Pan-Islamism is a religious and political ideology for the unity of Muslims

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Pan-Islamism (from Arabic: الوحدة الإسلامية) is a political movement advocating the unity of Muslims in one Islamic state, often in a caliphate, or in an international organization with Islamic principles. As a form of religious nationalism, pan-Islamism distinguishes itself from other pan-nationalist ideologies such as pan-Arabism by excluding culture and ethnicity as primary factors for unification.

Movement history

In the second half of the 19th century, a religious and political ideology was formed, which was widely disseminated and supported in countries that preach Islam. The movement became the official ideology in the Ottoman Empire under the rule of Abdul Hamid II, which had a great influence on the entire policy of the state. The thesis about the ideas of pan-Islamism, proposed by Muslim reformers Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1839-1897) and Muhammad Abdo (1849-1905) and their followers,was based on the classical principles of Islam, formed in the Middle Ages. A quote attributed to Abdo reads:

I went to the West and saw Islam, but not Muslims. I returned to the East and saw Muslims, but not Islam.

If for the Muslim reformers of the late 19th century this pan-Islamism was primarily an ideological weapon to counter the influence of the West, then for Abdul Hamid II it became a religious and political doctrine, thanks to which he justified the preservation of the Ottoman Empire and its transformation into a global Muslim state (until 1924, the Turkish Sultan was considered the caliph, that is, the spiritual leader of all Muslims).

Leading Islamists such as Sayyid Qutb, Abul Ala Maududi and Ayatollah Khomeini stressed their conviction that a return to traditional Sharia law would make Islam united and strong again. Extremism in Islam dates back to the 7th century to the Kharijites. They developed extreme doctrines that set them apart from mainstream Muslims: Sunnis and Shiites. The Kharijites have come under scrutiny for taking a radical approach to takfir, in which they claim that other Muslims were unbelievers and therefore considered worthy of death.

Ideology of Pan-Islamism

The priority of belonging to any Muslim religious community at the end of the 19th century was as follows: Islam is supranational and of the same form for all Muslim peoples. The territory is divided into two parts: the world of Islam (dar-al-Islam)and peace of war (dar-al-harb). The principle of turning "dar-al-harb" into "dar-al-Islam" through a holy war (jihad) in the 19th century was defined by pan-Islamites as follows: all territories where Muslims live must be freed from the yoke of infidels, and believers in Islam must unite into one global Muslim country - the caliphate, which will be governed by Sharia law.

Stages and formation of ideology

Pan-Islamism went through various stages, starting from the early days of Islam as a religious concept and moving into a modern political ideology in the 1860s-1870s at the height of European colonialism. According to Oxford Islamic Studies, this is when Turkish intellectuals began writing and discussing a possible way to save the crumbling Ottoman Empire. The goal was the establishment of a "favorable state policy" as a "defensive ideology", directed against European political, military and economic and missionary penetration into the East, the ruling bureaucratic and intellectual pan-Islamic elites, the desire to present the Sultan as a universal caliph, to whom Muslims everywhere must show devotion and obedience.

It is this pan-Islamism and its ideas, excluding culture and ethnicity, that are the primary factors in the goal of the Umma association. The early advocates of pan-Islamism wanted to compensate for military and economic weakness in the Muslim world by favoring a central government over the periphery and Muslims over non-Muslims in dismemberment. Ottoman Empire after the Great War (World War I). In fact, socio-political solidarity in Muslim countries, which seeks coordination through political and economic cooperation at the international level, has become an important political tool for recruiting extremists and terrorists in the foreign aggression of the post-war period of World War II.

Literature to study

For a more in-depth study of pan-Islamism, it is worth reading books written by scholars who know and have studied this subject. Among them is "Pan-Islamism. History and Politics" by Jacob M. Landau, an outstanding professor at the Hebrew University (Jerusalem). Prof. Landau's study, first published in 1990 as The Politics of Pan-Islam, is the first comprehensive study of pan-Islamism, these ideologies and movements in the last 120 years. Starting with the plans and actions of Abdulhamid II and his agents, he covers the fate of the movement up to the significant increase in pan-African sentiment and organization in the 1970-1980s. The study is based on scientific analysis of archival and other sources in many languages. It covers an area from Morocco in the west to India and Pakistan in the east, and from Russia and Turkey to the Arabian Peninsula. This is a unique source of knowledge for those who want to understand the impact of this ideology on international politics today.

Modern Pan-Islamism

The modern doctrine of pan-Islamism subordinates a person to Allah, praises the Islamic community, itsnational, ethnic and hierarchical division opposes the global Islamic state. There are many modern Islamic parties and groups that have chosen different options for their activities - from propaganda to terrorism and armed uprisings. Many consider pan-Islamism to be one of the biggest obstacles to integrating Muslims into modern times.

The division of the Muslim world into nation-states gave rise to new directions of pan-Islamism. First, transnational organizations such as the Organization of Islamic States (OIC) were created to express the collective feelings and concerns of Muslim peoples. It remains unknown whether the OIC or similar organizations can be sufficiently effective in the modern world. The issue has become more serious in light of events since September 11, 2001.