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Islamic neo-traditionalism also known as Wasatism[1][2][3][4] is a contemporary strand of Sunni Islam that emphasizes adherence to the four principal Sunni schools of law (Madhahib), belief in one of the Ash'ari, Maturidi and Athari schools of theology and the practice of Tasawwuf (Sufism),[5] which Islamic neo-traditionalists consider to be the Sunni tradition.[6]: 225 [5]: 11–13 

Beliefs

Islamic neo-traditionalists believe Islam fundamentally consists of three concepts: Fiqh, Aqidah and Tasawwuf.[6][5] Fiqh is regarded as being delineated by the Shafiʽi, Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali schools of law, Aqidah by the Ash'ari, Maturidi, and Athari schools of theology, and Tasawwuf or Sufism.[6][5] The neo-traditionalist understanding of the religion is therefore thought to lie with the scholars of these fields who possess an unbroken scholarly lineage or chain of transmission (Isnad) to their classical authorities, which ultimately end with Muhammad.[7]: 198–199  A scholar's authoritativeness is based on whether or not he has been issued an Ijazah by his teachers, which lists their scholarly chain and grants him a license to teach on its authority.[5]: 215 

Neo-traditionalists argue against the position that following a school of law (Taqlid) is unnecessary, claiming that it implies previous generations of Sunni Muslims were mistaken in their understanding of Islam, that it is impossible to derive correct rulings without relying on a school's legal principles, and that it will lead to laypeople making Ijtihad, thereby irreversibly disrupting Sunni legal unity and introducing new practices to the religion.[7]: 202–203  However unlike traditionalists, neo-traditionalists are open to the changing of Fiqh and the reopening of Ijtihad to combat new challenges in the contemporary world Muslims now live in.[8] Neo-traditionalism overlaps with modernism in its core emphasis and promotion of Progressive view points, Fiqh al-Aqalliyat (minority jurisprudence), and, to a certain degree, Non-denominationalism.[9]

History

Western neo-traditionalism

Islamic neo-traditionalism emerged in the West during the 1990s following the return of several Muslim scholars who had studied at traditionalist centres of Islamic learning in the Arab world, including Hamza Yusuf, Abdal Hakim Murad and Umar Faruq Abdullah, who intended to disseminate the knowledge they had learned throughout their communities. Younger scholars who are linked to neo-traditionalism include Hasan Spiker and Yahya Rhodus.[10] Critiques of progressivism are made by some members in the movement, which is held responsible for spiritual decay, the decline of Islamic metaphysics and the rise of reformist and liberal Islamic movements.[11] Western neo-traditionalists have established their own religious educational institutes, including Zaytuna College, Cambridge Muslim College and the online Islamic seminary SeekersGuidance.[5]: 38 

Arab Spring

Following the Arab Spring, some neo-traditionalist scholars adopted a counter-revolutionary politically quietist stance citing the prohibition of resistance against ruling authorities by a number of pre-modern Sunni jurists and concerns that political upheaval would empower Islamic fundementalist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.[6]: 230–234  Their subsequent alliance with the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, and their silence towards or outright approval of their actions, attracted criticism, particularly the conduct of Ali Gomaa and Hamza Yusuf after the August 2013 Rabaa massacre.[6] : 230–231, 235 

However other neo-traditionalist scholars such as Muhammed al-Yaqoubi openly advocated for the removal of dictators such as Bashar al-Assad.[12]

The need for Islamic Revival

Fauzi Abdul Hamid of the Middle East Institute[13] wrote:

"Contrary in a way to the stereotypical picture of traditionalists, who cling to the ''closing of the gates of Ijtihad (opining)'', neo-traditionalists do not deny the need for and wisdom of dispensing with Taqlid (following a school of law) when conditions beckon and are ripe for it. Neo-traditionalists accept the shortcomings of traditionalism that have led to passivity and stagnation, and admit that latter-day Sufis suffer from a perception deficit among the larger Muslim populace as not being down-to-earth enough to problematise the inner malaise of the Ummah."[14]

