Rashīd Riḍā
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Sayyid Muhammad Rashīd Rida Al-Hussaini (; 1865 – 22 August 1935) was an
Islamic scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...
, reformer, theologian and revivalist. An early
Salafist The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retur ...
, Rida called for the revival of
hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
studies and, as a theoretician of an
Islamic state The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...
, condemned the rising currents of
secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...
and
nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
across the
Islamic world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...
following the abolition of the Ottoman sultanate. He championed a global
pan-Islamist Pan-Islamism () is a political movement which advocates the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Historically, after Ottomanism, which aimed at t ...
program aimed at re-establishing an
Islamic caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the enti ...
. As a young hadith student who studied
al-Ghazali Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111), archaically Latinized as Algazelus, was a Shafi'i Sunni Muslim scholar and polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theoreticians, muftis, philosophers, the ...
and
Ibn Taymiyya Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim schola ...
, Rida believed reform was necessary to save the Muslim communities, eliminate Sufist practices he considered heretical, and initiate an Islamic renewal. He left
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
to work with Abduh in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
, where he was influenced by Abduh's
Islamic Modernist Islamic modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge", attempting to reconcile the Islam, Islamic faith with values perceived as modern such as democracy, civil rights ...
movement and began publishing ''
al-Manar Al-Manar () is a Lebanese satellite television station owned and operated by the Islamist political party and paramilitary group Hezbollah,
'' in 1898. Through ''al-Manar's'' popularity across the
Islamic World The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...
, Rida became one of the most influential Sunni
jurists A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a legal practition ...
of his generation, leading the Arab
Salafi movement The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retu ...
and championing its cause. He was Abduh's ''de facto'' successor and was responsible for a split in Abduh's disciples into one group rooted in modernism and secularism and the other in the revival of Islam.
Salafism The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist Islamic revival, revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" ...
, also known as ''Salafiyya'', which sought the "Islamization of modernity," emerged from the latter. During the 1900s Rida abandoned his initial rationalist leanings and began espousing Salafi-oriented methodologies such as that of
Ahl-i Hadith Ahl-i-Hadith or Ahl-e-Hadith (, ''people of hadith'') is a Salafi reform movement that emerged in North India in the mid-nineteenth century from the teachings of Syed Ahmad Barelvi, Sayyid Ahmad Shahid, Syed Nazeer Husain and Nawab Siddiq Has ...
. He later supported the
Wahhabi movement Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other p ...
, revived works by
ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...
, and shifted the Salafism movement into a more conservative and strict Scripturalist approach. He is regarded by a number of historians as "pivotal in leading Salafism's retreat" from the rationalist school of Abduh. He strongly opposed liberalism, Western ideas,
freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
,
Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
, and European
imperialism Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of Power (international relations), power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power (diplomatic power and cultura ...
, and supported armed ''
Jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
'' to expel European influences from the Islamic World. He also laid the foundations for anti-Western,
pan-Islamist Pan-Islamism () is a political movement which advocates the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Historically, after Ottomanism, which aimed at t ...
struggle during the early 20th century.


Early life and education

Muhammad Rashid Rida was born in
al-Qalamoun Al-Qalamoun (Arabic: القلمون) is a Mediterranean seaside town of the North Governorate of Lebanon in the Tripoli District. The town is 5 km south of Tripoli and is also the first town south of Tripoli. Name During Greco-Roman time ...
,
Beirut Vilayet The Vilayet of Beirut (; ) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire. It was established from the coastal areas of the Syria Vilayet in 1888 as a recognition of the new-found importance of its then-booming capital, ...
, present-day Lebanon, in 1865 into a distinguished Sunni Shafi'i clerical family. His family relied on money earned from their limited olive tree holdings and fees earned by family members who served as
scholars A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...
. The Rida ulama had been in charge of the
al-Qalamoun Al-Qalamoun (Arabic: القلمون) is a Mediterranean seaside town of the North Governorate of Lebanon in the Tripoli District. The town is 5 km south of Tripoli and is also the first town south of Tripoli. Name During Greco-Roman time ...
mosque for several generations. Rida's father was an
Imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...
in the
masjid A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were simple p ...
. The family, who were
Sayyid ''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn. The title may also refer ...
s, claimed descent from the
Ahl al-Bayt () refers to the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In Sunni Islam, the term has also been extended to all descendants of the Banu Hashim (Muhammad's clan) and even to all Muslims. In Shia Islam, the term is limited to Muhammad, his daugh ...
, specifically
Husayn ibn Ali Husayn ibn Ali (; 11 January 626 – 10 October 680 Common Era, CE) was a social, political and religious leader in early medieval Arabia. The grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an Alids, Alid (the son of Ali ibn Abu Talib ibn Abd a ...
. Rida received a traditional religious education, attending elementary school at the local
kuttab A kuttab ( ''kuttāb'', plural: ''kataatiib'', ) or maktab () is a type of elementary school in the Muslim world. Though the ''kuttab'' was primarily used for teaching children in reading, writing, grammar, and Islamic studies, such as memorizing ...
in Qalamūn before moving to the Ottoman government school in
Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...
. He then enrolled in Shaykh Ḥusayn al-Jisr's National Islamic School, where he learned
hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
and
fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica
''Fiqh'' is of ...
. He also earned a diploma of
ulema In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...
in 1897. During his education, he studied the books and treatises of scholars such as
Ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...
,
Ibn Qayyim Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb az-Zurʿī d-Dimashqī l-Ḥanbalī (29 January 1292–15 September 1350 CE / 691 AH–751 AH), commonly known as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya ("The son of the principal of he scho ...
,
Ibn Qudama Ibn Qudama (January/February 11477 July 1223) was an Islamic scholar and theologian of the Hanbali school of Sunni Islam. Born in the Palestine region, Ibn Qudama authored many important treatises on Islamic jurisprudence and religious doctrine, ...
,
Al-Ghazali Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111), archaically Latinized as Algazelus, was a Shafi'i Sunni Muslim scholar and polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theoreticians, muftis, philosophers, the ...
,
Mawardi Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Habib (; –1058), commonly known by the '' nisba'' al-Mawardi (), was a Sunni polymath and a Shafi'i jurist, legal theoretician, muhaddith, theologian, sociologist and an expert in political science. He is considered to b ...
,
Razi Razi () or al-Razi () is a name that was historically used to indicate a person coming from Ray, Iran. People It most commonly refers to: * Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (865–925), influential physician, alchemist and philosopher, also known b ...
, Taftasani, and
Ibn Rajab Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn Rajab (736-795 AH / 1335–1393 CE), commonly known as Ibn Rajab, (which was a nickname he inherited from his grandfather who was born in the month of Rajab), was a muhaddith, scholar, and jurist. Notable for his comme ...
. Rida began preaching at the communal level and taught
tafsir Tafsir ( ; ) refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' (; plural: ). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding ...
and other religious sciences at the village's central mosque. He also taught separate
ibadah ''Ibadah'' (, ''‘ibādah'', also spelled ''ibada'') is an Arabic word meaning service or servitude. In Islam, ''ibadah'' is usually translated as “worship”, and ''ibadat''—the plural of ''ibadah''—refers to Islamic jurisprudence ( ...
classes for women. Around this time, he first read '' al-Urwa al-Wuthqa'', a periodical that was highly influential to him. It was published by
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī (Pashto/), also known as Jamāl ad-Dīn Asadābādī () and commonly known as Al-Afghani (1838/1839 – 9 March 1897), was an Iranian political activist and Islamic ideologist who travelled throughout the Mus ...
and
Muhammad Abduh Muḥammad ʿAbduh (also spelled Mohammed Abduh; ; 1849 – 11 July 1905) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar, judge, and Grand Mufti of Egypt. He was a central figure of the Arab Nahḍa and Islamic Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th ce ...
. According to Lebanese-British historian
Albert Hourani Albert Habib Hourani, ( ''Albart Ḥabīb Ḥūrānī''; 31 March 1915 – 17 January 1993) was a Lebanese British historian, specialising in the history of the Middle East and Middle Eastern studies. Background and education Hourani was bo ...
, Rida belonged to the last generation of traditionally trained Islamic scholars who could be "fully educated and yet alive in a self-sufficient Islamic world of thought."


Muhammad Abduh

Rida met
Muhammad Abduh Muḥammad ʿAbduh (also spelled Mohammed Abduh; ; 1849 – 11 July 1905) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar, judge, and Grand Mufti of Egypt. He was a central figure of the Arab Nahḍa and Islamic Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th ce ...
, one of the editors of ''Al-Urwah al-Wuthqa'', as an exile in Lebanon in the mid-1880s and quickly came to view Abduh as his
mentor Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...
. In 1897, Rida decided to study under Abduh's co-editor
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī (Pashto/), also known as Jamāl ad-Dīn Asadābādī () and commonly known as Al-Afghani (1838/1839 – 9 March 1897), was an Iranian political activist and Islamic ideologist who travelled throughout the Mus ...
, who at that time was in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. Rida suspected the Hamidian administration was responsible for al-Afghani's death later that year and left Istanbul to rejoin Abduh, one of Afghani's students, now in Egypt. They started the monthly periodical ''
al-Manar Al-Manar () is a Lebanese satellite television station owned and operated by the Islamist political party and paramilitary group Hezbollah,
'', where Rida worked as its chief editor and owner until his death in 1935. At this time, he also studied
Ibn Taymiyya Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim schola ...
and his disciples, which eventually led him to embrace ideas including revulsion against folk
Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
, criticism of ''
taqlid ''Taqlid'' (, " imitation") 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 context and age. Cla ...
'', and the desire to revive
hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
studies. All of these became foundational themes of the Salafism. Following Abduh's death in 1905, Rida was seen as his ''de facto'' successor despite privately holding reservations about Abduh's secularism. Rida began a campaign of rewriting Abduh's legacy, first by depicting him as an advocate of Salafist doctrines despite Abduh's published works being evidence to the contrary. Rida published several new editions of Abduh's works to make them conform more to the dogmas of the traditionalist creed than to Abduh's
modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
beliefs. When interest in Abduh was revived in Egypt around the 1930s, the difference in narrative became more apparent. While Abduh's other disciples, Uthman Amin, Mustafa 'Abd al-Raziq, and Muhammad Naji, painted him as a rationalist, Rida continued to ascribe his own beliefs to Abduh's legacy, either ignoring or outright removing Abduh's more liberal ideas from the new editions of his works. Eventually, Rida's narrative became the dominant perception. Abduh's disciples eventually divided into two camps: one, which included
Saad Zaghloul Saad Zaghloul Pasha ( / ; also ''Sa'd Zaghloul Pasha ibn Ibrahim'') (July 1857 – 23 August 1927) was an Egyptian revolutionary and statesman. He was the leader of Egypt's nationalist Wafd Party, and served as the first Honorary President of ...
and Ali Abdel Raziq, was founded in modernism and Westernized secularism, and the other, the ''al-Manar'' Reform Party, was based in the revival of Islam.
Salafism The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist Islamic revival, revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" ...
, also known as ''Salafiyya'', which sought the "Islamization of modernity," emerged from the latter.


