title: Rashid Rida

text: Muhammad Rasheed Rida was born in the village of Al-Qalamoun, Beirut Vilayet near Tripoli in 1865. His father was an Imam in the masjid. Riḍā came from a Sunni Shafi'i family of modest means that relied on the revenues of their limited olive-tree holdings and fees earned by some of its members who served as "ulama". For generations, the "ulama" of the Rida family had been in charge of Al-Qalamoun mosque. He belonged to a family of "Sayyids" who claimed descent from the "Ahl al-Bayt" (family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad), specifically Husayn ibn Ali. Stories of Al-Husayn were frequently repeated inside the family. Rida himself identified Al-Husayn as one of his "great-grandfathers" and often cursed those responsible for his martyrdom, without naming them.


title: Rashid Rida

text: As a young boy, Rida had received traditional religious education. Riḍā started his elementary education in a local "Kuttab" (Qurʾānic school) in Qalamūn, where he learned and memorized the "Qur'an". He then moved to the Turkish government elementary school in Tripoli, where he studied grammar, mathematics, geography and religion, in addition to Arabic and Turkish. After one year, Rida enrolled in the National Islamic School ("al-Madrasa al-Islāmiyya al-Waṭaniyya") of Shaykh in Tripoli. The language of instruction of the school was Arabic and its curriculum included Islamic religious sciences, logic, mathematics and modern natural sciences. Riḍā's teachers included Maḥmūd Nashābeh (d.1890), who taught him hadith and Shafi'i Fiqh; ʿAbd al-Ghānī al-Rāfiʿī(d. 1890), who introduced him to the works of Yemeni jurist Al-Shawkani; and Muḥammad al-Kawukjī (d. 1887).


title: Rashid Rida

text: As a pious and motivated religious student, Rida started preaching and educating others at a communal level. He gathered the people of his village to the Central mosque where he taught them "Tafsir" lessons and other religious sciences. He also arranged separate classes for females, instructing them on the rules of rituals and "Ibadah". Rida's accidental discovery of several copies of the periodical "al-Urwa al-Wuthqa" during 1884–1885, edited by Jamal al-Din Al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh, would change the course of his life. Rida collected its various issues from his father and Al-Jisr, became its avid reader and was highly influenced by it. He wrote to Afghani asking him to accept him as a disciple, but Afghani died before Rida had a chance to meet him.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida's education introduced him to the religious treatises of major classical scholars such as Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qayyim, Ibn Qudama, Ghazzali, Mawardi, Razi, Taftasani, Ibn Rajab etc. which he would regularly cite and re-publish in his later years. According to Lebanese-British historian Albert Hourani, Rashid Rida belonged to the last generation of traditionally trained Islamic scholars who could be "fully educated and yet alive in a self-sufficient Islamic world of thought."


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida had met Abduh as an exile in Lebanon in the mid-1880s. Rida was able to establish a relationship with Abduh and would refer to him as his "Ustadh" (mentor) throughout his life. After obtaining diploma of ulema in 1897, Rida joined Abduh in Cairo. Modelled after "al-Urwa al-Wuthqa", they would start the monthly periodical "Al-Manar". Rida would continue as its chief editor and owner until his death in 1935. After Abduh's death, Rida would publish "Tafsir al-Manar" as well as issue "fatwas" on various issues in the section "Fataawa al-Manar". "Tafsir al-Manar" would later be published as a separate Qur'anic exegesis, although it remained incomplete. In the words of Albert Hourani; "from the time of its foundation, "Al-Manar" was... (Rida's) life."


title: Rashid Rida

text: After the death of Abduh, Rida would be seen as his de facto successor. Abduh's disciples would subsequently divide into opposing camps. One camp were Islamic modernists (such as Saad Saghlul, 'Ali 'Abd al-Raziq) who called for embracing European secular values and legal system. The other camp was the " "Al-Manar Reform Party" " which advocated the revival of Islam and sought to base "sharia" for organisation of both state as well as society. From this camp, would emerge in the "Salafiyya" movement. Rida would engage in fierce campaigns against the modernists, often invoking Abduh's legacy even though Abduh wouldn't have shared his views. Unlike Afghani and Abduh whose movement sought to "modernise Islam", Rida and his "Salafiyya" school sought the "Islamization of modernity".


title: Rashid Rida

text: During his stay in Egypt, Rida was able to research the classical treatises of theologian Ibn Taymiyya and his disciples, in depth. This would make a profound impact in his religious thought; and Rida would embrace various ideas such as revulsion against folk Sufism, criticism of "Taqlid", calls for revival of hadith studies, etc. which became the foundational themes of the "Salafiyya" school.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Despite their different backgrounds, a serious-minded and religiously pious, young Rashid Rida developed a close-relationship with the broad-minded Abduh. The first major dispute between them arose over the status of the Baháʼí Faith. Muhammad 'Abduh viewed the Baha'is as a creative minority who were attempting to reform Shi'ite faith and whose efforts were relevant for Islamic reform. Rashid Rida, on the other hand, considered Bahais as a totally separate religion with its own distinctive laws and concluded that they were esotericists pretending to believe in Islam while practising another religion. He perceived them as modern equivalents of Fatimids and as a destructive internal threat to Islam. Rida was disheartened to hear of Abduh's friendship with 'Abdu'l-Baha Abbas, the head of Bahai faith and his praise of his liberal ideas. Abduh's arguments supporting Bahai stances were unacceptable to Rida, who was determined to convince Abduh of its falsehood. In Rida's view, Bahai faith, like all the other non-Muslim religious movements were falsehood and there was no room for "partially true" movements. Not only did Rida consider Bahai's as polytheists, but anyone who refused to condemn them were also excommunicated as apostates.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Abduh had disliked the literalism of the Wahhabi movement. In his conversations with Rida, Abduh alleged about the Najdi movement:


title: Rashid Rida

text: Abduh criticized the Wahhabis and their religious ethos for running counter to the intellectual and social objectives of Islamic modernism. Although the Wahhabis were against "taqleed", 'Abduh complained that they ended up being more narrow-minded and extreme than the blind imitators. According to him, they were no "friends of science and civilization". Rida on the other hand, was a staunch defender of Wahhabis and advocated their rehabilitation in the Islamic World. Unlike Abduh, Rida identified as a Salafi in creed and relied heavily on transmitted reports ("naql"). But as a balanced reformer, Rida still upheld notions of rationality and progress. Additionally, Abduh was mostly unfamiliar with the works of Hanbali theologian Ibn Taymiyya and was quite critical of his reputed literalism. In contrast, Rashid Rida admired Ibn Taymiyya as a major scholarly figure in the history of Sunni Islam who had a profound impact on Islamic religious thought and directly criticised Abduh for his negative attitudes towards Ibn Taymiyya.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Abduh's conception of "Tawhid" was built almost entirely upon Ash'ari theology. Abduh's definition of "Tawhid" was only limited to mean what Salafis understand as "al-rubūbiyyah" (the Lordship of God). He also adopted the Ash'ari methodology of metaphorical and interpretive view of what he viewed as potentially anthropomorphic descriptions of Attributes of God. Rashid Rida, who was advocating Salafi theology after the First World War, would correct his teachers views. In response to Abduh's statement in "Risalah al Tawhid" that the most important aspect of "Tawhid" is belief in "God's oneness in His essence a nd the creation of the universes", Rida remarks that Abduh failed to mention "tawḥīd al-ʾulūhiyyah" which he viewed as “the first thing to which every Prophet called upon his people.” He also disputed Abduh's stance on Divine Attributes. In his long editorial footnote to the section where Abduh advocates "ta'wil" (allegory) or "tafwid" (suspending the meaning) of what he considered as potentially anthropomorphic Attributes, Rida refuted Abduh's views and repeated the standard Salafi arguments against the Ash'ari and Maturidite schools. Abduh's section which favoured the Ash'ari view on Qur'anic letters and its recitation as "created" was also deleted. Instead, Rida advocated the traditionalist doctrine of Qur'anic letters, recitation and voice being uncreated ("ghayr Makhluq") Word of God; based on the works of Ibn Taymiyya.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Abduh had a liberal, humanist outlook and sought to unite various Islamic sects. In line with his tolerant approach, Abduh had interpreted the Prophetic hadith of "73 sects" to argue that no Muslim can be assured of belonging to the saved sect and that all surviving groups are included in the Saved Sect. Directly criticising Abduh on the issue, Rida stated that the “saved sect” was indisputably "Ahlul Sunna wal Jama'ah" (i.e. "Sunni Islam"). Abduh's conception of Islamic regeneration embraced the era of classical scholarship and its figures such as Ghazali. Meanwhile, Rashīd Rida, influenced by his early exposure to Hanbali school in Syria, envisioned a puritanical renewal based on the revival of the values of the Salaf al-Salih (first three Muslim generations).


title: Rashid Rida

text: Unlike 'Abduh, Rida also believed that problems faced by Muslims required comprehensive political reform. Politically, Rida differed from 'Abduh and his former associates in championing anti-imperialist activism characterised by radical Pan-Islamist stances. This was at odds with the political quietism of 'Abduh or the nationalist activism of the Egyptian leader Saad Zaghlul, another prominent disciple of 'Abduh. Rida's "Salafiyya" movement advocated for pan-Islamist solidarity which involved socio-political campaigning to establish "Sharia" (Islamic laws). Following World War I, Rida and his disciples became the biggest adversaries of Egyptian nationalists; and vehemently attacked all forms of secular ideas.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Initially, Rida was a supporter of Ottoman Empire as the bastion of Islamic strength. He proposed the creation of an Islamic Empire, wherein the "ulema" of various Islamic sects - Sunni, Shi‘a, Ibadi - draft a modern code of law based on "Sharia" under the leadership of the Ottoman Caliph. After his proposals of reform were rejected by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, Rida would briefly back the Young Turk Revolution and Hashemite-led Arab revolt during World War I. However, Atatürk's actions of abolition of Caliphate would be a shock to Rida and he would later regret his past decisions. During 1922–1923, Rida would publish a series of articles in "Al-Manar" titled “"The Caliphate or the Supreme Imamate"”. In this highly influential treatise, Rida advocates for the restoration of Caliphate and proposes gradualist measures of Education, Reformation and Purification through the efforts of "Salafiyya" Reform movements across the globe.


title: Rashid Rida

text: In advocating a restoration of the Caliphate, Rashid Rida would re-iterate the unity of both the spiritual and temporal aspects of Islam, in direct opposition to the emerging tides of secularism across the Arab and Turkish worlds. In ""The Caliphate or the Supreme Imamate"" he discusses the conditions necessary for the revival of the ideal Caliphal rule and proposes routes that would avoid a return to the Ottoman imperial system. Acclaiming the early Islamic territorial conquests, Rida stated:


title: Rashid Rida

text: During his early years, Rida was influenced by 'Abduh and Afghani and he attacked the official clergy throughout his writings. At this stage, Rida considered the traditional Sufi clergy to be the biggest obstacle to revival of Islamic civilisation and reformation of Muslims. Despite this, Rida never shared Muhammad 'Abduh's intellectual accommodation for Western civilization and European ideas. Rather than the Western and Persian philosophers admired by 'Abduh, Rida was inspired by classical Islamic scholars such as Ibn Taymiyya and his hardline Hanbalite treatises. Instead of criticising Sufism based on its perceived role in the Islamic historical scheme; Rida opposed Sufis since he considered their activities to be "bid'ah" (innovations) without textual precedents or any sanction in the practices of the earliest generations.


