Almost all areas of Africa and Asia inhabited by a majority of Muslims came under the influence or rule of European powers since the beginning of the 19th century. a. Great Britain, France and Russia. From this political power base, the Europeans set in motion a process of profound and comprehensive social change. On the part of Islamic circles, the reactions were different: most of them stuck rigidly in the traditional ways of life of Islam, some offered armed resistance citing Islamic tradition, others cautiously opened up to certain influences from European cultures. These processes affected the spatial centers of Islam in the Ottoman Empire, the Mediterranean, Iran and India in different ways; Within Islam, however, the centers were in communication with one another. In the Ottoman Empire, extensive legal reforms based on Western European models have been implemented since 1839 and the influence of traditional Islamic legal conceptions suppressed; z. B. In 1856 the equality of all subjects regardless of their religion was proclaimed. Modern, not primarily religiously oriented, elites were trained in secular educational institutions. New communities emerged in the Iranian and Indian areas; z. B. the In 1856 the equality of all subjects regardless of their religion was proclaimed. Modern, not primarily religiously oriented, elites were trained in secular educational institutions. New communities emerged in the Iranian and Indian areas; z. B. the In 1856 the equality of all subjects regardless of their religion was proclaimed. Modern, not primarily religiously oriented, elites were trained in secular educational institutions. New communities emerged in the Iranian and Indian areas; z. B. the Babism, the Bahais (Bahai religion) and the Ahmadija movement (Ahmadija). Religious reform approaches within Islam, however, remained limited to individual personalities until the beginning of the 20th century who – v. a. in India and Egypt – acted as intellectual Islamic enlighteners (e.g. A. Khan, Afghani, Abduh). Abduh and his student Rida represented the direction of Salafija, the orientation towards the spirit – not towards the forms – of the early Islamic community (the “honest ancestors”, Arabic salaf).
Deep cuts in Islam meant the reforms implemented in Turkey in the 1920s under the leadership of Kemal Ataturk, through which the influence of Islam in public life was suppressed in the sense of consistent secularism. In the course of a “revolution from above” and based on the models of Western European countries, a rapid and comprehensive modernization of Turkey was to be achieved.
According to topbbacolleges.com, these reforms found imitation in other Islamic countries and areas (Iran, Afghanistan, etc.). However, they also saw themselves challenged by conservative and traditionalist Islamic forces. The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 under its founder and leader H. al-Banna became a mass movement. She called for reforms to modernize the country to a limited extent in accordance with Islamic norms, encouraged people’s social and religious engagement, and spoke out against the English occupation. Similar groups arose based on their model in other countries (Sudan, Syria, Iraq). They were in competition with other politico-religious organizations that had more elitist traits, e. B. The Islamic cadre party Djamaat-e Islami (Association of Islam) in India, founded and led by Maududi.
After the Second World War, new states (republics and monarchies) emerged from colonial areas; these sought their place in a world divided by political and ideological disputes. Their religious policy corresponded to the respective national interests, but in certain cases also embodied the striving for hegemony and the political-ideological ideas and ties of the rulers; Examples of this are on the one hand the government of Egypt, which tried to implement social reforms in the 1960s, and on the other hand the conservative royal house of Saudi Arabia. Overall, the inner-Islamic discussion in the 1950s and 1960s revolved around questions of the character of the state, including the various ideas of a so-called »Islamic state«. The majority of the governments sought legitimation through Islam, which was expressed in the constitutions and other constitutional documents. Practical politics, on the other hand, pushed Islam out of public life in many countries during these years or subjected it to (strict) state control (especially in the education and legal system). On the other hand, however, the states also codified traditional Islamic positions, e.g. Islamic family and inheritance law within the framework of an otherwise largely secular civil law. For the vast majority of people, Islam remained an important or the foundation of their culture.