The political discourse of Islamic reform and modernity

This thesis examines Islamic reform as an intellectual-political movement that began in the first quarter of the 19th century and lasted until the first quarter of the 20th century. It was a philosophy founded by a group of Muslim-reformists as a result of their perception that degradation of Islamic civilisation and deterioration of the Islamic world had followed the so-called 'shock of modernity'. The investigation is based on the study of selected exponents of the Islamic reform movement. It examines the notions of political discourse of the Muslim-reformists, with particular reference to the problem that was central for Islamic reform: 'How did the political discourse of Islamic reform respond to the challenges of modernity at this early historic moment of opening up a communication with European modernity?' This discourse is examined through the texts that were produced by the Muslim-reformists following contact with European modernity and their realisation of the difference between the development of Europe and the retrogression of the Islamic world. The thesis sheds light on their attempts to find the causes of this retrogression and the ways to overcome it, examining their calls for a return to the Islamic ideals which are represented by the Qur'an and the Sunna and their interest in European modernity. This thesis also sets the Muslim-reformists' positions against the historical, political, and theological background that influenced their response: the French Revolution and Enlightenment philosophy on the one hand, and the theological tradition of Islam on the other hand. Emphasis is given to the ways in which they used both these traditions to offer original answers to the problems of the Islamic world. It is this common ground which, it is suggested, makes their political discourse intelligible and perhaps even essential, and gives a special interest to their interpretation.