Modern Islamic Movements and Reform
This domain surveys reform and revival movements from the 18th century to the 20th, especially their diagnoses of decline and their programmes.
Movements
- Wahhabiyya: Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab; alliance with Muhammad ibn Saud (1744); return to Qur'an and Sunna and rejection of practices seen as shirk.
- Salafiyya: al-Afghani, Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida; reason and reform; the journal al-Manar.
- Muslim Brotherhood (1928, Hasan al-Banna); Jamaat-e-Islami (1941, Maududi); Tablighi Jamaat (1926).
- South Asian reform: Deoband (1866), Nadwat al-Ulama (1894), Aligarh (1875); Khilafat movement 1919–24; abolition of the caliphate in 1924.
Worked example
Question: Why did the caliphate's abolition matter? Reasoning: it removed a symbol of pan-Islamic unity and pushed movements toward national or ideological programmes; responses ranged from the Khilafat agitation to new organizations. A strong answer distinguishes the symbol from the institution.
Traps
- Treating Salafi and Wahhabi as identical labels.
- Dating the Muslim Brotherhood to the 19th century.
- Describing all reform as anti-modern; several movements embraced science and education.