MUHAMMAD ABDUH

Over a century ago, modern Islamists were critical of the Wahhabi sect for their extremism. Unfortunately, the Saudi Arabian royal family whose absolute control of the kingdom could be threatened by an extremist religious movement, cut a deal with the Wahhabi that not only gave them control over all religious and legal interpretations of Sharia in the kingdom, but also gave them large amounts of money with which the Wahhabi expanded and exported their extremist brand of Islam to many other counties—including the United States. A large part of the Islamic terrorism of the end of the 20th century into the 21st was caused by fanatics who had been exposed to Wahhabi schools (madrassas), mosques or materials which are virulently anti-Christian and ant-Semitic. Muslim intellectuals like Muhammad Abduh had warned about extremism in general and Wahhabi extremism in particular.

He was one of the first Islamic thinker to distinguish between the Koran and the requirements of Islam on the one hand and the traditions of the cultures of the Arabian Peninsula on the other. For example, there is no justification anywhere in Islamic theology for the “Honor Killing” of women; it was a long standing tradition of some of the cultures. But many Muslims and non-Muslims believe that the practice is a part of Islam. There are hundreds of other examples and Abduh tried to eradicate the influence of these traditions. He had traditional and extremist opponents in his lifetime as well as today.

Traditionally Islam was a religion of faith and since it was spread to illiterate and uneducated people, it was dogmatic and literal. Reason and logic was not a part of the theology originally. As Islamic societies developed intellectually, the theology matured and reason and logic was overlaid from the science and the technology to the religion. There were many very sophisticated philosophers and theologians until Islam closed intellectually and went into its decline. Just as there were few Islamic scientists and philosophers during the Enlightenment there were few theologians who appreciated the role of logic. Those few, like Abduh, had to become reformers and modernists and return to the era when Islam was as more modern than Christianity and most other religions.

This view is typical of most religiously educated Muslims and accounts in large part for the fact that the Islamic world is so scientifically backward—especially in the context of the great Islamic scientific development around 1000 AD. Religiously Islam closed and so did the entire outlook of the people, and the existing religious norm accounts for most of the backwardness of Islamic lands.

Traditionally Islam was a religion of faith and since it was spread to illiterate and uneducated people, it was dogmatic and literal. Reason and logic was not a part of the theology originally. As Islamic societies developed intellectually, the theology matured and reason and logic was overlaid from the science and the technology to the religion. There were many very sophisticated philosophers and theologians until Islam closed intellectually and went into its decline. Just as there were few Islamic scientists and philosophers during the Enlightenment there were few theologians who appreciated the role of logic. Those few, like Abduh, had to become reformers and modernists and return to the era when Islam was as more modern than Christianity and most other religions.

Over a century ago, modern Islamists were critical of the Wahhabi sect for their extremism. Unfortunately, the Saudi Arabian royal family whose absolute control of the kingdom could be threatened by an extremist religious movement, cut a deal with the Wahhabi that not only gave them control over all religious and legal interpretations of Sharia in the kingdom, but also gave them large amounts of money with which the Wahhabi expanded and exported their extremist brand of Islam to many other counties—including the United States. A large part of the Islamic terrorism of the end of the 20th century into the 21st was caused by fanatics who had been exposed to Wahhabi schools (madrassas), mosques or materials which are virulently anti-Christian and ant-Semitic. Muslim intellectuals like Muhammad Abduh had warned about extremism in general and Wahhabi extremism in particular.

He was one of the first Islamic thinker to distinguish between the Koran and the requirements of Islam on the one hand and the traditions of the cultures of the Arabian Peninsula on the other. For example, there is no justification anywhere in Islamic theology for the “Honor Killing” of women; it was a long standing tradition of some of the cultures. But many Muslims and non-Muslims believe that the practice is a part of Islam. There are hundreds of other examples and Abduh tried to eradicate the influence of these traditions. He had traditional and extremist opponents in his lifetime as well as today.

This view is typical of most religiously educated Muslims and accounts in large part for the fact that the Islamic world is so scientifically backward—especially in the context of the great Islamic scientific development around 1000 AD. Religiously Islam closed and so did the entire outlook of the people, and the existing religious norm accounts for most of the backwardness of Islamic lands.