Origins Many scholars assert that the doctrines of pan-Islamism could be observed as early as during the era of
Islamic Iberia,
Emirate of Sicily, the
Gunpowder Empires (
Ottoman,
Safavid and
Mughal Empires) and several Muslim sultanates and kingdoms, despite the presence and employment of non-Muslim subjects by Muslim powers. During the 18th century, multiple movements for puritanical
Islamic renewal would emerge. Amongst these, the revivalist movements of three leading religious reformers –
Shah Wali Allah of Delhi (1702–1763), the
Arabian Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792), and the
Nigerian Uthman dan Fodio (1755–1816) – are widely regarded as the precursors of the modern-era Pan-Islamist thought. Despite their calls for puritanical
reform, these movements were not politically concerned with the international situation of the
Muslim world, and had not elaborated comprehensive pan-Islamist programmes to combat the
Western threat. Since they did not call for the revival of an international
Islamic entity, their ideas and impact were limited to the local regional contexts of
West Africa, Arabia, and
South Asia. In spite of their diversity, these 18th century Muslim reformers were united in their condemnation of declining morality and calls for the revival of scripture-based piety. Inspired by these movements, Islamic reformers at the turn of the 19th century adopted novel strategies for overcoming the crisis faced by the Muslim world by adapting to the fast-paced transformation of its era. Their proposed approaches now oscillated between an open admiration for the technology-mediated Western ideology of societal progress and a clear rejection of it on the grounds of the axiomatic superiority of an idealized Islamic culture, rooted in Scripturalist injunctions. Two major scholars of early
colonial Egypt '
Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti (d. 1825) and
Rifa'a al-Tahtawi (d. 1872) represented these intellectual trends. While Rifa'a al-Tahtawi exemplified the former, 'Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti represented the latter, Scriptural-oriented approach.
Modern era Late 19th century In the modern era, Pan-Islamism was championed by
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani who sought unity among
Muslims to resist colonial occupation of Muslim lands. Afghani feared that nationalism would divide the Muslim world and believed that Muslim unity was more important than ethnic identity. Although sometimes described as "liberal", al-Afghani did not advocate constitutional government but simply envisioned "the overthrow of individual rulers who were lax or subservient to foreigners, and their replacement by strong and patriotic men." In a review of the theoretical articles of his Paris-based newspaper there was nothing "favoring political democracy or parliamentarianism," according to his biographer.
Early 20th century Islamic jurist
Muhammad Rashid Rida – a student of Abduh and Afghani – on the other hand, was an avowed
anti-imperialist and an exponent of a puritanical revolution, inspired by his nostalgia for the early eras of Islam. According to Rida, the state-sponsored scholars neglected the revival of early Islamic traditions in the
Muslim Ummah. He believed that the unification of the Islamic community would only be possible through the restoration of an
Islamic caliphate which implements the
Sharia (Islamic law). His influential Islamic journal
Al-Manar promoted
anti-British revolt, as well as Islamic revivalism based on the tenets of
Salafiyya. Positioning himself as the successor to the pan-Islamist activism of Afghani and 'Abduh; Rida called for a pan-Islamic project based on revival of the Islamic caliphate led by
Arabs and the
reformation of Muslims. During the 1920s, Rida formulated the comprehensive
Islamic state doctrine in his famous treatise ''al-Khilafa aw al-Imama al-'Uzma'' ("The Caliphate or the Exalted Imamate") in which he called upon Muslims to strive to build a political system based on faith; rather than
nationalism. He opposed the rising embrace of Western ideas amongst
Muslims, arguing that only a return to Islam would restore the rightful position of Muslims in the modern age. Pan-Islamic networks, led by Rashid Rida and his associates, played a central role in later development of
Islamist movements. Rida's Salafiyya movement advocated for pan-Islamist solidarity which involved socio-political campaigning to establish
Sharia (Islamic laws). Following
World War I, Rida and his disciples became the biggest adversaries of
secularists and
nationalists; and vehemently attacked all forms of
democratic ideas. Articulating his Pan-Islamist vision, Rashid Rida wrote in
Al-Manar in 1902:"In sum, what I mean by Islamic unity is that the leaders (''
ahl al-Hal wal-'aqd) among the scholars and notables should meet and compile a book of ordinances which is based on the deeply-rooted fundamentals of the Divine Law, agrees with the needs of the time, is easy to use, and is free of disagreement (khilaf). The Supreme Imam then orders the rulers of Muslims to apply it (al-'amal bihi
)"In order to judge the rising importance of the Pan-Islamist movement during these years, Lothrop Stoddard in his 1921 book The New World of Islam'' looked at the growth in the Pan-Islamic press, writing that "in 1900 there were in the whole Islamic world not more than 200 propagandist journals", as he puts it, but "by 1906 there were 500, while in 1914 there were well over 1000."
