Liberalism and progressivism within Islam

Liberal Islam originally emerged out of the Islamic revivalist movement of the 18th-19th centuries.^[1] Liberal and progressive ideas within Islam are considered controversial by some traditional Muslims, who criticize liberal Muslims on the grounds of being too Western and/or rationalistic.^[1][4]

The methodologies of liberal and progressive Islam rest on the re-interpretation of traditional

Liberal Muslims see themselves as returning to the principles of the early Ummah and as promoting the ethical and pluralistic intent of the Quran.^[1][6] 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".^[7]

Liberal Muslims affirm the promotion of progressive values such as

The

In 1831,

In 1826, Al-Tahtawi was sent to Paris by Mehmet Ali. There, he studied at an educational mission for five years, returning in 1831. Tahtawi was appointed director of the School of Languages. At the school, he worked translating European books into Arabic. Tahtawi was instrumental in translating military manuals, geography, and European history.^[22] In total, al-Tahtawi supervised the translation of over 2,000 foreign works into Arabic. He even made favorable comments about French society in some of his books.^[23] Tahtawi stressed that the Principles of Islam are compatible with those of European Modernity.

In his piece, The Extraction of Gold or an Overview of Paris, Tahtawi discusses the patriotic responsibility of citizenship. He uses

According to scholar Navid Kermani "three key themes" emerge from Abu Zayd's work:

1. to trace the various interpretations and historical settings of the single Qur'anic text from the early days of Islam up to the present;
2. to demonstrate the "interpretational diversity" (al-ta 'addud alta 'wili)^[36] that exists within the Islamic tradition;
3. and to show how this diversity has been "increasingly neglected" across Islamic history.^[34]

Abu Zayd saw himself as an heir to the

Abu Zayd strongly opposed the belief in a "single, precise and valid interpretation of the Qur'an handed down by the Prophet for all times".[38]

In his view, the Quran made Islamic Arab culture a 'culture of the text` (hadarat al-nass) par excellence, but because the language of the Quran is not self-explanatory, this implied Islamic Arab culture was also a culture of interpretation (hadarat al-ta'wil).<sup>[39]</sup> Abu Zayd emphasized "intellect" (`aql) in understanding the Quran, as opposed to "a hermeneutical approach which gives priority to the narrated traditions [ hadith ]" (naql). As a reflection of this Abu Zayd used the term ta'wil (interpretation) for efforts to understand the Quran, while in the Islamic sciences, the literature that explained the Quran was referred to as tafsir (commentary, explanation).^[40]

For Abu Zayd, interpretation goes beyond explanation or commentary, "for without" the Qur'an would not have meaning:

The [Qur'anic] text changed from the very first moment - that is, when the Prophet recited it at the moment of its revelation - from its existence as a divine text (nass ilahi), and became something understandable, a human text (nass insani), because it changed from revelation to interpretation (li-annahu tahawwala min al-tanzil ila al-ta'wil). The Prophet's understanding of the text is one of the first phases of movement resulting from the text's connection with the human intellect.^[40][41]

Abu Zayd's critical approach to classical and contemporary Islamic discourse in the fields of

Ali Shariati Mazinani (

Ijtihad (lit. effort, physical or mental, expended in a particular activity)^[44] is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning^[45] or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question.^[44] It is contrasted with taqlid (imitation, conformity to legal precedent).^[45][46] According to classical Sunni theory, ijtihad requires expertise in the Arabic language, theology, revealed texts, and principles of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh),^[45] and is not employed where authentic and authoritative texts (Qur'an and hadith) are considered unambiguous with regard to the question, or where there is an existing scholarly consensus (ijma).^[44] Ijtihad is considered to be a religious duty for those qualified to perform it.^[45] An Islamic scholar who is qualified to perform ijtihad is called a mujtahid.^[44]

Starting from the 18th century, some Muslim reformers began calling for abandonment of taqlid and emphasis on ijtihad, which they saw as a return to Islamic origins.

A combination of

During recent times, the concept of Islamic feminism has grown further with Islamic groups looking to garner support from many aspects of society. In addition, educated Muslim women are striving to articulate their role in society.[51] Examples of Islamic feminist groups are the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, founded by Meena Keshwar Kamal,^[52] Muslim Women's Quest for Equality from India,^[53][54] and Sisters in Islam from Malaysia, founded by Zainah Anwar and Amina Wadud among other five women.^{[55][56][57][58]}

In 2014, the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) issued a fatwa declaring that Sisters In Islam, as well as any other organisation promoting religious liberalism and pluralism, deviate from the teachings of Islam. According to the edict, publications that are deemed to promote liberal and pluralistic religious thinking are to be declared unlawful and confiscated, while social media is also to be monitored and restricted.^[59] As fatwas are legally binding in Malaysia,^[59] SIS is challenging it on constitutional grounds.^[60]

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.^[61]

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.^[62] 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.