Contemporary neo-traditionalists

The Lebanese Sufi movement al-Ahbash has also been described as neo-traditionalist.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ AMIN, HIRA; MAJOTHI, AZHAR (2021-06-17). "The Ahl-e-Hadith: From British India to Britain". Modern Asian Studies. 56 (1): 176–206. doi:10.1017/s0026749x21000093. ISSN 0026-749X.
  2. ^ Caeiro, Alexandre (2010-07-15). "THE POWER OF EUROPEAN FATWAS: THE MINORITY FIQH PROJECT AND THE MAKING OF AN ISLAMIC COUNTERPUBLIC". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 42 (3): 435–449. doi:10.1017/s0020743810000437. ISSN 0020-7438.
  3. ^ Nakissa, Aria (2019). The anthropology of Islamic law: education, ethics, and legal interpretation at Egypt's al-Azhar. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-093288-6.
  4. ^ Qadhi, Yasir (2023). Contemporary Issues in the Muslim Ummah: Modern Muslim Movements. The Islamic Seminary of America (TISA)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Newlon, Brendan (2017). American Muslim Networks and Neotraditionalism (Thesis). UC Santa Barbara.
  6. ^ a b c d e f al-Azami, U. (2019-09-26). Neo-traditionalist Sufis and Arab politics: a preliminary mapping of the transnational networks of counter-revolutionary scholars after the Arab revolutions. C.Hurst & Co. Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78738-134-6.
  7. ^ a b Mathiesen, Kasper (2013). "Anglo-American 'Traditional Islam' and Its Discourse of Orthodoxy". Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies. 13: 191–219. doi:10.5617/jais.4633. ISSN 0806-198X.
  8. ^ "Neo-traditionalist Islam in Malaysia: Neither Salafi nor traditionalist". Asia Dialogue. 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2022-07-13. Contrary in a way to the stereotypical picture of traditionalists, who cling to the 'closing of the gates of ijtihad (independent reasoning)', neo-traditionalists do not deny the need for and wisdom of dispensing with taqlid (blind imitation) when conditions beckon and are ripe for it. Neo-traditionalists accept the shortcomings of traditionalism that have led to passivity and stagnation, and admit that latter-day Sufis suffer from a perception deficit among the larger Muslim populace as not being down-to-earth enough to problematise the inner malaise of the ummah.
  9. ^ Auda, Jasser (2007). "5: Contemporary Theories in Islamic Law". Maqasid al-SharÏah as Philosophy of Islamic Law: A Systems Approach. 669, Herndon, VA 20172, USA: The International Institute of Islamic Thought. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-56564-424-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  10. ^ "Shaykh Yahya Rhodus". SeekersGuidance. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  11. ^ Quisay, Walaa (2019). Neo-traditionalism in the West: navigating modernity, tradition, and politics (Thesis). University of Oxford.
  12. ^ a b al-Yaqoubi, Muhammad (2014-12-05). "Opinion | The fiends tearing Syria apart". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  13. ^ "Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  14. ^ "Neo-traditionalist Islam in Malaysia: Neither Salafi nor traditionalist". Asia Dialogue. 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g Sedgwick, Mark (2020-02-28). The Modernity of Neo-Traditionalist Islam. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-42557-6.
  16. ^ Razavian, Christopher Pooya (2018), Bano, Masooda (ed.), "The Neo-Traditionalism of Tim Winter", Modern Islamic Authority and Social Change, Volume 2: Evolving Debates in the West, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 72–94, ISBN 978-1-4744-3328-0, retrieved 2023-05-04
  17. ^ "Edinburgh University Press Books". edinburghuniversitypress.com. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  18. ^ al-Azami, Usaama (2019). "'Abdullāh bin Bayyah and the Arab Revolutions: Counter-revolutionary Neo-traditionalism's Ideological Struggle against Islamism". The Muslim World. 109 (3): 343–361. doi:10.1111/muwo.12297. ISSN 1478-1913. S2CID 202966459.
  19. ^ Pierret, Thomas (2010). "Al-Ahbash". Basic Reference. 28. Scotland, UK: Edinburgh Academics: 217–229. doi:10.1017/S0020743800063145. S2CID 154765577. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
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