Islamism, Islamic Modernism and the Search for Modern Authenticity in an Imaginary Past

How to be authentically modern? This was the pervasive question behind the ideological elaborations of numerous religious and nationalist movements toward the end of the nineteenth century. Many of them attempted to find the answer in an imaginary past. This article claims that Islamist movements are not an exception, but rather an affirmation of this rule. The orientation towards a “golden age” of Islam and its allegedly authentic Islamic way of life has been a crucial feature of Islamist thought across all national, sectarian and ideological divides. The article traces this invocation of the past historically back to the construction of specifically Islamic forms of modernity by representatives of Islamic modernism in the second half of the nineteenth century. Interpreting their modernist thought in the context of more global nineteenth-century concepts and narratives, the article argues from a comparative perspective that Islamic modernism laid the foundations for the ways in which Islamist thinkers have constructed both individual and collective forms of Muslim identities.

Islamic Modernism, the Hanafi Mazhab, and Codification in Aman Allah's Afghanistan

Few works in recent years have enriched the study of Islamic law quite like Faiz Ahmed's Afghanistan Rising: Islamic Law and Statecraft between the Ottoman and British Empires. The book presents an opportunity to interrogate prevailing historiographical debates about the “codification” of Islamic law (as opposed to its “compilation”), and to account for processes of divergence in Islamic legal culture across Eurasia. This response explores some of the prevailing tensions among Ottoman, Afghan, and Indian experts in early twentieth-century Afghanistan. These stemmed from the dissimilar legal training acquired by the actors and the varying character of Islamic modernism in each geographical context. A focus on diverse intellectual trajectories and competing visions of Islamic law furnishes a useful means for accounting for the aporia endemic to Aman Allah's modernizing project.

Muhammad Abduh’s Concept about The Implementation of 20th Century Islamic Education

Muhammad Abduh was a leading Islamic reformer in the 20th century. Through his ideas, Muhammad Abduh was able to reconstruct exciting Islamic understanding, both in terms of culture and aqidah, including Islamic education. The reconstruction of Islamic Education cannot be done with the awakening of the ideas and programs of Islamic modernism because it becomes the basic framework behind Islamic modernism as a whole, both modernism in thought and Islamic institutions, which are a prerequisite for the awakening of the Muslims in modern times. Therefore, Islamic thought and institutions, including education, must be modernized or reconstructed following the modernity framework; maintain Islamic institutional thinking; with Muhammad Abduh, who initiated modern education. Abduh's thoughts had a profound influence on the lives of Muslims, both in the country where he was born in Egypt, as well as in other Arab worlds, even to the Muslim world outside the Arab world such as Indonesia. The birth of reform movements, such as Muhammadiyah, Al-Irsyad, and Persatuan Islam (PERSIS), cannot be separated from the influence of Muhammad Abduh's thoughts on modernism and have become many references for western thinkers.

What Can the Afghanistan Ulama Learn from The Islamic Modernism Movement in Indonesia?

This article aimed to explain what the Afghan Ulama learned from the Islamic modernism movements in Indonesia in implementing the Islamic modernism values in Afghanistan. This study explored the challenges, methods of implementation of Islamic modernism values in Indonesia. This research used the analytical and descriptive method by referring to books and journal articles. This study argued that implementing Islamic modernism values in Afghanistan was a challenging and problematic process. Therefore, the Islamic Modernism movements of Afghanistan needed to work cautiously to remove obstacles and challenges calmly and without violence to pave the way for the spread of their massages. This research concluded that Islamic scholars and academics in Indonesia were mostly successful at spreading Islamic modernism values and overcoming the challenges faced with in the country. Similarly, because of the social, political and religious features; being of Indonesia as the largest Islamic country with racial and religious diversity, having the experience of Islamic modernism, and the existence of similarities between the two countries, Indonesia was an outstanding model for Afghanistan’s Islamic modernism movements. Therefore, the Afghan Islamic modernism movements can use the approaches that Indonesian Islamic modernism movements used for the spread of Islamic modernism values in the country.

Islamic Modernism in the Works of Jamaluddin Al-Afghani and Syed Ahmed Khan

Linkages between religion and politics have engaged the interest of scholars for centuries. Two thinkers, whose works are central to these inter-linkages are Jamaluddin al-Afghani and Syed Ahmed Khan. Both were Islamic modernists in the late nineteenth century who sought to reform religion by engaging with modernity. They have also contributed significantly to shaping the nationalist movements in West Asia and India respectively. This chapter will examine their ideas on important issues like religious and educational reform, nationalism and Pan-Islamism, differences and contrasts in their ideologies and their contributions to Islamic modernism. Through this examination this chapter will highlight the relevance of their contributions to the study of contemporary political Islam.

Slogan Back to the al-Quran and Sunnah: Studi atas Gerakan Politik Islam Jamaluddin al-Afghani

This article will discuses the Islamic political movements of one the thinker renewal of Islamic modernism in the 19th century, namely is Jamaluddin al-Afghani (1839-1897). This study used historical approach, to understand and explore one's personality by looking at this socio-culture and intellectual background to social impression. This study found, first the political movement’sal-Afghani is very unique and different than another. Her movement to carried out in the frame of slogan “back to the al-Quran and the Sunnah” as response to the attitude of Muslims that are experiencing deterioration and decline, and a response to western imperialism in the Islamic world. al-Afghanito encourage of Muslims to united in the pan-Islamism. Second, al-Afghani uses the slogan “back to the al-Quran and the Sunnah” in his political movement as well as a spirit for the Muslims to re-ijtihad-sasi against, especially to the concepts of qada’ and qadar which are often misunderstood untill result in Muslims are trapped in an attitude of fatalism and static.

Bridging Conservative and Modern Approaches: Muhammad’s ‘Abduh’s Interpretation of al-Fatihah

Muḥammad ‘Abduh (1849-1905) is a modern Moslem scholar of Egypt. He was known as a reformist and an architect of Islamic modernism. Through his modernism, he introduced a synthesis of Islamic teachings and modern thought in order to bridge between conservative and modern approaches. This present paper is analysis of his tafsīr on al-Fātiḥah to understand his mix approches. The author found that ‘Abduh’s tafsir applied conservative language to reflect his radical ideas. However, ‘Abduh also introduced modern approaches in his tafsīr. Finally, it is found that al-Fātiḥah in ‘Abduh tafsir contains the substantial messages of the Qur’an.