in the debate over the decline and proposed revitalization of Islamic thought and Islamic society in the later 20th century. A notable proponent of such a revival of Averroist thought in Islamic society was
Mohammed Abed al-Jabri
Mohammed Abed Al Jabri ( ar, محمد عابد الجابري; 27 December 1935 – 3 May 2010 Rabat) was one of the most known Moroccan and Arab philosophers; he taught philosophy, Arab philosophy, and Islamic thought in Mohammed V Universit ...
with his ''Critique de la Raison Arabe'' (1982).
Rifa'a al-Tahtawi
![Tahtawi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Tahtawi.jpg)
In 1831,
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
Egyptologist
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religiou ...
and
renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
intellectual
Rifa'a al-Tahtawi
Rifa'a at-Tahtawi (also spelt Tahtawy; ar, رفاعة رافع الطهطاوي, ; 1801–1873) was an Egyptian writer, teacher, translator, Egyptologist and renaissance intellectual. Tahtawi was among the first Egyptian scholars to write about ...
was part of the statewide effort to modernize the Egyptian infrastructure and education. They introduced his Egyptian audience to
Enlightenment ideas such as
secular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
authority and political rights and liberty; his ideas regarding how a modern civilized society ought to be and what constituted by extension a civilized or "good Egyptian"; and his ideas on public interest and public good. Tahtawi's work was the first effort in what became an Egyptian renaissance (''
nahda
The Nahda ( ar, النهضة, translit=an-nahḍa, meaning "the Awakening"), also referred to as the Arab Awakening or Enlightenment, was a cultural movement that flourished in Arabic-speaking regions of the Ottoman Empire, notably in Egypt, Leb ...
'') that flourished in the years between 1860 and 1940.
Tahtawi is considered one of the early adapters to Islamic Modernism. Islamic Modernists attempted to integrate Islamic principles with European social theories. In 1826, Al-Tahtawi was sent to Paris by Mehmet Ali. Tahtawi studied at an educational mission for five years, returning in 1831. Tahtawi was appointed director of the School of Languages. At the school, he worked translating European books into Arabic. Tahtawi was instrumental in translating military manuals, geography, and European history. In total, al-Tahtawi supervised the translation of over 2,000 foreign works into Arabic. Al-Tahtawi even made favorable comments about French society in some of his books. Tahtawi stressed that the Principles of Islam are compatible with those of European Modernity.
In his piece, ''The Extraction of Gold or an Overview of Paris,'' Tahtawi discusses the patriotic responsibility of citizenship. Tahtawi uses Roman civilization as an example for what could become of Islamic civilizations. At one point all Romans are united under one Caesar but split into East and West. After splitting, the two nations see "all its wars ended in defeat, and it retreated from a perfect existence to nonexistence." Tahtawi understands that if Egypt is unable to remain united, it could fall prey to outside invaders. Tahtawi stresses the importance of citizens defending the patriotic duty of their country. One way to protect one's country according to Tahtawi, is to accept the changes that come with a modern society.
Muhammad Abduh
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
Islamic jurist and religious scholar
Muhammad Abduh, regarded as one of the key founding figures of
Islamic Modernism
Islamic modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge" attempting to reconcile the Islamic faith with modern values such as democracy, civil rights, rationality, ...
, broke the rigidity of the Muslim ritual, dogma, and family ties.
Abduh argued that Muslims could not simply rely on the interpretations of texts provided by medieval clerics, they needed to use reason to keep up with changing times. He said that in Islam man was not created to be led by a bridle, man was given intelligence so that he could be guided by knowledge. According to Abduh, a teacher's role was to direct men towards study. He believed that Islam encouraged men to detach from the world of their ancestors and that Islam reproved the slavish imitation of tradition. He said that the two greatest possessions relating to religion that man was graced with were independence of will and independence of thought and opinion. It was with the help of these tools that he could attain happiness. He believed that the growth of western civilization in Europe was based on these two principles. He thought that Europeans were roused to act after a large number of them were able to exercise their choice and to seek out facts with their minds. In his works, he portrays God as educating humanity from its childhood through its youth and then on to adulthood. According to him, Islam is the only religion whose dogmas can be proven by reasoning. He was against
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...
and thought that it was an archaic custom. He believed in a form of Islam that would liberate men from enslavement, provide equal rights for all human beings, abolish the religious scholar's monopoly on
exegesis
Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...
and abolish
racial discrimination
Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...
and religious compulsion.
[Kügelgen, Anke von. "ʿAbduh, Muḥammad." Encyclopaedia of Islam, v. 3. Edited by: Gudrun Krämer, Denis Matringe, John Nawas and Everett Rowson. Brill, 2009. Syracuse University. 23 April 2009]
Muhammad Abduh claimed in his book ''Al-Idtihad fi Al-Nasraniyya wa Al-Islam'' that no one had exclusive religious authority in the Islamic world. He argued that the
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 ...
did not represent religious authority, because he was not infallible nor was the Caliph the person whom the revelation was given to; therefore, according to Abduh, the Caliph and other Muslims are equal. ʿAbduh argued that the Caliph should have the respect of the
ummah
' (; ar, أمة ) is an Arabic word meaning "community". It is distinguished from ' ( ), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. Thus, it can be said to be a supra-national community with a common history.