title: Rashid Rida

text: The advancement of secularist trends would later make Rida turn his attention on the Westernised modernisers. Rida would fiercely attack the modernisers, accusing them of sowing corruption, immorality and charging them "with treason". For Rida, Scriptures cannot be ignored and any "reforms" that goes against Scripture is a heresy that should be censured. Rida's fierce campaigns were instrumental in putting modernists like Ali Abd al-Raziq to trial for what he viewed as his "attacks" on "Sharia". Rida would extol Ibn Hazm, an early scholar of the Zahiri (literalist) school, whom he regularly cited. In line with his literalist methodology, Rida would gradually distance from the tolerant approach of Abduh and Afghani.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida was also a staunch opponent of Hadith-rejectionist trends in Egypt. Prominent amongst them was the Egyptian physician Muhammad Tawfiq Sidqi who grew out of the modernist traditions of Muhammad Abduh. Sidqi cast aspersions on the hadith corpus, suggesting that it has been prone to corruption due to flawed transmissions and hence, Muslims should rely solely on Qur'an. Rashid Rida rebuked Sidqi's views, writing:


title: Rashid Rida

text: Hence, Rida argued, Sidqi's assault on hadith, was a rejection of this prophecy, reducing Muhammad to a minor figure and slandering him. Ridā's public stance against Sidqi forced him to recant his views.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Although Rida's initial views mirrored the modernist approach of Abduh, he later became an admirer of Ibn Taymiyya and Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and would adopt a more conservative and orthodox outlook. He believed that the modernists had gone too far in their reformist attempts, embracing Westernised lifestyles and thinking; thus leading Muslims to loose their faith. Rida advocated a return the ways of the "salaf" and urged Muslims to live entirely by the sharia. Reviving the ideas of Ibn Taymiyya, he employed the term "Jahiliyya" to refer to the conditions of contemporary Muslims and believed that governance not adhering to "sharia" was apostasy. This idea would become a major rationale behind the armed Jihad of future militant organisations.


title: Rashid Rida

text: As the successor of Abduh's legacy, Rida tried to depict him as an advocate of the Salafist doctrine to the Egyptian audience. Over two decades after his death, Rida claimed that Abduh was a "Salafi in creed" although his explication of divine attributes in his popular works such as "Risalat al-tawheed" was similar to Ash'arites and rationalists. Distraught by these ideas, Rida made various re-editions of Abduh's works to make them in conformity with the dogmas of the traditionalist creed. Abduh's appraisal of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (d. 936), the eponymous founder of the Ash'arite school, for reconciling the views "of the "salaf" and that of the "khalaf"" was downplayed; and Rida attached a lengthy annotation to describe al-Ash'ari's renunciation of "Kalam" and subsequent espousal of Hanbali theology towards his later years, as mentioned by Ibn Taymiyya. Rida praised Ibn Taymiyya for his medieval polemics that vindicated "the superiority of "madhhab al-salaf" over "kalam"", a significant historical aspect of theology ignored by Abduh. Even though Rida and his Salafi disciples had viewed Abduh to be a great reformer; they privately held grave reservations about his creedal beliefs.


title: Rashid Rida

text: When popular interest in Muhammad Abduh was revived in Egypt around twenty-five years after his death, two contesting narratives of him were available. One was a short biography published by Mustafa 'Abd al-Raziq, an Azharite student of 'Abduh, which stressed the rationalist legacy of Abduh's thought. Similar portrayals of Abduh would be espoused by Uthman Amin and Egyptian artist Muhammad Naji. The other narrative was elaborated by Rashid Rida, in his 1931 biographic work titled "Tarikh al-ustadh al-imam al-shaykh Muhammad Abduh" (“History of Professor the Imam Shaykh Muhammad Abduh”). The views of Muhammad Abduh attributed by Rida were closest to his own. His unorthodox views were either ignored or actively deleted from the editions of his works that Rida published. Rather than an exponent of rationalist theology, Muhammad 'Abduh was portrayed as a restorer of Islamic orthodoxy, an opponent of "bid'ah"- and an enthusiast of Ibn Taymiyya. Eventually, Rida's view of Muhammad 'Abduh would become the dominant one, enshrined in Egyptian school history lessons and in popular memory.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Through his writings in his last years, Abduh had begun acknowledging "Salafis ("al-salafiyyun")" as Sunni Muslims "who adhere to the creed of the forefathers" in distinction from Asharis. Despite this, Muhammad Abduh never self-identified as a "Salafi" during his lifetime. Unlike 'Abduh, Rida identified himself as "Salafi" in both theology ("'Aqida") as well as Jurisprudence ("Fiqh"). Other Salafi theologians like Jamal al-Din al Qasimi (d. 1332 A.H/ 1914 C.E) would narrate Abduh's embracal of Salafi theology in private encounters during his last years, although these claims would be scrutinised by others. In response to some of his critics, Qasimi states: “even though ['Abduh] sometimes followed the rules of the theoreticians and the speculative theologians, and even though he sometimes defended these rules, he did not deviate from his love of the salaf, and his creed [i'tiqaduhu] did not deviate from their wellspring.”


title: Rashid Rida

text: In 1897, Rida had decided to expand his knowledge by studying under the active Pan-Islamic scholar, Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, who was at that time in Istanbul but died later that year. After suspecting the Hamidian administration of being responsible for his death, Rida left the empire and joined Afghani's student Muhammad 'Abduh (1849- 1905) in Egypt. Beginning from 1898, Rashid Rida published numerous articles in "Al-Manar" counselling the Ottoman authorities to adopt a new religious strategy in the framework of the caliphal and Pan-Islamic policy of Sultan Abd al-Hamid II. For training future "ulama" as well as "Qadis" responsible for issuing fatwas and discussing religious affairs, Rashid Rida recommended the creation of different institutions in a standardised manner.


title: Rashid Rida

text: In an article published in 1898, "Al-Manar" would raise the issue of a World Islamic Congress for Muslim reformation, with the standardisation of creed, laws and teachings as its fundamental principle. Directly addressing Sultan Abdul Hamid II as "Amir al-Mu'min", Rashid Rida wrote:


title: Rashid Rida

text: The proposed international society would publish a religious journal in the Sacred city, to counter innovations("bid'ah") and heretic ideas; as well as translating religious works to different languages. Rida had lamented the attitude of returning pilgrims, who spoke about their journeys, but not at all regarding the contemporary circumstances under which the rest of Muslims lived. The Khalifa himself would preside over the affairs of the society, while remaining its member just like the other members. The scholars of the society would compile legal works, drawn from all "mad'habs"(legal schools), adapted to contemporary situation and the resulting legislation should be implemented by the "Khalifa" in all Muslim lands.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida did not call for an immediate establishment of a spiritual caliphate, but a global religious society which would pave the way for it. Islamic unity required the abolition of sectarian differences and reviving the doctrines of the "Salaf us Salih", who pre-dated different sects and "mad'habs". While respecting the contributions of the scholarly eponyms of the "mad'habs", Rida advocated a centralising policy of reunion of Muslim schools and sects through a return to the fundamentals of Faith. The proposal also had the political objective of uniting Muslims against European colonialism. Critiquing despotic systems, Rida believed that "shura"(consultation) is a basic feature of any Islamic state. He viewed the Caliphate as a necessary temporal power to defend Islam and enforce sharia. Maintaining that Islam fundamentally sought the implementation of "sharia" through authority, Rida wrote:


title: Rashid Rida

text: "Al-Manar" proposals were met with poor and often, hostile reception from the Ottoman authorities. The choice of Mecca as the centre of the society and the relegation of the Caliph as an ordinary member of the society; alerted the Ottoman authorities for whom the domination of Istanbul and Ottoman dynastic claims to Caliphate were not open to dispute. Some of them proposed a Muslim Congress in Istanbul. However, according to Rida, it was harmful to set up such a Congress in Istanbul. Abdul Hamid II opposed the idea of a Congress both in Mecca as well as Istanbul. The Meccan Congress was opposed by the Sultan, viewing it as a ploy for Arab separatism and Hejazi autonomy. The Istanbul setting was perceived as an indirect way to establish a parliamentary forum in the capital of the empire. The proposals were in direct contradiction to the established Ottoman policy on enforcing the absolute authority of the Sultan.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Meanwhile, Rashid Riḍā's harsh denunciation of Sufism had enraged Abū l-Hudā al-Sayyādī (1850-1909), the sultan's Syrian advisor. Riḍā condemned the Rifāʿiyya and Qādiriyya Sufi orders for ritualising innovated practices. Due to this, the Ottoman authorities harassed Rida's family in Syria. Al-Sayyādī requested Badrī Bāšā, his brother-in- ̣law and the governor of Tripoli, to transfer Riḍā's brothers to military authorities. One of Rida's brothers was beaten and the authorities also tried to confiscate Rida's family mosque. Rida would report that Sayyadi had also planned to assassinate him in Egypt. The Hamidian administration would ban the journal "Al-Manar" in Ottoman regions. Later in 1901, Rida published a review on Kawakibi's famous essay, "Characteristics of Tyranny"(Tabāʾiʿ al-istibdād), which attacked Sufism as well as the Ottoman sultan directly.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Despite the censorship, "al-Manar" resulted in the wide dissemination of reformist proposals across the Islamic World. The theme of a World Muslim Congress was given detailed expression for the first time in Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi's famous literary piece of fiction, "Umm al-qura", first published in 1900. Umm al-Qura(one of the names of the Islamic holy city of Mecca), was the setting of Kawakibi's fictional story of a Muslim congress and its proceedings. The article would become the staunchest anti-Ottoman elaboration of the Pan-Islamist movement. In the article, Kawakibi argued for an end to the Ottoman rule, and its replacement by an Arabian Qurayshi caliphate elected through a great Islamic congress. Rashid Rida took the outline of the article presented to him by Al-Kawakibi in Cairo, expanded it with consultation and made it famous, through serialization in "al-Manar". Salafi reformist themes such as the stripping away of ritual accretions, Sufism, etc. were advocated by the article.


