Rashid Rida

Muhammad Rashid Rida
محمد رشید رضا
File:Rashidrida4.jpeg Muhammad Rashid Rida
Title	Allama, Imam, Mufti, Muhaddith
Personal
Born	(1865-09-23)23 September 1865 or (1865-10-17)17 October 1865 Al-Qalamoun, Beirut Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Died	22 August 1935(1935-08-22) (aged 69) Cairo, Egypt
Religion	Islam
Nationality	Ottoman (1865–1922) Egyptian (1922–1935)
Denomination	Sunni
Jurisprudence	Ghayr Muqallid
Creed	Athari
Movement	Modernism Salafiyyah
Notable work(s)	Tafsir al-Manar
Muslim leader
Influenced by Ibn Taymiyyah, Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad Abduh, Ibn Qayyim, Mawardi
Influenced Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqqi, Muhammad Asad, Hassan al-Banna, Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali, Muhibb-ud-Deen Al-Khatib, Vakkom Moulavi, Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi, Yusuf al-Qaradawi

Muhammad Rashid Rida (Arabic: محمد رشيد رضا, romanized: Muḥammad Rashīd Riḍā; 23 September 1865 or 18 October 1865 – 22 August 1935) was a prominent Islamic reformer, scholar, theologian and revivalist. As a leading Salafi scholar who called for the revival of hadith sciences and advocated for the implementation of Sharia law, Rida condemned the rising currents of secularism and nationalism across the Islamic World following the Abolition of the Ottoman sultanate, and called for a global Islamic Renaissance program to re-establish an Islamic Caliphate. Rida is considered by many as one of the most influential scholars and jurists of his generation and was initially influenced by the movement for Islamic Modernism founded in Egypt by Muhammad Abduh. However, unlike Abduh, Rida was a staunch supporter of Ibn Taymiyyah, Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab and scholars of Najd and was the leader of the early Salafiyya movement. Rida was also influenced by mainstream classical scholars such as Ibn Qudama, Ghazzali, Mawardi, Razi, Taftasani, Ibn Rajab etc and regularly cited them in his works. Rida would be an important source of influence for a number of 20th century Salafi scholars such as Taqi ud Din al Hilali, Muhibb al Din al Khatib, Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqi, Muhammad Bahjat al-Bitar, Jamal al-Din al Qasimi, Abd al-Zahir Abu al-Samh, Muhammad Abd al-Razzaq Hamza, Abdur Razzaq Malihabadi, Vakkam Abdul Qadir Moulavi and most notably Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani.

Rida was born near Tripoli in Al-Qalamoun in Beirut Vilayet. His early education consisted of training in "traditional Islamic subjects" and then under a religious school established by Husayn al-Jisr(1845-1909) that also taught modern sciences. As a young student of the works of Ghazzali and Ibn Taymiyya, Rida believed that the Muslim Ummah needed a Reformation to stop its decline, rid immoral and heretical practices associated with popular Sufism and revive itself. In 1884–5 he was first exposed to al-`Urwa al-wuthqa, the journal of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh. In 1897 he left Syria for Cairo to collaborate with Abduh. The following year Rida launched al-Manar, a weekly and then monthly journal comprising Quranic commentary. Through Al-Manar's popularity across the Islamic World, with an active readership across Java to Morocco, Rida essentially led the early Salafi movement and championed its cause.

After the death of Abduh, Rida would depart from his initial rationalist leanings and draw close to traditional Salafi Scripturalist methodologies such as that of Ahl-i Hadith. He would become an admirer of the Wahhabi movement, revive the works of Ibn Taymiyya and spear-head the Salafiyya movement into a more conservative direction, adopting a strict Scripturalist approach. Through Al-Manar, Rida would popularise Wahhabi teachings throughout the Islamic World. He is regarded by a number of academicians as "pivotal in leading Salafism's retreat" from the Islamic Modernist school of his mentor, Muhammad Abduh.

Early Life

Background and Education

Muhammad Rasheed Rida was born in a village near Tripoli in 1865, to a family well known for religious knowledge and piety. His father was an Imam in 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 family of 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 cursed those responsible for his slaying, without naming them.

As a young boy, Rida had received traditional religious education. Riḍā started his elementary education in a local Qurʾānic school in Qalamūn, and 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 Ḥusayn al-Jisr 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), ʿAbd al-Ghānī al-Rāfiʿī(d. 1890), who introduced him to the Yemeni jurist Al-Shawkani, and Muḥammad al-Kawukjī (d. 1887). As a pious and motivated religious student, Rida started preaching and educating others at a communal level. Rida's accidental discovery of several copies of the periodical al-Urwa al-Wuthqa, 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 readerand 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.