It is a synonym for ' ...
but not rule it; the unity of the umma is a moral unity which does not prevent its division into
national state
A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group.
A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...
s.
Mohammad Abduh made great efforts to preach harmony between
Sunnis and
Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...
s. Broadly speaking, he preached brotherhood between all schools of thought in Islam.
[Benzine, Rachid. Les nouveaux penseurs de l'islam, p. 43-44.] Abduh regularly called for better friendship between religious communities. As Christianity was the second biggest religion 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 ...
, he devoted special efforts towards friendship between Muslims and Christians. He had many Christian friends and many a time he stood up to defend
Copts.
[
]
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
Qur'an
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 ...
ic thinker, author, academic Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd is one of the leading liberal theologians in Islam. He is famous for his project of a humanistic Qur'anic hermeneutics
Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles or methods used when immediate ...
, which "challenged mainstream views" on the Qur'an sparking "controversy and debate." While not denying that the Qur'an was of divine origin, Zayd argued that it was a "cultural product" that had to be read in the context of the language and culture of seventh century Arabs, and could be interpreted in more than one way.[ He also criticized the use of religion to exert political power.][ In 1995 an Egyptian Sharia court declared him an ]apostate
Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of emb ...
, this led to threats of death and his fleeing Egypt several week later. (He later "quietly" returned to Egypt where he died.[)
According to scholar ]Navid Kermani
Navid Kermani (; fa, نوید کرمانی; ; born 27 November 1967 in Siegen, Germany) is a German writer and orientalist. He is the author of several novels as well as books and essays on Islam, the Middle East and Christian-Muslim dialogue. ...
"three key themes" emerge from Abu Zayd's work:
# to trace the various interpretations and historical settings of the single Qur'anic text from the early days of Islam up to the present;
# to demonstrate the "interpretational diversity" () that exists within the Islamic tradition;
# and to show how this diversity has been "increasingly neglected" across Islamic history.[ Kermani, "From revelation to interpretation", 2004: p.174]
Abu Zayd saw himself as an heir to the Muʿtazila, "particularly their idea of the created Qurʿān and their tendency toward metaphorical interpretation."
Abu Zayd strongly opposed the belief in a "single, precise and valid interpretation of the Qur'an handed down by the Prophet for all times".[ Kermani, "From revelation to interpretation", 2004: p.173]
In his view, the Quran made Islamic Arab culture a `culture of the text` () par excellence, but because the language of the Quran is not self-explanatory, this implied Islamic Arab culture was also a culture of interpretation ().[ Kermani, "From revelation to interpretation", 2004: p.171] Abu Zayd emphasized "intellect" () in understanding the Quran, as opposed to "a hermeneutical approach which gives priority to the narrated traditions hadith_.html" ;"title="hadith.html" ;"title="hadith">hadith ">hadith.html" ;"title="hadith">hadith (). As a reflection of this Abu Zayd used the term (interpretation) for efforts to understand the Quran, while in the Islamic sciences, the literature that explained the Quran was referred to as (commentary, explanation).[ Kermani, "From revelation to interpretation", 2004: p.172]
For Abu Zayd, interpretation goes beyond explanation or commentary, "for without" the Qur'an would not have meaning:
The [Qur'anic] text changed from the very first moment - that is, when the Prophet recited it at the moment of its revelation - from its existence as a divine text (''nass ilahi''), and became something understandable, a human text (''nass insani''), because it changed from revelation to interpretation (''li-annahu tahawwala min al-tanzil ila al-ta'wil''). The Prophet's understanding of the text is one of the first phases of movement resulting from the text's connection with the human intellect.
Abu Zayd's critical approach to classical and contemporary Islamic discourse in the fields of theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
, philosophy, law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
, politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
, and humanism
Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and Agency (philosophy), agency of Human, human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical in ...
, promoted modern Islamic thought that might enable Muslims to build a bridge between their own tradition and the modern world of freedom of speech, equality (minority rights
Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group.
Civil-rights movements ...
, women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
, social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...
), human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
, democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...
and globalisation.
Ali Shariati
Ali Shariati Mazinani (Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
: علی شریعتی مزینانی, 23 November 1933 – 18 June 1977) was an Iranian revolutionary and sociologist who focused on the sociology of religion
Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use both of quantitative methods (surveys, ...
. He believed that Socialism
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
was compatible with Islam and, in fact, that it was from the beginning. It seems that his eagerness to explore socialism
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
began with the translation of the book '' Abu Zarr: The God-Worshipping Socialist'' by the Egyptian thinker Abdul Hamid Jowdat-al-Sahar (ar:عبد الحميد جودة السحار). According to this book, Abu Dhar was the very first socialist. Then, Shariarti's father declared that his son believed that the principles of Abu Dhar are fundamental. Even some thinkers described Shariati as the modern-day Abu Dhar in Iran. Of all his thoughts, there is his insistence on the necessity of revolutionary action. Shariati believed that Marxism
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...
could not provide the Third World
The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
with the ideological means for its own liberation. One of his premises was that Islam by nature is a revolutionary ideology. Therefore, Islam could relate to the modern world as an ideology. According to Shariati, the historical and original origin of human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...
problems was the emergence of private ownership. He believed that in the modern era, the appearance of the machine was the second most fundamental change in the human condition. In fact, private ownership and the emergence of the machine, if considered one of two curves of history, belong to the second period of history. The first period is collective ownership. However, Shariati gave a critique of the historical development of religion and the modern philosophical and ideological movements and their relationship to both private ownership and the emergence of the machine.