Islamic unity under Ottomanism

In 1897, Rida, along with Rafiq al-'Azm and Saib Bey, formed the Ottoman Consultative Society in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
. The group consisted of
Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...
,
Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...
, and
Circassians The Circassians or Circassian people, also called Cherkess or Adyghe (Adyghe language, Adyghe and ), are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation who originated in Circassia, a region and former country in t ...
living in Egypt and called for Islamic unity under
Ottomanism Ottomanism or ''Osmanlılık'' (, . ) was a concept which developed prior to the 1876–1878 First Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire. Its proponents believed that it could create the Unity of the Peoples, , needed to keep religion-based ...
; at this time, their ideas were consistent with those of the
Young Turks The Young Turks (, also ''Genç Türkler'') formed as a constitutionalist broad opposition-movement in the late Ottoman Empire against the absolutist régime of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (). The most powerful organization of the movement, ...
. They condemned the autocratic Hamidian rule and European imperialism, and their ideas were distributed in
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
and Turkish via ''al-Manar''. The society disbanded in 1908 following the
Young Turk Revolution The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908; ) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. Revolutionaries belonging to the Internal Committee of Union and Progress, an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II ...
, after which Azm joined the
Committee of Union and Progress The Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, also translated as the Society of Union and Progress; , French language, French: ''Union et Progrès'') was a revolutionary group, secret society, and political party, active between 1889 and 1926 ...
to pursue modernism and Rida became a vocal critic of the Young Turks. In 1898, Rida began publishing articles encouraging Ottoman authorities to adopt a new religious strategy within the existing caliphal and
pan-Islamic Pan-Islamism () is a political movement which advocates the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Historically, after Ottomanism, which aimed at ...
policy under Sultan Abd al-Hamid II. He recommended training
scholars A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...
and
sharia judges Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...
responsible for issuing ''
fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
s'' (legal rulings) and discussing religious affairs by standardising the creation of different institutions. In one article, he suggested a World Islamic Congress, which would standardise creed, law, and teachings as its fundamental principle. He envisioned the "greatest branch" of the
caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
in
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
for two reasons: the
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
would bring branch leaders to Mecca, where the caliph would be able to disseminate knowledge; and because it was away "from the intrigues and suspicions of on-Muslimforeigners." He envisioned a Congress-published religious journal to counter
innovative Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed ent ...
and
heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...
ideas and to share translations of religious works. The caliph would oversee affairs but was otherwise just like any other Congress member. Scholars would compile legal works from '' madhāhib'' (law schools) and adapt them to contemporary situations, and resulting legislation would be implemented by the caliph in all Muslim societies. The desire for a Muslim Congress would reappear in later works. This global religious society, according to Rida, would pave the way for a spiritual caliphate. Islamic unity required the abolition of sectarian differences as well as the revival of doctrines practiced by the
Salaf Salaf (, "ancestors" or "predecessors"), also often referred to with the honorific expression of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (, "the pious predecessors"), are often taken to be the first three generations of Muslims. This comprises companions of the ...
, the first three generations of Islam, which pre-dated different sects and . He further advocated for a centralising policy that returned all Muslims, schools, and sects to the fundamentals of faith and that united Muslims against
European colonialism The phenomenon of colonization is one that stretches around the globe and across time. Ancient and medieval colonialism was practiced by various civilizations such as the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Han Chinese, and Ar ...
. He believed that ''
shura Shura () is the term for collective decision-making in Islam. It can, for example, take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other. Shura is mentioned as a praise ...
'' was a basic feature of any
Islamic state The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...
and saw the caliphate as a necessary temporal power to defend Islam and defend Islamic law, or
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
. Ottoman authorities were unreceptive and at times hostile to Rida's proposals, in particular criticising his suggestion of making the caliph an ordinary member of society. While they were open to considering a Muslim Congress, they preferred
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
as a hub rather than Mecca, as it would establish a parliamentary forum in the capital of the Empire.
Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...
Abdul Hamid II himself opposed the idea of a Congress altogether, claiming it to be a ploy for Arab separatism and
Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...
i autonomy. The proposals were also in direct contradiction to the established Ottoman policy on the Sultan's ability to enforce absolute authority. Rida's denunciation of
Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
and condemnation of the ''
Rifaʽi The Rifa'i order () is a prominent Sufi order (tariqa) within Sunni Islam founded by Ahmad al-Rifa'i and developed in the lower Iraq marshlands between Wasit and Basra. The Rifa'iyya had its greatest following until the 15th century C.E. whe ...
'' and ''
Qadiriyya The Qadiriyya () or the Qadiri order () is a Sunni Sufi order (''Tariqa'') founded by Abdul Qadir Gilani (1077–1166, also transliterated ''Jilani''), who was a Hanbali scholar from Gilan, Iran. The order, with its many sub-orders, is widesp ...
'' orders for ritualising innovated practices enraged Abū l-Hudā al-Sayyādī, the Sultan's Syrian advisor. Ottoman authorities began harassing Rida's family in
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
and al-Sayyādī requested that his brother-in-law Badrī Bāšā, the governor of
Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...
, send military authorities after Rida's brothers. They later attempted to confiscate his family mosque and Rida wrote that al-Sayyādī planned to assassinate him in Egypt. Rida's journal ''al-Manar'' was subsequently banned in Ottoman regions though the censorship did not dissuade him from continuing to write and publish. In 1901, Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi published ''Umm al-qura'', which detailed the idea of a World Muslim Congress for the first time. Al-Kawakibi also set the Congress in Mecca, which was seen as a staunch anti-Ottoman elaboration of the pan-Islamist movement, as he argued for replacing Ottoman rule with an Arabic
Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...
i caliphate elected by the Congress. He also condemned Sufism. Rida expanded this idea in a series of articles in ''al-Manar''. Despite rejection from the Empire, Rida continued supporting the preservation of the
sultanate Sultan (; ', ) is a Royal and noble ranks, position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". La ...
during the
Hamidian Era The Hamidian period (c. 1878–1908), was named after Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. The Hamidian period was contained with ...
through the first decade of the 1900s. He believed that the dynastic nature of the Ottoman state was reconciled with the classical legal approach that allowed caliphs to rule through force rather than with ''
shura Shura () is the term for collective decision-making in Islam. It can, for example, take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other. Shura is mentioned as a praise ...
'', consent, and adherence to Islamic law. While holding the Ottoman rule to be based on
tribalism Tribalism is the state of being organized by, or advocating for, tribes or tribal lifestyles. Human evolution primarily occurred in small hunter-gatherer groups, as opposed to in larger and more recently settled agricultural societies or civilizat ...
, he eventually decided not to rebel so openly against the Empire out of concern that it would damage the only Islamic temporal power. Instead, he focused on advocating reform for consultative governance within the confines of the state and writing to condemning partisanship in and all forms of factionalism. He continued supporting
pan-Arabism Pan-Arabism () is a Pan-nationalism, pan-nationalist ideology that espouses the unification of all Arabs, Arab people in a single Nation state, nation-state, consisting of all Arab countries of West Asia and North Africa from the Atlantic O ...
and promoted Arab preeminence and Islamic unity. Rida believed that Arabs were better suited for Islamic leadership, thus linking Arab revival to Islamic unity. He condemned ethnic prejudice, strongly believing that racial conflict was the cause of "Muslim weakness in the past." Rida's resentment for Abdul Hamid grew following the
31 March Incident The 31 March incident () was an uprising in the Ottoman Empire in April 1909, during the Second Constitutional Era. The incident broke out during the night of 30–31 Mart 1325 in Rumi calendar ( GC 12–13 April 1909), thus named after 31 Mar ...
and subsequent 1909 Ottoman countercoup, which Rida saw as delegitimising Hamid's rule and his deposition as
God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
putting an end to tyranny. After the revolution in October, he visited Istanbul hoping to establish a school for Islamic missionaries and to reconcile Arabs and Turks in the Empire. Both of his goals were rejected and he became a sworn enemy of the
Young Turks The Young Turks (, also ''Genç Türkler'') formed as a constitutionalist broad opposition-movement in the late Ottoman Empire against the absolutist régime of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (). The most powerful organization of the movement, ...
and the
Committee of Union and Progress The Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, also translated as the Society of Union and Progress; , French language, French: ''Union et Progrès'') was a revolutionary group, secret society, and political party, active between 1889 and 1926 ...
(CUP). His initial optimism about the newly-appointed
Sultan Mehmed V Mehmed V Reşâd (; or ; 2 November 1844 – 3 July 1918) was the penultimate sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1909 to 1918. Mehmed V reigned as a constitutional monarch. He had little influence over government affairs and the Ottoman consti ...
was short-lived as the effective power focused on supporting the Young Turks. Rida re-asserted his belief that the Young Turks had abandoned
Islamism Islamism is a range of religious and political ideological movements that believe that Islam should influence political systems. Its proponents believe Islam is innately political, and that Islam as a political system is superior to communism ...
and that
Ottomanism Ottomanism or ''Osmanlılık'' (, . ) was a concept which developed prior to the 1876–1878 First Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire. Its proponents believed that it could create the Unity of the Peoples, , needed to keep religion-based ...
to pursue a nationalist
Turkification Turkification, Turkization, or Turkicization () describes a shift whereby populations or places receive or adopt Turkic attributes such as culture, language, history, or ethnicity. However, often this term is more narrowly applied to mean specif ...
policy. When Rida supported the Young Turks, he put aside concerns about CUP's nationalism; by 1909, however, he accused the group of spreading heresy, Westernising Islamic government, and creating chaos. He wrote a number of articles in the Turkish press condemning policies based on nationalism and race and warned that nationalism was a European concept that violated Islamic principles, and would lead to the collapse of the multi-ethnic, multi-racial Ottoman Empire. He sought decentralisation of the Empire without challenging the legitimacy of the Ottoman Sultan, and made sure to distinguish between his opposition to CUP and his loyalty to the Ottoman state. Until World War I, Rida advocated autonomy for imperial territories while seeking to maintain the caliphate in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. In 1911, he wrote: "Islam is a religion of authority and sovereignty... Muslims all over the world believe that the Ottoman state is fulfilling the role of defender of the Muslim faith" and that mistakes made by sultans would disappear once European colonisation was no longer a threat.


Criticism of CUP

By the 1912 general elections, CUP (Committee of Union and Progress) was the dominant power in the Ottoman Empire and had strong allyships with conservative
scholars A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...
. CUP maintained its power in the election and Salafi persecution began again, this time on a larger scale. Rida and his disciples were accused of plotting secession and seeking an Arab caliphate. Despite this, Rida attacked CUP members as early as 1910, calling them atheists and freemasons, alleging their exploitation of Islam was for selfish political gain, and that they sought destruction of the Islamic world. After the Battle of Tripoli in 1911 and the
First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...
, Rida became deeply concerned about the imminent collapse of the Ottoman state and worried that colonial European empires would seize power from the Ottomans. A pamphlet in ''al-Manar'' addressing
amir Emir (; ' (), also transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title has ...
s and Arab leaders in Hejaz,
Najd Najd is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes most of the central region of Saudi Arabia. It is roughly bounded by the Hejaz region to the west, the Nafud desert in Al-Jawf Province, al-Jawf to the north, ...
,
Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
, and tribes in the
Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...
and the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
, called for Arab unity. It warned of the imminent European threat to
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
and the Arabian Peninsula, which would be followed by the occupation of Islamic holy cities. He also warned that sacred Islamic relics would be stolen and displayed in European museums. Around this time Rida established the Society of the Arab Association (), a secret society seeking union between the Arabian Peninsula and the Ottoman Arab provinces. The
Egyptian nationalists ''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 yea ...
, especially the
Watani Party The National Party (, ''al-Ḥizb al-Waṭanī'') was a nationalist political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to h ...
, attacked the society, calling it a conspiracy that sought conflict with the Turks, secession of Arab countries from the Ottoman Empire, and establishment of an Arab caliphate. Rida denied these allegations, but later explicitly advocated via the Society for Arab secessionism from the Ottoman Empire. He sought to pressure the Ottoman state on behalf of Arabs, urging them to prepare a contingency plan for defense against European ambitions in the event that the Ottoman Empire fell. He corresponded with Ibn Sa'ud of
Najd Najd is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes most of the central region of Saudi Arabia. It is roughly bounded by the Hejaz region to the west, the Nafud desert in Al-Jawf Province, al-Jawf to the north, ...
,
Imam Yahya Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din (or Imam Yahya) (, 18 June 1869 – 17 February 1948) was the first king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen from 1918 until his assassination in 1948. He became Imam of the Zaydis, a branch of Shia Islam, in 1904 af ...
of
Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
and aI-Sayyid al-Idrisi of
'Asir Asir, officially the Aseer Province, is a province of Saudi Arabia in southern Arabia. It has an area of , and an estimated population of 2,024,285 (in 2022). Asir is bounded by the Mecca Province to the north and west, al-Bahah Province to the ...
in an attempt to convince them of how crucial it was. Ibn Sa'ud asked Rida to send a messenger to explain the plan from a religious and political standpoint to persuade his followers. Rida sent a messenger along with numerous religious treatises. However, due to outbreak of the
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, his materials were confiscated in
Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
and never made it to ibn Sa'ud. In 1912, Rida met with Mubarak Al-Sabah, the shaykh of
Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
, but his relationships with Yahya and al-Idrisi were ruptured by the war. Rida was convinced that Ottoman statesmen had developed a "European complex" that threatened the security of Arabs and Turks. He also believed that Europeanisation of the Ottoman Empire was impossible to reform since it was solely dependent on Europe. He proposed that Istanbul be made a
military outpost In military terminology, an outpost is a location where detachments of military personnel are stationed at a distance from the main armed force or formation in a region. Outposts are usually located in remote or sparsely populated areas, posi ...
and shift the capital either to
Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
or the
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
n city of
Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...
. He wrote that Arabs and Turks should then create "local Asiatic military formations" capable of defending themselves in case of foreign danger, with priority given to defending the
Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...
and two holy sanctuaries in
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
and
Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...
and the lands adjacent to them.


1913 coup d'état

In 1913 CUP (Committee of Union and Progress) launched a coup to establish a
one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...
under a ''de facto''
triumvirate A triumvirate () or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs (). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are notionally equal, the actual distr ...
of the
Three Pashas The Three Pashas, also known as the Young Turk triumvirate or CUP triumvirate, consisted of Mehmed Talaat Pasha, the Grand Vizier (prime minister) and Minister of the Interior; Ismail Enver Pasha, the Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief to ...
, which consisted of
Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and Istanbul trials of 1919–1920, convicted war criminal who was a p ...
,
Talaat Pasha Mehmed Talât (1 September 187415 March 1921), commonly known as Talaat Pasha or Talat Pasha, was an Ottoman Young Turk activist, revolutionary, politician, and convicted war criminal who served as the leader of the Ottoman Empire from 191 ...
, and
Djemal Pasha Ahmed Djemal (; ; 6 May 1872 – 21 July 1922), also known as Djemal Pasha or Cemâl Pasha, was an Ottoman military leader and one of the Three Pashas that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I. As an officer of the II Corps, he was ...
. During the years of the World War, Arabs and Salafis were harshly persecuted by Djemal Pasha, a CUP leader holding military and civilian power in Syria. Many Arabists would be court-martialed and executed, and many Salafi scholars exiled, leading prominent Salafis such as Rida and Tahir al-Jaza'iri to support the British-backed
Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ), also known as the Great Arab Revolt ( ), was an armed uprising by the Hashemite-led Arabs of the Hejaz against the Ottoman Empire amidst the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On the basis of the McMahon–Hussein Co ...
led by Sharif Hussain. Rida condemned the coup and continued to call the Young Turks an "enemy of Arabs and of Islam." By 1913, he began organizing against the Ottoman government to establish a new Islamic pan-Arab empire, which would include the Arabian Peninsula, Syria, and Iraq. Rida joined the ranks of ibn Sa'ud's boosters in the Arab world. Rida saw him as a strong Muslim ruler capable of preventing British imperial designs on the Arab world. In March 1914, Rida wrote in ''al-Manar'' that CUP was assisting Zionists in Palestine and accused Zionists of seeking to establish a
Jewish state In world politics, Jewish state is a characterization of Israel as the nation-state and sovereign homeland for the Jewish people. Overview Modern Israel came into existence on 14 May 1948 as a polity to serve as the homeland for the Jewi ...
from "Palestine to the Euphrates." He warned that not a single Muslim would remain in the
Promised Land In the Abrahamic religions, the "Promised Land" ( ) refers to a swath of territory in the Levant that was bestowed upon Abraham and his descendants by God in Abrahamic religions, God. In the context of the Bible, these descendants are originally ...
of
Jewish tradition "Unprintworthy" redirects are redirect pages on Wikipedia that aid online navigation, but would have little or no value as pointers to target articles in a hard-copy book. The name of a redirect may be unprintworthy for a number of reasons, incl ...
. ''Al-Manar'' became a chief source of spreading Arab
anti-semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
in the months leading up to World War I, portraying Jewish people as the controllers of European finances.