Collaboration With Abduh

See also: Muhammad Abduh, Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī, and Islamic modernism

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 religious rulings(fatwas) on various issues in the section Fatawa-al-Manar. Tafsir al-Manar would later be published as a separate Qur'anic exegesis, although it remain incomplete. According to British historian Albert Hourani, "from the time of its foundation, Al-Manar was... (Rida's) life."

After the death of Abduh, Rida would be seen as his de facto successor. After Abduh's death, his disciples would divide into opposing camps. One camp were Islamic modernists (such as Zaid 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".

Differences with Abduh

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 indisputably stated that the “saved sect” was Ahlul Sunna wal Jama'ah (i.e Sunni Islam).

During his early years, Rida was influenced by Abduh and Afghani and he attacked the ulema 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. 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 even 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 his alleged "attacks" on Sharia. Rida would also praise Ibn Hazm, a classical scholar of 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.

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

"The Wahhábis undertook reform, and their sect would be good were it not for their extremism and excess. What need is there for their call that the tomb of the Prophet be destroyed? Or their assertion that all other Muslims are infidels? Or that they must be extirpated?"

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 argued 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.

As the successor of Abduh's legacy, Rida tried to depict his late mentor as a champion of Salafi theology. In 1928, Rida declared that Abduh was "Salafi in creed" despite the fact that he interpreted some divine attributes like an Ashari. However, Abduh was only an Islamic freethinker rather than an exponent of madhhab al-salaf. The comments Rida wrote in his re-editions of Abduh's famous theological treatise, Risalat al-tawheed, reveal a similar discomfort. Disturbed by a passage in which Abduh praised Abu al-Hasan al-Ashari (d. 936) for striking a balance between the position of the salaf and that of the khalaf, Rida added a footnote to remind readers that al-Ashari recanted his own views and embraced Hanbali theology at the end of his life. Rida also noted the historical significance of Ibn Taymiyya and his role in proving the superiority of madhhab al-salaf over kalam, an essential element of Salafi theology that Abduh had failed to mention. Even though Rida and his Salafi comrades considered Abduh to be a great reformer they had serious reservations about his theological views. Claiming him as one of their own was always an uphill battle.

Jamal al-Din al Qasimi, a Salafi scholar and associate of Rida, claimed that Abduh abided by the creed of the Salaf. Al-Qasimi recounted a private conversation he had with Abduh in 1903. One evening, when he suggested that the way of the pious ancestors was the most correct theological approach, al-Qasimi stated that he saw 'Abduh "assenting in silence". However, an alleged nod of approval is only an ambivalent claim.

Although Abduh had not claimed the "Salafi" label for himself, Abduh did understand the technical meaning of the term. In 1902, three years before his death, he made a rare mention of the Salafis (al-salafiyyun) in Al-Manar introducing them as “people who adhere to the creed of the forefathers". He neither included himself amongst them nor suggested that the Salafis were proponents of his brand of Islamic reform. Rather, he presented them as Sunni Muslims who differed from Asharis in theology. Unlike 'Abduh, Rida also referred to himself as "Salafi" in both creed as well as law.

Unlike Abduh, Rida also believed that problems faced by Muslims required comprehensive political reform. 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.

Conflicts with Ottoman authorities: 1908-1914

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 was 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.

Pinning his hopes on the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 and the Restoration of 1876 Constitution, Rashid Rida admitted that he himself had worked secretly for securing the Constitution from Sultan Abdul Hamid II because of 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 attacked Rida and his disciples with the "Wahhabi" label for opposing popular Sufi practices. These ulema opposed the Ottoman Constitutionalist movement and accused the Constitutionalists like Rida of being "Wahhabis". When Rida visited Damascus in 1908 shortly after the July Constitutional Restoration, rowdy mobs allied to conservative sheikhs 'Wahhabi-baited' Rida, interrupting his public lecture at the ancient Ummayyid mosque causing him to flee Damascus. His local comrades in religious reform had to retreat to their homes for several weeks before venturing out.

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, the strongest Constitutionalist party. In April 1909, Abdul Hamid was deposed 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.

