Thread by @FaheemAMHussain

Started Henri Lauziere - The Making of Salafism.

Book has been highly praised, and am so far pretty impressed.

‘… the idea that the same term played an equivalent conceptual role in the realm of the law and served to denote an originalist (e.g., non-madhhab) legal stance is empirically far-fetched.’

‘ The first and broadest argument is that from a conceptual angle the history of SalaϮsm is much more recent than one might expect.’

‘ Rather, the conceptual expansion of purist Salafism means that it became increasingly difficult for proponents of Salafi theology to adopt a moderate stance on questions that, until then, fell outside the purview of Salafism.’

‘ The third and last argument of the book is that decolonization transformed this situation by removing the common goal that had until then united SalaϮs of all persuasions.’

‘Islamic modernists considered [late Sunni tradition] to be an obstacle that prevented Muslims from achieving the dynamism and level of civilization that they deserved in this world.’

‘ All the same, this grand compromise did not satisfy balanced reformers given that it rested on a system of thought they considered ill suited for the promotion of Islamic revival in the modern era.’

‘ Al-Hilali recounted his childhood memories with a particularly critical view of the religious life at the time: …’

‘ The sayings of al-Tijani failed to impart as much authority to a claim as did direct quotations from the Qur’an or the Sunna.’

On the mystery how the modernist supports the Wahabis:

‘…that Rida tried to rehabilitate the Wahhabis primarily for reasons of sociopolitical expediency—that is, more out of necessity than conviction.’

‘He envisioned a modern-day caliph, freely chosen by the ulama through a process of deliberation, whose ideal character, complete devotion, and extensive knowledge of both profane and religious sciences would make him an exemplar of balanced reform.’

‘ In stark contrast, Abd al-Aziz came to represent everything Rida expected from a Muslim ruler. His commanding leadership and staunch commitment to Islam were exactly what the post-Ottoman Muslim world needed’

‘ For him, it was better either to judge the Wahhabis on the basis of their pragmatic and moderate political leader or to accept the fact that some fanaticism was better for the umma than the erosion of Islamic identity.’

‘… they were not proponents of a modernist or balanced type of reform, as Rida and others understood it. The Wahhabis’ goal was to uncover and eliminate heresies for the sake of Salafi orthodoxy, not for the sake of civilizational progress.’

‘In the late 1920s, these men saw themselves as a group of Salafis who were part of a small but relatively influential avant-garde of balanced reform in the Hijaz.’

‘Planes, tanks, and submarines, as well as mechanical and electrical devices such as the telegraph, were all perfectly acceptable because medieval Muslim scholars had first developed the science behind them.‘

Extraordinary: Wahabi scholar Ibn Bulayhid accepts earth is round only when confronted with: ‘proof texts supporting [the] argument in the writings of Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim.’

‘Pan-Islamic unity was still conceivable, but it had to be on SalaϮ terms. With the emergence of the politically promising Saudi state, he no longer believed that the promotion of Islamic ecumenism was appropriate.’

‘ The abstract noun SalaϮsm was not at all common in the 1920s—it is difϮcult to find more than a handful of examples—but its presence in written Arabic sources indicates a gradual shift toward a more encompassing category that extended beyond the boundaries of Islamic theology.’

‘In 1924, for example, Rida described himself in the following terms: “I am a SalaϮ Muslim; I do not blindly follow any particular religious scholar and am not a partisan of any particular muMtahid.” ‘

‘ he suggests that false SalaϮs are those who create dissent within the Muslim community by nagging their coreligionists about theology and booby-trapping them with questions such as “Where is God?” and “Is God above His throne or is He sitting on it?”’

Two families of definitions of ‘salafism’

‘Islamic nationalism entailed the valorization of a unique Muslim “culture” and a primordial attachment to the umma as a whole,
Vs
imagining of community allowed for the elaboration of local or “national” forms of Islam, which were frowned upon by purist Saladis’

[Both of these understanding appeal schemas of religion that attempt to make sense of the diversity of Islam but simultaneously make normative claims how to manage this diversity.

I wonder if Kevin Reinharts Lived Islam- Colloquial Religion could be superior way, and provide better groundings for such normative claims.
After the all better you understand the situation, يعني الواقعية , the better your judgment will be. ]

Some salafi critiques of Sh Abu-L Hasan Ali Nadwi.