title: Rashid Rida

text: In spite of the rejection of his proposals as well as vehement Ottoman opposition, Rida supported the preservation of the Sultanate during the Hamidian era(1876-1909). The dynastic nature of Ottoman state, was reconciled with the classical legal approach of accommodating a “caliphate of conquest,” in which caliphs ruled through force, not "shura", consent, and adherence to "shari‘ah". While holding the Ottoman rule to be based on "asabiyya"(tribalism), Rida distanced himself from rebelling against the empire, since it may lead to the demolition of the only Islamic temporal power. With the emerging European colonial encroachment that threatened the Muslim World, the Ottoman Caliphate was seen an indispensable buffer. At this stage, Rida had restricted himself to advocating reforms for consultative governance within the Ottoman state. His writings also focused on condemning partisanship to "mad'habs" and all forms of factionalism. He also walked a tight-rope of supporting Arabism and promoting Arab pre-eminence while simultaneously advocating Islamic unity and condemning ethnic prejudice as un-Islamic. In the Arab religious nationalism advocated by "Salafiyya", Arabs were better suited for Islamic leadership and hence Arab revival was identical with Islamic unity. Simultaneously, Rida called for Arab-Turkish co-operation, writing:


title: Rashid Rida

text: In 1897, Rashid Rida, Rafiq al-‘Azm, and Saib Bey, a Turkish officer; founded the Ottoman Consultative Society("Jam‘iyat al-shura al-‘uthmaniyya") in Cairo. Azm served as the society's treasurer and Rida became the administrative head. Its members consisted of Turks, Armenians, and Circassians residing in Egypt. The Society called for Islamic unity embodied under an Ottomanist platform but condemned the autocratic Hamidian rule as well as European imperialism. Its journals from Cairo were printed in Arabic and Turkish and distributed across the empire through "Al-Manar". During this period, the society's goals aligned with that of the Young Turks. However, the society disbanded following the Young Turk revolution in 1908 after which Azm joined the CUP in pursuit of modernist activism. Rashid Rida, on the other hand, became a vocal critique of the centralist Young Turks.


title: Rashid Rida

text: For the "Salafiyya" scholars and activists, opposition to the Hamidian state was part of a wider religious reform project of liberating Muslims from the constrained religious interpretations of the state clergy. They insisted on the right to engage in "Ijtihad" in the field of Islamic law. Scholars like ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi (d. 1902) combined their critique of both religious and political authority; seeing the resistance to Ottoman despotism as a critical element in the revival of religious knowledge and Islamic civilization. Scholars of the salafi reform programme found common ground with other activists in the Ottoman Arab provinces who believed that their future progress depended upon the reclamation and strengthening of Arab cultural tradition. For salafis, the promotion of Arabic as the language of revelation was necessary for the revival of the practice of ijtihad amongst legal scholars. The Salafi opposition to Ottoman despotism emphasised on religious reform as a means of socio-political rejuvenation.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Abdülhamid II's autocratic measures that stifled the civil society along with the acceleration of the modernising Tanzimat Project, limited the space for a public sphere where the affairs of state could be discussed in a critical manner. The "Salafiyya" movement popularised an Islamic alternative to the aspirations of the disgruntled conservative religious sections through a revival of values modelled during the era of the "Salaf al-Salih". Implicit in the "salafiyya" worldview was a glorification of Arab Islam and a devaluation of Ottomanism; which idealised the eras of Muhammad, his companions and the Salaf; and viewed all that succeeded the Abbasids as a sad period of decline. The Islamic doctrines of "shura" and "Ijtihad" became a rallying base for critique of authoritarian state and popular Sufism. As the state grew more oppressive, the "Salafiyya" trend became further radicalised. The emerging fault-lines between authoritarian regimes and Islamic fundamentalist movements, would determine the rest of the political power-struggles of the post-Ottoman Middle East. Thus, as early as 1904, Rashid Rida had publicly applauded Ibn Sa‘ud's victory against the Ottoman allied Rashidis.


title: Rashid Rida

text: In June 1905, Ottoman authorities arrested Muhyi al-Din Himadah, former mayor of Beirut and a close associate of Muhammad 'Abduh under charges of Syrian separatism. Following Himada's arrest, Ottoman police conducted widespread raids across Syria on the homes of men suspected of complicity. The police arrested Rida's brother and confiscated books and letters from Rida's home. His father was also suspected of separatism. The articles disseminated through his magazine angered the authorities so much that by 1906, the Ottoman court in Tripoli had issued orders to arrest Rashid Rida, wherever he might be, under charges "of printing traitorous and slanderous items" in "Al-Manar". Additionally, Rida became increasingly vocal in activities against the Hamidian regime. Sharp criticism of autocratic rule and calls for representative government through "shura" became a common theme in "Al-Manar".


title: Rashid Rida

text: Prior to 1908, Conservative "ulema" were able to employ active Ottoman governmental support for their anti-salafi actions due to numerous reasons. Sultan Abdul Hamid had made a policy of pursuing an Islamic policy of patronising powerful Sufi orders. In addition, Wahhabi and Zaydi rebellions against Ottomans in 1902 and 1904 were exploited by the Sufi "ulema" to posit links between Salafi reformers and opposition to Sultan. Major Salafi scholars including Rida, Jamal al-Din al Qasimi, Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi, Abd al Razzaq al Bitar, Mahmud Shukri Al Alusi, etc. were accused of being "Wahhabi sympathisers" perceived as participating in a plot against the empire to establish an "Arab Caliphate". Between 1896 and 1908, Conservative Ulema persuaded Ottoman authorities to punish Salafis and succeeded in intimidating the reformers. Although they were able to harass Salafis, they couldn't convince any Ottoman governor to imprison or exile a Salafi since the "ulema" had lost much influence by then.


title: Rashid Rida

text: During the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, Rashid Rida states that he was working secretly for securing the Constitution from Sultan Abdul Hamid II hoping to benefit from the greater liberty it would allow for Islamic reform and revivalist activities. However, the subsequent transformation of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal had defeated his expectations and Rida charged the new Turkish leader with "pure unbelief and apostasy from Islam, of which there's no uncertainty". During this period, the conservative Ottoman "ulema" would increase their attacks on Rida and his disciples; charging them with "Wahhabism" for opposing popular Sufi practices. These "ulema" opposed the Ottoman Constitutionalist movement and accused Rashid Rida and his Syrian Salafi and Arabist supporters of being "Wahhabis".


title: Rashid Rida

text: Initially after the July revolution, Salafis were divided into two camps. Salafis like Tahir al Jaza'iri was suspicious of the CUP, viewing the revolution as a coup from personal to collective autocracy and refused to return to Syria. Others such as Abd al-Razzaq al-Bitar and Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi was initially much more hopeful of the prospects. The orthodox Sufi "ulema" and their supporters, on the other hand, began to preach openly against the CUP. Utilizing the new freedoms of assembly and speech,they established their own association, "The Ulama Club"; assisted by the former officials of the Hamidian administration.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Shortly after the July revolution, Rida would visit Damascus in October 1908, while touring Syria and Lebanon. He had already been attacked during his Syrian journey, when a man struck his head with a club-chain. Since it was the eve of the 1908 Ottoman general elections, the "Ulema Club" decided to exploit Rida's visit to display their strength and stir up their supporters against the Salafis. In October 24, Rashid Rida gave a public lecture in the Umayyad Mosquebefore a large audience; addressing themes of Islamic revival and religious education of Muslims. During his lecture, he preached that praying to intercessors other than God is an act of polytheism("shirk"). At this point, two Sufi shaykhs, interrupting his public lecture in the mosque, railed against Rida, accusing him of being a "Wahhabi" who rejected "mad'habs". 'Abd al-Qadir al-Khatib, a leading Damascene figure of the Muhammadan Union, an organization that sought the restoration of Abd al-Hamid's rule, was amongst the chief agitators against Rashid Rida. He urged his supporters to denounce Wahhabis, alluding to Rida. The infuriated crowd besieged him, but his disciples were able to rescue Rida with great difficulty. After leaving the mosque, Rida learned that the riots were planned by powerful men who sought to influence the parliament and upon the advice of his disciples, he left Damascus the next morning. His disciples, Al-Bitar and Al-Qasimi were forced to seclude themselves in their homes and returned to their posts in their mosques only after four months.


title: Rashid Rida

text: The Constitutional Restoration of 1908 changed the political context of the Salafi conflict with the "ulema". Salafis had backed the Committee of Union and Progress(C.U.P), the strongest Constitutionalist party. However, Salafis like were already alarmed by the ascendance of centralist factions in the CUP. It would take several years for the CUP to consolidate its power across the empire. In its first year of power itself, CUP would be challenged by factions of Ottoman army that sought to re-instate Abdul Hamid II, now rendered a nominal head. In Istanbul on April 13, number of Hamidian Ottoman soldiers joined religious students in an uprising to expel the C.U.P from the capital. As news of initial Hamidian victories reached damascus, the Ottomanist Muhammadan Union began celebrations and mobilised rallies. Once again the Sufi ulema put the heat on Salafis and began inciting riots to kill "Wahhabis". However, by April 24 a pro-CUP army entered Istanbul on April 24 and recaptured the city. Sultan Abdulhamid II was deposed by the Ottoman General Assembly on April 27 and the Damascene conservative "ulama" lapsed into political quiescence following their defeat in April 1909. The outcome of events in 1908-1909 heartened the salafis and dismayed the conservative "ulama", who could no longer count on financial subsidies and the government's ideological antipathy toward religious reform.


title: Rashid Rida

text: For Rida, Abdul Hamid's role in the 1909 counter-coup demonstrated his illegitimacy. He viewed Abdul Hamid's deposal as a sign that God would end all tyranny, and called upon the Muslim community to unite against oppression. Following the revolution, he visited Istanbul in October 1909, with two aims: to reconcile between the Arabs and the Turks in the Ottoman Empire and to establish a school for Islamic missionaries in Istanbul. However, his proposals were turned down in both subjects and Rida became a sworn enemy of the Young Turks and their party CUP. His initial optimism on the newly appointed Sultan Mehmed V, would prove short-lived since effective power had been concentrated under the hands of the Young Turks, whose vision were at odds with the Salafis and Arabists. Rida concluded that Young Turks had abandoned Islamism and Ottomanism and were pursuing a nationalist, Turkification policy.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rashid Rida had initially set aside concerns about the nationalism of CUP. However, by 1909, he would be its staunch opponent, accusing it of "abandoning Islam and Ottomanism for nationalism, spreading heresy, turning Islamic government into European government, and sowing intrigue." Opposing the Young Turks, Rida sought decentralization of the empire without challenging the legitimacy of the Ottoman Sultan; following a difficult line of holding onto Ottomanism while also working for Arab unity. Until World War I, Rida advocated autonomy for imperial territories while seeking to maintain the caliphate in Istanbul.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Within two years after the revolution; Rida became convinced that the Ottoman Empire had succumbed to a "Zionist-Masonic influence". In November 1910, Rida publicly asserted that the Young Turk revolution had been orchestrated by the Jews through Freemasonry. According to Rida, the revolution was a Jewish response to the Hamidian regime's rejection of Zionist plans to reclaim of their Third temple in Jerusalem and its surrounding territories through which they sought to reestablish their kingdom. In the following months, he became pre-occupied with concerns of Jewish manipulation of the Ottoman state and argued that the Jews wielded immense influence over the Committee of Union and Progres and the Ottoman treasury. Declaring that the Arabs would forcibly resist the Zionist plans to purchase Palestine from the Freemasons in the Ottoman leadership; Rida warned that the ultimate ambition of the Zionists, assisted by the Young Turks; was to convert al-Aqsa mosque into a Jewish temple and cleanse Palestine from all of its Arab inhabitants.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida wrote numerous articles in the Turkish press; calling to shun ideas and policies based on nationalism and race. He warned that nationalism was a European concept contrary to Islamic principles, and would lead to the collapse of the multi-ethnic, multi-racial Ottoman Empire. During this phase, Rida's Arabism was limited to advocate Arab autonomy within the broader Ottomanist framework. He was careful to distinguish between his opposition to the CUP and his loyalty to the Ottoman state. On the eve of the 1911 Ottoman-Italian war in Libya, Rida wrote:


title: Rashid Rida

text: The CUP and the conservative "ulema" had begun to make rapprochement after 1909, and by 1912 the Conservative "ulema" had allied with the CUP in the 1912 general elections; forming a common front against Salafis. CUP's persecution of salafis and Arabists had signaled an opportunity for the Sufi "ulema" to cooperate with the CUP, the empire's dominant power. CUP pragmatically allied with the conservatives, who controlled vast resources and held influence across the Empire. CUP candidate list consisted major conservative figures backed by the anti-salafi "ulama". Meanwhile, Salafis and Arabists supported the decentralist forces led by opposition Freedom and Accord Party(Liberal Entente) that sought to represent the empire's minorities and Turks sympathetic to a decentralised administration. Salafis would back the Entente in 1912 elections. Rida and his allies would again be accused, this time by CUP, of secessionist plots and seeking an "Arab Caliphate". Persecution of Salafis would again begin, this time on a bigger scale. CUP would win elections after massive electoral fraud, earning it the nickname "Election of Clubs".


title: Rashid Rida

text: As early as 1910, Rashid Rida had started publicly attacking CUP members as "atheists and freemasons"; alleging them of exploiting Islam for selfish political ends and seeking the destruction of Islamic world. Rida no longer had faith in the Ottoman Empire. The military and political developments had indicated towards an imminent collapse of the Ottoman state. The prospects of an Ottoman collapse seemed more likely, especially after Ottoman defeats in Tripoli and the Balkan wars. Fearing that the Arab lands under Ottoman control may soon fall under the hands of the colonial European empires, Rida would establish a secret society known as "Jam'iyyat ul-Jami‘a al-Arabiyya".(the Society of the Arab Association) The society had two objectives: i) unification of the amirs of the Arabian Peninsula to secure a common regional defence, ii) cooperation for the development & protection of Arab countries, and to establish connections among the Arab societies across Syria, Iraq, Istanbul, etc. within the framework of struggle against the CUP. The society sought a union of the Arabian Peninsula and the Arab Provinces of Ottoman Empire. Through the secret activities of the society, Rida sought to strongly pressure the Ottoman state on behalf of the Arabs and also prepare a contingency plan for the defense of Arabs against European ambitions, should the Ottoman Empire disintegrate. In accordance with these objectives, Rida corresponded with Ibn Saud of Najd, Imam Yahya of Yemen and aI-Sayyid al-Idrisi of ‘Asir, and convinced them on the necessity of a pact between all the rulers of the Arabian Peninsula to strengthen the Arabs. Ibn Sa‘ud asked Rida to send a messenger to explain the plan from aa religious and political standpoint in order to persuade his followers. Rida sent him a messenger along with numerous religious treatises. However, due to outbreak of the First World War; the mission failed, and the books were confiscated in Bombay. The war also ruptured his correspondence with Yahya and aI-Idrisi. In 1912 Rida would also meet Mubarak al-Sabah, the shaykh of Kuwait, Shaykh Khaz‘al, the ruler of Muhammara, and the Emir of Mascut and persuaded them on the necessity of establishing an independent Arab state.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Following the Ottoman defeats in the Libyan war (1911) and the Balkan wars (1912-1913), Rida published a pamphlet calling for solidarity and unity of Arabs for the salvation of their land and defending the might of Islam. He announced the creation of a "Superior Committee" whose aim was the establishment of an Islamic Union that would protect the Arabian Peninsula and the Arab nation and defend their rights from the Ottoman administration. The pamphlet was targeted specifically for the amirs and the Arab leaders of Hijaz, Najd, Yemen, and the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf. It warned them of impending European plots to gain control of Syria and the shores of the Arabian Peninsula as a first stage; followed by the occupation of Islamic holy cities and transportation of sacred Islamic relics to the Museums in Europe. Rida urged the Arab leaders to awaken and cease their internal feuds. The Superior Committee made the following demands:


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida had concluded that the "Europeanized" Ottoman Empire was impossible to be reformed, since it was solely dependent on Europe. For Rida, Ottoman statesmen were drenched deep in a "European complex" that they neglected the security of both the Arabs and even the Turks in Asia. Ottoman Europe was draining Ottoman resources to such an extent that the state failed to defend both its European and Asiatic territories. He proposed the authorities to transfer Istanbul into a purely military outpost and shift the capital either to Damascus or the Anatolian city of Konya. Arabs and Turks should join then in creating "local Asiatic military formations" capable of defending themselves in case of foreign danger. Priority should be given to defending the Hijaz and the two holy sanctuaries in Mecca and Medina and the lands adjacent to them.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Beginning from 1912, Rida would play an important leadership role in Decentralist political factions. The Egyptian nationalists, especially the Watan party, attacked “the Society of the Arab Union”("Jam‘iyyat ul-lttihad al-Arabi") as a conspiracy that sought conflict with the Turks, secession of Arab countries from the Ottoman Empire, and establish an Arab Caliphate. The allegations would be denied by Rida. Simultaneously, Rida began making sharp public attacks against the CUP. Rida believed that the party aimed to "intermix the nations of the Empire with the Turkish race". Initially, the society had limited themselves to achieve unity between the rulers of the Arabian Peninsula and defending the Arab countries from the Committee of Union and Progress. However, Rida would later explicitly advocate for Arab secessionism from the Ottoman Empire.


title: Rashid Rida

text: In 1913, CUP members would launch a coup to establish a one-party state under a "de facto" triumvirate of the "Three Pashas"(Enver Pasha, Talaat Pasha and Djemal Pasha). During the years of World War, both Arabists and Salafis were persecuted harshly by Jamal Pasha, the CUP leader who held military and civilian powers in Syria. Many Arabists would be court-martialed and executed, and many Salafi scholars exiled. This would lead to prominent Salafis such as Tahir al-Jaza'iri and Rashid Rida to support the British-backed Arab revolt led by Sharif Hussain. Harshly condemning the 1913 coup, Rida denounced the Young Turks as the “enemy of Arabs and of Islam" who sought the degrading of Arabs. In a radical shift from his early activism focused on educational reforms based on the salafi model, by 1913 Rida had started organizing against the Ottoman government. He espoused the movement to establish a new Islamic pan-Arab empire which would include the Arabian Peninsula, Syria and Iraq.


title: Rashid Rida

text: It was during this period that Rashid Rida would join the ranks of Ibn Saud's boosters in the Arab World. Later on, this shift in stance was further accelerated by his resentment and disenchantment by the betrayal of Sharif Hussein and the scheming of Western colonial powers in the post-war era. Rida saw in Ibn Saud a strong Muslim ruler who had the vision and resolve to prevent British imperial designs in the Arab World. Rida's active promotion of "Najdi da'wa" was in direct contradiction to Abduh's denunciation of that movement.


title: Rashid Rida

text: On the eve of World War I, on 27 March 1914, Rashid Rida publicly alleged in "Al-Manar" that the CUP was assisting the Zionists in Palestine. He began to vocally participate in the Decentralist opposition to Zionists. Rida accused the Zionists of seeking to establish a Jewish state from "Palestine to the Euphrates" and warned that if the Zionists achieved their objectives; not a single Muslim would remain in "the Promised Land" of the Jewish tradition. To confront the Zionist threat in Palestine, Rida prescribed:"deliberation, determination, communal strength... acts and deeds, not talk and words" against the Jewish settlers declaring that "the time for action has come". Calls from prominent pan-Arab activists for violence against Jewish colonies accompanied by Rashid Rida's declaration of direct action were readily answered in Palestine. In the months before World War 1, youths across the towns in Palestine began taking organized steps to oppose the Zionists. "Al-Manar" would become a chief source for spreading Arab anti-semitic tropes; portraying Jews as those who controlled the finances of the European powers.


title: Rashid Rida

text: During World War I, Rashid Rida's activities primarily involved negotiating with the British and Sharif Husayn of Mecca, persuading them on the issue of establishing a united pan-Islamic state, with autonomy for different regions, in the scenario of an eventual collapse of the Ottoman Empire. His attitudes towards the British had been reserved and always suspected them of holding hidden ambitions in Arab countries. These suspicions became stronger after the British ignored his war-time appeals and were verified when he learned about the Sykes-Picot agreement to divide the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire between Britain and France. Since Rida identified the well-being of the Arabs with that of Islam, he considered Britain's actions as dangerous and hostile to not just Arabs, but all Muslims.


