Early Islamic revivalism was a middle-class response to colonial threat
Evidence
While at the top of society the response to colonialism was a move toward modernization and secularization, others turned to the fundamentals of Islam—the Koran, the lives of the Prophet and his followers, the example of the early Islamic community—for solutions and models of Islamic reform. These revivalists saw European colonialism and imperialism—particularly in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when European powers started to make significant incursions into Africa, Asia, and the Middle East—as vital threats to Muslim political and religious identity. The leaders of this revivalist turn tended to be religiously minded middle-class individuals who sought to limit the ulama’s control and authority over Islamic texts and who insisted on the right of individual interpretation (ijtihad) of the Koran and the Sunna. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 304
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: The First World War era sparked anti-colonial stirrings across Asia and Africa; The roots of Islamic terrorism may lie in colonialism and Western intervention. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 37; Muslim monarchs initiated Western-style modernization to defend against colonialism — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 299 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Muslim monarchs initiated Western-style modernization to defend against colonialism
#expands(0.65) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 299 - Modernizing reforms created the secular middle class that displaced the ulama
#complicates(0.55) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 298 - Islamism rose from secular nationalist failure, left weakness, and economic crises
#complicates(0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 323