Overall;
‘Whatever service he and his misguided heroes may have rendered to the umma over the years, their failure to abide by Salafi standards made them unworthy of admiration.’

‘ Given that SalaϮ and SalaϮsm were by no means self-explanatory, it is easy to understand why their meanings continued to evolve in a rather haphazard fashion.’

‘Should all believers agree to conform to the norms of SalaϮsm, the Islamic nation would necessarily enjoy worldly success—not only because pure Islam was inherently superior but also because true national unity meant power.‘

[Is this a example where we see the formation of neo-traditionalism, by defining itself against neo-hanbali (Ibn Taymiyyan) orthodoxy?

Isn’t it the case: Ibn Taymiyyas work was not widespread save until after 1850s for neo-traditionist to define itself against it?

Perhaps. ]

‘ There were arguably more grey areas in what was expected of a SalaϮ in the mid-twentieth century than in the late twentieth century.’

An example of an Islamic nationalism.

Araslan -certainly a unique character:
‘Muslims, therefore, had to adopt the nationalist paradigm, but they did not have to turn away from religion in the process.’

‘On the contrary, the empirical and positivist nature of German Orientalism reinforced [al-Hilali’s] scripturalist leanings.’

‘Al-Hilali not only hailed Nazi Germany as a potent example of the power of nationalism but also argued that such an eϲcient political system was so similar to the ideal of Islamic governance that Nazis must have borrowed some of their principles from Islam.’

A specifically Moroccan understanding of salafism.

Al-Hilalis understanding of nationalism and Islam
Vs
why purist Salafism will unite the lands of Islam

By now Al-Hilalis understanding salafism had changed

‘Why did these individuals and other Moroccan nationalists tolerate Hilali’s rigorist approach to Islam?’

‘ With the success of nationalist and anti-imperialist movements all over the Middle East and North Africa in the 1950s and 1960s, his willingness to tolerate religious diversity declined substantially. Many other purist SalaϮs experienced this transition in the same way.’

On why independence spelled the end of modernist salafism but not purist salafism.

‘ What higher purpose could now motivate a self-respecting purist SalaϮ to overlook someone’s departure from true Islam? Why keep tolerating misguided Muslim allies now that the colonial powers had retreated?’

‘As a result, even intra-Salafi disputes, which already existed but did not usually lead to crises, became more bitter and more public.‘

Two points of dispute within intra-salafi debates
A) with focus on doctrine, how to deal with what was once grey areas, and unspoken
B) how exactly to digest Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Al-Qayyim

Purist salafi attitude towards politics.

Al-Hilali, once an ally - now a threat.

‘ Beginning in the 1970s, a process of ideologization took place whereby Muslim scholars recast purist Salafism as a totalizing system reminiscent of the Islamism of Sayyid Qutb.’

The beginnings of the manhaj.

Hilali and Muhsin Khan’s translations of the Quran and Bukhari.

Bin Baz, Hilali and the heliocentrism controversy.

‘An expanded notion of taZєҸd gave him more opportunities to accuse other Muslims of shirk (polytheism), the most serious sin in Islam’s monotheistic tradition.’

‘But what if [non-salafists] did not recant?’

‘ He presented his views as factual, unprocessed, and objective renditions of the truth. In many instances, he merely provided a numbered list of proof texts: Qur’anic verses, hadiths, and commentaries of medieval authorities revered by purist Salafis.’

‘ And here was a telling paradox: the more demanding SalaϮ scholars became about purity in every aspect of life, the more broad, more ideological, and, therefore, more innovative their conception of Salafism had to be.’

‘Since the 1970s, the notion of a Salafi manhaj has become immensely popular: virtually all Salafi scholars now use it. But why did this reformulation of Salafism prove so successful?’

Some conclusions
‘The main lesson to draw from the conceptual history of modernist Salafism is that we must rid ourselves of three bad habits.’

‘In the end, two main conceptualizations of Salafism—one purist and one modernist—rose in parallel to each other during these decades.’

‘…it dates from the time of Ibn Taymiyya or [MIAWahhab] not only is anachronistic but also obfuscates the development of modern Islamic thought. Although many of the ingredients of purist Salafism are old, the recipe and the final product (including the term Salafism) are not.’

‘ Religious reform—now understood as the puriϮcation of the entire gamut of Islamic discourse and activity—took center stage and became the be-all and end-all of purist Salafis.’

Okay this is done.