Islamic reformism in India between 1857 and 1947: The conception of state in Chiragh ‘Ali, Muhammad Iqbal and Sayyid Abu’l ‘Ala Mawdudi Carimo Mohomed Tese apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Doutor em Ciência Política, especialidade de Teoria e Análise Política, realizada sob a orientação científica do Prof. Doutor José Esteves Pereira Apoio financeiro da Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (referência SFRH / BD / 39569 / 2007) Março, 2012 ii For Fátima For Samir For my parents For Fulbai For those who have to live in this world as foreigners: Home is where you are heading iii ACKOWLEDGEMETS At the end of this process, I am indebted to a list of people to whom I would like to express my gratitude. I offer my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Dr. José Esteves Pereira, who has supported me with his patience and knowledge whilst allowing me the room to work in my own way. Also important were the warm conversations we had and his words reassuring me that what I was researching was very important. I also want to thank Mujeeb Ahmad, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre d’Études et de Recherches Internationales, Sciences Po (Paris, France), and Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the International Islamic University (Islamabad, Pakistan) for giving me his precious feedback on various chapters of this thesis. Also important was Omar Khalidi, an independent scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, USA), whom I met in 2008 in Istanbul. He accompanied me with his co-supervision until November 2010, when he passed away in a tragic manner. To Luís Filipe Thomaz I want to thank his friendship and support, and for giving me the opportunity to share my findings with his students and with a wider audience. To Prof. Hélder Santos Costa I thank his support in the initial stages of this process. To Daniel Ribeiro Alves I thank his friendship and the advices he gave me, which were very useful in avoiding some traps on a path which he had already trodden. To Richard de Luchi I want to thank his friendship and help in improving my English. To all my friends: the old ones for their support and for showing interest and curiosity for what I was doing; the new ones for showing me that I am not alone. To my parents I want to thank for creating an environment in which pursuing knowledge seemed as natural as breathing. To my brother, for always being concerned and interested with what I was doing, and for being proud of me – although I do not show it, I am also proud of him. And, finally, Fátima: I thank her support and help at various levels, since the beginning, and, most importantly, just for being who she is. iv ISLAMIC REFORMISM I IDIA BETWEE 1857 AD 1947: THE COCEPTIO OF STATE I CHIRAGH ‘ALI, MUHAMMAD IQBAL AD SAYYID ABU’L ‘ALA MAWDUDI CARIMO MOHOMED PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Islão, Índia, Século XIX, Século XX, Estado, Chiragh ‘Ali, Muhammad Iqbal, Mawdudi, Islamologia Aplicada KEYWORDS: Islam, India, 19 th century, 20 th century, State, Chiragh ‘Ali, Muhammad Iqbal, Mawdudi, Applied Islamology RESUMO: Entre 1857, ano da Revolta dos Cipaios e consequente ocupação definitiva da Índia pelos Britânicos, causando o fim do poder político muçulmano, e 1947, data da sua independência e Partição em dois Estados, União Indiana e Paquistão, o sub- continente indiano sofreu grandes transformações. Esta foi uma época rica em pensamento reformista islâmico, dando origem a um intenso debate que ultrapassou as suas fronteiras geográficas e antecipou questões posteriores que ainda hoje se colocam: condição das mulheres, papel da religião na política ou o fim do califado. A importância do estudo do Islão em contexto indiano advém do facto de um terço dos muçulmanos existentes hoje em dia no Mundo viverem nessa região e do facto de, no período agora em estudo, o império britânico ter sido a entidade política com mais muçulmanos precisamente porque a Índia estava sob administração da Grã-Bretanha. Por outro lado, no ano de 2007, que assinalou precisamente os 60 anos da Independência da União Indiana e Paquistão, bem como os 150 anos da Revolta dos Cipaios, houve quem considerasse que os Britânicos deveriam ter restituído aos muçulmanos, em 1947, o poder que lhes tinha sido retirado em 1857. v Utilizando o método de Islamologia Aplicada , de Mohammed Arkoun, e a contextualização histórica de conceitos, proposta por Quentin Skinner, esta investigação aborda três intelectuais desse período, Chiragh ‘Ali, Muhammad Iqbal e Sayyid Abu’l ‘Ala Mawdudi, bem como as suas obras consideradas mais importantes. Assim, através de estudos de caso e comparação qualitativa, nesta investigação analisamos, descrevemos e tentamos compreender os movimentos de reforma islâmica que surgiram