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Introduction
Representation of ulema as redundant, relic, etc
More focus on so-called Islamists, and "new intellectuals", and Shi'a ulema
(following the 1979 Iranian revolution).
Zaman challenges such representations...
"...the 'ulama - their transformations, their discourses, and their
religiopolitical activism - can ... only be neglected at the cost of ignoring or
misunderstanding crucial facets of contemporary Islam and Muslim societies."
(p.1)
Book draws on notions of (discursive) tradition developed by MacIntyre and
subsequently Asad, with the 'ulema defined by "a certain sense of continuity"
with a discursive tradition which "...constitutes the most significant
difference between them and their modernist and Islamist detractors." Importance
of studying ulema relates to "...the ways in which they have mobilized this
tradition to define issues of religious identity and authority in the public
sphere and to articulate changing roles for themselves in contemporary Muslim
politics." (p.10)
Focus of Zaman's study: Deobandi "sectarian and doctrinal orientation" (p.11)
Madrasa founded in Deoband in the United Provinces (Doab region of Uttar
Pradesh) in 1867.
Darululoom-Deoband official website.
Cf. work of Barbara Metcalf
"That the 'ulama wanted, in the immediate aftermath of the
establishment of British rule in India, to focus on individual reform, on
inculcating a renewed sense of personal responsibility as a way of coping
with new challenges, is a central argument of Metcalf's work." (p.13)
But provides limited understanding of public/political dimensions that led to
Pakistani sectarianism and the Taliban.
Builds on Metcalf's work. Other ulema studies: Eickelman
(1985); Vogel (2000); Dhofier (1999); Binder, 1961.
Zaman's study "...aims to consider the important facets of
religious change " of the contemporary 'ulama in both the colonial and
postcolonial contexts, with reference to the Deobandi tradition in
India/Pakistan, showing parallels with other ulema where possible, studying
"...both the discourses and and the significance of their religiopolitical
activism in their multifaceted relationship..." (p.14). Importance of
understanding 'ulama for wider religiopolitical analysis of Islam.
Chapter 1: islamic Law and 'Ulama in Colonial India: A
Legal Tradition in Transition
Idea that pre-modern islamic legal system as rigid = batty
talk, with Schacht and Coulson topping the league of chatter-arses. These days,
really smart folks read: Wael B. Hallaq (1995) Law and
Legal Theory in Classical and Medieval Islam (London: Variorum), although
whether words like 'medieval' are applicable to non-European history is a moot
point!
The application of legal innovation (ijtihad) and adherence
to past legal doctrines (taqlid) complex.
"...the discourse of even late medieval jurists bear ample
testimony to continuous legal adaption and even innovation - that is, in effect,
to the continuing practice of ijtihad. Their legal advances might be couched in
the rhetoric of taqlid itself, but they are no less significant for being such."
(p.18)
Taqlid might offer a wide range of potential rulings; plaintiffs interests might
be guarded by transferring case to another law school; evidence of flexible
relationship with existing juristic traditions.
Colonial Constructions of the Law and the 'Ulama
New legal system developed under the British India Company
from 1772 onwards, , with "...the last vestiges of Islamic criminal law ceased
to exists with the Penal Code (of Lord Macaulay)
of 1862" (p.23), although muftis and pandits attached to British courts to
advise judges on matters of personal law until 1864.
British instigated process of making specific set Muslim texts authoritative with
regards to Muslim personal law.
"To the colonial officials, the very character of precolonial law and legal
practice was uncertain, unsystematic, and arbitrary. Their own judicial practice
was not much different..." (p.22)
"Yet even matters of personal status, the application of shari'a under colonial
rule was far from uniform." (p.23)
Anglo-Muhammadan law
"How did this colonial legal discourse of authority, as
embodied in a few fixed texts, affect the 'ulama's conception of the shari'a?"
(p.23) Probably helped develop a more rigid conception of taqlid, aided by
debates with ahl-i-hadith and the changing administration of administration of
Islamic law. Codification allayed necessity of indigenous guides.
