Islamic Reform Politics and Social Change İn Late
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Islamic Reform Studies in Middle Eastern History General Editors: Bernard Lewis of the Annenberg Research Institute and Cleveland E. Dodge, Professor of Near Eastern Studies Emeritus, Princeton University; Itamar Rabinovich of Tel Aviv University; and Roger M. Savory of the University of Toronto. The Turban for the Crown The Islamic Revolution in Iran SAID AMIR ARJOMAND Language and Change in the Arab Middle East The Evolution of Modern Arabic Political Discourse AMI AYALON Islamic Reform Politics and Social Change in Late Ottoman Syria DAVID DEAN COMMINS King Hussein and the Challenge of Arab Radicalism Jordan, 1955-1967 URIEL DANN Egypt, Islam, and the Arabs The Search for Egyptian Nationhood, 1900-1930 ISRAEL GERSHONI AND JAMES JANKOWSKI East Encounters West France and the Ottoman Empire in the Eighteenth Century FATMA MUGE GOQEK The Fertile Crescent, 1800-1914 A Documentary Economic History EDITED BY CHARLES ISSAWI Other Volumes are in Preparation Islamic Reform Politics and Social Change in Late Ottoman Syria David Dean Commins New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1990 Oxford University Press Oxford New York Toronto Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi Pctaling Jaya Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo Nairobi Dar es Salaam Cape Town Melbourne Auckland and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright © 1990 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc., 200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publieation Data Commins, David Dean Islamic reform : politics and social change in late Ottoman Syria David Dean Commins. p. cm.—(Studies in Middle Eastern history) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-19-506103-9 1. Islam—Syria—History—19th century. 2. Islam—Syria— History—20th century. I. Title. II. Series: Studies in Middle Eastern history (New York, N.Y.) BP63.S95C66 1990 89-36211 956.91'03—dc20 CIP 98765432 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Mom This page intentionally left blank PREFACE In the autumn of 1979 Professor Richard P. Mitchell returned from the Middle East with a handwritten manifesto by a proponent of Islamic reform in Syria. Entitled "Our Call," it outlined the agenda of religious reformers: Return to the Quran and the Sunnah, and understand them as the pious forefathers had. Call Muslims to act according to their religion's teachings. Warn Muslims against polytheism in its various forms. Revive free Islamic thought within the bounds of Islamic principles. Set up an Islamic society and implement God's law on earth. The anonymous author then listed the leading thinkers of the Islamic reform movement: Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328), Jamal al-Dm al-Qasimi (d. 1914), 'Abd al-Razzaq al-Bitar (d. 1917), and later figures. The following summer in Beirut I met the late Zafir al-Qasimi, the son of Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi, the foremost advocate of religious reform in turn-of-the-century Damascus. When I returned to the Middle East in 1981, I met again with Mr. Qasimi, and he put me in touch with his nephews in Damascus, Muhammad Sa'id al-Qasimi and Samih al-Ghabrah. The former holds the Qasimi library in his home, and he graciously allowed me to study the manuscripts and papers of his grandfather Jamal al-Din. I also benefited from Mr. Ghabrah's interest in the history of Damascus and familiarity with his grandfather's life and work. To each of these members of the Qasimi family I am deeply grateful for their kindness and hospitality during my stay in Damascus. A. U.S. Department of Education Fulbright-Hays Research Abroad award made possible my research in Damascus. I would like to thank Mr. Jonathan Owen of the U.S. Information Agency in Damascus for his help in obtaining the necessary permits to conduct research at the Zahiriyyah Library and the Center for Historical Documents, and for smoothing over the rough edges of daily life in Damascus. At the Center for Historical Documents, Ms. Da'd Hakim and her staff provided a most congenial atmosphere for research. Dr. Muti' al-Hafiz of the Arabic Language Academy was helpful in tracking down a number of articles and books. On returning to the United States I was assisted by a grant from the Joint Committee of the International Doctoral Research Fellowship Program for the Near and Middle East of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies with funds provided by the Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. I would also like to thank Juan Cole, Rudi Lindner, Paul Dresch, and John Voll, whose comments and suggestions sharpened the per- spective and improved the execution of this work. Vlll PREFACE I thank my parents for their generous financial support during my years at Michigan and for always encouraging me to pursue my interest in the history of the Middle East. My wife, Mona, with her good humor and patience, helped see me through the last stages of research in Damascus. Finally, I am most grateful to my late mentor and friend, Richard P. Mitchell, for his encouragement and for his inspiring, humane approach to the study of Muslims and their endeavors to shape their lives according to their highest ideals. Carlisle, Pa. D.C. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 3 1 Damascene Ulama and Social Change in Nineteenth-Century Syria 7 2 Sources and Agents of Religious Reform 21 3 The Social Roots of Salafism 34 4 The Emergence of Salafism in Damascus: Early Vicissitudes, 1896-1904 49 5 Salafi Interpretations of Islam: Reason and Unity in QasimI 65 6 Salafi Interpretations of Islam: Society and Social Life in QasimI 79 7 The Salafis and the Arabists 89 8 Conservative Ulama and Antisalafi Action 104 9 Antisalafi Ulama's Interpretations of Islam 116 10 Salafis and Arabists in Politics, 1908-1914 124 CONCLUSION 141 NOTES 145 APPENDIX 179 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 181 INDEX 195 This page intentionally left blank Islamic Reform This page intentionally left blank INTRODUCTION A slice of the history of modern Islamic reform in Syria lies in the living room of a modest apartment in Damascus. Books, journals, manuscripts, and loose papers packed together on tall shelves line three walls. Hanging above the books on one wall are three portrait photographs that depict the heritage of a family central to the reform movement. On the left side is Muhammad Sa'id al-Qasimi, a bearded, white- turbaned shaykh of some 50 years, pictured with a book open before him. In the middle stands his eldest son, Jamal al-Din, another bearded shaykh wearing a robe and white turban, perhaps in his early 30s. On the right, Muhammad Sa'id's youn- gest son, Salah al-Din, presents a different aspect: a young man with a thin mus- tache, dressed in European-style coat and trousers, starched white shirt, bow tie, and topped with a fez. Three portraits, three generations, three ways of seeing the world. The father (1843-1900), a religious scholar, spent most of his life holding customary Islamic beliefs. In his later years he embraced the reformist vision that the eldest son (1866- 1914), also a religious scholar, elaborated in the name of a return to the sources of religion. The youngest son (1887-1916) left behind the religious vocation, became a medical doctor, and strove for an Arab national revival. Each of these outlooks—a customary interpretation of Islam, scripturalist reform, and Arabism—had its par- tisans among 'ulama' (religious scholars) and young intellectuals in Ottoman Syria between 1885 and 1914. Scriptural reform in Damascus developed in the historical context of Ottoman bureaucratic reform and calls to purify Islamic practices and beliefs. During the nineteenth century, Ottoman rulers adopted measures that displaced religious personnel and religious principles from their customary roles in admin- istrative, legal, and educational institutions. These secularizing measures, when finally enforced in the provinces in the second half of the century, transformed the notable stratum in Arab cities. For centuries this group had included many ulama, but within a few decades they were almost totally displaced. Concomitant with their fall in status, secular law codes and public schools whose curricula derived from European models spread and broke the monopoly Islamic discourse had exercised over law and education. The turn to scripturalism represented the response of some ulama to these secular trends. Scripturalism, which stresses the exclusive authority of the Quran and the Sun- nah in determining what constitutes Islamic beliefs and practices, had been spread- ing in learned circles since the eighteenth century, most widely among Sufi orders, although the Wahhabi movement in Arabia is the best known instance. During the nineteenth century two developments reinforced the scripturalist trend. First, the 3 4 ISLAMIC REFORM secularist reforms signified to some Muslims that customary interpretations of Islam could no longer provide a foundation for Muslim vitality. For those who remained convinced of Islam's truth, Muslims' weakness vis-a-vis Europe made sense if one believed that they had strayed from "true" Islam. Hence, it was necessary to return to the sources for a guide to rediscovering "true" Islam. Second, Europe presented a military threat to Muslim lands. To counter that threat, Muslims had to unite, which required that they transcend their differences. It became common to argue that such differences had arisen in the course of Islamic history and coalesced as variant ways of performing ritual, attaining mystical union with God, and interpreting law.