World War I

During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Rida's activities primarily involved negotiating with the British and
Sharif Hussein Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi ( ; 1 May 18544 June 1931) was an Arab leader from the Banu Qatadah branch of the Banu Hashim clan who was the Sharif of Mecca, Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908 and, after proclaiming the Great Arab Revolt against ...
of
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
, attempting to persuade them on the issue of establishing a united
pan-Islamic Pan-Islamism () is a political movement which advocates the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Historically, after Ottomanism, which aimed at ...
state with autonomy for different regions to prepare for the eventual collapse of the Ottoman Empire. He had always been suspicious of the British and became even more so after the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which was intended to divide Ottoman Arab provinces between Britain and France. Rida saw this as an attack on all Muslims, not just Arabs.


Post-war

Rida's militant opposition to Westernisation reached its peak in the aftermath of the war. In his 1922–23 work ''al-Khilafa aw al-Imama al-'Uzma'' ('' The Caliphate or the Supreme Imamate),'' he proposed comprehensive pan-Islamism and called upon Muslims to
come together "Come Together" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on the band's 1969 studio album ''Abbey Road''. It was also a double A-side single in the U ...
under their shared Islamic faith to shun emerging nationalist movements. He stressed the importance of Arab leadership in unifying Muslim ranks. Among the most important parts of his agenda was to thwart British imperialist goals in the
Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...
. Sharif Hussein's rejection of these ideas and his continued allegiance with the British eventually became irreconcilable to Rida. In 1923, after Hussein's seizure of
Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...
, Rida called upon Arabian emirs to free Hejaz from Hashemite rule. He saw ibn Sa'ud of the Sultanate of Najd as the most suitable candidate for this task, not only because he favoured the Wahhabis as the best hope for Arab and
Islamic renaissance Islamic revival ('' '', lit., "regeneration, renewal"; also ', "Islamic awakening") refers to a revival of the Islamic religion, usually centered around enforcing sharia. A leader of a revival is known in Islam as a ''mujaddid''. Within the Isl ...
, but also because of their promising military-political capabilities to bring stability and security to the Hejaz, and to defend it from any European imperial aggressions. Ibn Sa'ud and his followers were orthodox Muslims in line with the doctrines of the
Salaf Salaf (, "ancestors" or "predecessors"), also often referred to with the honorific expression of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (, "the pious predecessors"), are often taken to be the first three generations of Muslims. This comprises companions of the ...
, which attracted Rida. He remained devoted to ibn Sa'ud to his end despite mixed results from rehabilitation campaigns and difficulties encountered by his Rida's own disciples. Rida considered him the best available Muslim statesman and believed his kingdom offered the best prospect of becoming the political arm of the balanced
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, correction, correcting something and removing vice, reworking, ...
i movement. At this point, based on past experiences, Rida had come to understand that reform required money as well as political support. The Allied Powers' post-World War Order and the betrayal of Sharif Hussein led to a radical phase in Rida's pan-Islamist enterprise and he became a key figure in injecting militant anti-Westernism into Syrian and Egyptian Islamic politics. He had become vehemently anti-British, calling democracy "colonial deceit," and withheld any more attempts at mediation with Western powers. He proposed a Universal Islamic System to replace the failed Wilsonian Peace. When Sharif Hussein declared himself Caliph of Muslims in March 1924 following the Turkish Abolition of Caliphate, Rida called him a
heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...
dangerous to the entire
Muslim community ' (; ) is an Arabic word meaning Muslim identity, nation, religious community, or the concept of a Commonwealth of the Muslim Believers ( '). It is a synonym for ' (, lit. 'the Islamic nation'); it is commonly used to mean the collective comm ...
and saw his seizure of power as a desecration of Islam. Rida later published the treatise ''The Wahhabis and Hijaz'', where he argued for Wahhabi rule over Hejaz and condemned
Sharif Hussein Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi ( ; 1 May 18544 June 1931) was an Arab leader from the Banu Qatadah branch of the Banu Hashim clan who was the Sharif of Mecca, Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908 and, after proclaiming the Great Arab Revolt against ...
and his
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
for their selling of Arab lands in complicity with the
colonial powers Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an imperialist project, colonialism can also take ...
' agenda for the sake of their personal dynastic ambitions. He warned of British manipulations dominating the region and subjugating
Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
.


Wahhabism

Rida's views of Wahhabism became more favorable upon his arrival in Egypt in the 1890s, when he read about the movement and al-Jabartī and al-Nāṣiri, though he was still critical of what he perceived as a lack of moderation in the group, as he considered moderation foundational to Salafism. As early as the 1900s, Rida applauded ibn Sa'ud's victories during the Saudi Rashidi War. He became a major proponent of Wahhbism following World War I, when he began seeing
Muslim scholars Lists of Islamic scholars include: Lists * List of contemporary Islamic scholars * List of female Islamic scholars * List of Muslim historians * List of Islamic jurists * List of Muslim philosophers * List of Muslim astronomers * List of ...
as pro-Westernisation Muslim intelligentsia. His opposition to innovation and mysticism in Islam was another of his principles seen within Wahhabism, which called for "pristine Islam" and a total rejection of sainthood and superstitions. He eventually began advocating for their rehabilitation into the Islamic world. In 1919 he published Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's ''Kashf al-Shubuhat'' (Removal of Doubts) and in 1920 pushed ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab as a ''
mujaddid A ''mujaddid'' () is an Islamic term for one who brings "renewal" () to the religion. According to the popular Muslim tradition, it refers to a person who appears at the turn of every century of the Islamic calendar to revitalize Islam, clean ...
'' of Islam. During the 1920s, more than 20 Wahhabi works were published through the al-Manar Publishing House, including ''
fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
s'' condemning the
Ikhwan The Ikhwān (, ), commonly known as Ikhwān man Aṭāʿa Allah (, 'Brethren of those who obey God'), was a Wahhabism, Wahhabi religious militia made up of traditionally nomadic tribesmen which formed a significant military force of the ruler Ibn ...
. Rida argued that the Wahhabi movement would have expanded and led Islamic revival if it were not for the excessive zeal of some of its supporters and the conspiracies of its adversaries. In 1922, he distributed ''(Majmūʿat al-rasāʾil waʾl-masāʾil al-Najdiyya'' (The Compendium of Najdī Epistles and Responsa). ''Majmuʿat al-tawhid al-najdiyya'' (Monotheistic Collection from Najd) another work published by Rida, was a four-volume collection of essays with writings by
Ibn Taymiyya Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim schola ...
,
Ibn Qudama Ibn Qudama (January/February 11477 July 1223) was an Islamic scholar and theologian of the Hanbali school of Sunni Islam. Born in the Palestine region, Ibn Qudama authored many important treatises on Islamic jurisprudence and religious doctrine, ...
, and
Ibn Rajab Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn Rajab (736-795 AH / 1335–1393 CE), commonly known as Ibn Rajab, (which was a nickname he inherited from his grandfather who was born in the month of Rajab), was a muhaddith, scholar, and jurist. Notable for his comme ...
, reportedly at the request of a Najdi merchant. This created friction between Sufi and Salafi factions in Syria. By 1926 references to "excessive zeal" had disappeared and the Wahhabi's initial failure was instead blamed on corrupt Ottomans and the British Empire. Rida asked followers of his
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, correction, correcting something and removing vice, reworking, ...
movement to support Wahhabis against three hazards that threatened the
community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...
from within: the "
Shi'a Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor ( caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community ( imam). However, his right is understoo ...
fanatics," Sufism, and "
Westernised Westernization (or Westernisation, see spelling differences), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt what is considered to be Western culture, in areas such as industr ...
preachers of
atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...
." In 1927, Rida wrote that the Wahhabis had become a large group in Egypt, with adherents among the religious scholars at institutions such as
Al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...
. He had begun to adopt some of the Wahabbis' more uncompromising attitudes to religious reform. Detractors accused him of becoming an official spokesperson for the Wahhabis due to financial assistance from ibn Sa'ud, which Rida denied. Rida's endorsement of Wahhabism was the decisive factor in the spread of its influence beyond the kingdom's borders. Wahhabi scholars consistently emphasised that their affinity to mainstream Sunni legal schools and affirm their tradition was among the several manifestations of Salafism. Al Sa'ud encouraged Saudi Muslims to tone down their dogmatic views and in the 1920s facilitated the movement of several of Rida's disciples to Hejaz, where, through education, their beliefs were shifted from exclusivist, narrow-minded Classical Wahhabism prone to '' takfirism'' to a more tolerant and accepting people. Dar al-Tawhid, a religious educational institute in
Ta'if Taif (, ) is a city and governorate in Mecca Province in Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarawat Mountains, Sarat Mountains, the city has a population of 563,282 pe ...
overseen by Muhammad Bahjat Athari, one of Rida's disciples, put forth one of the biggest reeducation efforts. Najdi scholar ibn Bulayhid clashed with Rida's disciples over his belief in the
flat earth Flat Earth is an archaic and scientifically disproven conception of the Figure of the Earth, Earth's shape as a Plane (geometry), plane or Disk (mathematics), disk. Many ancient cultures, notably in the cosmology in the ancient Near East, anci ...
. While Rida did damage control on the rumours, prominent Wahhabi scholars like Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Latif Al al-Shaykh refuted his beliefs and affirmed the sphericity of earth. In an ''al-Manar'' article about education and the dangers of stagnation, Rida criticized flat-earthers and enemies of science.


Attacks on Hejaz and Damascus

Rida strongly championed ibn Sa'ud's campaigns in
Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...
in 1924 and 1925. He wrote in ''al-Manar'' that the nascent Saudi state was the best hope for Islamic revival and portrayed it as the last major bastion of Islamic resistance to the colonial order. He celebrated Sharif Hussein's defeat in the Battle of Mecca, which he called a historic event. Ibn Sa'ud united Hejaz and Northern Arabia over the next several years, making his rule an Islamic alternative to Atatürk in Turkey. Rida saw his independence, religiosity, and pragmatism as an exemplification of balanced reform. Rida defended the new Saudi regime from its detractors, calling the Wahhabis "the best Muslims," as they observed the doctrines of Imam
ibn Hanbal Ahmad ibn Hanbal (; (164-241 AH; 780 – 855 CE) was an Arab Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, traditionist, ascetic and eponym of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence—one of the four major orthodox legal schools of Sunni Islam. Th ...
and
ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...
. Rida made
anti-Shi'ism Anti-Shi'ism, also known as Shiaphobia, is hatred of, prejudice against, discrimination against, persecution of, and violence against Shia Muslims because of their religious beliefs, traditions, and cultural heritage. The term was first used b ...
"a major trait of his school" and called for a Wahhabi demolition of the shrines of al-Baqi. He called subsequently outraged
Shi'ites Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...
'' rafidites'' and instruments of the
Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...
. Ibn Sa'ud continued to impress Rida by condemning rumours of Wahhabis desecrating graves and slaughtering women and children in their conquests as " British propaganda." Rida's subsequent political efforts focused on two fronts: campaigning for Syrian independence and supporting ibn Sa'ud's efforts to unify the Arabian Peninsula. He was a member of the
Syrian National Congress The Syrian National Congress, also called the Pan-Syrian Congress and General Syrian Congress (GSC), was convened in May 1919 in Damascus, Syria, after the expulsion of the Ottomans from Syria. The mission of the Congress was to consider the fut ...
until its dissolution in 1920 by the French. When the Great Syrian Rebellion broke out in 1925, Rida and the Syro-Palestinian Congress provided it full support, with financial backing from the nascent Saudi state. By 1927, the rebellion had been stymied and
nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
factions of Syro-Palestinian Congress approached the British Empire and
French Third Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France durin ...
to seek a compromise. This angered Rida and only served to strengthen his respect of ibn Sa'ud, who he believed the only sovereign Islamic ruler who stood up to colonial powers and guarded the holiest sites of Islam.
British Intelligence The Government of the United Kingdom maintains several intelligence agencies that deal with secret intelligence. These agencies are responsible for collecting, analysing and exploiting foreign and domestic intelligence, providing military intell ...
in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
, concerned about Rida's influence, monitored his activities.