title: Rashid Rida

text: The injustice and humiliation imposed upon Muslims by the post-World War Order crafted by the Allied Powers and the betrayal of Sharif Husyan and his sons would lead to a radical phase of Rida's Pan-Islamist enterprise. He became a key figure in the transformation of Islamist politics in both Syria and Egypt, towards militant anti-Westernism. Hasan Al-Banna was a regular attendee of Rida's lectures in the mid-1920s. Rida stubbornly withheld any more attempts at mediation with Western powers and would turn vehemently anti-British. Viewing the Versailles peace treaty and its succeeding World order as worse than the War itself, Rida condemned democracy as a colonial deceit and proposed a Universal Islamic System as a substitute for the failed Wilsonian Peace.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida had already become an ardent advocate of Sunni revivalism through the theological framework of Hanbalism. He supported the militant Wahhābī movement in Central Arabia; a movement he considered as tied to his "Salafīyya" theology and committed himself to its defence. Rashid Riḍā was opposed to later developments of mystical thoughts and practices in Islam, and hence, was attracted by Wahhābī doctrines that called for "a pristine Islam" with a total rejection of sainthood and superstitions. He regularly attacked what he viewed as ‘spiritual dangers’ of the mystic orders that led to the neglect of the "Qurʾān" and "Sunna". Riḍā’ believed that the neglect of religious duties by Ṣūfīs and their pacifist teachings led to weakness of the Islamic society and the corruption of the "Ummah". Politically, Riḍā aligned himself with the Sultanate of Najd and publicly supported Ibn Saʿūd's military campaigns (1902-1934), seeing him as the only ruler capable of expelling the treacherous Sharif Ḥusayn from "Ḥijāz" and challenging the British.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rashid Rida managed a short-lived, yet influential, Islamic seminary known as "Dar al-Da'wa wal Irshad" (“The House of Invitation and Guidance”) during 1912–1918. It was an international institution which accommodated students from all parts of the Islamic World. Although it was forced to close-down due to financial difficulties and political turbulence of World War 1, the seminary would produce many prominent Islamic scholars and inspire future Islamic educational institutions.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Shibli Nomani, the principal of the subcontinental "Nadwat-ul-Ulama" had invited Rashid Rida to "Dar al-Ulum" in 1912. "Nadwat-ul-Ulama" had set goals that were fully compatible with those of the Arab "Salafiyya". Rida delivered two speeches in the Darul Uloom Nadwat ul-ʿulamāʾ in Lucknow. He also met several influential "Ahl-i Hadith" scholars on the occasion.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Upon his visit to "Nadwat al-Ulama", Rida also visited "Dar al-Ulum Deoband". During his stay, Deobandi scholar "Sayyid" Anwar Shah Kashmiri gave an Arabic lecture on "Qur'an", "Hadith", Hanafite "fiqh", methodology of Deobandi school, its intellectual background and the thought of Indian Islamic revivalist Shah Wali Allah Dehlawi. Amazed by the speech, Rida praised Anwar Shah Kashmiri and his Hanafi thought. After returning to Egypt, Rida wrote in "Al-Manar", praising Deoband:


title: Rashid Rida

text: In 1905, Rashid Rida spoke of the Salafis "(al-Salafiyya") as a collective noun in distinction with the Ash'aris in a theological sense. He would also refer to "Wahhabis" as Salafis. In the same year, "Al-Manar" published an article entitled “Speculative Theology is a "bid‘a" According to the Pious Predecessors.” He also wrote about the importance of following the "salaf" in their promotion of "ḥadīth" science – a position he promoted consistently during the succeeding years. Identifying Islamic revival as synonymous with the spread of "hadith" sciences, Riḍā saw a return to the proof-texts and mastery of various "hadith" disciplines as the sole remedy for reviving the "madhab Al-Salaf"(doctrines of the "Salaf").


title: Rashid Rida

text: In 1912, Salafi scholars Muhibb al Din al Khatib and Abd al Fattah Al Qatlan began to work together with Rashid Rida. Their "Salafiyya Bookstore" was relocated to join the famous Manar Bookstore ("Maktabat al-Manar") run by Rashid Rida.


title: Rashid Rida

text: In 1914, Rida defined "mad'hab al-salaf" as “nothing other than to act according to the "Qur'an" and the "sunnah" without any accretion, in the way that [the "salaf"] understood [Islam] at its inception.” Like his contemporary Islamic reformers and acolytes such as , Jamal al Din al Qasimi in Damascus; Rashid Rida also advanced Salafi theology as an integral part of his revivalist endeavours. Rida was critical of all kinds of speculative interpretation ("ta'wil") which went beyond what he considered as the apparent/literal meaning of the text of the Scriptures. Despite having been influenced by Ghazali in his youth, Rida criticised Ghazali's works due to the practice of "ta'wil" and mystical interpretation of the injunctions of the "sharia". Similar to the medieval theologian Ibn Taymiyya, Rida directed a much sharper criticism against Ibn Arabi, for his metaphysical doctrine of "Wahdat al Wujud".


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rashid Riḍā believed that only the "ḥadīth" specialists were endowed with the proper capability to revive the "Sunna". From 1915, he began constantly emphasizing that the scholars of the early "Ahl al-hadith" school were the ones who preserved the religion by resisting threats of heretical innovations. Hence, the methods of the "Muhaddithoon" in scrutinizing and using "ḥadīth" reports in law and creed had to be revived and followed in the society. Later in the 1920s, Rida and his students would proclaim themselves as following a ""Salafi" approach" in jurisprudence, thereby widening Salafi paradigm to impact the realm of law.


title: Rashid Rida

text: These Salafi reformers pereceived Athari theology as more rational than speculative theology. Rashid Rida defended Hanbalite condemnation of "Kalam", asserting that Hanbali theology had stronger orthodox religious foundations and defended conservative Islamic values from Western and secular ideologies more effectively. Rida stressed to his fellow disciples that Salafi theology was simple for the masses to acknowledge since it is like "walking on a straight path"; whereas studying Ash'ari theology amounted to "swimming in a deep sea, where one has to struggle against the waves of philosophical doubts and the currents of theoretical investigation".


title: Rashid Rida

text: Although Rida believed that "Ijtihad" was unlawful in the realm of 'Aqidah (Islamic theology), he sought to tone down the religious hostiltites between Salafis, Asharis and Maturidis; as well as between Sunnis, Ibadis, Shi'is, etc. He called upon all Muslims to unite by taking the pious forebears ("Salaf al-Salih") as their role models. Early issues of "al-Manar" emphasized the virtues of the "Salaf" and also extolled their feats; such as their intellectual dynamism and especially the early Islamic conquests. Rida believed that the period of the early Muslim community epitomized pristine Islam to its perfection.


title: Rashid Rida

text: From the medieval period, Sunni scholars had used the label "Salafi", to denote Muslims who professed Athari theology. Prior to the 1920s, when Salafi circles used the terms "mad'hab al Salaf" and "Salafiyya", they usually retained its theological meaning. This was how first Rida understood and used Salafi epithets. Late 19th century Salafi scholars such as Nu'man al Alusi and Mahmud Shukri Al Alusi also described Salafis ("al-salafiyyun") as those who accept the Divine attributes without explaining them rationally or falling into anthropomorphism. Najdi scholars such as Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan and Abd al-Latif ibn Abd al-Rahman too spoke of Salafi beliefs in the same way. Both Rida and his fellow Syrian reformer, Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi, referred to Salafis as Sunni Muslims who adopted Athari theology and rejected the allegorical interpretation of God's attributes. Yet on a few occasions before the 1920s, both Rida and Qasimi had used these terms in loose ways that would have puzzled an attentive reader.


title: Rashid Rida

text: From the 1920s onwards, Rida and his disciples would conceptually expand ""Salafiyya"" in a legal sense. In 1924, Rida described himself in the following terms: “I am a Salafi Muslim; I do not blindly follow any particular religious scholar and am not a partisan of any particular "mujtahid".” Rida claimed to directly use scriptural proofs on legal issues, as the "Salaf" had done. Rida's disciples too began promoting the term in the same way. In promoting the non-madhab or pre-madhab approach to Islamic law of the "Salaf", Rida and his followers, however, didn't dismiss the system of classical "Fiqh". They maintained that all four schools of law were virtuous and promoted reconciliation between them, while condemning sectarianism between schools.


title: Rashid Rida

text: The "Enlightenment Salafism" of Jamal al-Din Afghani and Muhammad 'Abduh did not partake of the literalist theology of Ibn Taymiyya. Rather, Abduh and Afghani were rationalist Ash'aris. The Abduh-Afghani school, however, was similar to Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim on legal principles such as importance of "Ijtihad" to interpret textual sources. However, they weren't literalists and did not promote unconditional authority of "hadiths". After the death of his mentor Abduh, Rashid Rida moved closer to traditional Salafi teachings and was seriously involved in editing and publishing of works of Ibn Taymiyya and like-minded scholars. Throghout his writings in "Al-Manar" and other works, he began espousing traditional Salafi legal and theological positions. Scholars such as Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqi drew Rida closer to the scholars of Najd and away from the rationalism of Abduh. Rida, adopting a Hadith-centric approach in his methodology would also associate with the "Ahl-i-Hadith" movement of the Indian subcontinent. Rida and "Ahl-i-Hadith" scholars would co-publish books propagating Salafi principles.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rashid Rida developed favourable views towards Wahhabis upon his arrival in Egypt in the 1890s; after reading about the movement in the histories of Al-Jabartī and Al-Nāṣiri. Thus, as early as the 1900s, Rashid Rida had hailed Ibn Saud's victories during the Saudi-Rashidi wars. A few years before Abduh's death, the term “"Salafiyya"” discretely found its way into Rashid Rida's seminal journal "Al-Manār". At first, Rida understood the word in a narrow theological sense and used it as an adjective that characterized the unique creed of the pious ancestors ("ʿaqīda" "wāḥida" "salafiyya"), which he openly equated with Hanbali theology. In a 1913 article, he declared that Najd, the heart of today's Saudi Arabia, was the region in which Salafi theology was the most widespread. However, during this stage, Rida had noted that "the Wahhabis were overcome with harshness ("jafāʾ") and exaggeration ("ghuluw") and were not “moderate” like the other Salafis in Iraq, the Hijaz, Greater Syria, and Egypt". In Rida's mind, moderation ("iʿtidāl") was a defining characteristic of the school of "Salafiyya".


title: Rashid Rida

text: After the First World War, Rashid Rida no longer saw the 'tradition-bound' "ulama", but rather, the rising class of Westernizing Muslim intelligentsia as his main opponents. Thus, Rida would become the most enthusiastic stalwart of Wahhabism. In 1919, he published Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's "Kashf al-Shubuhat" (Removal of Doubts); and by 1920, Rida had begun extolling ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab as a "Mujadid" of Islam in Nejd. Were it not for the excessive zeal of some of his supporters, and the conspiracies of his adversaries, Rida argued; the Wahhabi movement could have expanded and led Islamic revival all across the Islamic World. In 1922 Rashid Rida distributed a volume of essays containing writings by Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qudama, and Ibn Rajab; reportedly after payment from a Najdi merchant. This would stir a theological controversy between the Sufi and Salafi factions of Syria. For Rashid Rida, "Salafiyya" came to symbolise religious fervour and puritanical revival of old Islamic practices. The thrust to return to the ways of the pious ancestors ("Salaf") was also combined with doctrines of Arab pre-eminence. This also made him a committed supporter of Saudi military expansions and Wahhabi revival.