However, the centralization program of CUP would soon propel them into a conflict with Salafis and Arabists. By 1912, Conservative ulema had made rapproachment with CUP, supporting them in the 1912 elections and making a common front against Salafis. 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". In 1913, CUP members would launch a coup to establish a one-party state under a defacto triumvirate of the "Three Pashas". 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-martialled 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.

It was during this period that Rashid Rida would join the ranks of Ibn Saud's boosters in the Arab World. This shift in stance was fuelled 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.

Rashid Rida and Revival of Salafi Theology

See also: Traditionalist theology (Islam)

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. And later in the 1920s, Rida and some of his followers would declare themselves Salafis with respect to fiqh, thereby broadening Salafi epithets to the realm of law.

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.

In 1914, Rida explained that mad'hab al-salaf was “nothing other than to act according to the Qur'an and the Sunna without any accretion, in the way that [the salaf] understood [Islam] at its inception.” Like his contemporary Islamic reformers such as Mahmud Shukri Al Alusi, Jamal al Din al Qasimi in Damascus, Rashid Rida considered the Salafi theology to be a pillar of their multifaceted reform program. 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.

Many Islamic reformers had argued that Athari theology was more agreeable to reason than the speculative theology of the late Sunni tradition. Rida confessed that the Hanbalis' opposition to kalam had puzzled him in his youth. He had assumed that they were a stagnant group of people who adhered to the literal meaning of texts, who did not truly understand them, who were ignorant of the inherent truths of science, and who could not conciliate Islam and modern knowledge. However, Rida later concluded that Hanbali theology provided a more solid and reliable basis for faith than Ash'ari beliefs. Reading Hanbali books, he wrote, was like "walking on a straight path", whereas reading Ash'ari ones amounted to "swimming in a deep sea, where one has to struggle against the waves of philosophical doubts and the currents of theoretical investigation". In his writings, which were widely read among reformers throughout the Muslim world, Rida repeatedly explained that the Salafi creed was easier to understand than speculative theology (and thus provided a stronger bulwark against the threat of atheism), had a greater claim to orthodoxy, and was less divisive and more conducive to progress and happiness in this world.

Although Rida claimed that the pious ancestors forbade Ijtihad and differences of opinion in the foundations of theology (as opposed to in law), he nonetheless tolerated doctrinal diversity. Rida argued that Salafis, Asharis, Maturidis, Mu'tazilis, Ibadis, Shi'is all were Muslims and it was the duty of the reformers to reconcile between them.

Should modern Muslims take the Salaf as models, Rida argued, they would be rational, flexible, strong, and united. The first issues of al-Manar contained short articles devoted to the pious ancestors’ accomplishments, ranging from the successful politics of the rightly guided caliphs to the military exploits of 'Amr ibn al-'As (d. 671), the Muslim commander who led the conquest of Egypt. In that way, Rida followed in the footsteps of al-Afghani and Abduh, who had already invited Muslims to learn about the conduct of the pious ancestors and argued that whoever was familiar with the life of the salaf could not fail to see the virtues of reason and the possibility of adapting to changing conditions. All of these reformers believed that the pious ancestors defined and exemplified the full potential of Islam.

Rashid Rida and Revival of Salafi Legal Theory

See also: Salafi movement, Fiqh, and Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani

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.

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.

Rida's ideas would later on be expanded by his disciples. One such disciple, Abu Ya'la al Zawawi called for the creation of a committee of ulama to reconcile various Sunni legal mad'habs. The ultimate goal was the promotion of a single school of thought for all Muslims, “a pure ancestral madhhab [madhhaban salafiyyan mahdan], be it in creed or in worship and other religious practices.” Others such as Muhammad Munir al-Dimishqi would come to the defense of the mad'habs. He also condemned those who invited Muslims to act according to Qur'an and Sunnah alone without taqleed (imitation) or ittiba (following) of the 4 schools. Conveying his pro-madhab message, Munir asserted that taqleed is not dispensable for modern Muslims. Scholars like Mas'ud 'Alam al-Nadwi defined the Salafi movement in vague terms as "the movement of decisive revolution against stagnancy". Thus different notions of Salafi legal doctrines emerged amongst Rida's followers and competed for dominance. Some, like that of Munir remained marginal.