World Islamic Congresses

Rida was a delegate in the preparatory subcommittee for the 1926 Islamic Congress for Caliphate held in Cairo, which declared that the caliphate was still possible. He was not, however, an active participate in the Cairo Congress itself and considered its organizers to be inefficient. He enthusiastically joined the Pan-Islamic Congress established by ibn Sa'ud the same year. He became a prominent delegate and organizer of the Congress, whose objectives were international Islamic recognition of the Saudi rule of Hejaz, consultations on
hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
services, and erasure of past reputation of sectarianism associated with the Wahhabis. Rida drafted conference protocols on behalf of ibn Sa'ud and wrote the king's opening address. Rida pressed for a collective oath of Congress delegates to pledge to rid the Arabian Peninsula of its foreign influences, and proposed an Islamic pact between Muslim governments, envisioning the assembly as a precursor to a league of Muslim nations. Despite his enthusiasm, no significant resolutions were passed and no subsequent congresses were held in Mecca due to the deep religious, doctrinal, and political differences across the Muslim world. Still, with prominent figures like
Grand Mufti of Jerusalem The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem is the Sunni Muslim cleric in charge of Jerusalem's Islamic holy places, including Al-Aqsa. The position was created by the British military government led by Ronald Storrs in 1918.See Islamic Leadership in Jerusa ...
al-Husseini in attendance, the conference marked the consolidation of the alliance between pan-Islamists and the leaders of the new Wahhabi state. In defense of the Wahhabis' religious credentials, Rida cited ''Tarikh Najd'', a treatise composed by 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad Aal-al Shaykh, the son of
al-Wahhab Wahhab () is an Arabic word meaning "Bestower", from the root ''W-H-B''. Al-Wahhab (Arabic language, Arabic: ٱلْوَهَّابُ, Romanization of Arabic, romanized: ''al-Wahhāb)'', meaning "The Bestower" is one of the attributes of God in Isla ...
. He asserted that Wahhabis had sincere zeal for the Islamic faith and were among the most hostile to foreign influences. Rida later backed ibn Sa'ud's campaign to eradicate fanatical Ikhwan rebels.


Salafism

Rida's early exposure to the Hanbali school in Syria informed his vision of a puritanical renewal based on the revival of the values of the
Salaf Salaf (, "ancestors" or "predecessors"), also often referred to with the honorific expression of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (, "the pious predecessors"), are often taken to be the first three generations of Muslims. This comprises companions of the ...
, the first three generations of Islam, and argued that Salafism was "an Islam purged of impurities and Western influences." In 1905 he spoke of the Salafis as a collective noun, theologically distinct from the
Ash'ari Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...
s, and considered Wahhabis Salafis. He published an article in ''al-Manar'' called '' Speculative Theology is a
bid'ah In Islam and sharia (Islamic law), ( , ) refers to innovation in religious matters. Linguistically, as an Arabic word, the term can be defined more broadly, as "innovation, novelty, heretical doctrine, heresy". It is the subject of many hadith ...
according to the Pious Predecessors'', as well as a discussion of the importance of following the
Salaf Salaf (, "ancestors" or "predecessors"), also often referred to with the honorific expression of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (, "the pious predecessors"), are often taken to be the first three generations of Muslims. This comprises companions of the ...
in the promotion of ''
hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
'' sciences, the spread of which he identified with the
Islamic revival Islamic revival ('' '', lit., "regeneration, renewal"; also ', "Islamic awakening") refers to a revival of the Islamic religion, usually centered around enforcing sharia. A leader of a revival is known in Islam as a '' mujaddid''. Within the Is ...
. In 1914, Rida defined ''mad'hab al-salaf'' as "nothing other than to act according to the Qur'an." The term ''Salafi'' was historically used by Sunni scholars to denote Muslims who claimed
Athari Atharism ( / , "of ''athar''") is a school of theology in Sunni Islam which developed from circles of the , a group that rejected rationalistic theology in favor of strict textualism in interpreting the Quran and the hadith. Adherents of Ath ...
theology. This was how Rida initially learned to view the term. He and Syrian reformer Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi later referred to Salafi more distinctly as Sunni Muslims who adopted Athari theology ''and'' rejected allegorical interpretations of God's attributes. He was critical of speculative interpretation (''ta'wil'') which went beyond what he considered to be the literal meaning of the text. Though he was influenced by Ghazali in childhood, Rida criticised his work for his practice of ''ta'wil'' and mystical interpretation of the injustices of
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
. Like
Ibn Taymiyya Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim schola ...
, Rida was more sharply critical of
ibn Arabi Ibn Arabi (July 1165–November 1240) was an Andalusian Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest com ...
for his metaphysical doctrine, '' Wahdat al Wujud''. However, Rida argued that allegorical interpretation of Scriptures was sometimes appropriate because he believed that many Muslims would have abandoned their faith without them. He counseled Najdi scholars on the necessity of balanced
reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...
and sent them copies of ''
Tafsir al-Manar ''Tafsir al-Manar'' () is a work of Qur'anic exegesis (''tafsir'') by Rashid Rida, an Islamic scholar and the major figure within the early Salafiyya movement. The tafsir work can be fitted into the category of modern tafsir, which is distinguis ...
'' to study. In a letter to al Sa'adi, he wrote that " is necessary that you distinguish between natural sciences... and philosophy, both ancient and modern. Philosophy consists of opinions and theoretical thoughts whereas natural sciences are an expression of the science by which God gave benefits to His creation, such as water, steam, ndair." In the 1920s Rida came to see Salafism as religious fervour and puritanical revival of old Islamic practices. He also became a committed supporter of Saudi military expansions. While politically pan-Islamist, Salafism became increasingly puritanical and faced opposition by conservative quarters like
Al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...
. It did, however, find support from the Arabian Peninsula and the
Ahl-i Hadith Ahl-i-Hadith or Ahl-e-Hadith (, ''people of hadith'') is a Salafi reform movement that emerged in North India in the mid-nineteenth century from the teachings of Syed Ahmad Barelvi, Sayyid Ahmad Shahid, Syed Nazeer Husain and Nawab Siddiq Has ...
movement on the subject of Wahhabi revival. Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqi, one of Riḍā's disciples, was appointed president of the Meccan Department of Printing and Publication, where he started a new ''al-Manar''-adjacent Islamic journal, ''al-Islah'', on Riḍā's recommendation. The journal pushed the key doctrines of Salafism and integrated Arabia into the transnational network of Islamic reformist efforts while fostering a broader sense of Islamic identity among the
Arab Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
elite. In 1912, Salafi scholars Muhibb al Din al Khatib and Abd al Fattah Al Qatlan had begun working with Riḍā and their Salafiyya Bookstore was relocated and merged into Riḍā's Manar Bookstore. He was also invited that year to
Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama (translated as, House of Knowledge and Assembly of Scholars University) is an Islamic seminary in Lucknow, India. It was established by the Nadwatul Ulama, a council of Muslim scholars, on 26 September 1898. This ed ...
by
Nadwatul Ulama Nadwatul Ulama is a council of Muslim theologians in India which was formed in 1893 in Kanpur. The first manager of the council was Muhammad Ali Mungeri and the incumbent is Bilal Abdul Hai Hasani Nadwi. The council established the Darul Uloom ...
leader
Shibli Nomani Shibli Nomani (4 June 1857 – 18 November 1914) was an Indian Islamic scholar, poet, philosopher, historian, educational thinker, author, orator, reformer and critic of orientalists during the British Raj. He is regarded as the father of Urdu ...
. The seminary's goals were compatible with Salafism and Riḍā did two lectures at their
Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...
campus, where he met several influential
Ahl-i Hadith Ahl-i-Hadith or Ahl-e-Hadith (, ''people of hadith'') is a Salafi reform movement that emerged in North India in the mid-nineteenth century from the teachings of Syed Ahmad Barelvi, Sayyid Ahmad Shahid, Syed Nazeer Husain and Nawab Siddiq Has ...
scholars. He then visited
Darul Uloom Deoband Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic university and seminary ( darul uloom) in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh, India, at which the Sunni Deobandi Islamic movement began. Established in 1866 by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, Fazlur Rahman Usmani, Sayy ...
, where he saw
Deobandi The Deobandi movement or Deobandism is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam that adheres to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. It was formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the nam ...
scholar
Anwar Shah Kashmiri Anwar Shah Kashmiri (; 26 November 1875 – 28 May 1933) was an Islamic scholar from Kashmir in the early twentieth century, best known for his expertise in the study of hadith, a strong memory, and a unique approach to interpreting traditions, ...
give a talk on the Qur'an,
hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
,
Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...
te, the
Deobandi The Deobandi movement or Deobandism is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam that adheres to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. It was formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the nam ...
school, and Indian Islamic revivalist
Shah Waliullah Dehlawi Qutb ud-Din Ahmad ibn ʿAbd-ur-Rahim al-ʿUmari ad-Dehlawi (‎; 1703–1762), commonly known as Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (also Shah Wali Allah), was an Islamic Sunni scholar and Sufi reformer, who contributed to Islamic revival in the Indian s ...
. Riḍā highly praised this lecture. From the 1920s onwards Riḍā and his disciples conceptually expanded Salafism in a legal sense. He claimed to use scriptural proofs on legal issues as the Salaf had done. Despite promoting the non-''
madhab A ''madhhab'' (, , pl. , ) refers to any school of thought within Islamic jurisprudence. The major Sunni ''madhhab'' are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE and by the twelfth century almost all ...
'' or pre-''madhab'' approach to Islamic law, Riḍā and his followers did not dismiss the classical system of ''
fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica
''Fiqh'' is of ...
''. They maintained that all four schools of law were virtuous, and promoted reconciliation between them, while still condemning sectarianism between schools. In a 1913 article in ''al-Manar'', Riḍā declared
Najd Najd is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes most of the central region of Saudi Arabia. It is roughly bounded by the Hejaz region to the west, the Nafud desert in Al-Jawf Province, al-Jawf to the north, ...
as the region in which Salafi theology was most widespread. Riḍā believed only ''
hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
'' scholars were capable of reviving ''
sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...
''. Starting in 1915, he began emphasizing that scholars of the early
Ahl al-Hadith () is an Islamic school of Sunni Islam that emerged during the 2nd and 3rd Islamic centuries of the Islamic era (late 8th and 9th century CE) as a movement of hadith scholars who considered the Quran and authentic hadith to be the only authority ...
school were the ones who preserved the religion by resisting threats of heretical innovations. As such, he believed that the methods of the ''
muhaddith A muhaddith () is a scholar specialized in the study, collection, and interpretation of hadiths, which are the recorded sayings, actions, and approvals of the Prophet Muhammad. The role of a muhaddith is central to the science of hadith (ʻilm a ...
in'' in scrutinizing and using ''hadith'' reports in law had to be revived and introduced into society. In the 1920s, he and his students identified themselves as following a "Salafi approach" in jurisprudence, thereby widening Salafi paradigm to impact the realm of law. Riḍā perceived
Athari Atharism ( / , "of ''athar''") is a school of theology in Sunni Islam which developed from circles of the , a group that rejected rationalistic theology in favor of strict textualism in interpreting the Quran and the hadith. Adherents of Ath ...
theology as more rational than speculative theology (''Kalam'') and defended Hanbalite condemnation of Kalam, as Athari had stronger orthodox religious foundations and defended conservative Islamic values from Western and secular ideologies more effectively. He stressed to his disciples that Salafi theology was simple for the masses to learn since it is like "walking on a straight path," whereas he saw studying Ash'ari theology as "swimming in a deep sea, where one has to struggle against the waves of
philosophical Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
doubts and the currents of theoretical investigation." In 1922–23, he published a series of articles in ''al-Manar'' titled '' The Caliphate or the Supreme Imamate'', where he proposed gradualist measures of education, reformation, and purification through Salafism.