title: Rashid Rida

text: By rejecting "taqlid", and going back beyond the founders of the "Madh'habs" to the early community of the "Salaf", Rashïd Ridā and his followers would gravitate towards the Hanbalite reformist outlook of Ibn Taymiyya, with other scholarly influences like those of Al-Ghazāli getting rapidly replaced. As the most vocal medieval theologian who condemned Sufi innovations and heresies, Ibn Taymiyya exemplied the most authoritative classical scholar to the "Al-Manar" party. While politically pan-Islamist, in its social program "Salafiyya" was being increasingly be characterized by Puritanism and was facing opposition from conservative quarters like Al-Azhar. Meanwhile, they found support from other quarters with the revival of Wahhabism in Arabia and the "Ahl-i Hadith" movement in India, all of whom condemned Sufi innovations and saint-cults and looked up to Ibn Taymiyya as the greatest medieval scholar.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Following a series of catastrophic events in the aftermath of the World War, such as the ongoing Partition of the Ottoman Empire, the French occupation of Syria in 1920, the loss of Iraq and Greater Syria to the Mandatory Powers, the triumph of secular Kemalists in Turkey, the abolition of the Sultanate and the caliphate in 1922 and 1924 respectively; Rashid Rida's militant opposition to the European powers had reached its peak by the 1920s. He responded to these challenges by proposing a comprehensive pan-Islamist thesis in his famous book ""al-Khilafa aw al-Imama al-‘Uzma"" (The Caliphate or the Exalted Imamate), published in 1922. He called upon Muslims to rally behind the banners of their shared Islamic faith; shun the emerging nationalist currents, and stressed the role of Arab leadership in unifying Muslim ranks. Of utmost importance to his agenda was thwarting British imperialist goals in the Arabian peninsula. Although he greatly admired 'Abd al-Aziz and the religiosity of Wahhabis, he urged Sharif Husayn and Ibn Saud not to fight each other as late as 1919, and unite in the face of the colonial threat. Through the pages of "Al-Manar", Rida regularly called for Islamic unity against the European threat.


title: Rashid Rida

text: However, Sharif Husayn's rejection of Rida's overtures and his continued privileged relations with the British and the French would make Rida publicly condemn Husayn. By the 1920s, Husyan had taken control of Hejaz with British-backing and his sons Faysal and Abdallah were granted the Protectorates of Iraq and Transjordan; respectively. Rashid Rida castigated Sharif Husayn and his sons for their dynastic schemings in collusion with the colonial powers to betray their own people. For Rida, the king of the Hijaz was nothing more than a sellout and a pawn of the British Empire in their oppression of Arabs and Muslims. By 1923, Rida had begun to publicly call upon the Arabian emirs to free Hejaz from the Hashemite rule. Rida viewed Ibn Saud of the Sultanate of Najd as the most suitable candidate for this task, not only because he favoured the Wahhabis as the best hope for Arab and Islamic renaissance; but also because of their promising military-political capabilities to bring stability and security to the Hijaz, and defend it from any European imperial aggressions. In stark contrast to the Hashemite family, Ibn Saud and his faithful Wahhabi followers were pious Muslims striving to apply orthodoxy and orthopraxy in keeping with the doctrines of the "Salaf al-Salih" and hence the leadership of holy places of Islam was incumbent upon them. Two days after the Turkish Abolition of Caliphate, Sharif Husayn proclaimed himself as Caliph of Muslims in March 1924, initiating controversy across the Islamic World. Denouncing his proclamation as illegitimate due to his dependence on the British and his betrayal of Muslims, Rida condemned Sharif Husayn's declaration as a desecration of Islam and viewed him as a "Mulhid" (heretic) who was dangerous to the entire "Ummah".


title: Rashid Rida

text: In the Arabian Peninsula, the Wahhabi revival led by the expanding Sultanate of Najd had led to military clashes with the Hashemite Kingdom of Hijaz by 1924. Since the Hashemites also ruled Iraq and Transjordan, the struggle for Hijaz assumed pan-Arab as well as global pan-Islamic dimensions; due to the significance of the Islamic Holy Cities. Throughout the Islamic World, the Sharīf was regarded with increasing disdain. Rida would wholeheartedly champiom 'Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud's Hejaz campaigns during 1924-1925 through "Al-Manar", viewing the nascent Saudi state as the best hope for Islamic Renaissance and portrayed it as the last major bastion of Islamic resistance to the colonial order. In August 1924, Ibn Sa’ud launched a final, decisive offensive against the Hijaz and, following his defeat in the Battle of Mecca in December, Husayn was forced to abdicate. Rida enthusiastically welcomed the conquest of Mecca by the Sultanate of Najd, portraying it as a historic event and a long-yearned opportunity for Muslims to recover the lost Islamic glory. Within a few years, 'Abd al-Azeez ibn Saud had united Hejaz and Northern Arabia, gained international recognition and prestige; and his saga had become a success-story and an Islamic alternative to Atatürk in Turkey. King 'Abd al-'Aziz's greatness, independence, and religiosity combined with his pragmatic promotion of technology to develop his state, exemplied balanced reform to Rashid Rida.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rashid Rida vocally defended the new Saudi regime from its Muslim and non-Muslim detractors; proclaiming that the Wahhabis were "the best Muslims" who stayed true to the doctrines of "Imam" Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, one of the four celebrated patronyms of Sunni legal schools, and the well-known Hanbalite reformer Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah. Making anti-Shi'ism "a major trait of his school", Rida would defend the Wahhabi demolition of the shrines of Al-Baqi, and fiercely denounced those Shi'ites who were outraged by it, condemning them as ""Raafidites"" who were the instruments of Persians. Through his articles in "Al-Manar", Rida hailed the Saudi conquest as a sensational moment in Islamic history, declaring it as:


title: Rashid Rida

text: Ibn Saud came to represent everything Rida had expected from a just Muslim "Sultan". He rebutted all the circulating rumours regarding the Wahhabis desecrating graves, slaughtering women and children in their conquests etc.; condemning them as "British propaganda". In reality, Rida clarified, Wahhabis restored Islamic rule to the Holy city of Mecca and guaranteed that Hejaz would not have to go through the oppression of despotic rulers in the future. Praising Ibn Saud as a model Islamic ruler that the post-Ottoman Muslim world needed, Rida wrote:


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida's subsequent political efforts focused on two fronts: campaign for Syrian independence and support for Ibn Sa‘ud's efforts to unify the Arabian Peninsula. When the Great Syrian Rebellion broke out in 1925, Rida and the Syro-Palestinian Congress provided it full support, with financial backing from the nascent Saudi state. However, by 1927, the rebellion had been crushed and the nationalist factions of Syro-Palestinian Congress parted ways with Rida, seeking compromise with the British and French. Rida vehemently objected to this and further strengthened ties to Ibn Saud's government, which he regarded as the only sovereign Islamic government that stood up to the colonial powers and guarded the holiest sites in Islam. He was also active in Pan-Islamist organisations that sought to rally Muslim peoples against the European imperial powers. Fearing the influence of Rashid Rida across the Islamic World and his connections to the Saudis, the British Intelligence in Cairo closely followed Rida's activities.


title: Rashid Rida

text: As the new ruler of Hejaz, 'Abd al-Azeez ibn Saud convened a Pan-Islamic Congress in Mecca in June–July 1926; with the objectives of international Islamic recognition of Saudi rule of Hejaz, consultations on "Hajj" (pilgrimage) services, and also to erase the past reputation of sectarianism associated with the Wahhabis. (A few years later, Ibn Saud would wage a military campaign against the "Ikhwan" rebels, who were notorious for their fanaticism across the Islamic World, signalling the future religious reforms to transpire. Rashid Rida would enthusiastically back their elimination) Rida was the most prominent delegate of the Congress, who was entrusted as the organiser of the conference. Ibn Saud charged Rida with convening the conference on his behalf, drafting the conference protocols and writing the king's opening address. In his private capacity, Rida would also support the stances of Ibn Saud and the Saudi delegates. Earlier, Rida had been an important delegate in the preparatory subcommittee for the 1926 Islamic Congress for Caliphate held in Cairo, which declared that the Caliphate was still possible. However he was not an active participant in the Cairo Congress itself and considered the organizers to be inefficient; privately predicting doom for the Congress due to its lack of resolve and irreconciliable sectarian-political differences. Meanwhile, Rida was enthusiastic about the Meccan Congress and became its most prominent advocate. Delegates of Islamic religious organisations and Muslim governments across the World attended the Congress. Rida pressed for a collective oath of the Congress delegates, pledging to rid the Arabian Peninsula of all foreign influences. Far exceeding the initial references of the Congress, Rida also proposed an Islamic Pact ("mithal Islami") between Muslim governments, envisioning the assembly as a precursor to a league of Muslim Nations. However, no significant resolutions could be passed and no subsequent congress in Mecca was ever held due to the prevalence of deep religious, doctrinal and political differences across the Muslim world. Despite this, with prominent figures like Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Hajji Amin al-Husseini in attendance, the conference marked the consolidation of the alliance between Pan-Islamists and the leaders of the new Wahhabi state.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida would publish a treatise ""The Wahhabis and Hijaz"" wherein he set forth the case for Wahhabi rule over Hejaz. The treatise condemned Sharif Husayn and his family for their selling of Arab lands in complicity with the agenda colonial powers; for the sake of their personal dynastic ambitions. Rida warned in his treatise about the British manipulations across the region to dominate the region and subjugate Muslims. Defending the religious credentials of Wahhabis, Rashid Rida cited "Tarikh Najd", a treatise composed by 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad Aal-al Shaykh, the son of Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al Wahhab. He asserted that Wahhabis had sincere zeal for the Islamic faith and were amongst the most hostile to foreign influences. Rida presented their leader Ibn Saud as the strongest and the most capable Islamic leader who would stand up to the British imperial programme. The notion that Western powers colluded with their Arab client-states to dominate Muslim lands and secularise them would become a pillar of subsequent Islamic revivalist movements. The oldest and most influential of these movement would be the "Ikhwan al-Muslimeen" (Muslim Brotherhood), founded by the Egyptian school teacher Hasan al-Banna in 1928, who was influenced by Rashid Rida's ideas.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Although Rida defended the Wahhabis passionately, he had often acknowledged the adverse effects of Najdi zeal and acknowledged the existence of fierce exaggerators ("ghulat") amongst the Najdis and their zealotry due to general state of "Jahl" (ignorance). However, he strove to downplay their importance by stressing that King Abd al-Aziz was a reasonable man. In Rida's view, it was better to judge the Najdis based on their pragmatic and moderate political leader or to accept the fact that some fanaticism was better for the "Ummah" than the erosion of Islamic identity. While he acknowledged the religious militancy of the Najdis, he considered their attitude to be better than the resignation and undeclared defeatism of other Muslims. Even though he defended the Wahhabi movement against its critiques and despite his embracal of Hanbali legal principles, he had found his Hanbali counterparts in Saudi Arabia to be unaware of modern developments, a point that he conveyed to them.


