Liberal Muslim movements

For modernist reform movements in Islam, see Islamic Modernism.
World Muslim population by percentage (Pew Research Center, 2014).

Liberal movements within Islam involve professed Muslims who have produced a considerable body of liberal thought on the re-interpretation and reform of Islamic understanding and practice.[1][2] Their work is sometimes characterised as "progressive Islam" (Arabic: الإسلام التقدمي‎ al-Islām at-taqaddumī ), although some consider progressive Islam and liberal Islam to be two distinct movements.[3]

The methodologies of liberal or progressive Islam rest on the interpretation and re-interpretation of traditional Islamic scripture (the Quran) and other texts (such as the Hadith), a process called ijtihad (see below).[4] This can vary from the slight to the most liberal, where only the meaning of the Quran is considered to be a revelation while its expression in words is the work of the Islamic prophet Muhammad at his particular time and context. As a consequence, verses from the Quran may then be interpreted allegorically or even set aside.

Among the most liberal Muslim intellectuals who have focused on religious reform are Muhammad Ali, Sayyid al-Qimni, Nasr Abu Zayd, Khalil Abdel-Karim, Abdolkarim Soroush, Mohammed Arkoun, Mohammed Shahrour, Ahmed Subhy Mansour, Edip Yuksel, Gamal al-Banna, Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, Ahmed Al-Gubbanchi, Mahmoud Mohammed Taha, and Faraj Foda. Taha was executed for apostasy and Foda was assassinated by extremists, while most of the others have been criticised by more traditional Islamic scholars.

Some liberal Muslims claim that they are returning to the principles of the early Ummah and to the ethical and pluralistic intent of their scripture, the Quran.[5] They distance themselves from some traditional and less liberal interpretations of Islamic law, as they consider these to be culturally based and without universal applicability. The reform movement uses monotheism (tawhid) "as an organizing principle for human society and the basis of religious knowledge, history, metaphysics, aesthetics, and ethics, as well as social, economic and world order".[6]

Reform

The reform movements of Islam, like Reform Judaism, are movements within their parent religion, rather than an attempt at schism. They seek to adapt a traditional religion to liberal, human rights–oriented values, like Reform Judaism does with Judaism.

Reform Muslims, like their more orthodox peers, believe in the basic tenets of Islam, such as the Six Elements of Belief and the Five Pillars and they consider their views to be fully compatible with Islam. Their main differences with more conservative Islamic opinion are twofold. The first lies in differences of interpretation of how to apply the core Islamic values to modern life,[7] the second a more reactionary dialectic which criticizes traditional narratives or even rejects them, thus denying any obligation to follow them while also allowing greater freedom in interpreting Quran regardless of the hadith.[8]

Central tenets

Several generally accepted tenets have emerged:

Contemporary and controversial issues

Over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, in accordance with their increasingly modern societies and outlooks, liberal Muslims have tended to reinterpret many aspects of the application of their religion in their life in an attempt to reconnect with the original message, untouched by harmful cultural influences. This is particularly true of Muslims who now find themselves living in non-Muslim countries.[10]

Such people may describe themselves variously as liberal, progressive, or reformist (in application but not in the tenets of the faith); but rather than implying a specific agenda, these terms tend to incorporate a broad spectrum of views which contest conservative, traditional interpretations of Islam in many different ways. Although there is no full consensus amongst liberal Muslims on their views, they tend to agree on some or all of the following beliefs:

Ijtihad

Main article: Ijtihad

Critical ijtihad is the questioning of traditional interpretations of the Qur'an which reformist Muslims found to be intellectually stifling in the light of modern wisdom and scientific knowledge. Most liberal Muslims reject the derivation of Islamic laws from absolute literal readings of single Quranic verses. They generally claim a holistic view which takes into account the 7th-century Arabian cultural context and then allows deeper insight into the manner in which the commands of God (Allah) are carried out. Some scholars, however, say that this is a veiled form of "biddah", or innovation, and reject critical evaluation as a whole.

Human rights

Moderate Islamic political thought contends that the nurturing of the Muslim identity and the propagation of values such as democracy and human rights are not mutually exclusive, but rather should be promoted together.[11]

Most liberal Muslims believe that Islam promotes the notion of absolute equality of all humanity, and that it is one of its central concepts. Therefore, a breach of human rights has become a source of great concern to most liberal Muslims.[12] Though human rights is perceived to be of the utmost concern of all devoted adherents to the Islamic faith, liberal Muslims differ with their culturally conservative counterparts in that they believe that all humanity is represented under the umbrella of human rights. Many Muslim majority countries have signed international human rights treaties, but the impact of these largely remains to be seen in local legal systems – a point highlighted by the fact that most countries which impose conservative interpretations of Shariah law are amongst the most repressive countries in the world, while secular states are often the most open and tolerant.[13]

Muslim liberals often reject traditional interpretations of Islamic law, which allows Ma malakat aymanukum and Slavery. They say that Slavery opposed Islamic principles which they believe to be based on justice and equality and some say that verses relating to slavery or "Ma malakat aymanukum" now can not be applied due to the fact that the world has changed, while others say that those verses are totally misinterpreted and twisted to legitimize slavery.<ref name="Writer and Islamic thinker "Gamal al-Banna": The Muslim Brotherhood is not fit to rule (2-2)">Writer and Islamic thinker "Gamal al-Banna": The Muslim Brotherhood is not fit to rule (2-2)</ref><ref name="Writer and Islamic thinker "Gamal al-Banna": The Muslim Brotherhood is not fit to rule (1-2)">Writer and Islamic thinker "Gamal al-Banna": The Muslim Brotherhood is not fit to rule (1-2)</ref>[14]

Within the framework of justice and equality for all, Muslim liberals include gay rights as a human right.