Death

Riḍā died on the return trip from Suez to Cairo after seeing off King ibn Sa'ud. Because most of his money was funneled into publishing and other revivalist efforts, Riḍā faced financial difficulties throughout his life and died in debt. The Sheikh of
al-Azhar Al-Azhar Mosque (), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt in the historic Islamic core of the city. Commissioned as the new capital of the Fatimid Caliphate in 970, it was the first mosque established in a city that ...
, Mustafa al Maraghi, remarked that Rida had three main opponents: Muslim modernists, non-Muslims, and religious obscurantists. Egyptian hadith scholar and Rida's disciple, Ahmad Shakir wrote:


Views


''Tawhid''

Rida's vision of ''
tawhid ''Tawhid'' () is the concept of monotheism in Islam, it is the religion's central and single most important concept upon which a Muslim's entire religious adherence rests. It unequivocally holds that God is indivisibly one (''ahad'') and s ...
'' formed the central theme of his reformist teachings, as he believed it was supported by
rationality Rationality is the quality of being guided by or based on reason. In this regard, a person acts rationally if they have a good reason for what they do, or a belief is rational if it is based on strong evidence. This quality can apply to an ab ...
and opposed all forms of superstitious beliefs, oppression, and ignorance. Later Muslims' deviation from pure ''tawhid'' as practiced by the
Salaf Salaf (, "ancestors" or "predecessors"), also often referred to with the honorific expression of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (, "the pious predecessors"), are often taken to be the first three generations of Muslims. This comprises companions of the ...
, Rida argued, led to their decline and subjugation. Echoing
ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...
, Riḍā also condemned the practice of ''
tawassul Tawassul, is an Arabic word originated from 'wasilat'. The ''wasilah'' is a means by which a person, goal or objective is approached, attained or achieved. In another version of the meaning of tawassul in another text: Tawassul is an Arabic word t ...
'' as religious innovation. Riḍā called for the destruction of tombs and structures built above graves and banning practices associated with grave veneration, which he condemned as
polytheism Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god. According to Oxford Reference, it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion, such as Chinese folk religions, is really so, or whet ...
. Among these acts were worshipping creatures as deities besides God; believing God granted part of his divine powers or shares aspects of his dominion with the humans; and believing in the lordship of God, but worshipping worldly beings, such as seeking aid from the dead during sorrow. Muhammad Abduh, Rashid Rida's early mentor, had adopted an Ash'ari methodology of metaphorical and interpretive view of what he viewed as potentially anthropomorphic descriptions of attributes of God. Rashid Riḍā, who was advocating
Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retu ...
theology after the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, began writing lengthy refutations of his teachers views. In his commentary to ''Risalah al Tawhid'', he criticized Abduh for straying away from the literalist Salafi approach. In response to Abduh's statement that the most important aspect of ''tawhid'' was belief in "God's oneness in His essence and the creation of the universes"; Riḍā remarked that Abduh failed to mention ''tawḥīd al-ʾulūhiyyah'', the view of
Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...
as the only god, and disagreed with Abduh's stance on divine attributes. As a Salafi, Riḍā pushed back against the Ash'ari and
Maturidi Maturidism () is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu Mansur al-Maturidi. It is one of the three creeds of Sunni Islam alongside Ash'arism and Atharism, and prevails in the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. Al-Maturidi codified a ...
te schools and advocated the traditionalist doctrine of Qur'anic letters, recitation, and voice being uncreated (''ghayr Makhluq'') word of God, a belief based on the works of
ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...
. In Riḍā's editions of Abduh's works, his views that contradicted traditionalist creed were either deleted or critiqued in commentaries to conform to Salafi doctrines.


''Tajdid'' and ''taqlid''

Riḍā believed that the early Muslims' upholding of ''tawhid'' and ''
sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...
'' were the primary reasons for their spiritual and material success. He praised their independence, free from blind adherence and motivated by Quranic teachings. He believed Muslim decline began after the end of the Islamic caliphates in the 13th century, when the Arab rule, and the influence of their adherence to ''sunnah'', ended. Riḍā also believed that non-Arab rulers engaged in religiously-harmful innovation and superstition. Based on his reading of ''
hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
'', he believed that a second Islamic victory was prophesised and undertook initiatives for global revivalism as a result. He thought the Muslim world faced crises in spiritual, educational, and legislative affairs, and identified Islamic religious reform as a "triple unification of doctrine, law, and ethics." His adoption of Wahhabism's puritanical tenets after 1918 symbolised his adoption of a Hanbalite reformist framework. To achieve this comprehensive Islamic system, Riḍā sought to revive the classical Islamic theory of life. To him, the reconstitution of the Islamic system was only possible by directly returning to the original sources. In this, he also defended the superiority of ''naql'' (textual sources) over ''aql'' (rational sources), and condemned
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
and
Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
. Riḍā travelled to Europe only once, on political grounds; he did not speak English or other European languages. He disliked the social life and was critical of Christianity. Despite this, he had a robust sensitivity to challenges faced by Muslims in the modern world. He believed that the inner decay of Muslims, as well as the efforts by the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, prevented
Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are ...
from embracing
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
. He wanted Muslims to accept aspects of
modernity Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular Society, socio-Culture, cultural Norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the ...
only to the extent to which it was essential for the recovery of Islamic strength. He considered it a duty for Muslims to study modern science and technology. He repeatedly urged legal experts and the scholars to come together and produce modernised legal works based directly from the Qur'an and ''hadith'' in a way that was accessible for all believers. Riḍā was a leading exponent of
Salafism The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist Islamic revival, revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" ...
and was especially critical of what he considered ''
taqlid ''Taqlid'' (, " imitation") 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 context and age. Cla ...
'' (blind following) of excessive
Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
, which he believed to have distorted the original message of Islam. He encouraged both laymen and scholars to read and study directly the primary sources of Islam by themselves. This principle enabled Riḍā to examine contemporary subjects through a modern lens. He believed that the "fragmentation of Muslims into sects and parties" resulting from ''taqlid'' was particularly harmful and would lead to worship of someone other than God, which was in direct contradiction of ''
tawhid ''Tawhid'' () is the concept of monotheism in Islam, it is the religion's central and single most important concept upon which a Muslim's entire religious adherence rests. It unequivocally holds that God is indivisibly one (''ahad'') and s ...
''. Theologically Riḍā argued that rigid adherence to ''
madhab A ''madhhab'' (, , pl. , ) refers to any school of thought within Islamic jurisprudence. The major Sunni ''madhhab'' are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE and by the twelfth century almost all ...
''s prevented Muslims from thinking independently and prohibited their right to access the Scriptures directly. This enabled tyrants, supported by corrupt scholars, to justify oppression and preserve their rule. He also believed that ''hadiths'' regarding the Saved Sect referred to the ahl al-Ittiba, the people who followed proof-texts. He considered those who were pro-''mad'hab'' to be innovators and thus dangerous to Islam. Despite this, he did not ignore the legacy of the four ''mad'habs'' and viewed their legal literature as a resource from which he derived rulings, adapting to changing circumstances. Although he placed The Four Imams at the peak of juristic excellence, he claimed that
ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...
was more relevant for contemporary Muslims in practice. Riḍā believed that the Saved Sect was indisputably
Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...
. Riḍā's criticism of ''taqlid'' extended beyond
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
and Islamic theology to include socio-political developments. He believed these associations and the consequent
partisanship A partisan is a committed member or supporter of a political party or political movement. In multi-party systems, the term is used for persons who strongly support their party's policies and are reluctant to compromise with political opponents ...
influenced ''mad'hab'' affiliations and fanaticism. He was more critical of ''al-Mutafarnijun'', Europeanised emulators who he regarded as guilty of ''taqlid'' for abandoning the path of the Salaf. While the ''madhab'' partisans are influenced by administrative positions of power and promote governmental interests, the ''Mutafarijun'' divided the
Muslim community ' (; ) is an Arabic word meaning Muslim identity, nation, religious community, or the concept of a Commonwealth of the Muslim Believers ( '). It is a synonym for ' (, lit. 'the Islamic nation'); it is commonly used to mean the collective comm ...
based on differences in language, nationality, and geography, and conceived new identities within the nation-states, which Riḍā considered significantly more harmful.


Secularism and modernism

Riḍā believed that the management of state affairs and its principles were an integral part of Islamic faith. Accordingly, he called for the restoration of an
Islamic caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the enti ...
and waged fierce battles against
secularist Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...
trends that emerged during the 20th century. He considered calls for separation of religion and state to be the most dangerous threat to Islam. By the 1920s, Riḍā had discovered that his most formidable opponents were not the tradition-bound Sufi-
Ash'arite Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...
scholars A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...
of al-Azhar but the Western-educated secularists who pushed Abduh's utilitarian principles what he considered to be too far. Riḍā made vehement denunciations and attacks against modernists such as Ali Abdel Raziq and Ahmed Safwat. By this point, his main priority had shifted to repeal what he considered the "Western invasion of Islamic culture." This shift was also evident in his promotion of
Wahhabism Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to oth ...
, Salafism, and the works of
ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...
,
ibn Qayyim Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb az-Zurʿī d-Dimashqī l-Ḥanbalī (29 January 1292–15 September 1350 CE / 691 AH–751 AH), commonly known as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya ("The son of the principal of he scho ...
, and
ibn Qudamah Ibn Qudama (January/February 11477 July 1223) was an ulama, Islamic scholar and aqidah, theologian of the Hanbali, Hanbali school of Sunni Islam. Born in the Palestine (region), Palestine region, Ibn Qudama authored many important treatises on fi ...
. Riḍā admired
ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...
and ibn Abd al-Wahhab in particular and was inspired to adopt a more conservative and orthodox outlook. Riḍā called on Muslims to reject Westernisation and labelled Islamic modernists as "false renewers" and "heretics" whose efforts were harming Muslim societies. He accused Westernised modernizers of corruption, immorality, and treason. He was a fierce believer that any reforms going against Scripture is heresy and should be censured. His campaigns were instrumental in putting modernists like Ali Abd al-Raziq to trial for what Riḍā viewed as attacks on sharia. Riḍā was a strong literalist opposed the trend of rejecting ''hadith'' in Egypt. Prominent in this movement was the Egyptian physician
Muhammad Tawfiq Sidqi Muhammad Tawfiq Sidqi (; 1881–1920) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar who argued against the authenticity of hadith. He is remembered today for his argument "that nothing of the hadith was recorded until after enough time had elapsed to allow the i ...
who grew out of Abduh's modernist traditions. Riḍā disagreed with Sidqi's beliefs that ''hadith'' was prone to corruption due to flawed transmission and that Muslims should rely solely on the Qur'an, which Riḍā took as a minimisation of Muhammad's importance. He believed modernists had gone too far into Westernism in their reformist attempts, leading Muslims to lose their faith. He used the Qur'anic term ''
Jahiliyya In Islamic salvation history, the ''Jāhiliyyah'' (Age of Ignorance) is an era of pre-Islamic Arabia as a whole or only of the Hejaz leading up to the lifetime of Muhammad. The Arabic expression (meaning literally “the age or condition of ig ...
'' to refer to ignorance of
pre-Islamic Arabia Pre-Islamic Arabia is the Arabian Peninsula and its northern extension in the Syrian Desert before the rise of Islam. This is consistent with how contemporaries used the term ''Arabia'' or where they said Arabs lived, which was not limited to the ...
and the conditions of contemporary Muslims, and believed that governance not adhering to ''
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
'' was
apostasy Apostasy (; ) 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 embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...
. This idea would become a major rationale behind the armed Jihad of future militant organisations. He strongly criticised scholars who issued ''
fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
''s aligning with modernist ideals. Riḍā believed that a society that properly obeyed
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
would be successfully resistant to both
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
and class-based socialism, since this ideal society would be immune to temptations. He dismissed modernist advocacy of cultural synthesis, emphasizing the self-sufficiency and comprehensiveness of Islamic faith. He believed that the rising
individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote realizing one's goals and desires, valuing independence and self-reliance, and a ...
,
irreligion Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, ...
,
materialism Materialism is a form of monism, philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental Substance theory, substance in nature, and all things, including mind, mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. Acco ...
, rationalisation, and
scientism Scientism is the belief that science and the scientific method are the best or only way to render truth about the world and reality. While the term was defined originally to mean "methods and attitudes typical of or attributed to natural scientis ...
in Europe following World War I would lead to their downfall. In his treatise ''Yusr al-Islam wa Usül at-Tashri' al-'Ämm'' (The Accommodating Spirit of Islam and the Sources of General Jurisprudence), Riḍā explained that reform advocates who fall between ''mad'han'' partisanship and modernist Westernisation are "those who affirm that it is possible to resuscitate Islam and renew its true guidance." His aggressive rejection of Westernisation eventually led to the formation of transnational Islamist movements such as the
Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...
and
Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami is an Islamist fundamentalist movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamist author and theorist Syed Abul Ala Maududi, who was inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood. It is considered one of the most influential Isla ...
.


