Islamic Reform: Politics and Social Change in Late Ottoman Syria

210 Pages·1990·13.21 MB·English

by  David Dean Commins

Islamic Reform
Studies in Middle Eastern History
General Editors: Bernard Lewis of the Annenberg Research Institute and Cleveland
E. Dodge, Professor of Near Eastern Studies Emeritus, Princeton University; Itamar
Rabinovich of Tel Aviv University; and Roger M. Savory of the University of
Toronto.
The Turban for the Crown
The Islamic Revolution in Iran
SAID AMIR ARJOMAND
Language and Change in the Arab Middle East
The Evolution of Modern Arabic Political Discourse
AMI AYALON
Islamic Reform
Politics and Social Change in Late Ottoman Syria
DAVID DEAN COMMINS
King Hussein and the Challenge of Arab Radicalism
Jordan, 1955-1967
URIEL DANN
Egypt, Islam, and the Arabs
The Search for Egyptian Nationhood, 1900-1930
ISRAEL GERSHONI AND JAMES JANKOWSKI
East Encounters West
France and the Ottoman Empire in the Eighteenth Century
FATMA MUGE GOQEK
The Fertile Crescent, 1800-1914
A Documentary Economic History
EDITED BY CHARLES ISSAWI
Other Volumes are in Preparation
Islamic Reform
Politics and Social Change
in Late Ottoman Syria
David Dean Commins
New York Oxford
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
1990
Oxford University Press
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Copyright © 1990 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publieation Data
Commins, David Dean
Islamic reform : politics and social change in late Ottoman Syria
David Dean Commins.
p. cm.—(Studies in Middle Eastern history)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-19-506103-9
1. Islam—Syria—History—19th century. 2. Islam—Syria—
History—20th century. I. Title. II. Series: Studies in Middle
Eastern history (New York, N.Y.)
BP63.S95C66 1990 89-36211
956.91'03—dc20 CIP
98765432 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For Mom
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PREFACE
In the autumn of 1979 Professor Richard P. Mitchell returned from the Middle East
with a handwritten manifesto by a proponent of Islamic reform in Syria. Entitled
"Our Call," it outlined the agenda of religious reformers:
Return to the Quran and the Sunnah, and understand them as the
pious forefathers had.
Call Muslims to act according to their religion's teachings.
Warn Muslims against polytheism in its various forms.
Revive free Islamic thought within the bounds of Islamic principles.
Set up an Islamic society and implement God's law on earth.
The anonymous author then listed the leading thinkers of the Islamic reform
movement: Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328), Jamal al-Dm al-Qasimi (d. 1914),
'Abd al-Razzaq al-Bitar (d. 1917), and later figures.
The following summer in Beirut I met the late Zafir al-Qasimi, the son of Jamal
al-Din al-Qasimi, the foremost advocate of religious reform in turn-of-the-century
Damascus. When I returned to the Middle East in 1981, I met again with Mr.
Qasimi, and he put me in touch with his nephews in Damascus, Muhammad Sa'id
al-Qasimi and Samih al-Ghabrah. The former holds the Qasimi library in his home,
and he graciously allowed me to study the manuscripts and papers of his grandfather
Jamal al-Din. I also benefited from Mr. Ghabrah's interest in the history of
Damascus and familiarity with his grandfather's life and work. To each of these
members of the Qasimi family I am deeply grateful for their kindness and hospitality
during my stay in Damascus.
A. U.S. Department of Education Fulbright-Hays Research Abroad award made
possible my research in Damascus. I would like to thank Mr. Jonathan Owen of the
U.S. Information Agency in Damascus for his help in obtaining the necessary
permits to conduct research at the Zahiriyyah Library and the Center for Historical
Documents, and for smoothing over the rough edges of daily life in Damascus. At
the Center for Historical Documents, Ms. Da'd Hakim and her staff provided a most
congenial atmosphere for research. Dr. Muti' al-Hafiz of the Arabic Language
Academy was helpful in tracking down a number of articles and books.
On returning to the United States I was assisted by a grant from the Joint
Committee of the International Doctoral Research Fellowship Program for the Near
and Middle East of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council
of Learned Societies with funds provided by the Ford Foundation and the National
Endowment for the Humanities. I would also like to thank Juan Cole, Rudi Lindner,
Paul Dresch, and John Voll, whose comments and suggestions sharpened the per-
spective and improved the execution of this work.
Vlll PREFACE
I thank my parents for their generous financial support during my years at
Michigan and for always encouraging me to pursue my interest in the history of the
Middle East. My wife, Mona, with her good humor and patience, helped see me
through the last stages of research in Damascus. Finally, I am most grateful to my
late mentor and friend, Richard P. Mitchell, for his encouragement and for his
inspiring, humane approach to the study of Muslims and their endeavors to shape
their lives according to their highest ideals.
Carlisle, Pa. D.C.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 3
1 Damascene Ulama and Social Change in Nineteenth-Century Syria 7
2 Sources and Agents of Religious Reform 21
3 The Social Roots of Salafism 34
4 The Emergence of Salafism in Damascus:
Early Vicissitudes, 1896-1904 49
5 Salafi Interpretations of Islam: Reason and Unity in QasimI 65
6 Salafi Interpretations of Islam: Society and Social Life in QasimI 79
7 The Salafis and the Arabists 89
8 Conservative Ulama and Antisalafi Action 104
9 Antisalafi Ulama's Interpretations of Islam 116
10 Salafis and Arabists in Politics, 1908-1914 124
CONCLUSION 141
NOTES 145
APPENDIX 179
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 181
INDEX 195