Islamic Revivalism and its Contents: Can it be a force for good for the world and Islam?

Islamic Revivalism and its Contents: Can it be a force  good for the World and Islam?

From the historic city of Aleppo in Syria to the Swat valley in Pakistan, the world of Islam is defined by ferment, chaos and violence. Be it the insurgents traversing the border between Afghanistan and launching their jihad against western forces or even against the Pakistani state or the Syrian regime butchering its own citizens, the story and saga is the same: lands, nations and societies deemed and defined as Islamic are in the grips of a condition that can only be called political decay. Whilst some have termed this as the continuation of the legacy of ‘Islam’s bloody borders’ or even called it a putative ‘clash of civilizations’, the reality is perhaps best captured by the ‘clash within a civilization’.  That is, the once mighty, omnipotent and dynamic civilization of Islam has fallen into disrepair and the attendant decay. The violence, chaos, regression-political, social, cultural, that defines the dar el Islam (abode of Islam) are merely symptoms of this decline and decay.

The question is how can this decay be reversed? Can it be reversed? What form and shape should this reversal take? Will the ‘historic antagonists’ –the West and Islam – estranged from each other be reconciled? Would this reconciliation catalyze the much needed change in the Islamic world(s)? And is this possible?

The question and issue of the world of Islam’s decline and its possible rejuvenation is not new. It has perhaps become salient and poignant on account of globalization and the gory saga of September II. The reasons for the world of Islam’s decline and its rejuvenation and efflorescence has been exegetized and dwelt upon both by Islamic scholars, reformers and western scholars. While no overall consensus has been arrived at the reasons for/of decline, the response by the world of Islam has been as varied and as heterogeneous as the world of Islam itself. Some advocated a ‘return to root’s or Islam’s essence, while others like the Young Turks advocated and deemed nationalism and complete disavowal of Islam as the panacaea.  Some others advocated a synthesis of Islam and modernity or reason as the ultimate and ‘final’ solution.

The manifestation of these varied responses was naturally and axiomatically different in shape and form. The ‘return to root’s school labeled as Islamism or Islamic fundamentalism argued for a return to the Scripture-the Quran and the Ahadith’- and blind imitation of the Prophet (SAW) and his Companions. Be it Wahhabism or Salafism or even the Shi’ism pioneered by the clerics of Iran, the return to roots theme underpinned these in different permutations and combinations. The modern school, under the influence of the gale of ideas emanating from Europe, argued for disavowal of religion and coercive top down modernity. It manifested itself in the secular Attaturkian Turkey or the Bath experiment in Iraq and Syria and the secularized Iranian republic. These were, to repeat, top down coercive attempts at modernizing traditional societies imbued with an Islamic ethos and temper and in the final analysis comprehensive failures. In the list of failures is Islamism or political Islam –essentially a reaction to the world of Islam’s decline and torpor – as well. The chaos, violence, ferment and internecine wars or in a nutshell, political decay that defines the Islamic world is a result of these failed reactions and movements against modernity (defined as reason here).

This raises the question whether it is Islam that is antithetical to the premises undergirding modernity? And, given this, would it be perhaps prudent for the world of Islam to retreat into itself and not engage the world? Or is there a golden mean between modernity (reason) and Islam that could lead to the revival of Islam as a positive force in the world?

Islam, to belabor the point , is premised on the sovereignty of God and the centrality of the Prophet(SAW). All law and legislation flow from this and society should, in Islam’s schema, correspond to this. Modernity, au contraire, is premised on the sovereignty of man or the individual. Law, legislation and the nature of society is derived from reason and man’s reasoning faculties. In this sense , Islam is indeed at odds with modernity and the source of modernity-the west. This rendition then renders Islam and reason at odds with each other. However, the reality is more complex. Islamic history is resplendent with examples wherein reason has been integrated with faith. Be it Ijtihad(independent reasoning) or the movements that sought to view the Quran in the light of reason, examples galore exist wherein reason has been attempted to merge with faith. It is this legacy that needs to be revived and then implemented. What would this mean in the modern world?

This naturally means understanding , integrating and implementing the concomitant of reason, democracy into  Islamic philosophy and practice. The good news is that this is eminently possible and more importantly it does not mean or imply mimesis or plain mimicry.  It means integrating the postulates of Islam with reason and coming up with a synthesis that is salubrious and above all workable. This synthesis would mean borrowing the best western modernity has to offer and then integrating it with Islamic thought and philosophy in a manner that marries God with reason. The shape it may take will naturally differ from the pure democracy and modernity or the theoretical models of these found in the west. But it may suit the temper of the Islamic peoples and, in this sense be more durable and get implanted in Islamic consciousness in a way that would imply ownership of these ideas. This then may not lead to reaction.  Implicit in this is engagement with the world, especially the west. This too has a precedent in Islamic history: the Classical age of Islam held to be its Golden Age was an age where synthesis, borrowing, curiosity about and engagement with the world were the reigning paradigms in the world of Islam.

It is perhaps time to revisit these paradigms and revive these. Globalization which means and implies simultaneity makes this eminently possible. What is missing is the will and desire on part of those comprising the world of Islam to grasp this historic opportunity and understand what the west and its modernity has to offer. The first step in this direction would be to get rid of the accretions that have latched into Islam , open the clichéd gates of Ijtehad(independent reasoning), and reengage the world in a healthy, salubrious idiom. Given the stakes involved and the future of both the world of Islam and the world, it is exigent that this happens sooner than later.  This reengagement- as the term implies-by it very nature should not be reactionary, impulsive or Manichean. It should not mean a clash or an attempt to outdo the west and compete with it. Synthesis and engagement for the improvement of the human condition should be the by word of this process. Above al, the impetus for this should come from within the world of Islam. The west could just aid this process by being true to its principles and ethos. It is only through engagement with the principles and philosophy of engagement that political decay in the world of Islam can be reversed. And it is only democracy –the handmaiden of modernity- that can lead to the efflorescence of Islam in the modern world- the kind that makes Islam as a positive and salubrious force.  It is this revivalism that the world of Islam needs. Wahhabism, Salafism or top down attempts at modernization have failed Muslims. We do not need conflict or conflictual paradigms. What we need is progress and efflorescence. This can come about only if we integrate faith with modernity- a challenge that Muslims should accept with gusto and vigor. Let the world of Islam introspect deep and hard and come up with paradigms that redound positively to the world and Islam. The time for this is now.