Anti-Zionism

Riḍā published an article condemning
Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
in 1898, making him one of the earliest scholarly critics of the movement. He warned that the Jewish people were being mobilised to migrate to Palestine with European backing to establish a Zionist state, and urged Arabs to take action, as he thought the Zionists' ultimate ambition was to convert
al-Aqsa Al-Aqsa (; ) or al-Masjid al-Aqṣā () and also is the compound of Islamic religious buildings that sit atop the Temple Mount, also known as the Haram al-Sharif, in the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Dome of the Rock, many mosques and ...
mosque into a synagogue and to cleanse
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
of all of its
Arab Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
inhabitants. In his 1929 treatise ''Thawrat Filastin'' (The Palestinian Revolution), he claimed that the Jewish people were historically fanatic observers of in-group solidarity and exclusivity, and refused to assimilate with other cultures. Riḍā listed a number of historical crimes against the
Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...
including polytheism,
usury Usury () is the practice of making loans that are seen as unfairly enriching the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is charged in e ...
, and offenses against the
prophets of Islam Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God in Islam, God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit Revelatio ...
. He claimed that God was punishing them for this by taking away their kingdom and subjecting them to centuries of Christian persecution. In one of his final texts, published in 1935, Riḍā told Muslims to unite and "take the path traced by our
ancestors An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from w ...
, who defeated the Jewish in the first epoch f Islamand expelled them from the
Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...
." Riḍā considered the Zionist enterprise part of the wider British imperial scheme to consolidate their regional dominion and provoke
civil strife Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, civil strife, or turmoil, are situations when law enforcement and security forces struggle to maintain public order or tranquility. Causes Any number of things may cause civil dis ...
among Muslims. Riḍā propagated
anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
stereotypes and conspiracy theories that would later become popular across the Arab world and various Islamist movements. ''Al-Manar'' regularly featured anti-Semitic articles linking Jewish people and Freemasons who eagerly sought to exploit others' wealth. He was a strong believer in the global Jewish conspiracy, and, in the 1930s, he also promoted the ideas of ''
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated text purporting to detail a Jewish plot for global domination. Largely plagiarized from several earlier sources, it was first published in Imperial Russia in 1903, translated into multip ...
''. He believed Jewish people were controlling the Western banking system and were behind turning Christian states against Muslims. He wrote that the establishment of a Jewish state was preparation for the arrival of their
Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
, which Riḍā thought to be the
anti-Christ In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...
and would be killed by
Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
, the true Messiah in Islam. He believed that Jewish people were competent only in the financial sector and required British military backing to make up for their inadequate skills in other areas. He also claimed the Jewish people were a "selfish and chauvinist, cunning and perfidious" people who sought to exploit and exterminate other people. Riḍā alleged that the Jewish people had undermined the power of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe and introduced
freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
, through which they manipulated the
Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
and the
Young Turks The Young Turks (, also ''Genç Türkler'') formed as a constitutionalist broad opposition-movement in the late Ottoman Empire against the absolutist régime of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (). The most powerful organization of the movement, ...
against the
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
and Ottoman empires, respectively, and that they orchestrated the French Revolution. In November 1910, he publicly asserted that the Young Turk Revolution was a Jewish response to the Hamidian regime's rejection of Zionist plans to reclaim of their
Third Temple The "Third Temple" (, , ) refers to a hypothetical rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. It would succeed the First Temple and the Second Temple, the former having been destroyed during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in and the latter having bee ...
in
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
and its surrounding territories, through which they sought to reestablish their kingdom. He identified the
Young Turks The Young Turks (, also ''Genç Türkler'') formed as a constitutionalist broad opposition-movement in the late Ottoman Empire against the absolutist régime of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (). The most powerful organization of the movement, ...
, who he thought were conspiring with Zionists in building a Jewish Kingdom of
Zion Zion (; ) is a placename in the Tanakh, often used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole. The name is found in 2 Samuel (), one of the books of the Tanakh dated to approximately the mid-6th century BCE. It o ...
in Palestine, as the masonic
fifth columnists A fifth column is a group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize ...
and were engineering a war between the Islamic and Western worlds. He believed Jewish people created capitalism as a tool of manipulation and that they were attacking religious governments across the world to spread atheism and
communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
. Riḍā believed that the term "freemason" itself referred to the re-construction of
Solomon's Temple Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (), was a biblical Temple in Jerusalem believed to have existed between the 10th and 6th centuries Common Era, BCE. Its description is largely based on narratives in the Hebrew Bible, in which it ...
in
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. He claimed and emphasized that while the founders of Freemasonry came from both Judaism and Christianity, the Jewish people led and dominated the movement. He also argued that Jewish people wielded immense influence over the Committee of Union and the treasury of the Ottoman Empire. Within two years of the Young Turk Revolution, Riḍā convinced that the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
had succumbed to a "
Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
-
Masonic Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
influence." He issued a ''
fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
'' in 1933 forbidding Muslims from selling land to Jewish people in Palestine, ruling that such sales represented the "betrayal of Islam" and complicity with Zionism. Although Riḍā's theology was ideologically at odds with
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
doctrines, he commended them for ridding the world of heresies and false beliefs, as this would allow for the ultimate triumph of the Islamic faith. Riḍā also viewed
Kemalism Kemalism (, also archaically ''Kamâlizm'') or Atatürkism () is a political ideology based on the ideas of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurcher, Turkey: A Modern History. New York, ...
and communism as the immediate enemies of Islam, both of which were directly threatening Muslim territories. Fervent
anti-Zionism Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...
linked with themes of Judeo-Bolshevism were a predominant component of Rida's writings until his death.


Christianity

Riḍā was highly sensitive to the openly hostile and
Islamophobic Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...
attitudes prevalent among
Orientalists In art history, literature, and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of the Eastern world (or "Orient") by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. Orientalist painting, particularly of the Middle ...
and European Christians of his era. Before promoting the vision of a
caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
as a means of Islamic revival, Riḍā was trying to counteract the activities of
Christian mission A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and a ...
aries, who had founded a society for organised Islamic
da'wah ' (, , "invitation", also spelt , , , or ) is the act of inviting people to Islam. The plural is () or (). Preachers who engage in dawah are known as da'i. Etymology literally means "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation". Grammat ...
outside of Islamic Ottoman territories. He was also concerned by what he regarded as sympathies of native
Arab Christians Arab Christians () are the Arabs who adhere to Christianity. The number of Arab Christians who live in the Middle East was estimated in 2012 to be between 10 and 15 million. Arab Christian communities can be found throughout the Arab world, bu ...
to
colonial powers Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an imperialist project, colonialism can also take ...
. Riḍā believed the only 'true' mission of solid faith in Christian history was that of Jesus' disciples and that any later missionary attempt was false. He perceived Christian missions as an integral part of the colonial presence in the
Muslim world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...
and was convinced that Europe used religion as a political instrument for mobilising European Christians by inflaming their 'fanatic' feelings against other nations. In spite of this, Rida did promote efforts to reconcile between Muslims and Christians. His caliphate proposal recognised both Judaism and Christianity and granted non-Muslims the right to serve in administration and the judicial system, with the exception of the Islamic
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
courts. Habib Jamati said in his eulogy for Riḍā that Riḍā "had also befriended Christians and struggled alongside them for their common nation." He did, however, accuse Oriental Christians in general of being the tools of colonial powers and of conspiring with "atheist Westerners" against Islam. In a series of articles published in 1911 compiled under the title ''al-Muslimun wa-l-qubt'' (The Muslims and the Copts), he condemned Muslims for dividing over nationalism. In his view,
nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
slogans were exploited by the colonial powers and would only favor the Coptic minority. He mocked the Copts' claim to be descended from the "heathen, God-hating"
Pharaohs Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty () until the annexation of Egypt by the Roman Republic in 30 BCE. However, ...
and their demand for positions of power despite what he viewed as inexperience. Riḍā applauded the 1911 Muslim Congress, which was organised in response to the 1911 Congress of Asyut that demanded Coptic minority rights. He believed Western civilisation could not be considered Christian, only materialistic, and predicted that its vices would lead to self-destruction. He alleged that the West sought to turn Muslims away from their religion, either by degrading their moral values, converting them to Christianity, or both.


Shi'ism and Baháʼí

Riḍā gradually became a sharp critic of
Shi'ism Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...
throughout his life. In a 1929 book, he wrote that he was once willing to work with the balanced reformers among Shias but that the situation has changed. He alleged that they "worship the dead," attributing to their incessionary practices towards '' Awliyaa'' in their shrines. He called upon Shias to condemn these practices and, while he did not censure all Shias, he left them with few options but to comply. Pan-Islamic unity was still conceivable, but it had to be on Salafi terms. In 1927, following heightened communal tensions, ''al-Manar'' published a series of anti-Shi'i articles written by Riḍā's disciple Muhammad Taqi ud din al-Hilali. Rida condemned the Shia for "supporting the Tatar and Crusader invasions" and alleged that Raafidi doctrines were formulated by a Jewish-
Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wo ...
conspiracy aimed at "perverting Islam and weakening the Arabs." Rida called upon "moderate Shi'is" to dissociate themselves from the stagnant Shia clergy and condemn intercessory practices such as beseeching their religious figures from the
Ahl al-Bayt () refers to the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In Sunni Islam, the term has also been extended to all descendants of the Banu Hashim (Muhammad's clan) and even to all Muslims. In Shia Islam, the term is limited to Muhammad, his daugh ...
and Awliyaa in their graves, which he equated with polytheism. He thought this was the only way they would be incorporated into the pan-Islamic
ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...
paradigm. Despite all of this, Riḍā heavily influence modern Shiite
exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...
. His prolific Quaranic commentary, ''
Tafsir Tafsir ( ; ) refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' (; plural: ). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding ...
'', is studied by both Sunni and Shiite scholars. Riḍā considered the
Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
to be a completely separate religion from Islam with its own laws. He thought they to be
polytheists Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god. According to Oxford Reference, it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion, such as Chinese folk religions, is really so, or whet ...
and esotericists pretending to be Muslim and that they were a destructive internal threat to Islam. He saw Abduh's friendship with Baháʼí leader 'Abdu'l-Baha Abbas as a
betrayal Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. Of ...
to Islam.


Women

Riḍā believed that men and women were treated equally in Islam in terms of spiritual obligations and their ability to earn God's favor. To support Islamic gender roles, which defined a woman's position in both household and society, he pointed to issues such as sexual freedom, women's exploitation in the workplace, and the rising cases of illegitimate children, which he thought were all creating problems in European societies. He believed these gender roles represented the proper solution to these social problems, and that, while men are heads of the household, Muslim women were allowed to choose a spouse and were clearly given stipulated rights and responsibilities in a marriage. He also asserted that consent from the male guardian of a woman was essential for a
marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
to be valid, since it stabilised the domestic order and befits the honor of both women and men. He criticised followers of the ''
Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...
'' school who didn't adhere to this stipulation as bigoted partisans to ''mad'habs'' guilty of abandoning the
Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
and ''
sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...
'' in favour of their law schools. Riḍā was also a firm defender of traditional Islamic views on
polygamy 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, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...
, presenting it as a solution to the emerging social ills afflicting societies, such as free mixing of men and women in workplaces and consequent sexual freedoms. In one of his last treatises, ''A Call to the Fair Sex'' (1932), he argued that polygamy not only solved the problems associated with promiscuity and its resultant evils, but also addressed the difficulties produced by the loss of men in war. The book condemned the calls for equality between men and women in the workplace and in politics and warned about the folly of imitating Western women in their misguided ways. Rida declared that calls for "the liberation of women" and other social reforms by the modernisers were destroying the very fabric of Islamic societies. Riḍā discussed the etiquettes of
veiling A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European, Asian, and African societies. The practice has been prominent ...
, emphasizing modesty for Muslim women, and addressed legal issues such as
divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...
. Although Riḍā wanted Muslim women not to be involved in politics, he encouraged association-based female Islamic activism that called upon the government to outlaw free-mixing, wine-drinking, and fronts of prostitution, and demanded expansion of Islamic education for both males and females. In marital affairs, he held the view that wives were not obliged to cook, clean, or take care of their children in
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
and decried the hypocrisy of men who demanded more from their wives. Still, he believed husbands could discipline their wives using force, if necessary. Riḍā encouraged Muslim women to participate in the social life of Islam as they did in earlier Islamic eras, but stressed that men were more capable and superior in terms of strength, intelligence, learning, and physical labour, which is why they have
legal guardianship A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, cal ...
over women. However, like a ruler over his subjects, male authority should be exercised through ''
shura Shura () is the term for collective decision-making in Islam. It can, for example, take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other. Shura is mentioned as a praise ...
'' and that they should strive to be like
Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
, who exemplified kind treatment of wives. Riḍā also defended Islamic slavery, asserting that it protected women from harm and gave everyone chance to bear children, and therefore is not in conflict with justice. Riḍā wrote that every woman should have a legal guardian, so that women who are "prevented from being wife or mother renot thereby prevented from enjoying protection and honour." He felt that Muslim men, but not Muslim women, could marry non-Muslims to expand the reach of Islam.


On ''riba''

Riḍā considered that certain types of
usury Usury () is the practice of making loans that are seen as unfairly enriching the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is charged in e ...
(''riba'') may be permitted in certain cases, such as extreme poverty or larger public interest. He was influenced by both ibn Qayyim and Abduh in his beliefs about ''riba'', though some of the beliefs he glossed from Abduh were tweaked to fit his agenda. Riḍā believed that only the first increase in a termed loan was permissible in
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
, classifying it as ''riba al-fadl'', a term used by
ibn Qayyim Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb az-Zurʿī d-Dimashqī l-Ḥanbalī (29 January 1292–15 September 1350 CE / 691 AH–751 AH), commonly known as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya ("The son of the principal of he scho ...
. Based on his analysis of the reports in '' Tafsir al Tabari'' that described the practice of ''riba'' during the pre-Islamic period, Riḍā distinguished the former from the usury practised during the pre-Islamic period (''Ribā Âl-Jāhilīyyá''). However, he considered any further increase in returns or postponement of maturity date unlawful. Riḍā wrote that ''riba'' rendered capitalism fundamentally at odds with an Islamic system as it directly violated Divine command. When state-sponsored Turkish translations of the Qur'an in the newly established
Turkish Republic Turkish Republic may refer to: * Turkey, archaically the "Turkish Republic" * Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the ...
were published in 1924, Riḍā characterised the project as a long-term plot to displace the Arabic Qur'an and to tamper with Islamic rituals. He wrote that
Mustafa Kemal Mustafa () is one of the names of the Islamic 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 Moustafa * Moustafa A ...
's regime promoted heretical ideas to undermine Islam and that God "revealed it to the Arabian Prophet Muhammad in the clear Arabic tongue." Riḍā issued a ''
fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
'' prohibiting Qur'anic translations. Among his objections were that identical translation of the Qur'an was impossible; translation would serve to sever "Islamic ties of unity" by stoking racial divisions; and the translation would be lesser in quality, as the reader would be "limited" by the translator's understanding. He was clear, however, that the prohibition was only on translations meant to substitute the Arabic Qur'an. He viewed the Arabic language as the common medium uniting Muslims of all nations and promoted Arabic as an integral pillar of his reform efforts and later issued a ''
fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
'' stipulating that knowledge of Arabic is obligatory for every Muslim.