In addition to socialism, he believed in women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
, as evidenced in his book '' Fatima Is Fatima'', where he argued that Fatima Zahra
Fāṭima bint Muḥammad ( ar, فَاطِمَة ٱبْنَت مُحَمَّد}, 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, t ...
the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
is as a role model for Muslim women around the world and a woman who was free. She was described as , 'the symbol of a responsible, fighting woman when facing her time and the fate of her society.' Also, he criticised Western liberal democracy
Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into ...
for its direct relationship to the plundering of Third World
The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
nations and instead promoted Commitment Democracy. Commitment Democracy was, according to Shariati, the government of Imam Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
. For explaining better the commitment to democracy, he at first divides between two concepts. One of them is Syasat and the other is politic. Syasat is a philosophy by the government that want to have the responsibility of changing and becoming the society, not its being and existence. In fact, Syasat is a progressive and dynamic thing. The aim of the government in the philosophy of Syasat is to change social foundations, institutions and even all the norms of society namely culture, morality and desires etc. in simple word, Syasat want to make exist the people. On contrary, there is no making in politics. In other words, politics is the following of having people not making them. Of course, Shariati prefers Syasat on politics because the former is more progressive. He considers making human (Ensan Sazi). In fact, his utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island societ ...
is constructed with three concepts of Gnosis, equality
Equality may refer to:
Society
* Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing
** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elit ...
and freedom. Commitment democracy appeared out of his lecture in Hoseyniyeh Ershad; a famous lecture with the name of Ummah
' (; ar, أمة ) is an Arabic word meaning "community". It is distinguished from ' ( ), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. Thus, it can be said to be a supra-national community with a common history.
It is a synonym for ' ...
and Imamate. According to him, an Imam is one who wants to guide humans not only in political, social and economic dimensions but also in all existential dimensions. He believes that Imam is alive everywhere and every time. On one hand, Imamate is not a metaphysical belief but a revolutionary guide philosophy. He added that Imam has to guide people not according to his desire like a dictator but to Islamic ideology and authentic values.
Ijtihad
Ijtihad (lit. effort, physical or mental, expended in a particular activity) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question.[ It is contrasted with '']taqlid
''Taqlid'' (Arabic تَقْليد ''taqlīd'') is an Islamic term denoting the conformity of one person to the teaching of another. The person who performs ''taqlid'' is termed ''muqallid''. The definite meaning of the term varies depending on con ...
'' (imitation, conformity to legal precedent).[ According to classical Sunni theory, ''ijtihad'' requires expertise in the Arabic language, theology, revealed texts, and principles of jurisprudence ('']usul al-fiqh
Principles of Islamic jurisprudence, also known as ''uṣūl al-fiqh'' ( ar, أصول الفقه, lit. roots of fiqh), are traditional methodological principles used in Islamic jurisprudence (''fiqh'') for deriving the rulings of Islamic law (''s ...
''),[ and is not employed where authentic and authoritative texts (Qur'an and hadith) are considered unambiguous with regard to the question, or where there is an existing scholarly consensus ('']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' ...
'').[ Ijtihad is considered to be a religious duty for those qualified to perform it.][ An Islamic scholar who is qualified to perform ''ijtihad'' is called a ''mujtahid''.][
Starting from the 18th century, some Muslim reformers began calling for abandonment of ''taqlid'' and emphasis on ''ijtihad'', which they saw as a return to Islamic origins.][ Public debates in the Muslim world surrounding ''ijtihad'' continue to the present day.][ The advocacy of ''ijtihad'' has been particularly associated with Islamic modernists. Among contemporary Muslims in the West there have emerged new visions of ''ijtihad'' which emphasize substantive moral values over traditional juridical methodology.][
]
Specific issues
Feminism
A combination of Islam and feminism has been advocated as "a feminist discourse and practice articulated within an Islamic paradigm" by Margot Badran in 2002. Islamic feminists ground their arguments in Islam and its teachings, seek the full equality of women and men in the personal and public sphere, and can include non-Muslims in the discourse and debate. Islamic feminism is defined by Islamic scholars as being more radical than secular feminism, and as being anchored within the discourse of Islam with the Quran as its central text.
During recent times, the concept of Islamic feminism has grown further with Islamic groups looking to garner support from many aspects of society. In addition, educated Muslim women are striving to articulate their role in society.
Examples of Islamic feminist groups are the , founded by Meena Keshwar Kamal
Meena Keshwar Kamal (Pashto/ fa, مینا کشور کمال; 27 February 1956 – 4 February 1987), commonly known as Meena, was an Afghan revolutionary political activist, feminist, women's rights activist and founder of Revolutionary Associati ...