It was during this period (1920s and 1930s) that Nasir al Deen al-Albani would be influenced by the reformist, revivalist ideas of Rida as a young man in Syria. He would spend many hours in Maktabat Zahiriyya, the first public library in Syria founded by the early Salafi reformer Tahir al-Jaza'iri. Al-Jaza'iri as the director of Syria's first public library had used his position to advance the revival of the Medieval scholar, Ibn Taymiyya. Jaza'iri was also the teacher of Muhibb al-Din Khatib and a close friend of Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi. As a result of his constant reading of Al-Manar as well as his attendance of classes of Muhammad Bahjat al-Bitar (a disciple of both Rashid Rida and Al-Qasimi) Albani adhered to the Salafiyya Reform tradition by the age of twenty. From this tradition, Albani would become a staunch opponent of taqleed, rejecting adherence to the four canonical legal schools and calling for a renewal of Ijtihad. For enabling this renewal, Albani would champion the cause of Salafi reformists- headed by Rida - which was the critical re-evaluation of hadiths. Albani's approach, like the Indian Ahl-i-Hadith movement was in the footsteps of the Medieval Ahlul Hadith school. Albani's efforts would lead to a new-found enthusiasm and revival of the sciences of hadith across Islamic religious circles.

By the 1950s, Albani had become popular for his knowledge of hadith to the point that it began to worry the Syrian government who put him under surveillance by 1960. Known for his impressive command of hadith science, Albani was offered a teaching post in Islamic University of Medina. Albani differed with the Najdi ulema for being unacknowledged partisans of Hanbali mad'hab and stirred up a sharp controversy. However, the growing popularity of Albani prevented them from ridding him, until he wrote a treatise entitled "The Muslim Woman's Veil" (Hijab al-mar’a al-muslima) in which he advocated that women aren't obliged to cover their faces. Following this, Albani's contract in the university was allowed to lapse in 1963, after which he left the country. Even though Albani taught for only a short time in Saudi Arabia his ideas had a very strong impact there. In the 1960s, there were sharp disputes between disciples of Albani, the hadith revivalists and partisans of a more traditional hadith concept in the Islamic University of Medina. By the 1970s, Albani's faction had gained ground at the institute. In 1971, a leading member of Al al-Shaikh published a magazine article about Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's life and doctrine wherein he wrote that lbn 'Abd al-Wahhab's followers preferred to be known as al-Salafiyyun. Thus in the 1970s, the Saudi religious establishment took a "Salafi" turn, embracing the Salafi label and constructing a Salafi patrimony. By 1975, Saudi Arabia had finally granted Albani symbolic rehabilitation, making him a member of the High Council (al-Majlis al-A‘li) of the Islamic University of Medina.

Eventually, out of all currents competing between Rida's successors, a Purist notion of Salafiyya supported by the Saudi ulema would emerge dominant. This came to be emphasized globally as the "Salafi Manhaj". Manhaj refers to the path or methodology by which Salafis live and implement their beliefs and Da'wa(call). This Manhaj was associated with the Syrian-Albanian Islamic scholar Muhammad Nasiruddin Al-Albani, considered as one of the leading authorities for Salafis globally. Alongside Albani, Muhammad ibn Salih al Uthaymeen and Ibn Baz became the main advocates of the Salafi Manhaj. The Salafi Manhaj was opposed to two other competing camps: 1) Jihadi-Salafism which was heavily influenced by the thought of Sayyid Qutb 2) Salafi-harakis, i.e, Activist Salafis or Islamists who advocated non-violent political activism in Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Starting from the 1980s, Purist Salafis would distinguish themselves from the emerging counter-currents. Toeing this line, contemporary Salafis portray Rashid Rida as a "true Salafi in the Taymiyyan and Wahhabi traditions".

Patronage of Ibn Saud and later activism

See also: Wahhabism, Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, Ibn Saud, Deobandi, and Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama

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, he 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". This distinction was significant. In Rida's mind, moderation (iʿtidāl) was a defining characteristic of his school of thought.

The "Enlightenment Salafism" attributed to Jamal al-Din Afghani and Muhammad Abduh by the 20th-century Western academia 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. His writings through Al-Manar and other works, also advocated 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.

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 Salafiyya in the Arab world. 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 Quran, Hadith, Hanafi fiqh, methodology of Deobandi school, its intellectual background and thought of Indian 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:

"If I had not seen Dar al-‘Ulum Deoband in Hindustan, I would have returned hopeless from that country.”