na Índia entre os momentos finais da dinastia mogol (1857- 1858) e os momentos finais da presença britânica (1947), mais em particular os diversos modelos políticos e de Estado oferecidos por essas três figuras, comparando- os entre si a vários níveis: a biografia, a obra, o pensamento, a herança e discípulos, bem como o legado deixado e debate que originaram em torno de questões como o papel da religião na política e/ou o modelo de Estado a ser seguido no mundo islâmico. Os diferentes modelos políticos oferecidos por cada um dos autores, e as concepções que tinham sobre a relação entre religião e política, reflectem uma diversidade de pensamento, frequentemente contraditória entre si. A tese conclui que o Islão, enquanto objecto de estudo das, e nas, ciências sociais, tem que ser repensado e redefinido, bem como os conceitos de Shari’a , Religião, Política, Estado, Igreja, Secularismo, Modernidade, pois cada um deles assume diferentes formas em diferentes contextos temporais e geográficos, incluindo naquilo que é chamado de Ocidente, e cada um deles interage com os outros numa multiplicidade de formas, não havendo modelos únicos ou essencialistas. ABSTRACT: Between 1857, year of the Sepoy revolt and subsequent occupation of India by the British, which caused the end of Muslim political supremacy, and 1947, year of its Independence and Partition into two states, India and Pakistan, the Indian sub- continent went through great transformations. It was a very rich period of Islamic reformist thought, originating an intense debate which surpassed the geographical boundaries of India and anticipated future issues which are still being discussed today: the position of women, the role of religion in politics or the end of the caliphate. The importance of studying Islam in a South-Asian context derives from the fact that one third of all Muslims in the world live in this region, and from the fact that in the period that is now analysed the British Empire was the political entity with the largest Muslim population, due to the fact that India was under Great-Britain’s administration. On the other hand, in 2007, which was the year that marked the 60th anniversary of Independence for India and Pakistan, and the 150th anniversary of the Sepoy Revolt, there were people asserting that the British should have given back to Muslims, in 1947, the power taken in 1857. Using Mohammed Arkoun’s Applied Islamology , and historical contextualization, a method proposed by Quentin Skinner, this research focuses on three intellectuals of vi that period, Chiragh ‘Ali, Muhammad Iqbal and Sayyid Abu’l ‘Ala Mawdudi, as well as on their most important works. This research, through case-studies and qualitative comparison, analyses, describes and tries to assess Islamic reform movements which sprang up in India between the final moments of the Mughal dynasty (1857-1858) and the final moments of the British presence (1947), especially the different political and State models offered by those three figures, comparing them at different levels: biographies, works, thought, heritage and disciples, as well as the legacy bequeathed and the debate that they originated around issues such as the role of religion in politics and/or the model of State to be followed in the Islamic world. The different political models offered by each one of the authors, and their conceptions about the relations between religion and politics, express a diversity of thought which is frequently at odds with one another. This thesis concludes that Islam, as an object of study of, and in, the social sciences, has to be rethought and redefined, as well as concepts such as Shari’a , Religion, Politics, State, Church, Secularism, Modernity. Each one of them assumes different forms in different temporal and geographical contexts, including what is usually called the West, and each one of them interacts with the others in a multiplicity of ways, with no single or essentialist model resulting from that interaction. vii TABLE OF COTETS ITRODUCTIO ....................................................................................................... 1 Opening remarks........................................................................................................ 1 Studying Islam ........................................................................................................... 2 Studying Political Islam, or Islamism...................................................................... 14 Why study Islam in South Asia? ............................................................................. 21 Studying the State in an Islamic context ................................................................. 27 Methodology and sources .......................................................................................