, Muslim Women's Quest for Equality from India, and Sisters in Islam
Sisters in Islam (SIS) is a Malaysia, Malaysian civil society organisation committed to promoting the Women's rights, rights of women within the frameworks of Islam and universal human rights. Its efforts to promote the rights of Muslim women a ...
from Malaysia, founded by Zainah Anwar
Zainah Anwar is a prominent Malaysian non-governmental organisation leader, activist and Muslim feminist. She was the head of the civil society organisation Sisters in Islam for more than two decades before stepping down. In 2013 she was named ...
and Amina Wadud
Amina Wadud (born September 25, 1952) is an American Muslim theologian. Wadud serves as Professor Emeritus of Islamic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and is also a visiting scholar at Starr King School for the Ministry. Wadud has writ ...
among other five women.
In 2014, the Selangor
Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...
Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) issued a fatwa declaring that Sisters In Islam, as well as any other organisation promoting religious liberalism and pluralism, deviate from the teachings of Islam. According to the edict, publications that are deemed to promote liberal and pluralistic religious thinking are to be declared unlawful and confiscated, while social media is also to be monitored and restricted. As fatwas are legally binding in Malaysia, SIS is challenging it on constitutional grounds.
Human rights
Moderate Islamic political thought contends that the nurturing of the Muslim identity and the propagation of values such as democracy and human rights are not mutually exclusive, but rather should be promoted together.[''The Fundamentalist City?: Religiosity and the Remaking of Urban Space''](_blank)
Nezar Alsayyad (ed.), Chapter 7: "Hamas in Gaza Refugee camps: The Construction of Trapped Spaces for the Survival of Fundamentalism", Francesca Giovannini. Taylor & Francis, 2010. ."
Most liberal Muslims believe that Islam promotes the notion of absolute equality of all humanity, and that it is one of its central concepts. Therefore, a breach of human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
has become a source of great concern to most liberal Muslims.[Hassan Mahmoud Khalil: "Islam's position on violence and violation of human rights", Dar Al-Shaeb, 1994.] Liberal Muslims differ with their culturally conservative counterparts in that they believe that all humanity is represented under the umbrella of human rights. Many Muslim majority countries have signed international human rights treaties, but the impact of these largely remains to be seen in local legal systems.
Muslim liberals often reject traditional interpretations of Islamic law, which allows Ma malakat aymanukum
Islamic views on slavery represent a complex and multifaceted body of Islamic thought,Brockopp, Jonathan E., “Slaves and Slavery”, in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington D ...
and slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. They say that slavery opposed Islamic principles which they believe to be based on justice and equality and some say that verses relating to slavery or "Ma malakat aymanukum" now can not be applied due to the fact that the world has changed, while others say that those verses are totally misinterpreted and twisted to legitimize slavery. In the 20th century, South Asian scholars Ghulam Ahmed Pervez
Ghulam Ahmad Parwez ( pa, ; 1903–1985), widely known as Allama Parwez, was a pioneer of Quranic doctrine from pre-Independence India and later Pakistan. He attempted to rationally interpret Quranic themes, by challenging the established Sun ...
and Amir Ali argued that the expression ''ma malakat aymanukum'' should be properly read in the past tense. When some called for reinstatement of slavery in Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
upon its independence from the British colonial rule
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts est ...
, Pervez argued that the past tense of this expression means that the Quran had imposed "an unqualified ban" on slavery.
Liberal Muslims have argued against death penalty for apostasy based on the Quranic verse that "There shall be no compulsion in religion."
LGBT rights
In January 2013, the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD), founded in 2013, is an American support and advocacy organization for LGBTQ Muslims.
History
The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity was launched in January 2013 in Atlanta. ...
(MASGD) was launched. The organization was formed by members of the Queer Muslim Working Group, with the support of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Several initial MASGD members previously had been involved with the Al-Fatiha Foundation, including Faisal Alam
Faisal Alam is a gay Pakistani American man who founded the Al-Fatiha Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing the cause of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Muslims.
Alam arrived in the United States from Pakistan in 1987, a ...
and Imam Daayiee Abdullah
Daayiee Abdullah (born Sidney Thompson ar, داعي عبد الله) is an American Imam based in Washington, D.C. Abdullah is said to be one of five openly gay Imams in the world (the others being Muhsin Hendricks of South Africa, Ludovic-Moha ...
.
The Safra Project for women is based in the UK. It supports and works on issues relating to prejudice LGBTQ Muslim women. It was founded in October 2001 by Muslim LBT women. The Safra Project's "ethos is one of inclusiveness and diversity."
In Australia, Nur Wahrsage has been an advocate for LGBTI Muslims and founded Marhaba, a support group for queer Muslims in Melbourne, Australia. In May 2016, Wahrsage revealed that he is homosexual in an interview on SBS2’s The Feed, being the first openly gay Imam in Australia.
In Canada, Salaam was founded as the first gay Muslim organization in Canada and the second in the world. Salaam was found in 1993 by El-Farouk Khaki
El-Farouk Khaki (born October 26, 1963) is a Tanzanian-born Muslim Canadian of Indian origin who is a refugee and immigration lawyer, and human rights activist on issues including gender equality, sexual orientation, and progressive Islam. He was ...
