Pan-Islamism
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Pan-Islamism (اتّحاد الاسلام) is a political movement advocating the unity of Muslims under one Islamic state or a Caliphate.[1] While Pan-Arabism advocates the unity and independence of Arabs regardless of religion, pan-Islamism advocates the unity and independence of Muslims regardless of race.
History
The movement has a historical basis in the early years of Islam, when Muhammad united the Arab Peninsula and, shortly thereafter, Umar united North Africa and most of the Middle East. Jamal al-Din al-Afghani introduced Pan-Islamism during the colonial occupation of the Arab world. Al-Afghani's policies were highly progressive:
Afghani believed that to live in the modern world demanded changes in Muslim ways of organizing society, and that it must try to make those changes while remaining true to itself. Islam, Afghani believed, was not only compatible with reason, progress and social solidarity, the bases of modern civilization, but if properly interpreted it positively enjoined them.[2]
Throughout the post war period, Islamists were lagging behind nationalists for popular support, especially behind the secular Baath party which had offshoots in almost every Arab country, and had seized power in many. Islamists suffered severe repression; it's major thinkers such as Syed Qutb, were imprisonsed and tortured. Until the late 1970s, nearly all attempts of pan-Islamism to win popular support were unsuccessful. But in 1979 the Iranian Revolution ousted Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi from power and in 1989 Muslim mujahideen successfully forced the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan, which galvanised Islamists all over the world into renewed efforts, and increased their popularity. The various branches of the Muslim Brotherhood throughout the Middle-East and in particular Egypt have since been a significant challenge to the secular nationalist or monarchical governments in the region. In Pakistan and Bangladesh the Jamaat-e-Islami enjoyed popular support especially since the formation of the MMA, and in Algeria the FIS was expected to win the cancelled elections in 1992. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Hizb-ut-Tahrir has emerged as a strong force in Central Asia and in the last five years has re-emerged with significant strength in the Arab world.[3]
See also
- Caliphate
- Khilafat movement
- Ummah
- Historical Shi'a-Sunni relations
- Muslim Unity
- Muslim Brotherhood
- Hizb ut-Tahrir
Further reading
- Azmi Özcan. Pan-Islamism: Indian Muslims, the Ottomans and Britain (1877-1924), Brill Academic Publishers, 1997, ISBN 9-004-10180-2.
- Nazir Ahmad Khan Chaudri. Commonwealth of Muslim States: a plea for Pan-Islamism, al-Ahibba (Friends of the Muslim World Muhibban-e-Alam-e-Islami), 1972.
- M. Naeem Qureshi. Pan-Islam in British Indian Politics: A Study of the Khilafat Movement, 1918-1924, Brill Academic Publishers, 1999, ISBN 9-004-10214-0.
References
- ^ Ottomanism, Pan-Islamism,
and the Caliphate; Discourse at the Turn of the 20th Century, American University in Cairo,The Middle East Studies Program [1]
- ^ Afghani's Vision of a Pan-Islamic Civilization, by Danielle Costa , TUFTS University[2]
- ^ Hizb-ut-Tahrir's Growing Appeal in the Arab World Jamestown Foundation
External links
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