Intellectuals promoting an all-embracing vision of Islam: Wahhabis and reformists
Muslim thinkers who upheld this principle split into two major trends: conservative Wahhabis and reformists, insisting one and all on the fact that they rest on the “core tenets of Islam”.
The founder of the Salafi Wahhabi trend is Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab[1]. Reacting against the Ottoman rule on the one hand and against most of that period's ulama on the other, he rose to the defense of what he deemed “authentic Islam” as practiced in the days of the Prophet Muhammad and the Salaf[2]. To this end, he demanded that only principles and practices justified in the Quran and the Sunna be observed. At the end of the 18th century he was much criticized by Muslim scholars but he also enjoyed some support, notably in Morocco. Two centuries on, conservative Wahhabis continue to insist that Islam was altered and perverted over the years and that it is therefore necessary to purify it. They have at their command some universities, such as Medina, and significant financial support allocated to them by Saudi Arabia.
As for the reformists, they take their leaf from Jamal al-Din al-Afghani'[3] s book. They hold that the Muslim world must come out of its long lethargy. The way forward is the practice of ijtihad, which should make it possible to update the reading of the Quran within today's context. Such an attempt requires, according to them, an opening to Western thinking just as long as it is liable to remain close to Islamic values. They address the issue in the following terms: “why has the Muslim civilisation (founded in Islam) regressed over recent centuries whereas the “West” evolved constantly? In order to solve this problem they set forth the following recommendations:
Appraise cultural and political situations in the Muslim world with a critical mind
Champion itjihad to ward off the sclerosis of Islamic thought
Conciliate Islamic values whether religious or civilisational with European modernity notably regarding democracy or citizenship within the Islamic Umma.
Echoing the debate that opposed Ernest Renan to Jamal al-Din al-Afghani outlined in the first part of this module, they dispute the assertion according to which Islam is a religion that thrusts reason aside. On the contrary, Wahhabis and reformists alike claim that their religion predisposes them to scientific reasoning; that it allows for the use of reason towards a better knowledge of the universe and the improvement of human life. Furthermore such a scientific approach is apt to reinforce faith in God. They see scientific progress as prerequisite to the reinterpretation and reform of Islamic thought and to the development of predominantly Muslim countries. But some of them oppose what they consider “Western” scientific findings when they appear to clash with Islam's finalities or in the event of a noxious use of technological progress, as was the case, say with weaponry that helped impose the European colonial powers' domination on predominantly Muslim societies.
