JMS 316E

History of
Islamic Intellectuals

Dr. Sah-Hadiyatan Ismail

Tel: 04-653 2279
Emel: sah.ismail@usm.my
 History of Islamic
Intellectuals
Islam, the West and Modern Ideologies
Imperialism and Colonialism
Islam and Secularism
 The West in 18th Century has developed changed called
the Enlightenment.
 Leaders of this movement regarded religion as an
anathema – something to be despised or look upon as
an evil thing.
 Philosophers such as Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud,
Montesquieu,Voltaire and Rousseau contributed ideas
on freedom, equality and separation between religion
and other aspects of life.
 Ideas such as secularism, nationalism, imperialism and
colonialism also developed in this period.
 Imperialism
 Moritz Julius Bonn – imperialism was a policy which
intended to form, organize and maintain an empire.
 An action where a country (usually an empire or
kingdom) extends its power by acquisition of territories.
It may also include the exploitation of those territories.
 The word imperialism originated from the Latin word
imperium, which means supreme power.
 The policy of extending the rule or authority of an
empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring
and holding colonies and dependencies.
 It first became common in Great Britain, during the
1870s and was used with a negative connotation. The
term was and is mainly applied to Western (and
Japanese) political and economic dominance, especially
in Asia and Africa, in the 19th and 20th centuries.
 Its precise meaning continues to be debated by scholars.
Some writers, such as Edward Said, use the term more
broadly to describe any system of domination and
subordination organised with an imperial center and a
periphery.
 This definition encompasses both nominal empires and
neocolonialism.
 Norman Daniel in Islam Europe and Empire – “What is
meant by imperialism is something more than the seeking
of empire. In the larger sense imperialism represents the
general predominance of the European stock in all the
continents”.
 Empire – ‘any system of foreign rule; rule, that is, where
the ruling class is not only distinct from the ruled, but
owns a home elsewhere’.
 Western imperialists, they had their motivations. It could
be because of religious, political or economic interests or
a combination of all the three when conquests were
made and colonies were set up.
 Imperialism also related to imperialist feeling of being
more superior than the people they want to subjugate.
 Racialism – feeling of racial superiority over others truly
played an important role in the spread of imperialism
 Walter Bagehot – “In every particular state of the world,
those nations which are strongest tend to prevail over
the others; and in certain marked peculiarities the
strongest tend to be the best”
 Developed the new consciousness of race and
conclusions were drawn which had no scientific basis.
 The superior race destined to rule the inferior race.
 Joseph Chamberlain (Prime Minister of Britain) – “I
believed the British race is the greatest of governing races
that the world has ever seen”
 Rudyard Kipling (poet) – coined the phrase “the White
Man’s Burden” and called for Western civilization to be
extended over the peoples of the East.
 Late 19th Century – New Imperialism swept like a wave
over Europe. More lands in Asia and Africa were
colonized by the European powers.
 Empire expansion was held to be in the interests of
employment, market, civilization, security and future
greatness.
 Imperialism was not only a matter of feeling, but it
involved also a desire to acquire and monopolize as much
wealth as possible. The imperialist extend their influence
through politics, economics, military, education and
cultural means.
 Imperialist influenced under the name of civilization,
development, and modernization.
 Currently terms such as democracy, human rights were
also being used by the imperialists.
 Western educated natives became fascinated by the
Western way of life and soon forgot their own identity.
 The Church and Western Imperialism
 European Imperialism has been supported by the Church.
 The Church viewed imperialism as ‘religious duty’ or
‘sacred duty’
 The Pope proclaimed the religious edict (Bull) in 1455
which gave monopoly to Portugal in the areas of their
subjugation.
 Papal Bull of 1493 legitimize European conquest upon
peoples of the world.
 Pope Alexander VI divided the non-Christian world into
Portuguese and Spanish influence through Treaty of
Tordesillas
 Treaty of Tordesillas – Areas in the East of Cape Verde and
the Island of Azores which included Africa and Asia were
given to Portugal. Areas to the west of these islands
(New World) with the exception of Brazil were given to
Spain.
 The Church was also involved in an active role by sending
out missions to support military conquests and spread
the Gospel and ignoring the cruelties, oppressions and
manipulations conducted by these governments.
 Missionary campaign against Islam started during the
peacetime, after Napoleonic Wars and during the
overseas expansion.
 In the 20th Century Reverend SM Zwemer an English
clergy launched the magazine ‘The Moslem World’ in his
campaign against Islam.
 Zwemer – “The signs of the times show plainly enough
what is going to happen. All the savage lands in the world
are going to be brought under subjection to the Christian
Government of Europe. The sooner the seizure is
consummated, the better for the savages”
 Subjugation of the Muslims had been the manifest destiny
of God. Every part of Muslim world must be brought
under Christian domination and this was seen as part fo
God’s manifest destiny.
 Other Factors Leading to Imperialism
 The rise of Mercantilism – Countries established colonies
in 16th and 17th century for material gains in gold, silver,
spices etc.
 In the 19th century – Colonies were established to