, who organized the Salaam/Al-Fateha International Conference in 2003.[Catherine Patch, "Queer Muslims find peace; El-Farouk Khaki founded Salaam Offers a place to retain spirituality", ''Toronto Star'', June 15, 2006]
In May 2009, the Toronto Unity Mosque / el-Tawhid Juma Circle was founded by Laury Silvers, a University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
religious studies scholar, alongside Muslim gay-rights activists El-Farouk Khaki and Troy Jackson. Unity Mosque/ETJC is a gender-equal, LGBT+ affirming, mosque.
In November 2012, a prayer room was set up in Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
by gay Islamic scholar and founder of the group 'Homosexual Muslims of France' Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed
Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed (born 1977) is a French-Algerian imam. An openly gay Muslim, Zahed is the founder of an Islamic prayer room in Paris, France, with the goal of accommodating the LGBT and feminist Muslim communities. He also founded the LGB ...
. It was described by the press as the first gay-friendly mosque in Europe. The reaction from the rest of the Muslim community in France has been mixed, the opening has been condemned by the Grand Mosque of Paris
The Grand Mosque of Paris (french: Grande Mosquée de Paris), also known as the Great Mosque of Paris or simply the Paris Mosque, is located in the 5th arrondissement and is one of the largest mosques in France. There are prayer rooms, an outdoo ...
.
Examples of Muslim LGBT media works are the 2006 Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
's documentary ''Gay Muslims
''Gay Muslims'' (2006) is a Channel 4 documentary about a man named Joe Zakar, produced and directed by Cara Lavan, about the experiences of five Muslim people who identify as lesbian and gay and how they challenge the heterosexual-worldvi ...
'', the film production company Unity Productions Foundation, the 2007 and 2015 documentary films '' A Jihad for Love'' and '' A Sinner in Mecca'', both produced by Parvez Sharma
Parvez Sharma is a New York-based Indian filmmaker, author, and journalist. He is a recipient of the 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship in the film/video category. He was amongst the 173 fellows selected from 3000 applicants in the 94th year of the fe ...
, and the Jordanian LGBT publication ''My.Kali
''My Kali'' is an online pan-Arab LGBT magazine, published in Amman, Jordan in English since 2007 and in Arabic since 2016. It is named after its publisher, openly gay Jordanian model and activist Khalid "Kali" Abdel-Hadi.
History
''My Kali'' wa ...
''.
Secularism
The definition and application of secularism
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...
, especially the place of religion in society, varies among Muslim countries as it does among non-Muslim countries. As the concept of secularism varies among secularists in the Muslim world, reactions of Muslim intellectuals to the pressure of 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 ...
also varies. On the one hand, secularism is condemned by some Muslim intellectuals who do not feel that religious influence should be removed from the public sphere. On the other hand, secularism is claimed by others to be compatible with Islam. For example, the quest for secularism has inspired some Muslim scholars who argue that secular government is the best way to observe ''sharia''; "enforcing hariathrough coercive power of the state negates its religious nature, because Muslims would be observing the law of the state and not freely performing their religious obligation as Muslims" says Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, a professor of law at Emory University and author of ''Islam and the secular state : negotiating the future of Shariʻa''. Moreover, some scholars argue that secular states have existed in the Muslim world since the Middle Ages.
Egalitarianism
Islam is often described as possessing a "decidedly egalitarian spirit", and "in principle egalitarian, recognizing no superiority of one believer over another by birth or descent, race or nationality, or social status", (slaves and women notwithstanding). Nonetheless, Muslims known as Sayyid
''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhamma ...
s (those accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
) have special privileges in Islam, notably of tax exemptions and a share in Khums.
Discrimination also exists in regards of intermarriage between persons of Arab and non-Arab lineages, as can be found in a number of fatwa sites.
*According to Darul Ifta Birmingham (Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...
fiqh) quoting Raddul Muhtar: 'An Ajmi (non-Arab) cannot be a match for a woman of Arab descent, no matter that he be an ''Aalim'' (religious scholar) or even a Sultan (ruling authority).'[
*The website Islamic Virtues quotes the ]Shafi’i
The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
manual ''Reliance of the Traveller and Tools of the Worshipper'': 'And the ''ajami'' (non-Arab) is not suitable for an Arab woman', ... " (the quote goes on to discourage marriages between Muslims of different tribes).
*Still another site ("Answered according to Shafi'i
The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
Fiqh by Qibla.com ... Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed") states: "... most of the scholars do consider this aspect .e. lineagefor suitability, therefore a non-Arab is not suitable for an Arab. And a non- Qurayshi is not suitable for a Qurayshi woman ... "
This is notably in direct contrast to the Prophet Muhammad's last sermon, "...All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action."