title: Rashid Rida

text: As an exponent of Athari theology, Rida had argued that allegorical interpretations of the scriptures ("ta'wil") were sometimes appropriate because without them many Muslims would have abandoned their religion. Due to pressures of the modern era; the message of Islam needed to be articulated in a way that was consistent with scientific discourses. He took it upon himself to counsel the Najdi scholars on the necessity of balanced reform and mailed them copies of "Tafsir al-Manar" for learning. In a letter addressed to Abdul Rahman al Sa'adi (d. 1957), the teacher of the famous Salafi scholar Ibn 'Uthaymin (d. 2001), Rida advised:


title: Rashid Rida

text: When news of , a Najdi scholar who clashed with Rida's Salafi disciples in Hejaz over the former's beliefs in , were spreading, Rida sought to control damaging rumours. Other prominent Wahhabi scholars such as would intervene on behalf of Rida's disciples and refute Ibn Bulayhid to affirm the sphericity of earth. In an "Al-Manar" article about education and the dangers of stagnation, Rida criticized flat-earthers and enemies of science. He insisted that the scholars of Najd could not be counted among these ignoramuses and that rumors to the contrary verged on absurdity:


title: Rashid Rida

text: However, by 1926, any references to the "excessive zeal" of some of the Wahhabis had disappeared. The initial failure of the Wahhabi movement was blamed on the corrupt Ottomans and on the plots of “the country of the Satanic ruses” (i.e. the British empire). Saluting Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab as “the "Mujaddid" of the twelfth century” who taught the people of Najd the proper understanding of "Tawḥīd" as expounded by Ibn Taymiyya, Rida hailed his movement as one of "reform and renewal" ("al-iṣlāḥ waʾl-tajdīd"). He implored the followers of his "Islah" Movement to support the Wahhabis against the three hazards that threatened the "Ummah" from within: i) the “Shi‘a fanatics”; ii) the "grave-worshippers” (i.e., the Sufis) and iii) the “Westernised preachers of atheism". Wahhabi "ulema" would directly collaborate with Rida to publish their works through Rida's "Al-Manar" publishing house. During the 1920s, "Al-Manar" would publish over two dozen Wahhabi works, which included "fatwas" refuting the "Ikhwan". Most notably, Rida would compile the famous collection of texts titled "Majmūʿat al-rasāʾil waʾl-masāʾil al-Najdiyya" (“The Compendium of Najdī Epistles and Responsa”); and publish it in Cairo as four volumes. Another major work published by Rida was the book "Majmuʿat al-tawhid al-najdiyya" (Monotheistic Collection from Najd), a package of texts compiling the writings of the most prominent Wahhabi scholars of the past.


title: Rashid Rida

text: By 1927, throwing his adversaries off-balance, Rida asserted that "Wahhabis" had become a large group in Egypt, with adherents among the religious scholars of Al-Azhar University and other religious institutions; assisted by the popularity of "Islahi" ideals of "al-Manar". Openly claiming that his journal promoted a "Wahhabi" approach to Islam was a bold and ironic way of siding with the Najdis while making the point that they did not deserve to be stigmatized. Rida had already started to adopt some of the Wahhabis' more uncompromising attitudes to religious reform. Rida's opponents accused that his transformation to be the official spokesman for the Wahhabites was due to the financial assistance he received from Ibn Saud. However, Rida justified himself by stating that it was his scholarly research and extensive knowledge, that propelled him to defend Wahhabism.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Despite the mixed results of the rehabilitation campaign and the difficulties that some of his disciples encountered, Rida remained devoted to King ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz until the very end. For all his occasional faults, the Saudi ruler was, in the eyes of Rida, the best available Muslim statesman, and his kingdom offered the best prospect of becoming the political arm of the balanced "Islahi" movement. Past experience had made Rida recognise the realistic difficulties of putting his ideal reformist efforts into practice: it required money as well as political support. The strong relationship between Riḍā and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz would also facilitate the movement of several of Riḍā's disciples to the Ḥijāz in the 1920s. Assisted by Ibn Saud, their efforts would also mark the shift from the exclusivist, narrow-minded Classical Wahhabism prone to "Takfirism"; to a new reformed Wahhabi tradition open to outside world. The revived Wahhabi movement was more tolerant and no longer hostile to the surrounding populations, unlike its earlier iterations.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida's endorsement of Wahhabism would be a decisive factor in the spread of its influences beyond the kingdom's borders. Wahhabi scholars would consistently emphasize their affinity to mainstream Sunni legal schools and affirm that their tradition was amongst the several manifestations of the Islamic reform movement of "Salafiyya". To further mainstreamise and refine Wahhabism; 'Abdul Aziz would also encourage the Saudi "ulema" to tone down their dogmatic views. Rida's disciples in Hejaz would make significant efforts to reform Wahhabis towards "Salafiyya". One of the biggest efforts towards reintegration of Wahhabism into the mainstream Sunni World was through the establishment of "" ("The House of Unity"), a religious educational institute in Ta’if headed by Muhammad Bahjat al Bitar, a disciple of Rashid Rida. Another disciple , would be appointed as the president of the Meccan Department of Printing and Publication ("raʾīs shuʿbat al-ṭabʿ wa-l-nashr bi-Makka"). Based on the advise of Rida, Al-Fiqi would start a new Islamic journal "Al-Islah" in Mecca, modelled after "Al-Manar". "Al-Islah" championed the key doctrines of "Salafiyya" and integrated Arabia into the transnational network of Islamic reformist efforts while fostering a broader sense of Islamic identity amongst the Arab elite.


title: Rashid Rida

text: During the 1920s, Sayyid Rashid Rida and his Salafi disciples formed Young Men's Muslim Association (YMMA); an influential Islamist youth organisation that spearheaded attacks against liberal ideas and Western cultural trends. The establishment of Saudi rule over Hejaz marked a landmark event in the history of the Arab world in particular and the Islamic world in general. The alliance of Rida and the Wahhabi state laid the foundational coalitions of a fundamentalist Pan-Islamist movement, a new Sunni orthodoxy, with direct support from Saudi Arabia since 1926. Inspired by the theological paradigm elaborated by Rashid Rida, his disciple Hasan al-Banna founded the Society of the Muslim Brothers ("Jama'at al-Ikhwan al-Muslimeen") in 1928; which Rida himself was on the verge of joining shortly before his death. The Muslim Brotherhood would become the most influential movement of Pan-Islamism across the Arab world. The successful establishment of an Islamic state in heartland of Islam significantly advanced the proliferation of the Islamic revivalist programme envisioned by Rashid Rida.


title: Rashid Rida

text: With the consolidation of Saudi rule, the Sufi institutions in Mecca were closed and replaced with Rashid Rida's Salafi comrades and the Najdi "ulema". Sufi influence was being curtailed and "Salafiyya" movement was being promoted on an international scale. In 1961, the Islamic University of Medina was founded and it would serve as an international seminary for propagation of Salafi "Da'wa" (preaching) globally, with co-ordination of leading Salafis all over the world. Vast majority of its students came outside Saudi Arabia with wide-ranging scholarships. After graduation, these students would return to their native lands with prestige and would get appointed as imams, leaders, etc. or found "Da'wa" organisations of their own.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rashid Rida died on his way back to Cairo from Suez, where he had gone to see off his patron, King of Saudi Arabia Abdulaziz Ibn Saud. Rida had committed most of his resources for Islamic reform through publishing and other revivalist efforts. Hence, he faced financial difficulties throughout his career and he died poor and in debt.


title: Rashid Rida

text: The Sheikh of Al Azhar, Mustafa al Maraghi, remarked that Rida had three main opponents: Muslim modernists, non-Muslims, and religious obscurantists.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida's vision of "tawhid" formed the central theme of his reformist teachings. Rida believed that "tawhid" in was supported by rationality and opposed all forms of superstitious beliefs, oppression and ignorance. Holding firmly to the essence of "tawhid" enabled the first three generations of Muslims ("Salaf") to build a just and mighty civilization. The later Muslims' deviation from pure "tawhid", Rida argued, led to their decline and subjugation. Echoing Ibn Taymiyyah, Rida also condemned the practice of "tawassul" as "bid'ah" (religious innovation).


title: Rashid Rida

text: Through "Al-Manar", Rida circulated tracts calling for the destruction of tombs and structures built above graves and the banning of practices associated with grave veneration which he condemned as "shirk" (polytheism). Among the various acts and beliefs Rida condemned as "shirk" are included:


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rashid Rida excommunicated those who adhered to such practises as apostates. Like Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, Rida had differentiated between general declaration of excommunication and the specific declaration on the state of an individual. In Rida's view, "Al Udhr bil Jahl" ("excuse of ignorance") constituted a valid barrier from pronouncing "takfir" (excommunication) on a specific individual. However, Rida excluded fundamental religious issues from the scope of the "excuse of ignorance", including in affairs such as the denial of "tawhid", performing acts of worship such as supplication and sacrifices to the creation, rejection of the Qur'an and denial of the prophethood of Muhammad. In issues like unawareness of "tawhid" and lapsing into "shirk" (polytheism), "the excuse of ignorance" can only be considered for those who newly embraced Islam in a region.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida believed that the early Muslims' upholding of "tawhid" and "sunnah" were the primary reason for their spiritual and material success. They were motivated by Quranic teachings which taught them to be independent, free from "taqlid" (blind adherence), and prepared them to spiritually and materially lead mankind. Thus they were able to establish a mighty civilisation unrivalled across the world with highly advanced science and technology and spread civilisation across all the lands they conquered, freeing its inhabitants from oppression and "Jahiliyya"(darkness). Rida believed that the Muslim decline started after the end of the Islamic Caliphates in the 13th century, when the Arab rule ceased and power shifted to the non-Arabs who abandoned the "Sunnah" and innovated various superstitions that contradicted the Scriptures. Based on his reading of "hadith", Rida believed that after this decline, a second Islamic victory is prophesied. He undertook initiatives for a global Islamic Renaissance in that path.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida believed that the Muslim World faced acute crises in spiritual, educational and legislative affairs. He identified Islamic religious reform "as a triple unification of doctrine, law, and ethics." Rida's adoption of "Wahhabiyyah's" puritanical tenets after 1918 symbolised his adoption of a Hanbalite reformist framework, to carry out his revivalist efforts. While strictly adhering to "Qur'an" and "Hadith", the Hanbali school called for the application of Ijtihad where the Scriptures are vague. It also accepted the general Islamic principle of "Maslaha"(public interest). In order to expound a comprehensive Islamic system of law, government, education, and ethics in the modern world; Rida revived the classical Islamic theory of life. The reconstitution of the Islamic system was only possible by directly returning to the original sources. In this, he also defended the superiority of "naql" (textual sources) over "'aql" (rational sources) and condemned philosophy and "tasawwuf".


