Pioneers of Islamic Revival

Examines the political environments, lives and works of influential 19th and 20th century Muslim thinkers. Ever since they became conscious of their relative decline, the societies of the Middle East, and other Islamic countries more generally, have turned to Islam as an antidote to humiliation and decadence. This book examines the political environments, lives and works of those diverse nineteenth and twentieth century Muslim thinkers who believed that Islam was capable of providing practical solutions to the problems of the modern world. The volume provides a balanced account of their contribution to contemporary revolutionary Islam and to political developments in countries from Morocco to Indonesia. The writings and political activity of al-Afghani, Muhammad Abduh, Ayatollah Khomeini, Sayyid Abu'l-A'la Mawdudi, Hasan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Musa al-Sadr, Ali Shariati and Muhammad Baqr al-Sadr are considered, explaining the roots of movements as diverse as the Muslim Brotherhood, the Jama'at-i Islami, the radical Iranian clergy and the militant Shi'i of Lebanon. The book provides an ideal introduction to the complexity and variety of Islamic revival, revealing the motivations of the thinkers who have reshaped the political vocabulary of Islam. Ali Rahnema's major new introductory chapter puts these still hugely influential Muslim thinkers and the movements they inspired in the context of the extraordinarily changed circumstances confronting Islamic countries both internally and internationally since 9/11. He explores the dangers of any Western-Islamic standoff in a situation where both Muslim terrorists and certain chauvinist Christian elements are misusing the religions they ostensibly espouse. It becomes all the more important for Muslims and non-Muslims to understand the real thinking that has long gone in influential Islamic circles. This book intends to make a contribution in this regard.

This accessible history of contemporary Islam examines the political environment, life and works of those nineteenth and twentieth century thinkers who believed in Islam's capacity to solve the problems of the modern world and to restore the self-respect and influence of Middle Eastern societies. It provides a balanced account of their contribution to contemporary revolutionary Islam and to political developments in countries from Morocco to Indonesia. The book explains the roots of diverse movements in Islamic society, illustrates the breadth and heterogeneity of Islamic thought, dispels notions of a homogeneous Islamic revival, and reveals the motivations of those who have reshaped the political vocabulary of Islam.