After World War I, Rashid Rida no longer saw the 'tradition-bound' ulama, but rather, the rising class of Westernizing Muslim intelligentsia as his main opponents. With the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the failure of Faysal's Arab Kingdom in 1920, the loss of Iraq and Greater Syria to the Mandatory Powers, the triumph of secular Kemalism in Turkey, and the abolition of the caliphate in 1924, the well-being of the umma appeared seriously threatened and there was a sense of urgency amongst the Islamic reformers. Rida's initial response was not to favour one group or doctrine in particular, for he believed that factionalism and sectarianism could only weaken the already fragile Islamic community. He regularly called for Islamic unity through the pages of Al-Manar against the European threat. Rida was worried that internal feuds might provide European powers with a pretext for intervention. He urged both Sharif Hussein in Hejaz and Abd al Aziz al Saud, Arabian rivals, not to fight each other. Although he greatly admired Abd al-Aziz al Saud and his religiosity, he did not want anyone's political ambitions to interfere with the good of the umma.

However, as Sharif Husayn's dynastic scheming with the British became apparent by the 1920s, Rida would no longer remain neutral. When he rejected Rida's proposals for alliance of Muslim rulers of Arabian Peninsula, enmity grew between them. Soon, Rida would condemn Sharif Husayn as an opportunistic sellout who sided with non-Muslim colonial powers for personal power. Sharif Husayn's self-proclamation as caliph two days after Atatürk abolished the institution in March 1924, eventually led Rida to lend full support for Ibn Saud. The question of the caliphate had been central to Rida's reformist agenda and hopes for the rejuvenation of the Islamic community. He envisioned a modern-day caliph, freely chosen by the ulama through a process of deliberation, whose ideal character, complete devotion, and extensive knowledge of both profane and religious sciences would make him an exemplar of balanced reform and lead all Muslims on the path to progress and unity. Nothing could contradict these noble objectives more than Sharif Husayn's arbitrary appropriation of the title of caliph. Beyond his betrayal of Arab solidarity and independence, the sharif had now desecrated Islam and had disrespected the umma and endangered its future. For Rida, this was intolerable.

As Ibn Saud began launching attacks in Hejaz in 1924, Rida would wholeheartedly back him. As Rida saw it, the sultan of Najd was offering all Muslims a much-needed service. Ibn Saud came to represent everything Rida expected from a Muslim ruler. His commanding leadership and staunch commitment to Islam were exactly what the post-Ottoman Muslim world needed: “England feels that one of the greatest dangers to her policy in Arab or Islamic countries is the existence among the Muslims of a strong emir, especially if he believes in his religion, adheres to it, and is backed by a people of true faith, like Ibn Saud and his people.” The nascent Saudi state was Rida's best hope for the resurgence of Muslim greatness and political power in a colonial order which could lead Islamic Renaissance and exemplify balanced reform. Within a few years, the sultan of Najd conquered and became king of the Hijaz and had united the rest of northern Arabia.

By the time the new ruler of Hijaz convened a Muslim congress in Mecca in the summer of 1926, Rida was receiving funds from him. The congress represented Ibn Saud's bid to join the Muslim mainstream and to erase the reputation of extreme sectarianism associated with the Ikhwan. (A few years later, Ibn Saud would wage a military campaign against the Ikhwan fanatics and Rida would enthusiastically back their elimination). But the question of Wahhabi intolerance emerged as a problem when an Egyptian delegate reported harassment for uttering a phrase abhorrent to the mission's ulama. Rashid Rida's treatise, The Wahhabis and Hijaz, set forth the case for the Saudi-Wahhabi side in the battle for Hijaz. Rida wrote that if the Wahhabi incursion into Hijaz had taken place in the Ottoman era, the Islamic world would have been furious. Newspapers across the breadth of the Muslim world would have condemned the Wahhabis as infidels and financial contributions to fight them would have been gathered. After all, Muslims across the world had held a favourable view of the Ottomans and a dim view of the Wahhabis. But things were different now. The Wahhabis were known for pious adherence to religion and hostility to foreign influence. Their adversary Sharif Husayn was notorious for plotting with Islam's enemies for the sake of his ambition to gain the caliphate. Defending Najdi Da'wa, Rida cited Tarikh Najd, a treatise composed by Ibn Abd al Wahhab's son Abd Allah. 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.