Post-Ottoman era After the
Abolition of Caliphate in 1924, Pan-Islamism mobilized Muslim masses of both traditionalist and reform movements in
Islam, inspired by the ideas of Rashid Rida. The
Reformist movements led by Rida, would become more fundamentalist and literalist; emphasizing adherence to the idealised era of the
Salaf and attempt to revive lost traditions. Rashid Rida's socio-political views symbolised the convergence of the doctrines of the
reformist,
Salafist and pan-Islamist movements. During the 1920s, Rida and his Salafi disciples established the
Young Men's Muslim Association (YMMA); an influential Islamist youth organisation that spearheaded attacks against
liberal trends and
Western culture. This provided favourable conditions for the growth of various Islamist revolutionary movements.
Abul Ala Maududi, and Ayatollah
Khomeini all stressed their belief that a return to traditional
Sharia law would make Islam united and strong again. Extremism within Islam goes back to the 7th century to the
Kharijites. From their essentially political position, they developed extreme doctrines that set them apart from both mainstream Sunni and Shiʿa Muslims. The Kharijites were particularly noted for adopting a radical approach to
Takfir, whereby they declared other Muslims to be unbelievers and therefore deemed them worthy of death. In the period of
de-colonialism following
World War II,
Arab nationalism overshadowed Islamism which denounced nationalism as un-Islamic. In the Arab world secular
pan-Arab parties –
Baath and
Nasserist parties – had offshoots in almost every Arab country, and took power in
Egypt,
Libya,
Iraq and
Syria. Islamists suffered severe repression; its major thinker
Sayyid Qutb, was imprisoned, underwent torture and was later executed. Egyptian president
Nasser considered the idea of Muslim unity as a threat to
Arab nationalism. In the 1950s,
Pakistan's government championed Muslim cooperation like many other Muslim countries, however Pakistan's efforts were complicated with its involvement in Baghdad pact and pro-western foreign diplomacy in light of the Palestine-Israel conflict, however later relations would be much better. Many Muslim countries suspected that Pakistan was aspiring to leadership of the Muslim world to in foreword help western powers in relations with other Muslim states.
Six-Day War Following the defeat of Arab armies in the
Six-Day War, Islamism and Pan-Islam began to reverse their relative position of popularity with
nationalism and pan-Arabism. Political events in the Muslim world in the late 1960s convinced many Muslim states to shift their earlier ideas and respond favourably to Pakistan's goal of Muslim unity. Nasser abandoned his opposition to a pan-Islamic platform and such developments facilitated the first summit conference of Muslim heads of state in Rabat in 1969. This conference was eventually transformed into a permanent body called
Organisation of Islamic Conference.
Post 1979: Iranian Revolution and Afghan jihad In 1979 the
Iranian Revolution ousted
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi from power. Ten years later in 1989; the
Afghan mujahideen, with major support from the
United States, would successfully
force the Soviet Union from Afghanistan. Pan-Islamic
Sunni Muslims such as
Maududi and the
Muslim Brotherhood, embraced the creation of a new caliphate, at least as a long-term project. Shia leader Ruhollah Khomeini{{#tag:ref|Khomeini stated that Muslims should be "united and stand firmly against Western and arrogant powers." "Establishing the Islamic state world-wide belong to the great goals of the revolution." He embraced Sayyid Qutb in the past. He declared the birth week of
Muhammad (the week between 12th to 17th of
Rabi' al-awwal) as the
Unity week. Then he declared the last Friday of
Ramadan as
International Day of Quds in 1981. These events galvanised Islamists the world over and heightened their popularity with the Muslim public. Throughout the Middle-East, and in particular
Egypt, the various branches of the
Muslim Brotherhood have significantly challenged the secular nationalist or monarchical Muslim governments. In
Pakistan 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 Pan-Islamist force in
Central Asia and in the last five years has developed some support from the
Arab world. A recent advocate for Pan-Islamism was late
Turkish prime minister and founder of
Millî Görüş movement
Necmettin Erbakan, who championed the Pan-Islamic Union (İslam Birliği) idea and took steps in his government toward that goal by establishing the
Developing 8 Countries (or D8, as opposed to
G8) in 1996 with Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria and Bangladesh. His vision was gradual unity of Muslim nations through economic and technologic collaboration similar to the
EU with a single monetary unit (İslam Dinarı), joint aerospace and defense projects, petrochemical technology development, regional civil aviation network and a gradual agreement to democratic values. Although the organization met at presidential and cabinet levels and moderate collaboration projects continue to date, the momentum was instantly lost when
the so-called Post-Modern Coup of February 28, 1997, eventually took down Erbakan's government. == See also ==