Islamic modernism

Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes both a set of cultural tendencies and an array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Modernism rejects the old customs and practices considering them outdated. Some modernists reject religion whereas some do not. A salient characteristic of modernism is self-consciousness. This often led to experiments with form, and work that draws attention to the processes and materials used (and to the further tendency of abstraction). The poet Ezra Pound's paradigmatic injunction was to "Make it new!" Whether or not the "making new" of the modernists constituted a new historical epoch is up for debate. Philosopher and composer Theodor Adorno warns us: "Modernity is a qualitative, not a chronological, category. Just as it cannot be reduced to abstract form, with equal necessity it must turn its back on conventional surface coherence, the appearance of harmony, the order corroborated merely by replication." Adorno would have us understand modernity as the rejection of the false rationality, harmony, and coherence of Enlightenment thinking, art, and music. But the past proves sticky. Pound's general imperative to make new, and Adorno's exhortation to challenge false coherence and harmony, faces T. Eliot's emphasis on the relation of the artist to tradition. Eliot wrote: "[W]e shall often find that not only the best, but the most individual parts of [a poet's] work, may be those in which the dead poets, his ancestors, assert their immortality most vigorously." Literary scholar Peter Childs sums up the complexity:"There were paradoxical if not opposed trends towards revolutionary and reactionary positions, fear of the new and delight at the disappearance of the old, nihilism and fanatical enthusiasm, creativity and despair." These oppositions are inherent to modernism: it is in its broadest cultural sense the assessment of the past as different to the modern age, the recognition that the world is becoming more complex, and that the old "final authorities" (God, government, science, and reason) are subject to intense critical scrutiny. Current interpretations of modernism vary. Some divide 20th century reaction into modernism and postmodernism, whereas others see them as two aspects of the same movement.

Islamic Modernism , also known as Modernist Salafism , is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response" attempting to reconcile Islamic faith with modern Western values such as nationalism , democracy , civil rights , rationality , equality and progress . It featured a "critical reexamination of the classical conceptions and methods of jurisprudence" and a new approach to Islamic theology and Quranic exegesis ( Tafsir ). It was the first of several Islamic movements – including secularism , Islamism and Salafism – that emerged in the middle of the 19th century in reaction to the rapid changes of the time, especially the perceived onslaught of Western Civilization and colonialism on the Muslim world. Founders include Muhammad Abduh , a Sheikh of Al-Azhar University for a brief period before his death in 1905, Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani , and Muhammad Rashid Rida (d. 1935). The early Islamic Modernists (al-Afghani and Muhammad Abdu) used the term "salafiyya" to refer to their attempt at renovation of Islamic thought, and this "salafiyya movement" is often known in the West as "Islamic modernism," although it is very different from what is currently called the Salafi movement , which generally signifies "ideologies such as wahhabism ". Since its inception, Modernism has suffered from co-option of its original reformism by both secularist rulers and by "the official ulama " whose "task it is to legitimise" rulers' actions in religious terms. Modernism differs from secularism in that it insists on the importance of religious faith in public life, and from Salafism or Islamism in that it embraces contemporary European institutions, social processes and values. SE Asian Muslims caught between iPad and Salafism Salafism Modernist Salafism from the 20th Century to the Present Salafism Salafism Tony Blair Faith Foundation The split between Qatar and the GCC won’t be permanent Mansoor Moaddel. Islam in the World . There are <ref group=Note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a template (see the help page ).

Attempts to reconcile Islamic faith with modern values such as democracy, civil rights, rationality, equality, and progress For Liberal movements in Islam, see Liberal Muslim movements . Islamic Modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge" attempting to reconcile Islamic faith with modern values such as democracy , civil rights , rationality , equality , and progress . It featured a "critical reexamination of the classical conceptions and methods of jurisprudence" and a new approach to Islamic theology and Quranic exegesis ( Tafsir ). It was the first of several Islamic movements – including secularism , Islamism , and Salafism – that emerged in the middle of the 19th century in reaction to the rapid changes of the time, especially the perceived onslaught of Western Civilization and colonialism on the Muslim world. Founders include Muhammad Abduh , a Sheikh of Al-Azhar University for a brief period before his death in 1905, Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani , and Muhammad Rashid Rida (d. 1935). The early Islamic Modernists (al-Afghani and Muhammad Abdu) used the term "salafiyya" to refer to their attempt at renovation of Islamic thought, and this "salafiyya movement" is often known in the West as "Islamic modernism," although it is very different from what is currently called the Salafi movement , which generally signifies "ideologies such as wahhabism ". Since its inception, Modernism has suffered from co-option of its original reformism by both secularist rulers and by "the official ulama " whose "task it is to legitimise" rulers' actions in religious terms. Modernism differs from secularism in that it insists on the importance of religious faith in public life, and from Salafism or Islamism in that it embraces contemporary European institutions, social processes, and values. One expression of Islamic Modernism (expressed by Mahathir Mohammed ) is that "only when Islam is interpreted so as to be relevant in a world which is different from what it was 1400 years ago, can Islam be regarded as a religion for all ages." Mansoor Moaddel. Islam in the World .

Movement to reconcile Islam with modern values For liberal movements in Islam, see Liberalism and progressivism within Islam . Islamic modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge", attempting to reconcile the Islamic faith with values perceived as modern such as democracy , civil rights , rationality , equality , and progress . It featured a "critical reexamination of the classical conceptions and methods of jurisprudence ", and a new approach to Islamic theology and Quranic exegesis ( Tafsir ). A contemporary definition describes it as an "effort to re-read Islam's fundamental sources—the Qur'an and the Sunna, (the practice of the Prophet)—by placing them in their historical context, and then reinterpreting them, non-literally, in the light of the modern context." It was one of several Islamic movements —including Islamic secularism , Islamism , and Salafism —that emerged in the middle of the 19th century in reaction to the rapid changes of the time, especially the perceived onslaught of Western civilization and colonialism on the Muslim world . Islamic modernism differs from secularism in that it insists on the importance of religious faith in public life, and from Salafism or Islamism in that it embraces contemporary European institutions, social processes, and values. One expression of Islamic modernism, formulated by Mahathir Mohamad , is that "only when Islam is interpreted so as to be relevant in a world which is different from what it was 1400 years ago, can Islam be regarded as a religion for all ages." Prominent leaders of the movement include Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan , Namık Kemal , Rifa'a al-Tahtawi , Muhammad Abduh (former Sheikh of Al-Azhar University ), Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani , and South Asian poet Muhammad Iqbal . Since its inception, Islamic modernism has suffered from co-option of its original reformism by both secularist rulers and by "the official ulama " whose task is to legitimise rulers' actions in religious terms. Islam in the World . There are <ref group=Note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a template (see the help page ).