Editing Ulama (section)

===19th/20th century: Ulama and Muslim reform===
====Reformers and concepts====
Starting in the first half of the 19th century, direct contacts began and gradually increased between members of the ulama and modern Western Europe. The Egyptian alim [[Rifa'a al-Tahtawi]] (1801–1873) was amongst the first members of the ulama who travelled to Europe. As a religious counsellor to a delegation by the Egyptian [[khedive]] [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali Pasha]] he stayed in Paris from 1826 to 1831. His report "The Extraction of Gold or an Overview of Paris" (''Taḫlīṣ al-ibrīz fī talḫīṣ Bārīz'') (1849) included some outlines of future reforms and potential improvements in his native country. Although al-Tahtawi had gone through the traditional education of an alim, his interest focused on modern French concepts of administration and economy. He only referred to Islam in order to emphasize that Muslims can adopt practical knowledge and insights from Europe. As such, lt-Tahtawi's report reflects the political efforts of Muhammad Ali Pasha, who did not intend to reform al-Azhar university, but aimed at building an independent educational system sponsored by his government.<ref name="Dallal_NCHoI">{{cite book |author=[[Ahmad S. Dallal]] |chapter=The origins and early development of Islamic reform | editor-first=R. | editor-last=Hefner | title=The New Cambridge History of Islam | volume=6: Muslims and modernity |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-84443-7 |location=Cambridge, U.K. |pages=107–147}}</ref>

[[Hayreddin Pasha]] (1822/3–1890) was an [[Ottoman Tunisia]]n alim and statesman who reformed the administration and jurisdiction of the province. He was able to explain his ideas in French (''Réformes nécessaires aux États musulmans'' – Necessary reforms of the Muslim states. Paris, 1868), which he had learned whilst representing his sovereign [[Ahmad I ibn Mustafa|Ahmad Bey]] at the court of [[Napoleon III]] from 1852 to 1855. In contrast to al-Tahtawi, Hayreddin Pasha used the religious concept of the Muslim collective interest ''([[Maslaha|maṣlaḥa]])'' to make his point, thereby applying the idea of [[ijtihad]] to public affairs.<ref name="Dallal_NCHoI" />

Positions comparable to the Western Islamic ulama were also taken in the Eastern parts of the Islamic world by [[Syed Ahmad Khan]], the pioneering Muslim modernist in South Asia, and [[Jamal al-Din al-Afghani]]. The latter is regarded as the mentor of [[Pan-Islamism]], but also as one of the founders of the [[Islamism|political Islam]] and of the late 19th and 20th century [[Salafi movement]].<ref name="Dallal_NCHoI" />

The [[Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah|Egyptian Grand Mufti]] [[Muhammad Abduh]] (1849–1905), who was granted the degree of 'Alim by al-Azhar university in 1877, was the first who used the term [[Islah|Islāh]] in order to denote political and religious reforms. Until 1887 he edited together with al-Afghani the newspaper ''al-ʿUrwa al-Wuthqā'' ("The firm bond"). The gazette widely spread the pan-islamistic concept of Islam representing a religious bond which was believed to be stronger than nationality or language. From 1876 on, Abduh edited the newspaper ''[[Al-Ahram|al-Ahrām]]''. Since 1898, he also edited, together with [[Rashid Rida]] (1865–1935), the newspaper ''al-Manār'' ("The Beacon"),{{refn|group=note|not to be confused with the television station [[Al-Manar]]}} in which he further developed his ideas. ''al-Manār'' appeared in print for almost 40 years and was read throughout the Islamic world.<ref name="Dallal_NCHoI" />

ʿAbduh understood Islah as a concept of "reform of mankind" ''(iṣlāḥ nauʿ al-insān)''.<ref name="merad_144a">Merad: Article "Iṣlāḥ. 1. The Arab World" in ''EI²'' Vol. IV. p. 144a.</ref> In his works, he emphasized the special importance of a reform of the traditional madrasa system, which was taken to disadvantage by the parallel establishment of the secular, state-sponsored educational system in Egypt. He strove at reconciling the traditional and modern educational systems, thereby justifying from the point of view of Islam the introduction of modern institutions by the national state. He referred to the Islamic concept of the collective interest or [[common good]] of the Muslim community ''(maṣlaḥa)'', to which he accorded overarching importance ''(al-maṣlaḥa shar)'' in the interest of his fellow Muslims. The concept of ''islāh'' gained special relevance for the future, as it strives at understanding and justifying all aspects of modern life from the Islamic doctrine.<ref name="Dallal_NCHoI" />