"...the new 'Anglo-Muhammadan law' was decidedly not the
'ulama's legal tradition, but a hybrid ... It also meant the 'ulama themselves
were not part of this development. Historically, the most distinctive aspect of
their vocation, the interpretation of the law, was effectively being removed
from them." (p.25)
But if a judge were not available to issue fatwa, Deobandis
insisted Muslims obey shari'a strictly (sometimes VERY, with women more often
the site of contestation). Partly due to the legitimate importance of
person-to-person contact with authorized (ijaza) person, or possibly, it may be
that the ulama hoped to "bring pressure on the colonial administration" (p.28).
Practice tended to be harder on women than men (and thus supported more by men
who dominated public spaces), but women then sometimes resorted to apostasy,
much to the 'ulama's alarm! However, this was challenged by a ruling from
Mawlana Ashraf 'Ali Thanawi (d.1943), demonstrating that the 'ulama possessed
"...resources within the Islamic legal tradition to bring about necessary
change." (p.30). Thanawi also advocated use of committee of righteous
individuals (jama'at-i-muslimin), although unclear the extent to this was
utilised.
Late Colonial Politics and the 'Ulema
Under colonial rule, Shari'a became more 'content' than
'process' , at least in the Middle East: Brown, N. J. (1997) Sharia and State in
the Modern Muslim Middle East, International Journal of
Middle Eastern Studies, 29:3 pp.359-376
Not completely rigid in its codification.
Phenomenon of pro-Congress nationalist Mawlana Husayn Ahmad
Madani and "...the implications for these 'ulama's understanding of the
shari'a." (p.33).
Madani criticised by Iqbal and Mawdudi.
"Against Madani's view that Muslims and non-Muslims could be part of a single
"nation" defined by territorial and other ties, Iqbal argued that religion was
the sole basis of Muslim nationhood." (p.34)
Yet Madani's arguments illustrate the potential flexibility of Islamic legal
thinking even within a context of contrary prevailing opinion and a tendency
towards rigidification consequent of colonial oppression.
"Madani was evidently drawing on premodern juristic discourses in formulating
his position on united nationalism, but there is no evidence that these
discourses necessarily constrained him in the choices he made." (p.37)
"The ways in which the modern 'ulama have sought to preserve
or enhance their influence in society ... are not reducible to a single or
necessarily coherent position. That authority has been articulated in many
different ways..." (p.37)
Chapter 2: Constructions of Authority
Commentary (shuruh):
-
"One of the most distinctive facets of premodern 'ulema
culture was the articulation of discourses through the medium of the
commentary." (p38);
-
Dialogue with authoritative text and scholarly tradition
on the same;
-
Preserved madhhab as well as permitting developments of
the same;
-
Medium of expression for juristic profession;
-
Expounded meaning of Qur'an and Sunnah;
-
Critical to philosophy (e.g. commentaries on Greek
works);
-
Far from being unique to Islam.
Commentaries often berated by post-Enlightenment European and
even Muslim thinkers, eg. Fazlur Rahman, "sterile commentarial literature"
whilst admiring their "ingenuity" (cited p.39, from Rahman, Islam and Modernity,
1982). Yet remains influential, e.g. Mawdudi and especially Qutb's: "In the
Shade of the Qur'an" and also Muhammad Shahrur.
Deobandi - new emphasis on study of hadith in 19th training
of 'ulama.
New commentaries written during the 19th and 20th centuries.
The Commentary as Polemic
Ahl-i-hadith
"...at the forefront of those writing and publishing on hadith in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries." (p.40)
Hadith commentaries as polemical tools to support one's own sectarian group
and/or attack other groups.
Deobandi work par excellence - twenty-one volume
I'la al-sunan (The Exultation of the Normative
Practices [of the Prophet]) published between 1923-1982 by
Mawlana Zafar Ahmad 'Uthmani. Includes refutation of Madani's united
nationalism (although Madani isn't mentioned by name) strongly influenced by Ibn
Taymiyya. Communal politics and fate of Urdu vs Hindustani major issue of time.
Also, use of Arabic: Arabic writings "met the needs of sound polemics" and "may
also have conformed to perceived colonial criteria of religious authority"
(p.47) Ironically, in writing in defence of the Hanafi tradition, 'Uthmani
assumes a position which is closer to the one held traditionally by the Maliki
madhhab.