Law and government

Riḍā believed that
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
was intended and suited to be a comprehensive legal structure for Islamic society. He wrote that fixed Shar'i principles in ''
muamalat ''Muamalat'' (also ''muʿāmalāt,'' , literally "transactions" TBE, "CHAPTER A1, INTRODUCTION TO ISLAMIC MUAMALAT", 2012: p.6 or "dealings") is a part of Islamic jurisprudence, or ''fiqh''. Sources agree that ''muamalat'' includes Islamic "rul ...
'' (social transactions) were of only a general character, allowing for considerable adaptation by successive generations of Muslims to understand their modern problems. ''
Ibadah ''Ibadah'' (, ''‘ibādah'', also spelled ''ibada'') is an Arabic word meaning service or servitude. In Islam, ''ibadah'' is usually translated as “worship”, and ''ibadat''—the plural of ''ibadah''—refers to Islamic jurisprudence ( ...
'' (governing matters of ritual and worship), on the other hand, did not allow for interpretive change. Riḍā believed that the
Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...
principle of ''
istihsan ' (Arabic: ) is an Arabic term for juristic discretion. In its literal sense it means "to consider something good". Muslim scholars may use it to express their preference for particular judgements in Islamic law over other possibilities. It is o ...
'' (ruling in which a benefit to the community is confirmed) is essentially an application of the spirit. However, he expanded the legal realm of the ''ibadah'' to incorporate personal and civil laws, including marriage and
divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...
. Riḍā divided ''
muamalat ''Muamalat'' (also ''muʿāmalāt,'' , literally "transactions" TBE, "CHAPTER A1, INTRODUCTION TO ISLAMIC MUAMALAT", 2012: p.6 or "dealings") is a part of Islamic jurisprudence, or ''fiqh''. Sources agree that ''muamalat'' includes Islamic "rul ...
'' into moral issues and morally irrelevant issues. The former are similar to ''ibadat'' rules, moral norms defined by God, therefore making them unchangeable. Violators of these rules, he thought, were sinful transgressors. The latter could be solved through the process of analogical reasoning, or ''
Qiyas Qiyas (, , ) is the process of deductive analogy in which the teachings of the hadith are compared and contrasted with those of the Quran in Islamic jurisprudence, in order to apply a known injunction ('' nass'') to a new circumstance and cre ...
'', which is a fundamental principle necessary for the relevant application to the law. Medieval jurists such as
al-Qarafi Shihāb al-Dīn Abu ’l-Abbās Aḥmad ibn Abi ’l-ʿAlāʾ Idrīs ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yallīn al-Ṣanhājī al-Ṣaʿīdī al-Bahfashīmī al-Būshī al-Bahnasī al-Miṣrī al-Mālikī () (also known as simply known a ...
and
ibn Taymiyya Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim schola ...
considered ''
istislah ''Istislah'' (Arabic: استصلاح, ) is a method employed by Islamic jurists to solve problems that find no clear answer in sacred religious texts. It is related to the term مصلحة ''Maslaha'', or "public interest" (both words being deriv ...
'' as a logical extension of ''Qiyas'', whereby a consideration of utility neither explicitly enjoined nor excluded by the revealed texts would be assumed as a valid basis for judgment. Riḍā adopted this rationale, acknowledging that conclusions of ''istislah'' were not legally binding as a firmly-grounded ''Qiyas'' (as opposed to ''Qiyas'' without precise textual basis), as "no individual is entitled to require or forbid others to perform an act without Divine authorization". He believed that this rationale did not prevent the government from enacting ordinances based on utility in public policy, provided that the government rested on proper ''
shura Shura () is the term for collective decision-making in Islam. It can, for example, take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other. Shura is mentioned as a praise ...
'' among qualified authorities, and that these ordinances did not conflict with
Divine Revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and theology. Types Individual revelation Thomas A ...
. Based on writings from al-Shatibi, Riḍā suggested that most legal rulings could be reached through ''istislah'' rather than the more meticulous process of ''Qiyas''. In reference to
al-Qarafi Shihāb al-Dīn Abu ’l-Abbās Aḥmad ibn Abi ’l-ʿAlāʾ Idrīs ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yallīn al-Ṣanhājī al-Ṣaʿīdī al-Bahfashīmī al-Būshī al-Bahnasī al-Miṣrī al-Mālikī () (also known as simply known a ...
, he wrote that many scholars feared that tyrants would use
public interest In social science and economics, public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. While it has earlier philosophical roots and is considered to be at the core of democratic theories of government, often paired ...
as an excuse for following their desires and imposing absolutism upon their population. Riḍā's conclusion was that politics had to be reformed so decisions of public policy and law would be up to a qualified body (''
ahl al-hall wal-aqd Political aspects of the religion of Islam are derived from its religious scripture (the Quran holy book, ''ḥadīth'' literature of accounts of the sayings and living habits attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ''sunnah''), as we ...
'' or ''ulul amr'') through mutual consultation. This, he thought, would negate the fear that public interest could be a means for corruption, thus lifting the restrictions on deduction of legal ordinances. Overturning ''muamalat'' rulings were predicated on the condition of compulsion (''darurah'') and were only to be undertaken by a competent
jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...
, who may derive the appropriate ruling based on his ''
ijtihad ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ' , ) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question. It is contrasted with '' taqlid'' ( ...
''. Riḍā thought that the best possible way to bring about a strong caliphate was through a detailed application "of the rules of the ''Shariah''." One of these rules involved the appointment of '' ahl al-hal wa-l 'aqd'', a group of Muslim representatives with the right to take council with a caliph and the power to both appoint and remove him of behalf of the community. As the state would use Islamic law as its guiding principle,
scholars A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...
were not only responsible for the sacred mission of reforming the society, but also responsible for correcting the monarch, by holding him accountable to
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
. Jurors were also to engage in ''
ijtihad ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ' , ) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question. It is contrasted with '' taqlid'' ( ...
'' by referring to the Scriptures, and evaluate contemporary conditions to enhance the vitality of the law. Drawing on
Hanbali The Hanbali school or Hanbalism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It is named after and based on the teachings of the 9th-century scholar, jurist and tradit ...
and
Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...
legal traditions that supported the continuity of ''
ijtihad ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ' , ) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question. It is contrasted with '' taqlid'' ( ...
'', Riḍā employed its doctrine into practice. He defined the application of ''ijtihad'' strictly in terms of "pure adherence to the provisions of the
Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
and ''
sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...
'' and upon the understanding of the
Salaf Salaf (, "ancestors" or "predecessors"), also often referred to with the honorific expression of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (, "the pious predecessors"), are often taken to be the first three generations of Muslims. This comprises companions of the ...
" and restricted its scope by enforcing the authority of
scholarly consensus Scientific consensus is the generally held judgment, position, and opinion of the majority or the supermajority of scientists in a particular field of study at any particular time. Consensus is achieved through scholarly communication at conferen ...
. This position was a middle-ground between the
modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
conceptualisation of ''ijtihad'' as an all-inclusive creative endeavour, and the minimalist view which restricted it to a narrow legal spectrum of ''mad'hab'' partisanship. During Riḍā's life, when ''taqlid'' tradition was predominant, ''
fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
s'' (religious rulings) were not issued by ''ijtihad''. He began this practice in 1903 by answering questions sent in by readers to ''al-Manar''. He viewed ''fatwas'' as his ''ijtihad''. This act imparted a major influence on future Islamic revivalist movements. Although Riḍā believed that ''ijtihad'' was unlawful in the realm of
Islamic theology Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding creed. The main schools of Islamic theology include the extant Mu'tazili, Ash'ari, Maturidi, and Athari schools; the extinct ones ...
, he sought to tone down the religious hostilities between
Salafis The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retur ...
, Asharis, and
Maturidi Maturidism () is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu Mansur al-Maturidi. It is one of the three creeds of Sunni Islam alongside Ash'arism and Atharism, and prevails in the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. Al-Maturidi codified a ...
s, as well as between
Sunnis Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...
,
Ibadis Ibadism (, ) is a school of Islam concentrated in Oman established from within the Kharijites. The followers of the Ibadi sect are known as the Ibadis or, as they call themselves, The People of Truth and Integrity (). Ibadism emerged around 6 ...
, and
Shi'is Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...
. He called upon all
Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
to unite by taking the
Salaf Salaf (, "ancestors" or "predecessors"), also often referred to with the honorific expression of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (, "the pious predecessors"), are often taken to be the first three generations of Muslims. This comprises companions of the ...
as their role models. Early issues of ''al-Manar'' emphasized the virtues of the Salaf and extolled their feats, such as their intellectual dynamism and especially the
early Islamic conquests The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests (), also known as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the founder of Islam. He established the first Islamic state in Medina, Arabian Peninsula, Arabia that ...
. Riḍā believed that the period of the early
Muslim community ' (; ) is an Arabic word meaning Muslim identity, nation, religious community, or the concept of a Commonwealth of the Muslim Believers ( '). It is a synonym for ' (, lit. 'the Islamic nation'); it is commonly used to mean the collective comm ...
epitomized pristine Islam to its perfection. However, Riḍā was clear in specifying that general principles cannot supersede clear-cut texts. He stated that a soundly transmitted Scriptural text could only be superseded by a specific text which is more superior or by general texts of Qur'an and authentic ''hadiths'' that allow believers to prevent damage to themselves or to commit prohibited actions in a state of emergencies. He wrote that this permission was only valid during cases of extreme necessity and that the degree of allowance was proportional to the scope of necessity. Maintaining that Revealed texts were superior to ''
maslaha ''Maslaha'' or ''maslahah'' (, ) is a concept in Sharia (Islamic divine law) regarded as a basis of law.I. Doi, Abdul Rahman. (1995). "Mașlahah". In John L. Esposito. ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World''. Oxford: Oxford Univer ...
'', Rida's legal approach towards them was based on the criterion and mechanisms elaborated by classical jurists such as al-Shatibi and al-Tufi. In addition, Riḍā's legal doctrine continued the juristic traditions of a number of prominent
jurists A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a legal practition ...
between the 10th and 14th centuries such as
al-Ghazali Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111), archaically Latinized as Algazelus, was a Shafi'i Sunni Muslim scholar and polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theoreticians, muftis, philosophers, the ...
,
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī () or Fakhruddin Razi () (1149 or 1150 – 1209), often known by the sobriquet Sultan of the Theologians, was an influential Iranian and Muslim polymath, scientist and one of the pioneers of inductive logic. He wrote var ...
, al-Qarafi, and
ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...
. During these four centuries, Islamic jurists had commonly employed ''maslaha'' as an amenity for legal resolution and juristic dynamism. As Riḍā saw it, the classical jurists had sufficiently elaborated the "philosophical, moral and hermeneutical controls" for valid use of the principles of ''maslaha''. Riḍā credited al-Ghazali and al-Shatibi for his revivalism of ''maslaha'', which revamped the principle within the traditional legal framework of ''
Qiyas Qiyas (, , ) is the process of deductive analogy in which the teachings of the hadith are compared and contrasted with those of the Quran in Islamic jurisprudence, in order to apply a known injunction ('' nass'') to a new circumstance and cre ...
''. Riḍā's doctrines were later extended by
modernists Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and social issues were all aspects of this moveme ...
to uphold ''maslaha'' as an independent legal source, making ''Qiyas'' dispensable and formulating positive laws directly on
utilitarian In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...
grounds, for the "wisdom behind the Revealed Laws is no longer inscrutable," which created new implications. Riḍā vehemently denounced these ideas and Egyptian lawyer Ahmed Safwat for promoting "non-adherence" to the
Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
and '' sunna'', in particular matters in the name of public utility. Though Riḍā believed that ''
mujtahid ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ' , ) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question. It is contrasted with '' taqlid'' (i ...
s'' were obliged to take a broad view of all considerations affecting the public interest, "textual limits" had to be respected. The general public was obliged to follow the qualified ''
mujtahid ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ' , ) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question. It is contrasted with '' taqlid'' (i ...
s'' unquestionably on wordly Transactions and their consensus was a legal source (''
hujja A term used in Shi'i terminology, "hujja" means "proof mplied: proof of God" It is usually used to refer to a single individual in any given human era who represents God's "proof" to humanity.. The hujja is an Islamic prophet or an Imam who ...
shar'iyya'').


