Modern Thinkers and Trends in
Islam – Summary of the lectures
Table of contents
Lecture 1: Background & typology............................................................................................................................1
Lecture 2: Sharia and Islamic State...........................................................................................................................3
Lecture 3: Authority in Islam.....................................................................................................................................6
Lecture 4: Islam and politics......................................................................................................................................8
Lecture 5: Believers and unbelievers......................................................................................................................10
Lecture 6: Sectarianism...........................................................................................................................................12
Lecture 7: Human rights..........................................................................................................................................16
Lecture 8: Feminism................................................................................................................................................20
Lecture 9: Islamic law for Muslim minorities..........................................................................................................22
Lecture 10: Radicalism............................................................................................................................................25
Lecture 11: revolt and violence...............................................................................................................................28
Lecture 12: The future.............................................................................................................................................31
Lecture 1: Background & typology
Fixed typology of modern times:
Revivalism, 19th century: general sense there was something wrong with Muslim societies, in
particular with folk Islam, superstition, tribal and local structures. Puritan movement
o Example of Wahhabis in Arabian Peninsula: destruction of shrines, tombs, etc.
o Example of militant Sufi orders in Africa: jihad movements (Sokoto caliphate in 1804-1903).
o Example of Shah Wali Allah in British India (1702-1762): against the Sikhs
Reformism/Modernism, +- 1850. Against colonialism, adapting Islam to modern times. Not against
Western ideas, but Islam had to play a role in modern life. Ijtihad, not jihad (thinking and
reinterpretation of sources over fighting)
o Jamal Afghani, Mohammed Abduh, Syed Khan.
Wahhabism:
Strict Hanbali traditionalism
Revival of Kharijism → a sect that arose in 657. They call for equality among all Muslims, the
preservation of communal land ownership, and the election of the caliph by the community; the
community would have the right to depose the caliph, and any true Muslim was to be considered
eligible to fill the office.
Trends in 20th – 21st century:
Return to sources: fundamentalism or puritanism1.
o The return to the sources is done in a different way from the standard theological
scholarship (orthodoxy or traditionalism). Bypassing the religious establishment of the
ulema to recreate a new kind of Islamic thought that deviates from the tradition.
Quranism: exclusive role of the Quran for Islamic law and guidance, much less to the Hadith.
1
These terms do not have fixed meanings, be aware of this.
1
, oWhat is the purpose of this return to the sources? → to improve one’s life, but more
importantly to improve society.
Two major time periods:
1920-1970s: Continuation of modernity mixed with independence from colonialism.
o Ideologies: nationalism, secularism and socialism.
o New generation of Islamic thinkers: al-Banna, Qutb, Rahman, al-Mawdudi.
1970-now: Global religionization. Throughout much of the world, religion became increasingly
important on a societal and political level.
o Creation of homelands for Muslims in Pakistan, Bangladesh as well as Israel → religion
became a fundamental part of these states.
Practice of Islam:
The way people use, express and practice their religion can take on various dimensions. It can be purely
personal with Islam only in private life, but also very public with for example an Islamic state, Islamic politics,
etc.
Keep in mind, unlike the typology of times, the definitions
below are not set in stone.
Fundamentalists: changes in society should come
from one personal, bottom-up approach. Confined to
the personal piety.
Islamists: changes in society through legislation and
state form, in the political sphere. Top-down.
→ Muslim Brotherhood (1928, Egypt & beyond),
Jamaat-e- Islami (1941, Pakistan, Bangladesh).
Reform society where the goal is a completely Islamic
society.
Within Islamists, you also have distinctions:
Liberal: democracy, good governance. Reform through democratic means (Egypt; Sadat, Bhutto;
Pakistan).
Conservatives: Sharia. Reform through violent means like a coup or a revolution (Khomeini in Iran,
ul-Haq in Pakistan). Top-down.
Militants: fight against non-Muslims. Reform through violence.
Typology
Why are we labeling these different Muslims? → To categorize and make sense of it all.
The danger in this is that we create a clarity that doesn’t necessarily reflect reality. In reality, definitions aren’t
set in stone. Berger rather starts with reality, then deriving typology from it, rather than making reality
subservient to typology.
Case of Bangladesh 2006
Attacks on women in villages
Attacks on donor activities (foreign aid and NGO’s) in villages.
Embassies said: Islamists!
Media: ‘Al Qaeda and Islamic extremists!’
2
,Bangladeshi politics: two big rival secular parties, Bangladesh Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party,
and a smaller Muslim party, Jatiya Party. Both secular parties want to win over the Muslim party for a majority,
so they start including Islamic jargon in their agenda.
Why the attacks? → NGO’s directly helped women or built schools, without consulting the village hierarchy
(imam as head). In other words, little to do with Islam or Islamic extremists.
Before going into terminology, what is actually happening in the field? It’s not so much about the terminology,
but about what they are doing → bottom up approach.