Rida's treatise expresses deep anger toward Sharif Husayn and his family for selling the Arabs to Western powers for the sake of dynastic ambition. Resentment toward Great Britain for betraying its World War I promises to the Arabs is also evident in the book. In fact, Rida discerned British manipulation as the cause of London's interwar dominance in the region. The purpose of Britain's intervention was to undermine Islam. The last thing London wanted, he asserted, was to see a faithful Muslim ruler, like Ibn Saud, who was not for sale, unlike the traitorous Husayn and his sons. Ibn Saud was portrayed as a strong Muslim leader who would prevent the agendas colonialial powers such as Britain. The notion that ambitious Western powers worked hand in hand with duplicitous Arab rulers to advance western interests to crush Islam would become a pillar of Islamic revivalist as well as Arab nationalist discourses. Both searched for traitors to the community of believers or the nation, respectively.

In 1927, to throw his detractors off-balance, Rida wrote that the "Wahhabis" had become a large group in Egypt, with adherents among the religious scholars of al-Azhar and other religious institutions, assisted by the popularity of reformist ideals of al-Manar. 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.

Although Rida defended the Wahhabis passionately, he had his reservations. He often acknowledged the adverse effects of Najdi zeal and acknowledged the existence of fierce exaggerators (ghulat) amongst the Najdis. 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 either to judge the Najdis on the basis of their pragmatic and moderate political leader or to accept the fact that some fanaticism was better for the umma than the erosion of Islamic identity.

Rida had an affinity for Hanbali school, the law school dominant in Saudi Arabia. Even though he defended the Wahhabi movement against its critiques, Rida had found his contemporary Saudi ulema to be devoid of modern sensibilities, a point which he commented upon. As an exponent of Salafi 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. To survive in the modern era, the message of Islam needed to be articulated in a way that was consistent with scientific discourses. In a letter to Abdul Rahman al Sa'adi, the teacher of the famous Salafi scholar Ibn Uthaymeen, Rida acknowledged that his own exegesis included elements of ta'wil, but he claimed that it was in the best interest of modern Muslims. Rida was obviously concerned that some Najdi scholars might not grasp the socio-political significance of his reformist efforts. However, he appears to have hoped that his contact with King Abd al-'Aziz would allow him to inflence the Wahhabis and help them overcome their self-defeating rigidity. At the end of his letter, Rida mentioned that he took it upon himself to write to the king about the necessity of balanced reform and that he intended to mail him ten copies of Tafsir al-Manar so that Najdi scholars could learn from it.

When rumours of Ibn Bulayhid, a Najdi scholar who believed in flat earth were spreading, Rida sought to control damaging rumors through al-Manar. In an article about education and the dangers of stagnation, Rida criticized flat-earthers and enemies of science. However, he insisted that the scholars of Najd could not be counted among these ignoramuses and that rumors to the contrary verged on absurdity:

"It has come to my ears that one of the most revered and well-read ulama of Najd advocated anathema [takfir] against anyone who professes that the earth is round. This has startled me because Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the imam of the Najdi revival, as well as other scholars [of this movement], have stipulated that they do not accuse anyone of being an infidel except for a breach of consensus about definite religious questions. But this is not a religious question, and there is no [religious] consensus about it. [This has also startled me] because the greatest Hanbali Imams from whose books the shaykh [Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab] and his successors derived [their] Najdi religious renewal are Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim. The latter has mentioned, in some of his books, that the earth is round. So, if the rumor about this [Najdi] scholar were true, would he charge [Ibn Qayyim] with unbelief?"

Rida did not say outright that the rumor was false, but he was being disingenuous. Whether or not the unnamed scholar from Najd was Ibn Bulayhid, Rida knew that prominent Najdi scholars did sometimes oppose scientific knowledge. Rida and his disciples had to fight on two fronts. It was one thing to pretend that the Wahhabis were ideal Muslims—but quite another to make this rhetoric a reality. However, other prominent Wahhabi scholars such as Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Latif Al al-Shaykh would refute Ibn Bulayhid and affirm the sphericity of earth, assuring Rida's disciples.

Despite the mixed results of the rehabilitation campaign and the difficulties that some of his disciples encountered, Rida remained devoted to King 'Abd al-Aziz 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 reform movement. Rida knew firsthand the diϲculty of putting reformist ideas into practice: it required money as well as political support.

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, Islamic University of Medina was founded and it would serve as an international seminary for propagation of Salafi Da'wa globally, with coordination 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.

Death

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.

The Sheikh of Al Azhar, Mustafa al Maraghi, remarked that Rida had three main opponents: secularist Muslims, non-Muslims, and traditional Muslims.