Movements
{{progressivism, by region
{{for, individual movements, Liberal and progressive Islam in Europe, Liberal and progressive Islam in North America, List of Islamic feminist movements
Over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, in accordance with their increasingly modern societies and outlooks, liberal Muslims have tended to reinterpret many aspects of the application of their religion in their life in an attempt to reconnect. This is particularly true of Muslims who now find themselves living in non-Muslim countries.[Being a Muslim in the U.S.ا](_blank)
{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103092804/http://islamlib.com/en/article/being-a-muslim-in-the-us , date=January 3, 2010
At least one observer (Max Rodenbeck
Max Rodenbeck (born 1962) is a British/American journalist and author based in Delhi . He is South Asia Bureau Chief for ''The Economist'' magazine, where he has written on international affairs for more than 30 years. He was previously ''The Econo ...
) has noted several challenges to "reform"—i.e. accommodation with the enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
, reason and science, the separation of religion and politics—that the other two Abrahamic faiths did not have to grapple with: whereas Christian and Jewish reform evolved over centuries, in relatively organic and self-generated—albeit often bloody—fashion, the challenge to Islam of such concepts as empirical reasoning, the nation-state, the theory of evolution, and individualism arrived all in a heap and all too often at the point of a gun.[{{cite journal, last1=Rodenbeck , first1=Max, title=How She Wants to Modify Muslims eview of ''Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now'' by Ayaan Hirsi Alijournal=New York Review of Books , date=3 December 2015, volume=LXII, issue=19, page=36, url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/dec/03/ayaan-hirsi-ali-wants-modify-muslims/, access-date=18 November 2015]
In addition, traditional sharia law has been shaped in all its complexity by serving for centuries as "the backbone" of legal systems of Muslim states, while millions of Muslim now live in non-Muslim states. Islam also lacks a "widely recognized religious hierarchy to explain doctrinal changes or to enforce them" because it has no entralchurch.[
]
Islamic Modernism
{{Main, Islamic Modernism
Islamic Modernism
Islamic modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge" attempting to reconcile the Islamic faith with modern values such as democracy, civil rights, rationality, ...
, also sometimes referred to as Modernist Salafism, is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response"{{#tag:ref, "Islamic modernism was the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge. Started in India and Egypt in the second part of the 19th century ... reflected in the work of a group of like-minded Muslim scholars, featuring a critical reexamination of the classical conceptions and methods of jurisprudence and a formulation of a new approach to Islamic theology and Quranic exegesis. This new approach, which was nothing short of an outright rebellion against Islamic orthodoxy, displayed astonishing compatibility with the ideas of the Enlightenment."[{{cite book, author=Mansoor Moaddel, title=Islamic Modernism, Nationalism, and Fundamentalism: Episode and Discourse, page=2, publisher=University of Chicago Press, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dk6BLopmn3gC&q=islamic+modernism, isbn=9780226533339, date=2005-05-16], group=lower-alpha attempting to reconcile Islamic faith with modern Western values such as nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
, democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...
, civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
, rationality, equality
Equality may refer to:
Society
* Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing
** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elit ...
, and progress
Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension w ...
.[''Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World'', Thompson Gale (2004)] It featured a "critical reexamination of the classical conceptions and methods of jurisprudence" and a new approach to Islamic theology and Quranic exegesis (Tafsir
Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...
).
It was the first of several Islamic movements – including secularism
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...
, Islamism and Salafism
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
– that emerged in the middle of the 19th century in reaction to the rapid changes of the time, especially the perceived onslaught of Western Civilization
Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''.
image:Plato Pio-Cle ...
and colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...
on the Muslim world. Founders include Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905), a Sheikh of Al-Azhar University for a brief period before his death in 1905, Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani
Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī (Pashto/ fa, سید جمالالدین افغانی), also known as Sayyid Jamāl ad-Dīn Asadābādī ( fa, سید جمالالدین اسدآبادی) and commonly known as Al-Afghani (1 ...
(1838-1897), and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan KCSI (17 October 1817 – 27 March 1898; also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) was an Indian Muslim reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British India. Though initially espousing Hindu-Muslim unity, h ...
(1817-1898).
The early Islamic Modernists (al-Afghani and Muhammad Abdu) used the term "''salafiyya''"Salafism, Modernist Salafism from the 20th Century to the Present
oxfordbibliographies.com to refer to their attempt at renovation of Islamic thought,[ and this "''salafiyya'' movement" is often known in the West as "Islamic modernism," although it is very different from what is currently called the Salafi movement, which generally signifies "ideologies such as ]wahhabism
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, and ...
".{{#tag:ref, "Salafism is, therefore, a modern phenomenon, being the desire of contemporary Muslims to rediscover what they see as the pure, original and authentic Islam, ... However, there is a difference between two profoundly different trends which sought inspiration from the concept of salafiyya. Indeed, between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of 20th century, intellectuals such as Jamal Edin al-Afghani and Muhammad Abdu used salafiyya to mean a renovation of Islamic thought, with features that would today be described as rationalist, modernist and even progressive. This salafiyya movement is often known in the West as 'Islamic modernism.' However, the term salafism is today generally employed to signify ideologies such as Wahhabism
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, and ...
, the puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
ical ideology of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
."[{{cite web, last1=Atzori, first1=Daniel, title=The rise of global Salafism, url=http://www.abo.net/oilportal/topic/view.do?contentId=2000323, access-date=6 January 2015, date=August 31, 2012], group=lower-alpha Since its inception, Modernism has suffered from co-option
Co-option (also co-optation, sometimes spelt coöption or coöptation) has two common meanings.