acquire natural resources such as iron, tin, silver and gold
for industries in Europe. Colonies were also used to
market finished product produced in Europe.
 Imperialism in 19th century were also used by the
European to infuse their economic system and values or
thoughts upon the whole world so that other people
remained in their control
 To disseminate the Western values, imperialists had the
strong support of the church leaders and the orientalists.
 Orientalists played important roles in spreading Western
ideas and at the same time distorting or manipulating the
teachings of Islam and defending Western imperialism.
 Orientalists also claiming their work under the guise of
‘academic interest’ and claimed that Islam as being ‘a false
religion’ or ‘an imitation of Christianity and Judaism’ based
on the arguments that there are some similarities in the
teachings of the three religions.
 Orientalists also charged Muslims as being ‘fanatic’,
‘ignorance’, ‘anti-development’, ‘backward’, ‘intolerance’
and etc.
 Western values such as secularism and liberalism and ‘the
superiority of Western civilization or way of life’ were
promoted to the occupied areas.
 Orientalists such as Christian Snouck Hurgronje,
Slyvester de Sacy, Prof Bernard Lewis supported the
imperialists through their work and tried to change Islam
according to European culture.
 There are also imperialists who were sympathetic and
supported the Muslims or try to forge some kind of
understanding between Muslims and the West such as Sir
Thomas Arnold and in the 20th century like Albert
Hourani, Karen Armstrong and John Esposito.
Colonialism
 The rule of a group of people by a foreign power. The
people and their land make up a colony. Foreign power
sends people to live in the colony, to govern it, and to use
it as a source of wealth. The rulers and the people belong
to a different racial group.
 Colonialism is linked to imperialism
 Without imperialism there would not have been the
establishment of any colony in the world
 Colonialism originated back to ancient times.
 Romans ruled many colonies in Europe, the Middle East,
and North Africa.
 Impact of Imperialism and Colonialism
 Change of administration – Local administration, laws and
Islamic way of life were replaced by the Western Laws and
way of life.
 Economic implications – Colonial powers tend to
implemented policy to bring as much profit as possible to
their country and exploiting resources in the colonies.
 Growth of capitalism and trade monopoly lead to bad
income distribution amongst the population in the
colonies.
 Cultural and mental impact through education, mass
media campaigns, aid programme etc. Colonies depended
on their colonial power even after independence.
 Careful plan being carried out by colonial powers to
subjugate and educate new generations of Muslim in their
colonies into imbibing the true spirit of Western
civilization and culture.
 In India - “We must do our best to form a class who may
be interpreters between us and the millions whom we
govern – a class of persons, Indians in blood and colour,
but English in taste, in opinion, in moral, and in intellect
(Khurshid Ahmad, Islam and the West pg 10)
 In Indonesia – the program for the abolition of the spirit
of Islam and jihad were conducted by the Dutch through
Dutch Islamic Policy in East Indies and the agency called
Kantoor voor Inlandsche Zaken.
 The Western Imperial powers were not only
interested in wresting political power and
robbing the Muslim economically, but also to
establish a complete control over their thought
and way of life. They developed a generation of
‘captive minded’ people that have been
brainwashed and acted as agents or collaborators
of the West. These people were put into power
in the colonies and have maintained Western
influence within their respective country and
favoured the West.
 Secularism
 Secularism is the principle of the separation of
government institutions and its officers from religious
institutions and religious dignitaries.
 Secularism asserting the right to be free from religious
rule and teachings, or, in a state declared to be neutral on
matters of belief, from the imposition by government of
religion or religious practices upon its people.
 Another manifestation of secularism is the view that
public activities and decisions, especially political ones,
should not be influenced by religious beliefs and/or
practices
 In earlier development, secularism only rejected Christian
Church influence over Europe and the role of God in
human life. The same principle later was applied to other
religions in the world when Europeans spread their
influence in Asia, Africa and the New World.
 Secularism also applied where knowledge was separated
from religion and spiritual life. Any knowledge which is
not appealing to the mind or considered as illogical or
irrational and cannot be proven through scientific
observation and experiment has been declared as invalid
and should be rejected completely.
 These ideas has also been imposed on Islam and Muslim.
 Characteristics of Secularism
1. Secularism consciously focused its attention only to
worldly affairs.
2. Separates the role of religion and God from every
aspects of life.
3. Does not accept the concept of halal (lawful) and haram
(forbidden) in the assessment of human behaviour and
actions.
4. Anything that satisfies one’s desire even though it is
indecent in nature is regarded as good and benefiting.
5. Submission to one’s desire to the fullest.
6. Reason alone is capable of solving all human problems.
 Secularization led all aspects life are separated from
religion. Rejecting moral issues from human activities.
Man becomes the topmost consideration in every human
endeavour and the focus all human activities on this earth
and no longer Allah as the Master of this universe being
accepted as the Prime Mover or determinant of all things.