"Talal Asad's definition of "orthodoxy" as 'not a mere body
of opinion but a distinctive relationship -- a relationship of power'
elucidates well 'Uthmani's conception of the Muslim community as
essentially a political entity, whose survival requires power and political
domination." (p.48)
"...commentaries are also produced in precise
historical contexts that defines many of their
specific concerns..." (p.49)
Eg. Muhammad Taqi 'Uthmani's Takmila
to a treatise on Sahih Muslim's hadith published in context of Pakistani debates
over Islamization: 1986-7
The "Presence" of the Master
Commentaries also start students' write ups of notes from
their masters' lectures, some making little "contribution" in the traditional
sense to the field. Often their apparent lack of "intellectual" significance has
led to them (and the ulema) being ignored by researchers, who have failed to
understand their proper cultural significance.
"Presence" extremely important -
in premodern times, one reason why book studied in presence of author or under
tutorship of properly trained scholar. The "presence" of various writers
commenting in, on, and around prior works serves a similar purpose and lends
authority to both the text and its tradition of scholarship.
Multiple Audiences
Printed texts
Wider range of writings available to a much more varied and larger audience.
Undermined authority of 'ulema?
"The critical question ... is not whether their [i.e. the ulama's] authority has
increased or decreased, but how that authority is constructed, argued, put on
display and constantly defended." (p.55)
"...earlier forms of person-to-person transmission of
learning have also persisted in the world of new media." (p.55)
E.g. Syrian scholar 'Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda - widely published but also
numerous students spanning the Muslim world.
Religious public sphere
Islamist intellectuals like Mawdudi and Qutb have written commentaries for
ordinary educated Muslims, and some of the 'ulama have done the same." (p.56)
E.g. Manzur Nu'mani
Islam kiya hai? (What is Islam?) "As Eickelman and
Piscatori have argued, such works exemplify the 'objectification of Muslim
consciousness' whereby 'religion has become a self-contained system that its
believers can describe, characterize and distinguish from other belief
systems.''" (p.57)
Eickelman, D. F. and Piscatori, J. (1996)
Muslim Politics (New Jersey: Princeton University
Press)
Madrassas publish monthly magazine and ulema contribute
articles to mainstream newspapers and magazines.
NB also: Mufti Muhammad
Yusuf Ludhianawi, labelled a "media mufti" by Brinkley
Messick.
"That the 'ulama write and publish extensively, but often
separately, for both a learned, 'ulama audience ... shows ... that
generalizations about the adverse impact of print on the 'ulama's influence and
authority are suspect." (p.58) In fact, the ulema have long written for multiple
audiences and print has not led to a 'priesthood of all believers' as some
commentators have feared (probably the same is true about the Net).
"Different kinds of texts help constitute authority in
different ways..." (p.58)
Chapter 3: The Rhetoric of Reform and the Religious
Sphere
"The modern state, colonial as well as postcolonial, has
everywhere shaped "traditional" institutions and practices, not infrequently
altering them beyond recognition, if not shaping them out of existence ... the
most important and best-documented reform being that of the
Azhar
of Egypt." (p.60)
E.g. Moustafa, Tamir ( 2000) Conflict and Cooperation between
the State and Religious Institutions in Contemporary Egypt,
International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.
32, No. 1 (Feb., 2000) pp.3-22, for how Al-Azhar gained more leverage over the
government following Islamist violence in the 1990s.
See also:
Tunisia and the Zaytuna under French colonial rule;
the Qarawiyyin and Yusufiyya
in Morocco by the French in the 1930s.