Habib Jamati said in his eulogy:

While Egyptians may have regarded Rida as a great Islamic leader, he had also befriended Christians and struggled alongside them for their common nation. .... He returned to Syria right after the Great War, and given his lofty status in the hearts of people, the Syrians elected him president for their national congress, which convened in Damascus in 1919 and decided to declare the independence of Syria..... Al-Sayyid Muhammad Rashid Rida's views, advice, and guidance deserve great credit for the success of that blessed movement.

Views

On Taqleed

See also: Taqlid

Rashid Rida, was a leading exponent of Salafism and was especially critical of what he termed "blind following" of excessive Sufism. He encouraged both laymen and scholars to interpret the primary sources of Islam themselves. Applying this principle enabled Rida to tackle a number of subjects in a modern way and sometimes led to him holding unorthodox ideas that were considered controversial by some and progressive by others.

On Islamic Revival

See also: Tajdid

Rida believed that the early Muslims' upholding of Tawheed(Oneness of God), and Sunnah were the primary reason for their spiritual and material success. They were motivated by the Qur'anic teachings which taught them to be independent, free from blind imitation(taqleed) 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.

On Secularism

By the 1920s, Rashid 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.

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 the rigid conservatives whose legal interpretations are all tied to one traditional sect or another, and those secularists who at most use Islamic “symbols” but are ready in practice to disregard Islam entirely and to borrow legal codes from Europe or evolve new ones on the basis of local convenience:

"The moderate advocates of Islamic reform are those who affirm that it is possible to resuscitate Islam and renew its true guidance by following the Qur’än and the true Sunna and the guidance of the Virtuous Forefathers [as-salaf as-Salih], and by seeking the help of the learning of the Imams, without cleaving to particular sectarian books and teachings around which the first group has solidified. They also affirm that it is possible to combine this with the noblest forms of civilization and organization which the second groups calls for. Indeed, they believe that religion and the most modern techniques of civilization and power, on both of which they advocate primary reliance, are two friends in agreement, not in conflict, and that each adds to the power and nobility of the other."

On Zionism

See also: Zionism

The Zionist programme to create a Jewish state in Palestine was a source of concern throughout the Islamic World, during the early 20th century. Muhammad Rashid Rida was one of the earliest critics of Zionism and wrote an article condemning the movement as early as 1898. Rida had warned early on that Jews were being mobilised by Zionists to migrate to Palestine with European approval. Rida 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 article “Thawrat Filistin”, 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 plotted in Europe to undermine the power of Roman Catholic Church. Even further, he alleged that "Jews introduced freemasonry" and manipulated the Bolsheviks and the Young Turks against the Russian and Ottoman empires through it. According to Rida, capitalism was allegedly "created by Jews" as a tool to "enslave the whole world through their money".

On Christianity

See also: Christianity and colonialism and Copts in Egypt

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)

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.

However, Rida accused Oriental Christians in general of being the tools of colonial powers and of conspiring with "atheist Westerners" against Islam. In a series of articles published in 1911 compiled under the title al-Muslimun wa-l-qutb (The Muslims and the Copts), Rida condemned Muslims for dividing over nationalism. In his view, nationalist slogans were exploited by the colonial powers and would only favor the Coptic minority. He mocked the Copts’ claim to be descended from the “heathen, God-hating” Pharaohs and their demand to positions of power, responding that "they lack experience". Rida also applauded the 1911 Muslim congress organised as a response to Congress of Asyut in 1911 that demanded Coptic minority rights. Rida believed that the Western Civilisation could not be considered "Christian" but only materialistic, and predicted that its vices would lead to its self-destruction. He alleged that the West sought to turn Muslims away from their religion, either by degrading their moral values, or converting them to Christianity, or both.

On Shi'ism

See also: Sunni-Shia relations

From being a person who was accommodative towards Shiism, Rashid Rida would gradually become a sharp critique of it. In a book originally published in 1929, he states that he was once willing to work with the balanced reformers amongst Shias, but explains that the situation has changed. He also alleged that Shiites "worship the dead" attributing to their intercessionary practices towards awliyaa in their shrines and called upon Shias to condemn these practices. Although he fell short of censuring all Shias, Rida left them few options. Pan-Islamic unity was still conceivable, but it had to be on Salafi terms. In 1927, in the context of heightened communal tensions following the Saudi's heavy-handed efforts on the Shi'i population of the kingdom, al-Manar published a series of seven anti-Shi'i articles written by the Salafi scholar and Rida's disciple Muhammad Taqi ud din al-Hilali. Rida condemned the Shia for "supporting the Tatar and Crusader invasions" and alleged that Raafidi doctrines were formulated by a Jewish-Zoroastrian conspiracy aimed at "perverting Islam and weakening the Arabs".