Muslim liberals often reject traditional interpretations of Islamic law, which allows

Liberal Muslims have argued against death penalty for apostasy based on the Quranic verse that "There shall be no compulsion in religion."^[66]

LGBT rights

In January 2013, the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD) was launched.^[67] The organization was formed by members of the Queer Muslim Working Group, with the support of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.^{[clarification needed]} Several initial MASGD members previously had been involved with the Al-Fatiha Foundation, including Faisal Alam and Imam Daayiee Abdullah.^[68]

The Safra Project for women is based in the UK. It supports and works on issues relating to prejudice LGBTQ Muslim women. It was founded in October 2001 by Muslim LBT women. The Safra Project's "ethos is one of inclusiveness and diversity."^[69]

In Australia, Nur Wahrsage has been an advocate for LGBTI Muslims and founded Marhaba, a support group for

In Canada, Salaam was founded as the first gay Muslim organization in Canada and the second in the world. Salaam was found in 1993 by El-Farouk Khaki, who organized the Salaam/Al-Fateha International Conference in 2003.^[71]

In May 2009, the Toronto Unity Mosque / el-Tawhid Juma Circle was founded by Laury Silvers, a

In November 2012, a prayer room was set up in Paris by gay Islamic scholar and founder of the group 'Homosexual Muslims of France' Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed. It was described by the press as the first gay-friendly mosque in Europe. The reaction from the rest of the Muslim community in France has been mixed, and the opening has been condemned by the Grand Mosque of Paris.^[76]

Examples of Muslim LGBT media works are the 2006 Channel 4's documentary Gay Muslims,^[77] the film production company Unity Productions Foundation,^[78] the 2007 and 2015 documentary films A Jihad for Love and A Sinner in Mecca, both produced by Parvez Sharma,^[79][80][81] and the Jordanian LGBT publication My.Kali.^[82][83]

Secularism

The definition and application of

Egalitarianism

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Islam is often described as possessing a "decidedly egalitarian spirit",^[88] and "in principle egalitarian, recognizing no superiority of one believer over another by birth or descent, race or nationality, or social status".^[89] Nonetheless, Muslims known as Sayyids (those accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) have special privileges in Islam, notably of tax exemptions and a share in Khums.^[90]

Discrimination also exists in regards of intermarriage between persons of Arab and non-Arab lineages, as can be found in a number of fatwa sites.

• According to Darul Ifta Birmingham (
  Hanafi fiqh) quoting Raddul Muhtar: 'An Ajmi (non-Arab) cannot be a match for a woman of Arab descent, no matter that he be an Aalim (religious scholar) or even a Sultan (ruling authority).'^{[91][Note 1]}
• The website Islamic Virtues quotes the
  Shafi’i manual Reliance of the Traveller and Tools of the Worshipper: 'And the ajami (non-Arab) is not suitable for an Arab woman', ... " (the quote goes on to discourage marriages between Muslims of different tribes).^{[Note 2]}
• Still another site ("Answered according to
  Shafi'i Fiqh by Qibla.com ... Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed") states: "... most of the scholars do consider this aspect [i.e. lineage] for suitability, therefore a non-Arab is not suitable for an Arab. And a non-Qurayshi is not suitable for a Qurayshi woman ... "^{[Note 3]}

This is notably in direct contrast to the Prophet Muhammad's last sermon, "...All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action."[94]

Movements

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. This is particularly true of Muslims who now find themselves living in non-Muslim countries.^[95]

At least one observer (Max Rodenbeck) has noted several challenges to "reform"—i.e. accommodation with the enlightenment, reason and science, the separation of religion and politics—that the other two Abrahamic faiths did not have to grapple with:

whereas Christian and Jewish reform evolved over centuries, in relatively organic and self-generated—albeit often bloody—fashion, the challenge to Islam of such concepts as empirical reasoning, the nation-state, the theory of evolution, and individualism arrived all in a heap and all too often at the point of a gun.^[96]

In addition, traditional sharia law has been shaped in all its complexity by serving for centuries as "the backbone" of legal systems of Muslim states, while millions of Muslim now live in non-Muslim states. Islam also lacks a "widely recognized religious hierarchy to explain doctrinal changes or to enforce them" because it has no [central] church.^[96]

Islamic Modernism

The early Islamic Modernists (al-Afghani and Muhammad Abdu) used the term "salafiyya"[102] to refer to their attempt at renovation of Islamic thought,^[103] and this "salafiyya movement" is often known in the West as "Islamic modernism," although it is very different from what is currently called the Salafi movement, which generally signifies "ideologies such as wahhabism".^[b] Since its inception, Modernism has suffered from co-option of its original reformism by both secularist rulers and by "the official ulama" whose "task it is to legitimise" rulers' actions in religious terms.^[104]

Modernism differs from

Quranists reject the

Tolu-e-Islam

The movement was initiated by

"The Qur’an is not the speech of God, just as the loaf of bread is not the work of the farmer. God produced the raw material, which was inspiration, just as the farmer produces the raw material, which is wheat. But it is the baker who turns the wheat or flour into bread according to his own unique way, artistic expertise and creative ability. Thus it is the Prophet who was responsible for interpreting the inspiration and turning it into actual phrases and words according to his own unique view."[109]^[108]

See also

• Cultural Muslim
• Islah
• Islam and modernity
• Islam and secularism
• Islamic revival
• Jaringan Islam Liberal
• Modern Islamic philosophy
• Muslims for Progressive Values
• Nahdlatul Ulama
• Ideology of Mahmoud Mohammed Taha

Notes