Page 209 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

1028 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

The mosque in Mecca
in the early twentieth
century.

and received privileges that
gave the ulama in Shiite Iran a
special influence that has con-
tinued to the present.

Challenges of
the Modern
Era
This powerful and expanding
Islamic world had long inter-
acted with western European
and Christian-majority soci-
eties.These interactions entered a major new phase dur- Islamic history and can be seen in the premodern move-
ing the eighteenth century with the transformation of ment of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792),
western European societies, especially through the whose ideas have been an important part of modern
Industrial Revolution, and the beginnings of European Islamic revivalist movements.
imperialist expansion. Throughout the Islamic world These movements set the framework for Islamic re-
Europeans came to dominate Islamic lands, and Mus- sponses to the new conditions of the modern era. One
lims responded in many ways. Muslims mounted major major theme is the development of a more secular
efforts to fight European expansion, as in the wars led political system and organization of society. A second
by the emir (ruler) Abd al-Qadir in Algeria after the theme is the articulation of an Islamic modernity that is
French invasion of 1830. Most military opposition both authentically Islamic and modern. A third theme
failed. is the challenge of maintaining a clear sense of Islamic
Leaders in major Islamic countries introduced pro- identity and mission in the context of an ever-changing
grams of reform to reshape their societies and states modernity.
using Western models. Early reformers included
Muhammad Ali in Egypt (reigned 1805–1849) and the Twentieth-Century
Ottoman sultan Mahmud II (reigned 1808–1839), Transformations
whose programs laid the foundations for the emergence The Islamic experiences during the twentieth century
of modern-style secular states. Later other reformers involved three major eras. During the first half of the
emphasized intellectual and religious dimensions. By twentieth century most of the Islamic world was in some
the end of the nineteenth century efforts to create an way under the domination of European imperial powers.
effective synthesis of Islam and modernity resulted in the In that context the development of nationalist move-
movement of Islamic modernism. Major figures are ments of a more secular nature was important.The most
Muhammad Abduh (1849–1905) and Jamal al-Din al- successful of these movements was led by Mustafa Kemal
Afghani (1839–1897), whose ideas influenced groups as Ataturk, who built a secular nationalist state in Turkey
diverse as the Muhammadiyya movement established in after the collapse of the Ottoman empire in World War
Java in 1912 and intellectuals in India and North Africa. I. During the second era, after World War II, most
A different emphasis in reform is provided by more puri- Islamic states became politically independent, and vari-
tanical movements that seek a “return” to a more strict ous forms of secular and radical nationalism dominated
adherence to Islamic norms interpreted in a relatively lit- the intellectual and political scene. Leaders such as
eralist manner. This mode of reform has deep roots in Gamal Abd al-Nasir in Egypt incorporated Islamic