After Abduh's death in 1905, Rashīd Ridā continued editing ''al-Manār'' on his own. In 1924, he published a collection of writings by some ulama of [[Najd]]: ''Maǧmūʿat al-ḥadiṭ an-naǧdīya''.<ref>Cairo, Maṭb. al-Manār, 1342/1924</ref> Thus, the teachings of the Yemeni alim [[Muhammad ash-Shawkani]] (1759–1839), which had already been discussed since the 1880s, gained greater publicity. Likewise, the writings of the [[Hanbali]] scholar [[Ibn Taymiyyah]] (1263–1328) came to attention again. Ibn Taymiyyah's doctrine provided a link between the [[Wahhabism|''wahhabiyya'']] and parts of the [[Salafi movement|''salafiyya'']] movements.<ref>{{cite book|first=Reinhard | last=Schulze|title=Geschichte der Islamischen Welt von 1900 bis zur Gegenwart|publisher=C. H. Beck|location=München|pages=111–117| isbn=978-3-406-68855-3|date=2016| language=de}}</ref> The theological differences between the two movements were altogether too large for a complete union of the two doctrines. However, the opening of the Salafi movement towards Wahhabism helped to reconcile the latter with the Islamic public after king [[Ibn Saud]]'s invasion of the [[Hijaz]] in 1924. The Central Arabian militias (''[[Ikhwan|Iḫwān]]'') had occupied and looted the holy towns of Mecca and Medina, thereby destroying monuments which they considered pagan (''[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]''). Starting with the Pan-Islamic Congress in Mecca in 1926, the pro-Saudi movement developed into one of the most relevant currents of Islamic thought.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

In his Egyptian exile, the Syrian alim [[Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi|Abd ar-Rahman al-Kawakibi]] (1854–1902) met al-Afghani, Abduh and Rida. In his books ''Ṭabāʾiʿ al-istibdād'' ("The nature of [[despotism]]") and ''Umm al-Qurā'' ("Mother of villages [i.e., Mecca]", 1899) he accused the Ottoman sultan [[Abdülhamid II]] of corrupting the [[Ummah|Islamic community]]. The Ottoman despotism "encroaches on the rights of its citizens, keeps them ignorant to keep them passive, [and] denies their right to take an active part in human life".<ref name="Hourani_2001_PP272_273">Al-Kawākibī's thoughts are cited as summarised in* {{cite book| last1=Hourani| first1=Albert| title=Arabic thought in the liberal age, 1798–1939| date=2001| publisher=Cambridge University Press| location=Cambridge| isbn=978-0-521-27423-4| pages=272–273| edition=Reprinted}}</ref> Therefore, the law must be reformed. By the use of ''ijtihad'', a "modern and unified system of law" must be created, and "proper religious education" must be provided. Because of the central position of the Arabic peoples in the ''ummah'' and the Arabic language in the intellectual discourse, but also because "Arabian Islam is&nbsp;... free from modern corruptions and the [[bedouin]] are free from the moral decay and passivity of despotism", the balance of power must shift from the Turks towards the Arabs. The Ottoman dynasty must give up their claim to the [[Ottoman caliphate|caliphate]], and a new caliph of [[Quraysh]] descent must be elected by representatives of the ''ummah''. His temporal authority would be set up in the [[Hejaz]], whilst he would hold religious authority over the entire Muslim community, "assisted&nbsp;... by a consultative council nominated by the Muslim rulers".<ref name="Hourani_2001_PP272_273"/>

Al-Kawākibīs idea that the Arabian doctrine represented a more puristic form of the Islam, according to Cleveland and Bunton (2016), prepared the ground for the 20th century [[Arab nationalism]] as well as the Islamic renewal movement of the [[Nahda]].<ref>{{cite book| author=William L. Cleveland, Martin Bunton| title=A history of the modern Middle East| publisher=Perseus Books Group| location=New York| year=2016| isbn=978-0-8133-4980-0| page=120}}</ref>

====Muslim mass organizations====
In 1912, the [[Muhammadiyah]] organization was founded in [[Yogyakarta]] (in modern-day [[Indonesia]]),<ref>{{cite book | first=Suaidi | last=Asyari|title=Traditionalist vs. Modernist Islam in Indonesian Politics: Muhammadiyah|publisher=VDM Verlag Dr. Müller|location=Saarbrücken|isbn=978-3-639-22993-6|date=2010|language=de}}</ref> which, together with [[Nahdlatul Ulama]] ("Reawakening of the ulama"), founded in 1926, form the two largest Muslim organizations in the world.<ref>{{cite book| first=John | last=Esposito| title=Oxford Handbook of Islam and Politics| date=2013| publisher=OUP USA| page=570| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hc7iAAAAQBAJ&q=nahdlatul+ulama+world%27s+largest&pg=PA570| access-date=24 April 2017| isbn=9780195395891}}</ref> Since the 1930s, their religious boarding schools (''pesantren'') also taught mathematics, natural sciences, English and history. Since the 1980, the Nahdlatul Ulama schools also offered degrees in economy, jurisdiction, paedagogical and medical sciences. In the 1990s, under their leader [[Abdurrahman Wahid]], the organization adopted an anti-fundamentalistic doctrine, teaching democracy and pluralism.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Azyumardi | last1=Aura | first2=Dina | last2=Afrianty | first3=Robert W. | last3=Hefner |chapter=Pesantren and madrasa: Muslim schools and national ideale in Indonesia | editor-last=Hefner | editor-first=Robert W. | editor-last2=Zaman | editor-first2=Muhammad Qasim | title=Schooling Islam: The culture and politics of modern Muslim education | publisher=Princeton University Press | publication-place=Princeton, New Jersey | date=2007-01-07 | isbn=978-0-691-12933-4}}</ref>