 Everything in life is being fashioned according to human’s

need and to satisfy own desire. Anything that is regarded
as being out of date, obsolete or unfashionable must be
removed or replaced with something new – ideas,
clothing styles, lifestyles, entertainment etc.
 Secularism is contradictory to Islamic way of life. Islam
rejects secularism which emphasizes only on worldly life
and thus consciously turns away from religious guidance
and makes man the object of adoration above everything
else.
 Secularism ignored true life which covers both the
physical and spiritual aspects.
 “O you who believe! Enter perfectly (totally) into Islam
(by obeying all the rules and regulations of the Islamic
religion) and follow not the footsteps of Satan. Verily, he
is to you a plain enemy” (al-Baqarah: 208)
 Islam is the din (way of life) for the Muslims not just a
religion which can be separated from the life of the
followers.
 Allah has also warned man who parcticed only certain
aspects of Islam and refused to accept the religion in toto
by declaring to him openly that the torment that he has
to experience.
 Only by accepting Islam completely and following the
right way as shown by the Prophet and after him the
ulama based on the principle of Al-Quran known as
maintaining good relation with Allah and also good
relation with fellow man.
 Penilaian Berterusan

 Wednesday 01February 2017 9-11am (DPA)

 5 Questions – Answer all the questions
 1 question 1 page answer.
 Topics from class 1, 2 and 3.
 Intensive Course
 3 February 2017 Friday 8-9pm BT142
 Modernism
 Nationalism
 The Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey
 Egypt – Jamaludin al-Afghani, Muhammad Abduh, Sayyid
Muhammad Rashid Rida

 7 February 2017 Tuesday 8-9pm BT142

 Saudi Arabia – Muhammad in Abduh Wahab,
 Wahabbism and the rise of Al-Saud
 Modernisation, tension and Contradiction
 Sekian, Terima Kasih

Dr. Sah-Hadiyatan Ismail

sah.ismail@usm.my
04 653 22 79