Salafism
Salafiyya movement 1920-30s: a return to the traditions of the "ancestors"
(salaf), the first three generations of Muslims said to know the pure form of
Islam. Often called modernists or reformists by outsiders, because of their
desire to reform society into an orthodox society
Salafiyya movement from the 1990s onwards: Strict interpretation of the
sources, intolerant to those who think different. Puritan, orthodox society.
Nowadays in Europe: Accusatory term, many don’t like to call themselves
‘Salafi’ anymore but just Muslim.
Messy sub-categorization done by outsiders: traditional Salafi, liberal Salafi, radicalist Salafi, etc.
Lecture 2: Sharia and Islamic State
Islamic law as a theological structure and the methodology behind it is essential to understanding the modern
trends and thinkers within Islam. Islamic law: how does it work and how does it function?
Shari’a as:
Slogan: the mentioning or notion of Shari’a has an impact. On Muslims, this will often be that Sharia is
something good and should be adhered to.
Classical law: A science that developed through the centuries, Quran as the primary source. However,
the Quran itself contains very little explicit legal rules. Secondary source is the Sunna, the traditions
and practices of the prophet Muhammad. Again, from a legal perspective, it is relatively incomplete.
There is also the problem of authenticity of the hadith 2.
Modern applications / practice: modernization and Islamization
9-10th centuries: Ijtihad, the intellectual undertaking of trying to understand/find Sharia in the sources, i.e. the
Sunna and Quran. By independent reasoning, it was believed solutions to legal questions could be found as
Allah wants them.
Ijma = consensus and qiyas = deductive analogy
This together is the legal science/scholarship that developed
afterwards → legal literature emerged through the
centuries, and the “gates of itjihad were closed”.
What rules are covered by Shari’a?
Quran & Sunna
Fiqh
2
Sunna are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, that constitute a model for Muslims to follow.
The Sunnah are documented by hadith (the verbally transmitted record of the teachings, deeds and sayings, silent
permissions or disapprovals of Muhammad)
3
, Siyasa, politics inspired by or based on the Sharia, the affairs governed by the state/men.
Modern times: ulama lose their monopoly position on Shari’a.
Phase 1, 20th century: codifiation as part of modernization project, rules are made into laws,
categorized and legal code → very Western. Lawmakers and judges were taking over the position of
the ulema.
Phase 2, 1970’s: Codification as Islamization project → How Islamic are our laws? Shouldn’t they be
more Islamic? Family law and punishments were Islamified, on the basis of Shari’a. Introduction of
‘Islamic’ in other parts of society, Islamic banking, Islamic finance, Islamic state, etc.
Phase 3, 1990’s: Shari’a as a source of public morality. For example, Green Islam (concerned with the
environment) or social behaviour. It also inspired militancy, violent groups, justifying their actions in
terms of Islam. There are very liberal ways but also very oppressive, violent ways of imposing these
rules (Taliban, ISIS). Bottum-up via the people or top-down, via revolutions and coups or legislation.
Caliphate / Islamic State
Islamic principles: the notion of an Islamic state or a caliphate is not elaborated in the rules of the sources. No
definition or basic rules in the Quran or the Sunna, only some elements. For example:
Muslims = umma, non-Muslims are recognized but outsiders, often treated as 2 nd class citizens.
Leadership, khalifa.
Several notions that together in modern thinking make up a government: ijma (consensus), shura
(consultation), ba’yah (allegiance) .
Laws: shari’a.
→ Sovereignty of God and His Law (hakamiyat Allah), rules to God, Government to the people.
However, there are many things left unanswered in the sources about governance: territory (a nation-state? →
very modern concept), leadership (who, and how is he appointed, by election from the ulema, Muslims?3),
form of state government (ijma and shura? → governance, not state), dealing with non-Muslims
Islamic states: history vs. now
- Historical: Caliphates based on dynasties.
But after these ones: split up. A caliphate in
Bagdad (Abbasid Caliphate), Cairo (Fatimid
Caliphate), Iberia (Caliphate of Córdoba), a
caliphate in Morocco. Later came the Ottoman
Empire, the Mughals in India, a caliphate in
Nigeria, all claiming the title Caliph.
- Today’s practices: no Islamic state.
Some countries call themselves Kingdom, e.g. Kingdom of Moroco and Jordan. Some call themsleves
State, i.e. state of Qatar and Kuwait. Others are sultanates, e.g. Sultanate of Oman and Brunei. There
are also some Islamic Republic, e.g. Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan, Mauritania, The Gambia. Also
note that the Islamic Republic of Iran completely differs from Mauritania.
3
The first 4 Caliphs after Mohammed are the Khulafa Rashidun, after this successors were chosen via election (on the
basis of ijma, shura, ba’yah). Later it was via hereditary succession, think of dynasties.
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