Revivalism, Reformism and Pan-Islamism: The South Asian Experience

Abstract

"The colonial encounter in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries resulted in a total eclipse of the Muslim military, political and intellectual life and consequently weakened the Muslim unity. In the Indian context, this condition produced a wide range of responses. The Deobandis, regarding the Western threat primarily as an onslaught against Islām as a religious and cultural entity, took up the task of defending the Muslim faith and its traditions as the means to Muslim unity. The Aligarh and the Pan Islamic movement emphasized the acquisition of scientific and technological knowledge and skills. The tajdid movement of Iqbal, Mawdūdī and others called for a comprehensive reform along Islamic lines and for a "League of Muslim nations," and a universal Islamic revolution. Yet, the unity of the Muslim world remains elusive. The most noticeable aspect of the South Asian struggle for Muslim unity was the distrust and disunity between various Islamic movements as well as factionalism within each organization".