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rashid Rida travelled to Europe only once, for a specific political purpose, and was ignorant of European languages. He disliked the social life of Europeans and was hostile to Christianity. Despite this, he had a robust sensitivity to challenges faced by Muslims in the modern world. He believed that the inner decay of Muslims as well as the efforts of Catholic Church, prevented Europeans from embracing Islam. He wanted Muslims to accept aspects of modernity only to the extent to which it was essential for the recovery of Islamic strength. By referring to the juristic principles of necessity, he considered it as a duty for Muslims to study modern sciences and technology. Rida repeatedly urged the legal experts and the "Ulema" of his era to come together and produce legal works based directly from "Quran" and "hadith", easy for all believers to comprehend and in accordance with the needs of the age.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rashid Rida was a leading exponent of Salafism and was especially critical of what he termed the "blind following" ("taqlid") of excessive Sufism, which he believed to have distorted the original message of Islam. He distinguished between imitating a "madhab" and following Muhammad using the commendable term "following" ("ittba)," which denoted following the prophetic "sunnah" through textual proofs. He encouraged both laymen and scholars to read and study directly the primary sources of Islam by themselves. This principle also enabled Rida to address a number of contemporary subjects and challenges in a modern way, articulating his defense of Islam in a renovated language that sometimes led him to hold un-conventional views. Not only was "taqlid" inherently blameworthy, Rida also condemned its resultant factionalism, writing:


title: Rashid Rida

text: Condemning "taqlid" theologically, Rida argued that rigid adherence to the "madhabs" have divided the "ummah" into sectarian factions; almost causing the jurists to worship the four Imams like deities, which contradicted "tawhid". Moreover, it blocked the independent thinking of Muslims and prohibited their right to access the scriptures directly, which enabled the tyrants, supported by the corrupt "ʿulamaʾ" (scholars), to justify oppression and preserve their despotism. He would also explain that the hadiths regarding the saved sect ("al-firqa al-nājiya") referred to the "ahl al-Ittiba" (the people who followed proof-texts) who are the "saved ones" ("al-Najin"), while the "madhab" fanatics belonged to the innovated group. Despite this, Rida did not ignore the legacy of the four "mad'habs" and viewed their legal literature as a resource from which he derived rulings, adapting to changing circumstances. Although he placed the four "imams" at the peak of juristic excellence, he claimed that Ibn Taymiyya was practically more relevant for contemporary Muslims.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida's criticism of "Taqlid" extended well beyond the confines of Islamic law and theology to include socio-political developments. He believed that socio-political associations and its consequent "Asabiyyah" (partisanships) influenced "madhab" affiliations and fanaticism. He was far more critical of "Al-Mutafarnijun" (Europeanised emulators); whom he regarded as being guilty of "Taqlid" and abandoning the path of the "Salaf" (pious forefathers). While the "madhab" partisans are influenced by administrative positions of power and promote governmental interests; the "Mutafarnijun" create more damage by dividing the "Ummah" based on different languages, nationalities and countries and conceiving new identities within the nation-states. Labelling the Europeanisers who associated with new national identities as "Mulhid" (heretics) and "Murtadd" (apostates), Rida wrote:


title: Rashid Rida

text: Drawing on Hanbali and Shafi'i legal traditions that supported the continuity of "Ijtihad", Rida also employed its doctrine into practice. Rida defined the application of "Ijtihad" strictly in terms of "pure adherence to the provisions of the "Qur’an" and "Sunnah" and upon the understanding of the "Salaf al-Salih"" and restricted its scope by enforcing the authority of "'Ijma" (scholarly consensus). Rida's position on the scope of "ijtihād" would pave a middle-ground between the Modernist conceptualisation of "ijtihād" as an all-inclusive creative endeavour and the minimalist view of "ijtihād" which restricted it to a narrow legal spectrum of "mad'hab" partisanship. South Asian thinker Muhammad Iqbal (d. 1938) represented the former position, while the Deobandi movement advocated the latter. During his life-time when "Taqlid" tradition was predominant, "fatwas" were not issued by "Ijtihad". Beginning from 1903, Rida issued fatwas in "Al-Manar" answering questions sent by readers from all corners of the Islamic World and proclaimed the "fatwas" as his "Ijtihad" (independent legal reasoning). His exceptional claim to exercise of "Ijtihad" would impart a major influence on future Islamic revivalist movements.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rashid Rida believed that the management of state affairs and its principles were an integral part of Islamic faith. Accordingly, he called for the restoration of Islamic Caliphate and waged fierce battles against secularist trends that emerged across the Arab World during the early twentieth century. He denounced calls for separation of religion and state, advocated by some of the former students of Muhammad 'Abduh, as the most dangerous threat to Islam. By the 1920s, Rida had discovered that his most formidable opponents were not the tradition-bound Sufi-Ash'arite "ulama" of Al-Azhar but the Western-educated secularists who pushed Abduh's utilitarian principles far beyond. Rida made vehement denunciations and attacks against modernists such as Ali Abdel Raziq and Ahmed Safwat. By this point, Rida's main priority had shifted to repeal what he considered "Western invasion of Islamic culture". This shift was also evident in his promotion of the Wahhabi cause and active promotion of "Salafiyya", championing the works of Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qayyim, Ibn Qudama, etc.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida called upon Muslims to shun the imitation of foreigners and their ways, and labelled the Islamic modernists as “false renewers” and “heretics" whose efforts were harming Muslim societies. He would also severely arraign the scholars who provided "fatwas" (religious rulings) that aligned with the ideals of modernists. Rida asserted that a society which properly obeyed "Sharia" would be able to successfully resist both capitalism as well as the disorder of class-based socialism; since such a society would be unsusceptible to its temptations. The Westernising turn of Abduh's modernist disciples, was defied by Rida. He would propel towards the nascent Wahhabi state of Saudi Arabia and its "Ulema". Rida despised the Westernising and secularising trends in Muslim societies and viewed them as the direct outcome of the modernist movement. Dismissing the modernist advocacy of cultural synthesis, he emphasized the self-sufficiency and comprehensiveness of Islamic faith, and adopted a hostile attitude towards Western powers; socially and politically. Rida's polemical posture against the modernists and themes of Islamic self-sufficiency, anti-Westernism, etc. would portend the emergence of transnational Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood and "Jamaat-i Islami".


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rashid Rida believed that the rising individualism, irreligion, materialism, rationalization and cult of science in European societies after the World War were stepping stones to civilisational suicide. Hence, he adopted an antagonistic approach towards liberal ideas and was deeply suspicious of anything European. In his treatise "Yusr al-Islam wa Usül at-Tashri' al-'Ämm" (“The Accommodating Spirit of Islam and the Sources of General Jurisprudence”), Rida explains that he favors a "middle path" between "madhab" partisanship of religious obscurantists and Westernising approach adopted by modernists:


title: Rashid Rida

text: The Zionist programme to create a Jewish state in Palestine was a source of concern throughout the Islamic world during the early 20th century. Rashid Rida was one of the earliest scholarly critics of Zionism and wrote an article condemning the movement as early as 1898. Strongly chiding many Arabs for their silence and idleness regarding the Zionist question, Rida appealed:


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida warned very early on that Jews were being mobilised by Zionists to migrate to Palestine with European approval. He urged the Arabs to wake up and take action against the Zionists. Quoting leaders of Zionist movement themselves, Rida warned that the goal of the movement was to establish a Zionist state in Palestine. Rida also directed critique against Jews in general. In his 1929 article “"Thawrat Filistin"” (""The Palestinian Revolution""), Rida propagated anti-semitic stereotypes. Rida claimed that Jews were a "selfish and chauvinist, cunning and perfidious" people who sought to exploit and exterminate other people. He alleged that Jews had plotted in Europe to undermine the power of the Roman Catholic Church and introduced freemasonry, through which they manipulated the Bolsheviks and the Young Turks against the Russian and Ottoman empires respectively. Rida believed that capitalism was created by the Jews as a tool to "enslave the whole world through their money".


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida regarded the Zionist enterprise as part of the wider British imperial scheme to consolidate their regional domination and provoke "fitna" (civil strife) amongst Muslims. In his 1929 treatise ""Thawrat Filastin"" (""The Palestinian Revolution""), Rida identified Jews as historically the most fanatical people in "asabiyya" (in-group solidarity), who refused to assimilate with other cultures. He listed a number of historical crimes of the Israelites such as their offenses against the prophets of Islam, their lapsing into "shirk" (polytheism), and "riba" (usury). According to Rida, God punished the Jews for these "crimes", taking away their kingdom and subjecting them to centuries of Christian persecution. Rida asserted that the Jews had gained immense influence in capitalist countries through their control of the Western banking system, and thus had succeeded in turning the Christian states against Muslims. According to Rida, the Jews were seeking the resurrection of their religious state in Palestine to pave the way for the arrival of their long-awaited Messiah, who in fact is the Anti-Christ, and who would be killed by the true Messiah, Jesus as per the Islamic prophesies of the second coming of Jesus. Impatient with their endless wait, free-thinkers skeptical of religious eschatology had founded the Zionist movement. Since the Jews were only competent in financial sector, but not in military affairs, Rida argued, the Zionists were backed by the military might of British.


title: Rashid Rida

text: In 1933, Rida issued a "fatwa" forbidding all Muslims to sell land to Jews in Palestine, ruling that such sales represented the "betrayal of Islam" and complicity with Zionism. In response to a query from an Arab living in Berlin under the new Nazi regime, Rida propounded that the Germanic people had begun taking their vengeance upon the Jews for their roles in undermining Germany during the First World War. Although Rida's theology was ideologically at odds with Nazi doctrines, he nevertheless viewed them as sweeping away heresies and false beliefs, clearing the path for the ultimate triumph of the Islamic faith. He viewed Kemalism and Communism as the immediate enemies of Islam, both of which were directly threatening Muslim territories.


title: Rashid Rida

text: Fervent anti-Zionism linked with themes of Judeo-Bolshevism were a predominant component of Rida's writings until his death. He claimed that Jewish elites directed Freemasons and left-wing instigators to foment revolutions against religious governments across the world to spread atheism and communism. In the case of the Ottoman Empire, he identified Young Turks as the masonic fifth columnists; who were conspiring with Zionists in building a Jewish Kingdom of Zion in Palestine. Rida viewed Jewish elites as economically controlling Western nations through their domination of the capitalist banking system and believed that they were making efforts to generate a civilisational war between Islamic and Western worlds. Four months before his death, Rida paid a ringing tribute for his disciple Grand Mufti Hajji Amin al-Husayni; praising him as a brilliant Pan-Islamic "Mujahid" leader of Palestinians, and extolled his skillful efforts. In one of his final texts published in 1935, Rida called upon all Muslims to unite urgently and focus all their resources to defeat the Jews. In Rida's view:


title: Rashid Rida

text: Rida was highly sensitive to the openly hostile and Islamophobic attitudes prevalent amongst Orientalists and European Christians of his era. Before promoting the vision of a Caliphate as a means of Islamic revival, Rida was trying to counteract the activities of Christian missionaries for founding a society to for organised Islamic "Da'wa" outside Ottoman territories. He was also concerned by what he regarded as sympathies of native Arab Christians to colonial powers. When he organised his Caliphate theory, his vision would have recognised both Judaism and Christianity, granting non-Muslims the right to serve in administration and judicial system.(except the Islamic "shar'i" courts)


title: Rashid Rida

text: In Rida's view, the only ‘true’ mission of solid faith in Christian history was that of the disciples of Jesus; and any later missionary attempt was false. Riḍā perceived the Christian missions as an integral part of the colonial presence in the Muslim world and was convinced that Europe made use of religion as a political instrument for mobilising European Christians by inflaming their ‘fanatic’ feelings against other nations. In spite of this, Rida did promote efforts to reconcile between Muslims and Christians.