Henri Lauzière
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231175500
- eISBN:
- 9780231540179
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231175500.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
Some Islamic scholars hold that Salafism is an innovative and rationalist effort at Islamic reform that emerged in the late nineteenth century but gradually disappeared in the mid twentieth. Others ...
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Some Islamic scholars hold that Salafism is an innovative and rationalist effort at Islamic reform that emerged in the late nineteenth century but gradually disappeared in the mid twentieth. Others argue Salafism is an anti-innovative and antirationalist movement of Islamic purism that dates back to the medieval period yet persists today. Though they contradict each other, both narratives are considered authoritative, making it hard for outsiders to grasp the history of the ideology and its core beliefs. Introducing a third, empirically based genealogy, The Making of Salafism understands the concept as a recent phenomenon projected back onto the past, and it sees its purist evolution as a direct result of decolonization. Henri Lauzière builds his history on the transnational networks of Taqi al-Din al-Hilali (1894–1987), a Moroccan Salafi who, with his associates, participated in the development of Salafism as both a term and a movement. Traveling from Rabat to Mecca, from Calcutta to Berlin, al-Hilali interacted with high-profile Salafi scholars and activists who eventually abandoned Islamic modernism in favor of a more purist approach to Islam. Today, Salafis tend to claim a monopoly on religious truth and freely confront other Muslims on theological and legal issues. Lauzière’s pathbreaking history recognizes the social forces behind this purist turn, uncovering the popular origins of what has become a global phenomenon.Less
Some Islamic scholars hold that Salafism is an innovative and rationalist effort at Islamic reform that emerged in the late nineteenth century but gradually disappeared in the mid twentieth. Others argue Salafism is an anti-innovative and antirationalist movement of Islamic purism that dates back to the medieval period yet persists today. Though they contradict each other, both narratives are considered authoritative, making it hard for outsiders to grasp the history of the ideology and its core beliefs. Introducing a third, empirically based genealogy, The Making of Salafism understands the concept as a recent phenomenon projected back onto the past, and it sees its purist evolution as a direct result of decolonization. Henri Lauzière builds his history on the transnational networks of Taqi al-Din al-Hilali (1894–1987), a Moroccan Salafi who, with his associates, participated in the development of Salafism as both a term and a movement. Traveling from Rabat to Mecca, from Calcutta to Berlin, al-Hilali interacted with high-profile Salafi scholars and activists who eventually abandoned Islamic modernism in favor of a more purist approach to Islam. Today, Salafis tend to claim a monopoly on religious truth and freely confront other Muslims on theological and legal issues. Lauzière’s pathbreaking history recognizes the social forces behind this purist turn, uncovering the popular origins of what has become a global phenomenon.
Nazneen Mohsina
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781474466837
- eISBN:
- 9781399509237
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474466837.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter examines the instrumental role that migration has played in shaping Islamist movements in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi diasporas have not only returned with ideas to change the system in ...
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This chapter examines the instrumental role that migration has played in shaping Islamist movements in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi diasporas have not only returned with ideas to change the system in their homeland, but also traveled to foreign lands to participate in violent conflict (termed jihad) and to serve the Muslim ummah (the global community of Muslims). The chapter opens with a brief discussion of the political implications of globalisation on Islamist movements in Bangladesh. The second part offers a historical overview of the geopolitical context in which Bangladesh became an independent nation-state and how the dependence on Middle Eastern petro-dollars has led to the endorsement of an Islamic element to nationalism in the country. It surveys the conflicts at the heart of the country’s search for a national identity. The third part looks at the phenomenon of international migration and the transformations in identity that it brings about, particularly how the Bangladeshi diaspora turns to the global ummah as a renewed source of political identity. Addressing the patterns of Islamism and the migration-Islamism nexus within a historical perspective, this chapter argues that the unevenness of globalisation and international migration has strengthened Islamist movements in Bangladesh and the appeal to transnational identities.Less
This chapter examines the instrumental role that migration has played in shaping Islamist movements in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi diasporas have not only returned with ideas to change the system in their homeland, but also traveled to foreign lands to participate in violent conflict (termed jihad) and to serve the Muslim ummah (the global community of Muslims). The chapter opens with a brief discussion of the political implications of globalisation on Islamist movements in Bangladesh. The second part offers a historical overview of the geopolitical context in which Bangladesh became an independent nation-state and how the dependence on Middle Eastern petro-dollars has led to the endorsement of an Islamic element to nationalism in the country. It surveys the conflicts at the heart of the country’s search for a national identity. The third part looks at the phenomenon of international migration and the transformations in identity that it brings about, particularly how the Bangladeshi diaspora turns to the global ummah as a renewed source of political identity. Addressing the patterns of Islamism and the migration-Islamism nexus within a historical perspective, this chapter argues that the unevenness of globalisation and international migration has strengthened Islamist movements in Bangladesh and the appeal to transnational identities.
David Tittensor
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199336418
- eISBN:
- 9780199389766
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199336418.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The Gülen Movement is a transnational Muslim faith-based education movement that has established schools in more than 140 countries. Originating in Turkey, the movement, named after its eponymous ...
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The Gülen Movement is a transnational Muslim faith-based education movement that has established schools in more than 140 countries. Originating in Turkey, the movement, named after its eponymous leader Fethullah Gülen, seeks to meld religious education and the natural sciences. While in recent years the movement has come to scholarly attention, the majority of literature produced is based almost entirely at the level of discourse and tends to fall into two camps: movement supporters and detractors. The latter regularly decry that they are fundamentalists and revolutionaries in waiting, while movement members and sympathizers deny any hidden agendas. The aim of this book is to cut through the polemics and render the movement more accessible through empirical study. After setting the scene in Part 1, The Gülen Movement in Context, which outlines the historical antecedents and development of the movement, and the competing discourses, in Part 2, The Gülen Movement in Practice, the author draws on interviews with movement teachers as well as graduates of the schools, and elucidates the movement’s missionary activities, with particular emphasis on the student-teacher dynamic and what he regards as “lifestyle evangelism,” in a similar mold to World Vision. Alongside this, he explores the movement’s structure and finances and argues that it should not be regarded as a civil society organization, but rather as an agglomeration of social entrepreneurs and social businesses.Less
The Gülen Movement is a transnational Muslim faith-based education movement that has established schools in more than 140 countries. Originating in Turkey, the movement, named after its eponymous leader Fethullah Gülen, seeks to meld religious education and the natural sciences. While in recent years the movement has come to scholarly attention, the majority of literature produced is based almost entirely at the level of discourse and tends to fall into two camps: movement supporters and detractors. The latter regularly decry that they are fundamentalists and revolutionaries in waiting, while movement members and sympathizers deny any hidden agendas. The aim of this book is to cut through the polemics and render the movement more accessible through empirical study. After setting the scene in Part 1, The Gülen Movement in Context, which outlines the historical antecedents and development of the movement, and the competing discourses, in Part 2, The Gülen Movement in Practice, the author draws on interviews with movement teachers as well as graduates of the schools, and elucidates the movement’s missionary activities, with particular emphasis on the student-teacher dynamic and what he regards as “lifestyle evangelism,” in a similar mold to World Vision. Alongside this, he explores the movement’s structure and finances and argues that it should not be regarded as a civil society organization, but rather as an agglomeration of social entrepreneurs and social businesses.
