The Movements for ‘Islamic Renaissance’

and their Misconceived Notion of Faith

The movements for ‘Islamic Renaissance’, ‘establishment of government according to the Will of God’, and ‘enforcement of the Islamic system of life’ were started in various Muslim countries. Of all these, Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslemoon, which began in Egypt was the most prominent in point of quantitative strength and emotional fervor. The Indo-Pak subcontinent’s Jama‘at-e-Islami however, occupies a distinguished place among these movements, based as it is, on a solid and strongly defended thought-system.

These movements have been active in Muslim countries for more than half a century and a substantial sum of Muslim youth have been influenced by them. But it is an irony of history that practically none of these movements has achieved any remarkable success. Rather it seems as if they have outlived the span of their lives, and the moment is not yet ripe when the fond hopes for the renaissance of Islam can be realized. Egypt’s Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslemoon has met almost complete disintegration within the country, and its few remaining members are scattered all over the Middle East and Europe. The Indo-Pak subcontinent’s Jama‘at-e-Islami fared no better, a greater portion of its potentialities having been spent up in the politics of Pakistan. At the moment it has hardly any program other than joining hands with various political parties in the struggle for democracy.

One may think that the real cause of the failure of these revivalist movements lies in the impatience of their leaders. That is to say, they perhaps hastily, without first changing the minds of a considerable number of the country’s intelligentsia, took part in active politics, which resulted in premature clash with the national leadership and the so-called ‘progressive’ elements. But in truth their failure is a direct result of their misconceived notion of faith and the error in their view of Islam.

These movements’ understanding and view of Islam are based on the same Western standpoint, preferring material existence and worldly pursuits to spirit and the life Hereafter. Though the metaphysical beliefs of Islam, which collectively constitute Islamic faith, are affirmed in their studies of Islam, they have not been properly stressed. Their gaze has been exclusively fixed on the teachings and precepts which Islam has laid down for the multifarious practical aspects of life and to which they have given the name of Islami Nizam-e-Hayat (Islamic System for Life). Their interpretation of Islam affirms all the religious beliefs but it lacks the inner state of deep faith in God (Iman Billah) which alone makes us know Him as the only absolutely powerful agent and the ultimate cause within us and in the cosmos. The belief in the Hereafter is asserted but it is practically devoid of the living faith, which was described by the Prophet Muhammad (SAAW) when he commanded:

((کُنْ فِی الدُّنْیَا کَانَکَ غَرِیْبٌ اَوْعَابِرُ سَبِیْلٍ))

   [رواہ البخاری، عن عبداللہ بن عمرؓ]            

“Live in this world like a stranger or wayfarer.”

Similarly, the prophethood of Muhammad (SAAW) is not denied, yet there is no real love or heart-felt attachment to him. For the more progressive elements, the Prophet had a role hardly higher than that of a postman or a leader of the social life of the Muslim community. Even those who hold the Sunnah (practice of Prophet Muhammad (SAAW)) as definitive and fundamentally important in religious matters, have created a loop-hole in it by making a distinction between Sunnahadat (habits) and Sunnah risalat (messenger-hood). This bifurcation has made it possible for those who propound it to live freely at least their private lives in harmony with the fashionable trends of the times. In a word, faith is upheld only to the extent that suffices for one to be called a ‘Muslim’ in the legal sense of the term. The inner experience of faith that truly fulfills and validates the propositions of Islamic belief is not present. Indeed, nobody seems to be aware of its importance and indispensability.

Ref: An excerpt from the English translation of the Book "اسلام کی نشاة ثانیہ :کرنے کا اصل کام"byDr Israr Ahmad (RAA); “ISLAMIC RENAISSANCE: The Real Task Ahead” [Translated by Dr. Absar Ahmad]