Politics

Riḍā believed that problems faced by Muslims required political reform and his
anti-imperialism Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influen ...
was characterized by radical
pan-Islamist Pan-Islamism () is a political movement which advocates the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Historically, after Ottomanism, which aimed at t ...
stances. Riḍā contended that those who engaged in defence of Islam, its propagation, and its teaching should not engage in politics, in line with orthodox Sunni doctrine, though he was also vehemently against secularist calls for separation of religion and state. The corruption and tyranny of Muslim rulers throughout history was a central theme in his criticisms. He celebrated the rule of Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad and the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and leveled his attacks at subsequent rulers who could not maintain Muhammad's example. He thought it was feudal monarchs and depraved scholars who ruined the ideal
caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
system, leading to social chaos and the institutionalisation of corruption of authoritarian rulers. He also blamed the weakness and corruption of Muslim societies on Sufist pacifism and excess, the blind imitation of the past (''
taqlid ''Taqlid'' (, " imitation") 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 context and age. Cla ...
''), the stagnation of the
scholars A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...
, and the resulting failure to achieve progress in science and technology. He criticized Islamic scholars for compromising their integrity, and the integrity of the Islamic law, by associating with corrupt worldly powers. In advocating the Worldwide caliphate, restoration of the caliphate, he reiterated the unity of both the spiritual and temporal aspects of Islam, which was in direct opposition to the emerging tides of
secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...
across the Arab and Turkish worlds. He suggested conditions necessary for the revival of the ideal caliphal rule and proposed ways to prevent the return to the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman imperial system. Instead of criticising
Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
based on its perceived role in the Islamic historical scheme, Riḍā opposed Sufis because he considered their activities to be bid'ah, innovations without textual precedents or any sanction in the practices of the earliest generations. Riḍā opposed
secularist Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...
Criticism of Islam, criticisms accusing religion of being responsible for wars and human suffering, asserting that the Materialism, materialist and Irreligion, irreligious conceptions of humanity were the prime instigators of warfare and bloodshed throughout history. In Riḍā's view, wars were an integral component of human history, and Sharia, Islamic law regulated conflicts to Just war theory, just wars based on the doctrine of ''Jihad''. He praised the Early Muslim conquests, religious campaigns of
Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
and Rashidun Caliphate as an exemplary model of ''Jihad'' to be emulated against the European imperial powers. He saw ''Jihad'' as a binding duty for all capable male Muslims, not only to defend the religion but also to bring non-Muslims into the Islamic faith. However, since the obligation of ''Jihad'' could only be fulfilled by strong men, the more immediate task was to acquire scientific and technical knowledge. Riḍā nonetheless distinguished between wars to spread Islam (''Jihad al-Talab'') and wars to defend Islam (''Jihad al-Daf''). While the latter was always obligatory, the expansion of Islam into non-Muslim territories was not obligatory unless Muslims were not allowed to live according to
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
or unless Islamic dawah, preaching efforts were hampered by the non-Muslim state. Riḍā's final substantial treatise, ''The Muhammadan Revelation'' (''al-Waḥī al-Muḥammadī''), published in 1933, was a manifesto in which he proclaimed that Islam was the only saviour for the deteriorating West. Insisting that
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
called for the unity of all people, opposing all forms of racist hierarchies that were responsible for the
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and the corrupted League of Nations, Riḍā presented a Universal Islamic Order as a substitute for the crumbling Wilsonianism, Wilsonian system. He wrote that "[w]hen Islam came into the world, humankind was widely divided; on the basis of origin, color, language, geography, religion, tribal affiliation, government, and politics. Moreover, on the basis of anyone of these differences, humans went to war." He asserted that Islam was widespread during the first century of the Muhammadan Revelation and blamed ignorance and tyranny for stymieing an Islamic state at that time.


Influence and legacy

Rashid Riḍā is widely regarded as one of "the ideological forefathers" of contemporary Islamist movements and many of his ideas were foundational to the development of the modern
Islamic state The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...
. He "was an important link between classical theories of the
caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
... and 20th-century notions of the Islamic state." Though Riḍā held some unconventional ideas, his work was highly influential. Salafi scholar Albani wrote that ''al-Manar'' was "a good nucleus that drew the attention of Muslims to take care of the ''hadiths'' of the Prophet Peace be upon him." The status of Riḍā and his works, however, are a matter of contention among some contemporary Salafi movement#Purists, purist Salafis, who disagree with his idea that rulers who legislate man-made laws contrary to ''
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
'' are guilty of ''Kufr, kufr akbar'' (major non-belief) and that Muslims are obliged to force rulers to annul such laws; overthrow them; or lose the land's status as ''Divisions of the world in Islam, Dar-al-Islam'' (abode of Islam). Some Salafi Purists criticise Riḍā for straying from Political quietism in Islam#Quietism among Salafists, quietist Salafi principles. The pro-government Madkhalism, Madkhali Salafists condemn Riḍā for his influence on Salafi movement#Salafi activists, Salafi activists, Islamism, Islamists, and Salafi jihadism, Salafi-Jihadists. Others, however, including Salafi scholars such as Albani, generally praise him and popularised his treatises in Jordan, while also making commentaries on Rida's works. Ali al-Halabi, a disciple of Albani, has praised Riḍā for his contributions to Salafi revival in Jordan. Salafi movement#Salafi activists, Salafi activists (''harakis'') also used Riḍā's works to build a revivalist platform focused on Islamic socio-political and cultural reforms (''
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, correction, correcting something and removing vice, reworking, ...
'') with a long-term objective to establish an
Islamic state The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...
. Prominent figures in this rival camp include Abu Hanieh, Safar al-Hawali, Abu Qatada al-Filistini, Abu Qatada, Muhammad Surur, and Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Khaliq, Abdurrahman Abdulkhaliq. Abu Qatada and Abu Hanieh established a Jordan-based movement known as Ahl Al-Sunnah Wal Jama'a and published a new ''al-Manar'' magazine to commemorate Riḍā's monthly publication. Riḍā's political doctrines deeply influenced Islamists like Hassan al-Banna, Hasan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb, as well as subsequent Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist movements across the Arab world. Al-Banna was highly influenced by Riḍā's Salafism movement as well his
pan-Islamist Pan-Islamism () is a political movement which advocates the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Historically, after Ottomanism, which aimed at t ...
activities through socio-political means to re-generate an
Islamic state The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...
and established the
Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...
, a mass political party which sought to establish an Islamic state in Egypt within the existing constitutional framework. The movement demanded the Egyptian government to recognize ''
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
'' as the supreme source of law and remove the European law codes. Riḍā's anti-Western sentiments set the foundations of future Salafi jihadism, Salafi-Jihadist ideologies. Riḍā published ''Majmuʿat al-rasaʾil wa al-masaʾil al-najdiyya'' (Collection of Treatises and Questions from Najd) in 1928; this was one of the earliest occurrences wherein the doctrine of Al-Wala' wal-Bara', loyalty and disavowal was emphasised alongside ''
tawhid ''Tawhid'' () is the concept of monotheism in Islam, it is the religion's central and single most important concept upon which a Muslim's entire religious adherence rests. It unequivocally holds that God is indivisibly one (''ahad'') and s ...
'' in the Salafi context. This doctrine in particular later became important in militant Jihadist circles. Riḍā's
Islamic state The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...
theory was adopted by Osama bin Laden, Usama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, Ayman al Zawahiri, who followed the terminology used by Riḍā and later by Hasan al-Banna to differentiate between an Islamic State and the caliphate. In contrast to other Islamist movements like Hizb ut-Tahrir, who believed the caliphate to be the only valid government, the two Al-Qaeda leaders believed in the legitimacy of multiple Islamic national states, referring to them as Emirates, such as the Afghanistan, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, until the 1990s, when, according to Bin Laden, it lost legitimacy. Riḍā's strategy to establish an Islamic State is also believed to have influenced Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIS in their 2014 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi#Declaration of a caliphate, declaration of caliphate in Mosul. Under Saudi rule, Sufi institutions in Mecca were closed and replaced with Riḍā's Salafi comrades and Najdi scholars. In 1961, the Islamic University of Madinah, Islamic University of Medina was founded and served as an international seminary for the propagation of Salafi ''dawah, da'wa''. Riḍā's efforts were instrumental in fostering the modern transnational network of Salafi scholarship across the world. Early Salafi Egyptian scholars built extensive relations with Wahhabi scholars through education, travel, and religious gatherings. These
scholars A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...
would continue writing to condemn innovations and various Sufi practices within the theological framework laid down by
ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...
, the Najdis, and Riḍā. Their organisation, Ansar al-Sunnah al Muhammadiyyah, became the bastion of Salafism schooling in Egypt. Riḍā and his Salafi disciples also formed the Young Men's Muslim Association (YMMA), an Islamist youth organisation that spearheaded attacks against liberalism and Western cultural trends, in the 1920s. In his treatise ''The Exoneration'' written in response to Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif, Salafi-jihadist leader Ayman al-Zawahiri cited Riḍā's anti-colonial ''fatwa'', which he issued to condemn the Tunisian naturalization issue, to argue that a Muslim who applies for Western citizenship by his own choice is guilty of Kafir, non-belief. Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi described Riḍā as "the true ''
mujaddid A ''mujaddid'' () is an Islamic term for one who brings "renewal" () to the religion. According to the popular Muslim tradition, it refers to a person who appears at the turn of every century of the Islamic calendar to revitalize Islam, clean ...
'' of Islam of his time" and viewed him as the most prominent scholar who advocated traditionalism in contemporary Islamic history. Qaradawi described Rida's thought as a "lighthouse" that "guided the ship of Islam in modern history". The Egyptian Salafi ''hadith'' scholar Ahmad Shakir conferred the title of ''Hujjat al-Islam'' to Riḍā and extolled his Qur'anic commentary ''
Tafsir al-Manar ''Tafsir al-Manar'' () is a work of Qur'anic exegesis (''tafsir'') by Rashid Rida, an Islamic scholar and the major figure within the early Salafiyya movement. The tafsir work can be fitted into the category of modern tafsir, which is distinguis ...
'' as a "real defense of religion" in the contemporary era, encouraging everyone to read it and spread its message. Saudi scholar Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymeen, ibn 'Uthaymeen listed Riḍā as his chief source of scholarly influence alongside
ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...
and commended him as an exemplar scholar of
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
who had the combined knowledge of religious sciences as well political and economic affairs. Riḍā's religious efforts not only influenced the Arab world, but also made major impact in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Riḍā received requests for ''fatwas'' from his followers in Indonesia and Southeast Asia and answered them through ''al-Manar''. These ''fatwas'' were regarded by the indigenous
reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...
-oriented scholars as their main source of inspiration and became influential in shaping the intellectual thought of religious circles in 20th century Indonesia, introducing them to
Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retu ...
reformist ideals. The influential Salafi movement#Salafi activists, Salafi activist organisation Islamic Assembly of North America (IANA), which played a crucial role in the spread of Salafism across North America, drew inspiration from Riḍā. The official publication of the organisation was a magazine titled ''al-Manar al-Jadid'' ("the New Lighthouse") in honour of his legacy; they stated that the Muslim community continued to face "the same tribulations" as during Riḍā's era. The organisation included notable scholars and figures like Bilal Philips, Muhammad Adly, Jamal Zarabozo, and Abdel Rahman al-Dosari. After 9/11, IANA was subject to intense federal scrutiny and was eventually forced to disband; many members were deported, and others, like Ali al-Tamimi, Ali al-Timimi, were jailed. Riḍā was an important source for many 20th century Salafi scholars, including Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali, al-Hilali, Muhibb-ud-Deen Al-Khatib, al-Khatib, Jamal al-Din Qasimi, al-Qasimi, Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymeen, ibn Uthaymin, Abdur Razzaq Malihabadi, Vakkom Moulavi, Vakkam Abdul Qadir Moulavi, and, most notably, Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, al-Albani.


Selected works

Published works by Riḍā include: * 1922–23: ''Al-Khilafa aw al-Imama al-'Uzma'' ( The Caliphate or the Supreme Imamate) * 1928: ''Yusr al-Islam wa Uskl al-Tashri' al-'Āmm'' (The Accommodating Spirit of Islam and the Sources of General Jurisprudence) * 1984: ''Mukhtasar Tafsir al-Manar'' (originally ''Al-Tafsir al-Mukhtasar al-Mufid'') – intended to be a summary of his work, started by Riḍā and published by Muhammad Ahmad Kan'an and Zuhayr al-Shawish in three volumes. * ''Tafsir al-Manar, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Hakim'' – Quranic commentary initially written by Abduh but continued by Riḍā, after his death. Riḍā wrote from An-Nisa, ''surat al-Nisa IV, verse 125 to ''Yusuf (surah), surat Yusuf'' XII, verse 100 but did not complete the book either. * ''Tarikh al-Ustaz al-Imam al-Shaykh Muhammad 'Abduh'' – a three-volume biography of
Muhammad Abduh Muḥammad ʿAbduh (also spelled Mohammed Abduh; ; 1849 – 11 July 1905) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar, judge, and Grand Mufti of Egypt. He was a central figure of the Arab Nahḍa and Islamic Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th ce ...
* ''Nida' lil Jins al-Latif or Huqkq al-Mar'ah fi al-Islam'' (A Call to the Fair Sex) * ''Al-Wahy al-Muhammadi'' – rational and historical proofs indicating that the Qur'an is a Divine Revelation * ''Dhikra al-Mawlid al-Nabawi'' – summary of a Prophetic biography * ''Al-Wahda al-Islamiiyya'' (Islamic Unity) (initially ''Muhawarat al-Muslih wa al-Muqallid''; Debates between the Reformer and the Imitator) * ''Al-Sunna wa al-Shari'a'' (The Prophetic Tradition and Islamic Law) * ''Al-Muslimin wa al-Qibt'' (
Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
and the Copts) * ''Al-Wahhabiyyun wa al-Hijaz'' (The Wahhabism, Wahhabites and the Hejaz, Hijaz)


See also

* List of Islamic scholars


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rida, Rashid Mujaddid Quranic exegesis scholars Arab Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Syrian Muslim scholars of Islam Syrian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Editors of religious publications Shafi'is Muslim reformers Atharis Critics of Ibn Arabi 1865 births 1935 deaths Wahhabis Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Syrian Salafis Egyptian Salafis Salafi scholars Salafi Islamists Syrian magazine founders Hashemite people People from Beirut vilayet Muslim scholars