[[Darul Uloom Deoband]], next to al-Azhar one of the most influential madrasas, was founded in the city of [[Deoband]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], in 1867. Initially, the intention of the school was to help Indian Muslims, who had become subjects of the British Empire after 1857, to lead their lives according to Islamic law. The Deobandi propagate a Sunni Islam of the Hanafi school, which was the most prevalent madhhab in South Asia. Still today, they aim at a revival of the Islamic society and education. Following the example of Deoband, thousands of madrasas were founded during the late 19th century which adopted the Deobandi way of studying fundamental texts of Islam and commenting on Quran and Hadith. By referring back to traditional Islamic scholars, the Deobandi School aims at defending the traditional Islamic madhhab, especially the Hanafi, against criticism which arose from other Islamic schools like the [[Ahl-i Hadith]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Metcalf | first=Barbara Daly | title=Islamic revival in British India: Deoband, 1860–1900| publisher=Princeton University Press| location=Princeton, NJ| date=1982| isbn=978-0-19-566049-4| url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/33813}}</ref> During the 1990s, the Afghan ''taliban'' also referred to the Deoband School.<ref>{{cite book | last=Metcalf | first=Barbara D. |chapter="Traditionalist" Islamic activism: Deoband, tablighis, and talibs | editor-last=Calhoun | editor-first=Craig J. | editor-last2=Price | editor-first2=Paul | editor-last3=Timmer | editor-first3=Ashley S. | title=Understanding September 11 | publisher=W. W. Norton / The New Press | publication-place=New York | date=2002 | isbn=978-1-56584-774-3 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/understandingsep0000unse/page/53 53–66, see p. 55] | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/understandingsep0000unse/page/53 }}</ref> [[Ashraf Ali Thanwi]] (1863–1943) is one of the most prominent teachers of Darul Uloom Deoband. Thanwi initiated and edited multi-volume encyclopedic commentaries on the Quran. However, he was also able to reach out to a larger audience: His book [[Bahishti Zewar]], which is still widely read in South Asia, as it details, amongst other topics, the proper conduct and beliefs for Muslim women.<ref>{{cite book| author=Ashraf ʻAlī Thānvī, Barbara Daly Metcalf| title=Perfecting Women: Maulana Ashraf 'Ali Thanawi's Bihishti Zewar| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gjKv1IhDoMgC|year=1992|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-08093-5}}</ref>

[[Ahl-i Hadith]] is a movement which emerged in North India in the mid-19th century. By rejecting ''[[taqlid]]'' (following legal precedent) and favoring ''[[ijtihad]]'' (independent legal reasoning) based on the foundational scriptures of Islam, they oppose the traditional madhhab and criticize their reliance on legal authorities other than the traditional texts.<ref>{{cite book| last=Metcalf | first=Barbara Daly | title=Islamic revival in British India: Deoband, 1860–1900| publisher=Princeton University Press| location=Princeton, NJ| date=1982| isbn=978-0-19-566049-4| url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/33813| pages=264–296}}</ref> The Ahl-i Hadith was the first organization which printed and spread the works of Muhammad ash-Shawkani, whose writings did also influence the doctrine of the Salafi movement in the Arab Middle East and worldwide.<ref>{{cite book| last=Haykel | first=Bernard | title=Revival and reform in Islam: The legacy of Muhammad al-Shawkānī| publisher=Cambridge University Press| location=Cambridge, UK| year=2003| isbn=978-0-521-52890-0}}</ref>

[[Muslim World League]] is an international non-governmental Islamic organization based in [[Mecca|Mecca, Saudi Arabia]] that is a member of [[UNICEF]], [[UNESCO]] and [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation|OIC]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://themwl.org/en/mwl-membership-in-international-orgs|title=Memberships of Muslim World League in international institutions and organizations|website=Muslim World League|language=en|access-date=2019-04-21}}</ref> It aims to resolve the issues faced by the Islamic community by organizing scholarly conferences with the ulama around the world in order to form public Islamic opinions based on principles of moderation, peace and harmony.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The MWL Journal 2019 February Issue|url=https://www.themwl.org/sites/default/files/The%20MWL%20Journal%202019%20February.pdf|journal=The MWL Journal}}</ref>