Analysis of the reform of South Asian
madrasas is important in that it indicates "...the emergence of new
conceptions of religion. Initiatives towards reform, no less than the opposition
to them, have fostered the view that religion occupies a distinct sphere in
society. Such a conception of religion is distinctly modern, so far as Muslim
societies are concerned. Yet it is striking that this conception is favoured by
many 'ulama." (p.62)
Madrasa Reform: British Perceptions, Categories,
Initiatives
"...to reform the local systems in view of their own
perceptions, British colonial officials routinely invoked what to them were
familiar and often self-evident concepts and categories..." (p.62)
MOST IMPORTANT NOTION:
RELIGION
Asad argues concept of RELIGION led to the construction of
"...a new historical object: anchored in personal experience, expressible in
belief-statements, dependent on private institutions and practiced in one's
spare time. This construction ... ensures that it is part of what is
inessential to out common politics, economy, science and morality." (cited
p.62)
Asad, T. (1993) Genealogies of
Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam (John
Hopkins University)
In one instance, ordering "indigenous" schools closed rather
than allowing them to be under the authority of mosques. Closure of threat of
closure of madrasas, particularly following the Mutiny of 1857, yet many still
financed by govt. "However reform was conceived, the distinction between the
religious and the nonreligious was central to that project." (p.61)
"...debates on madrasas as representing and guarding the
'religious' sphere in society ... are eminently modern debates with little
precedent in medieval Islamic societies..." (p.64)
"Another fundamental category of colonial analysis in matters
of education was the criterion of 'useful' instruction." (p.64)
Utilitarianism
"Orientalists" vs "Anglicists"
Debates "...over what constituted 'useful' knowledge was settled in the 1830s in
favor of the 'Anglicists'" (p.65)
So-called 'useful' (beneficial) knowledge in medieval Muslim scholarship:
al-'ilm al-nafi'. (includes knowledge that
facilitates virtuous acts and thus assists towards salvation).
"The modern 'ulama's defense of madrasa education as 'useful' ... is far more
indebted to Utilitarian discourse ... than to medieval vocabulary..." (p.66)
British reform - mainly limited to madrasas established by
British themselves, e.g. Calcutta Madrasa (founded 1781), although reforms were
not consistent or coherent. The meaning of reform changed with the where and the
when!
British ambivalence to reform because:
-
Uncertainties about 'usefulness' of Oriental learning;
-
Fear of a Muslim resentment, at least in part due to
prestige even British madrasas enjoyed.
"...a spectrum of reformed, semireformed, and unreformed
government madrasas, in addition to those that the government neither recognised
nor supported, existed side by side, posing a constant challenge to the energies
of the government committees periodically constituted to suggest ways to reform
them." (p.68)
Reform and the 'Ulama in British India
Dars-i-Nizami - a corpus believed
to have introduced to madrasa by Mulla Nizam al-din Muhammad (d.1748), although
the list included many texts taught long before him and it continued to amended
after he had died, probably only acquiring a standardized form in the latter
half of the 19th century., although even this form was subject to local changes.
Deoband and subsequently all madrasas, emulated British
educational approaches:
Deoband urriculum included new emphasis on hadith as well as
Dars-i-Nizami, with the remaining primary concern being "...the conservation of
the classical Islamic texts and sciences ... not textual innovation." (p.69)
Nadwat al-'Ulama'
Reformist school founded by Sayyid Muhammad Ali Mongiri in
Lucknow in 1894 with the aim of training ulama who would promote 'traditional'
religious knowledge using some Western learning. The school also sought connect
students to the pan-Islamic community (e.g. though improved Arabic), and promote
proselytization. Better Arabic would also give improved access to adab.
Certain classic Sufi texts were used to promote moral education. The diversity
of its membership influenced future Muslim organizations and undertakings, e.g.,
the Khilafat movement.
Late
19th C. Movement's founders viewed, "...the revival of the Muslim
community depending on infusing the ranks of the 'ulama with fresh vigour, and
on broadening the scope of their activities and their role within the Muslim
community." (p.69)
Wider influence limited, leading to founding of the Dar al-'Ulum)
Claimed to be 'purely' religious, i.e. apolitical, yet attacked other madrasas
for being out of touch!.