It may refer to the process of adding members to an elite group at the discretion of members of the body, usually to manage opposition and so maintai ...
of its original reformism by both secularist rulers and by "the official ''ulama
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 ...
''" whose "task it is to legitimise" rulers' actions in religious terms.[{{cite book, last1=Ruthven, first1=Malise, title=Islam in the World, orig-year=1984, year=2006, publisher=Oxford University Press, page=318, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=92lQfWj6_VIC&q=since+reformism+has+been+coopted+ruthven&pg=PA318, access-date=23 April 2015, isbn=9780195305036]
Modernism differs from secularism
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...
in that it insists on the importance of religious faith
Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".
Religious people oft ...
in public life, and from Salafism
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
or Islamism in that it embraces contemporary European institutions, social processes, and values
In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of something or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live (normative ethics in ethics), or to describe the significance of di ...
.
Quranism
{{main, Quranism
{{See also, Criticism of Hadith
Quranists believe Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
himself was a Quranist and the founder of Quranism, and that his followers distorted the faith and split into schisms and factions such as Sunni, Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...
, and Khawarij
The Kharijites (, singular ), also called al-Shurat (), were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the ...
. Quranists reject the hadith and follow the Quran only. The extent to which Quranists reject the authenticity of the Sunnah varies,[Richard Stephen Voss]
Identifying Assumptions in the Hadith/Sunnah Debate
19.org, Accessed December 5, 2013 but the more established groups have thoroughly criticised the authenticity of the hadith and refused it for many reasons, the most prevalent being the Quranist claim that hadith is not mentioned in the Quran as a source of Islamic theology
Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding '' ʿaqīdah'' (creed). The main schools of Islamic Theology include the Qadariyah, Falasifa, Jahmiyya, Murji'ah, Muʿtazila, Batin ...
and practice, was not recorded in written form until more than two centuries after the death of the Muhammed, and contain perceived internal errors and contradictions.[Aisha Y. Musa]
The Qur’anists
Florida International University, accessed May 22, 2013.
Tolu-e-Islam
{{main, Tolu-e-Islam (organization)
The movement was initiated by Muhammad Iqbal
Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philos ...
, and later spearheaded by Ghulam Ahmed Pervez
Ghulam Ahmad Parwez ( pa, ; 1903–1985), widely known as Allama Parwez, was a pioneer of Quranic doctrine from pre-Independence India and later Pakistan. He attempted to rationally interpret Quranic themes, by challenging the established Sun ...
. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez did not reject all hadiths; however, he only accepted hadiths which "are in accordance with the Quran or do not stain the character of the Prophet or his companions".[{{cite web, url=http://www.tolueislam.com/, title=Bazm-e-Tolu-e-Islam, access-date=22 March 2015] The organization publishes and distributes books, pamphlets, and recordings of Pervez's teachings.[
Tolu-e-Islam does not belong to any political party, nor does it belong to any religious group or sect.
]
Scriptural fallibility
Some Muslims (Saeed Nasheed, Abdul Karim Soroush, Sayyed Ahmad Al-Qabbanji, Hassan Radwan) have argued for taking "the bold step of challenging the very idea that the Qur’an and Sunna are infallible", and asserting that instead the Quran is "divinely inspired but ... human-authored".[{{cite news , last1=Radwan , first1=Hassan , title=Muslims can reinterpret their faith: it's the best answer to Isis , url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/16/muslims-faith-isis-religion-islam , access-date=13 March 2021 , agency=The Guardian , date=16 December 2015] Saeed Nasheed writes,
"The Qur’an is not the speech of God, just as the loaf of bread is not the work of the farmer. God produced the raw material, which was inspiration, just as the farmer produces the raw material, which is wheat. But it is the baker who turns the wheat or flour into bread according to his own unique way, artistic expertise and creative ability. Thus it is the Prophet who was responsible for interpreting the inspiration and turning it into actual phrases and words according to his own unique view."[{{cite book , last1=Nasheed , first1=Sa’eed , title=Religious Freedom: A Foundation for Individual Freedom , publisher=Dar al-Tanweer , location=Beirut ]
See also
* Cultural Muslim
Cultural Muslims are religiously non-practicing individuals who still identify with Islam due to family backgrounds, personal experiences, or the social and cultural environment in which they grew up.
Definition
In Central Asia and in former co ...
* Islah
Islah or Al-Islah (الإصلاح ,إصلاح, ') is an Arabic word, usually translated as "reform", in the sense of "to improve, to better, to put something into a better position, fundamentalism, correction, correcting something and removing v ...
* Islam and modernity
Islam and modernity is a topic of discussion in contemporary sociology of religion. The history of Islam chronicles different interpretations and approaches. Modernity is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon rather than a unified and cohe ...
* Islam and secularism
Secularism—i.e. the separation of religion from civic affairs and the state—has been a controversial concept in Islamic political thought, owing in part to historical factors and in part to the ambiguity of the concept itself. In the Muslim ...
* Islamic revival
Islamic revival ( ar, تجديد'' '', lit., "regeneration, renewal"; also ', "Islamic awakening") refers to a revival of the Islamic religion. The revivers are known in Islam as ''mujaddids''.