Feminism

Islamic feminism symbol.

The place of women in Islam, correct gender roles in Islam and Islamic feminism are likewise major issues.[15] For this reason, liberal Muslims are often critical of traditional Islamic law interpretations which allow polygyny for men but not polyandry for women, as well as the traditional Islamic law of inheritance under which daughters receive less than sons. Traditional Muslims believe this is balanced by the right of a woman to be taken care of by her brother(s) until her marriage, and the rights of a wife to her husband's money and her dowry, whereas the husband does not have a right to his wife's money. In addition to paying for the younger sister's upkeep, the surviving sons need additional funds to pay dowries to their future wives, an expense women do not have to bear.

It is also accepted by most liberal Muslims that a woman may lead the state, and that women should not be segregated from men in society or in masjids. These views are generally rejected by traditional Muslim scholars, including scholars from the four schools of Islamic thought, as they have been in the past. Some liberal Muslims accept that a woman may lead a mixed group in prayers, despite the established custom for women to pray behind or in a separate space. However, this issue remains controversial; see women as imams. Some Muslim feminists are also opposed to the traditional dress requirements for women (commonly called hijab), claiming that any modest clothing is sufficiently Islamic for both men and women. Some of the groups, particularly the Quranists, reject hadiths.

Secularism

Some liberal Muslims favor the idea of modern secular democracy with separation of church and state, and thus oppose Islam as a political movement.

The existence or applicability of Islamic law is questioned by some liberals. Their argument often involves variants of the Mu'tazili theory that the Quran was created by God for the particular circumstances of the early Muslim community and that reason must be used to apply it in other contexts.

Tolerance and non-violence

A map of major denominations and religions of the world.

Tolerance is another key tenet of liberal Muslims, who are generally open to interfaith dialogue and conflict resolution with such communities as Jews, Christians, Hindus and the numerous factions within Islam.

Liberal Muslims are more likely to reflect the idea of jihad in terms of the widely accepted "internal spiritual struggle" rather than an "armed struggle". The ideals of non-violence are prevalent in Liberal Muslim ideology and backed by Qu'ranic text; "permission to fight is given only to those who have been oppressed... who have been driven from their homes for saying, 'God is our Lord'" (22:39). This idea is however not exclusive to liberal Muslims but is also followed in traditional Islam. Most following Islam, liberal or otherwise, accept that jihad is more of the heart than with the sword. According to traditional Islamic scholars, the sword is only drawn under circumstances which oppress the Muslim community and even in those circumstances, the strict Islamic guidelines for war have to be followed. This includes not engaging in violence with non combatants, women, children and not to destroy even the crops of the enemy lands and not to attack the people engaged in combat within places of worship unless they attack first.

Reliance on secular scholarship

Liberal Muslims tend to be skeptical about the validity of Islamization of knowledge (including Islamic economics, Islamic science, Islamic history and Islamic philosophy) as separate from mainstream fields of inquiry. This is usually due to the often secular outlook of Muslim liberals, which makes them more disposed to trust mainstream secular scholarship. They may also regard the propagation of these fields as merely a propaganda move by Muslim conservatives.[16]

Movements

Quranism

Main article: Quranism

Quranists reject the hadith and follow the Quran only.

North America

Europe

Main articles: Jadid and Ittifaq al-Muslimin

In Russia and CIS, Sufi orders movements within Islam (so-called "social Islam").

Further information: Progressive British Muslims

In Europe there are associations of progressive Muslims.

Asia

PPP is the party with Liberal stance and Islam was official religion in Indonesia that established in 1973.

References

  1. ↑ "Finally: Muslims Speak Out Against Jihad". Accuracy In Media. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  2. ↑ Safi, O: "Progressive Muslims", One World: Oxford, 2003.
  3. ↑ Averroes Foundation
  4. ↑ Aslan, R: "No god but God", Random House, 2005.
  5. ↑ Muslim Council of Britain
  6. ↑ "Tawhid". Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "Important.ca. Islam Religion In The Modern World". Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  8. ↑ From the article Where We Went Wrong: A Hard Look at Hadith by Jamal Khawaja
  9. ↑ About Liberal Islam
  10. ↑ Being a Muslim in the U.S.ا
  11. ↑ The Fundamentalist City?: Religiosity and the Remaking of Urban Space, Nezar Alsayyad (ed.), Chapter 7: "Hamas in Gaza Refugee camps: The Construction of Trapped Spaces for the Survival of Fundamentalism", Francesca Giovannini. Taylor & Francis, 2010. ISBN 978-0-415-77936-4."
  12. ↑ Hassan Mahmoud Khalil: "Islam's position on violence and violation of human rights", Dar Al-Shaeb, 1994.
  13. ↑ The Soft Power for the Islamic Movement
  14. ↑ "arabic - What does "right hand possess" mean? - Islam Stack Exchange". Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  15. ↑ A History of Women in Islam, by Jamal Khawaja
  16. ↑ S. Irfan Habib: "The Viability of Islamic Science", Economic and Political Weekly, June 5, 2004.

Further reading

See also