"At issue in the enterprise of devising a new curriculum was
nothing short of determining what an 'Islamic education' - and, by extension,
'Islam itself - signified, how to teach it, and how to make that education
'useful' to the Muslim community" (Zaman, 2002, p.71)
Nadwat al-'Ulama' curriculum etc looked as if it was
conducive to British colonial reforming ideas, in that it promoted:
-
moral instruction (believed by the British to be lacking
in madrasa education);
-
literature (adab);
-
practical skills;
-
being more 'in touch' (i.e. representative);
-
Arabic - viewed as the 'classical language of Muslim
India' by many British
Nevertheless, generally speaking, "the Nadwa's curriculum has
continued to be very much under the shadow of the Dars-i-Nizami." (p.72) The
idea of moving away from the ancient texts and discourses surrounding the
Dars-i-Nizami created too much disquiet among the Indian 'ulema for Mongiri to
gain broader consent to his reforms, some of whom viewed the changes as a threat
to madrasa identity.
One of
the most famous figures to emerge from Nadwa was
Abu'l-Hasan Ali Nadwi
(1914 -1999) who was a teacher there from 1934, becoming its Principal in 1961.
In 1980, he was appointed as Chairman of Islamic Centre Oxford, UK. Works
translated into English include, 'A Guidebook for Muslims' and 'Guidance from
the Holy Quran'. Member of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the
World Supreme Council of Mosques. "...at the time of his death in 1999, the most
widely respected of the Indian 'ulama." (p.73)
Today: "In a Hindu-dominated state whose secular credentials
were questioned by many Muslims long before the prominence of Hindu nationalism,
madrasas are seen by many Muslims as a guarantee of the preservation of their
religious and cultural identity." (p.74)
Madrasa Reform in Pakistan
Part of Calcutta madrasa went to Dhaka on partition (then in
East Pakistan).
Some migration of scholars from India.
In Pakistan; "The modern school system has everywhere come to
dominate education, yet the madrasas have not only survived but shown a quite
remarkable growth during the more than half-century of Pakistan's existence."
(p.75)
Three eras of reform, but Zaman focuses on the first two:
-
early 1960s
-
late 1970s
-
2000+ (Musharraf)
Reports by committees of government wonks plus some 'ulama
1962 and 1979.
1962 report continues to expound similar categories of religious/non-religious
and 'useful' as during colonialism.
"...the independence of the madrasas and the authority of its
'ulama seemed to be called into question or, at least. to be reshaped in
ways that are not of the 'ulama's choosing." (p.78)
Reform and Religious Authority
Mawlana Muhammad Yusuf Ludhianawi (d.2000)
"strident" in his response of the report of 1979, arguing that "...to integrate
madrasas into this educational system could only mean destroying Islam itself."
(p.79), effectively achieving what the British colonial administration failed to
do in India! One argument since central to debates is the idea that any attempts
to reform madrasas that are "...perceived to threaten the identity and the
authority of the 'ulama is by definition suspect."(p.79), including their
sectarian identity.
Other key figures in the debates:
Mufti Jamil Ahmad Thanawi (d.1995)
Muhammad Taqi 'Uthmani (vice president of Karachi Dar al-'Ulum)
"However they are understood, 'purely religious studies'
occupy an exclusive space even within the madrassa. Rather than mitigating this
sense of exclusivity, the presence of new elements from the government school
system serves, ironically, to reinforce it." (p.83)
The 'Ulama's Religious Space
'Ulama writing on the question of madrasas insist that,
"...the debate on the madrasa is a debate on the status and future of Islam
itself" (p.84) Notion of madrasa = college of specialist
study = hoped for outcome of preventing state encroachment. 'Ulama
as religious experts "a significantly novel formulation" (p.85)
But see Berkey (1992); Chamberlain (1994) on how this
perception of Islamic knowledge is probably quite recent.
E.g. Berkey shows "...that in medieval Cairo, no firm barriers existed between
education and religious devotion." (p.85)
Laments of declining status of religious studies and 'ulama
"...a familiar topos in Muslim literature..." (p.85), yet unlike Morocco, "...as
described by Dale Eickelman, the ranks of the madrasa educated scholars are
anything but diminished in Pakistan." (p.85) - e.g. number of madrasas
substantially increased. Similarly, predictions about the decline of al-Azhar
have proved premature, where prominence is linked to changes in curriculum since
the 1960s.
"...the very effort to preserve Islam 'unchanged' in a
rapidly changing world involves considerable redefinition of what Islam means,
where to locate it in society, and how best to serve its interests." (p.86) |