Within the Islamic tradition, ''tajdid'' has bee ...
* Jaringan Islam Liberal
* Modern Islamic philosophy
Contemporary Islamic philosophy revives some of the trends of medieval Islamic philosophy, notably the tension between Mutazilite and Asharite views of ethics in science and law, and the duty of Muslims and role of Islam in the sociology of ...
* Muslims for Progressive Values
Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV) was founded and incorporated by Zuriana (Ani) Zonneveld and Pamela K. Taylor in 2007, headquartered in Los Angeles with a regional office in Malaysia and The Netherlands.
It is a grassroots human rights org ...
*Nahdlatul Ulama
Nahdlatul Ulama (, , NU) is an Islamic organization in Indonesia. Its membership estimates range from 40 million (2013) to over 95 million (2021), making it the largest Islamic organization in the world. NU also is a charitable body funding sch ...
* Ideology of Mahmoud Mohammed Taha
Notes
{{reflist, group=lower-alpha
{{reflist, group=Note
References
{{Reflist
Further reading
* Safi, Omid, ''Progressive Islam,'' in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God (2 vols.), Edited by C. Fitzpatrick and A. Walker, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO, 2014, Vol. II, pp. 486–490. {{ISBN, 1610691776
*''Qur'an and Woman'' by Amina Wadud
Amina Wadud (born September 25, 1952) is an American Muslim theologian. Wadud serves as Professor Emeritus of Islamic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and is also a visiting scholar at Starr King School for the Ministry. Wadud has writ ...
.
*''American Muslims: Bridging Faith and Freedom'' by M. A. Muqtedar Khan.
*Charles Kurzman Charles Kurzman is a Professor of Sociology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who specializes in Middle East and Islamic studies.
Education and employment
After completing his B.A. at Harvard University in 1986, he completed his M.A. ...
, ed. (1998). ''Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook''. Oxford University Press, USA. {{ISBN, 0-19-511622-4.
*''Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism'', edited by Omid Safi
Omid Safi is a Sufi and Iranian-American Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University. He served as the Director of Duke Islamic Studies Center from July 2014 to June 2019 and was a columnist for ''On Being''. Safi special ...
.
*"Debating Moderate Islam", edited by M. A. Muqtedar Khan.
*''Qur'an, Liberation and Pluralism'' by Farid Esack
Farid Esack (born 1955 in Wynberg, Cape Town) is a South African Muslim scholar, writer, and political activist known for his opposition to apartheid, his appointment by Nelson Mandela as a gender equity commissioner, and his work for inter-r ...
.
*''Revival and Reform in Islam'' by Fazlur Rahman Malik
Fazlur Rahman Malik ( ur, ; September 21, 1919 – July 26, 1988), commonly known as Fazlur Rahman, was a modernist scholar and Islamic philosopher from today's Pakistan. Fazlur Rahman is renowned as a prominent liberal reformer of Islam, who ...
.
*''The Unthought in Contemporary Islamic Thought'' by Mohammed Arkoun.
*''Unveiling Traditions: Postcolonial Islam in a Polycentric World'' by Anouar Majid.
*''Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality'' by Pervez Hoodbhoy
Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy (Urdu: ;;born 11 July 1950) is a Pakistani nuclear physicist and activist who serves as a professor at the Forman Christian College and previously taught physics at the Quaid-e-Azam University. Hoodbhoy is also a promin ...
.
''Islam is Mercy: Essential Features of a Modern Religion''
by Mouhanad Khorchide 2012; English 2014.
The Viability of Islamic Science
by S. Irfan Habib, ''Economic and Political Weekly'', June 5, 2004.
* [http://www.chron.com/channel/houstonbelief/commons/aliberalmuslimblog.html?plckBlogPage=Blog&plckBlogId=Blog:a85cee4e-2a0d-4f7f-86fb-89c76240a84f&plckScript=blogScript&plckController=Blog&plckElementId=blogDest&newspaperUserId=a85cee4e-2a0d-4f7f-86fb-89c76240a84f A Liberal Muslim Blog]
*Vanessa Karam, Olivia Samad and Ani Zonneveld, eds. (2011). ''Progressive Muslim Identities''. Oracle Releasing. {{ISBN, 978-0-9837161-0-5.
* Mustafa Akyol (2011). ''Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty''. W. W. Norton & Company. {{ISBN, 978-0-393-07086-6.
*{{cite book , last=Alrabaa , first=Sami , year=2010 , title=Veiled Atrocities: True Stories of Oppression in Saudi Arabia , location=Amherst, NY , publisher=Prometheus Books , isbn=978-1-61614-159-2
*{{cite book , last=Al-Rasheed , first=Madawi , year=2007 , title=Contesting the Saudi State: Islamic Voices from a New Generation , location=New York , publisher=Cambridge University Press , isbn=978-0-521-85836-6
External links
Charles Kurzman's Liberal Islam links
compiled by the author of ''Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook''.
{{Islam topics, Studies
{{Liberalism
Women's rights in Islam
LGBT Muslim organizations
LGBT and multiculturalism
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