Despite all this, Rida was the most important modern Sunni scholar that influenced modern Shiite exegesis. Rida's prolific Quranic commentary (Tafseer) is regarded by both Sunni and Shiite scholars as groundbreaking in the field of Tafseer. As traditional Shiism came into contact with various Islamic reform movements, such as the salafiyya which emphasised the importance of adhering to "Qur'an and Sunnah" over personalities, its orthodox reluctance to engage in Qur'anic exegesis was highly challenged in the modern World. Rida's Tafseer and his innovative approach were important in inducing a similar tendency within Shiism.

Darwinism

One of his controversial views was his support of Darwin's theory of evolution. Abduh had interpreted certain aspects of the story of Adam such as "questions of angels", "prostration of angels", "tree", etc. in an allegorical manner. Commenting on his teacher's explanation, Rashid Rida said that what was done by al-Ustad (teacher), is no more as al-Ghazali. Rida points out that Abduh did not interpret Adam as a mere myth. Rida, defending Abduh, argues that Darwinism cannot answer whether humans originate from a single lineage or not. Hence, Rida argues that the Islamic belief of Adam being the first man doesn't contradict Darwinism.

However, Rida sharply distanced himself from the figurative interpretation of Qur'an favoured by Abduh and Afghani. According to Rida, anybody who denied the historical existence of Adam and Abraham is guilty of apostasy. Like the Medieval jurist Ibn Taymiyya, Rida held that there's no possibility of reason or science contradicting any Qur’anic text.

On Istishan(juristic discretion), Istislah and Maslaha(public interest)

See also: Istishan, Maslaha, and Istislah

Throughout his legal writings, Rida tried to demonstrate that Sharia was intended and suited to be a comprehensive legal structure for the Islamic society. In an early series of articles in Al-Manar titled “Debates Between the Reformer and the Slavish Imitator” (Muhäwarät al-Muslih wal-Muqallid), Rida takes the view that the fixed shar'i principles in the mu'ämalät(social transactions) are of only a general character, allowing for considerable adaptation by successive generations of Muslims in the light of the demands of their worldly welfare, while it is only the 'ibädät (governing matters of ritual and worship) that do not admit of interpretive change. According to Rashid Rida, the Hanafi principle of Istishan(ruling in which a benefit to the Community is confirmed) is essentially an application of this spirit.

For medieval jurists such as Al-Qarafi, Ibn Taymiyya etc, istislah was but a logical extension of qiyas, whereby a consideration of utility neither explicitly enjoined nor excluded by the revealed texts would be assumed as a valid basis for judgment. Rashid Rida adopted this rationale, acknowledging that the conclusions of istisläh were accordingly not legally binding as a firmly grounded qiyas(as opposed to a qiyas without precise textual basis), for "no individual is entitled to require or forbid others to perform an act without Divine authorization".

However, in matters of public policy this doesn't prevent the government from enacting ordinances based on utility, provided that the government rests on the proper foundations of "shura"(consultation) amongst ulul amr(qualified authorities) and that such ordinances do not conflict with clear Divine Revelation. Citing the Spanish Muslim jurist Ash-Shatibi(d.790 H), Rida suggests that much of the legal rulings built through the meticulous process of qiyas, can actually be reached by an equally valid(yet much simpler) process of istislah. Citing Qarafi, Rida states that many ulema feared that tyrants would use "maslaha" as an excuse for following their desires and imposing absolutism upon their population. Rida concludes that the solution should be to reform the political system so that decisions of public policy and law rests on the hands of qualified persons - "ahl al-hall wal-'aqd or ulul amr" - through mutual consultation (shura) and ruler responsible to them. If this is done, "there will be no reason to fear that Masalih will be a means for corruption", Rida says, thus lifting the restrictions on deduction of legal ordinances.

Rida's principles would later be extended by modernists to uphold maslaha as an independent legal source, making qiyas dispensable and formulating positive laws directly on utilitarian grounds, for the "wisdom behind the Revealed Laws is no longer inscrutable", thus making new implications. Throughout the 1920s, when such conclusions were drawn by the modernists based on his premises, Rida would object strenuously. For example, Rida vehemently denounced the Egyptian lawyer Ahmad Safwat for promotion of "non-adherence to the texts" of Qur'an and Sunna in particular matters in the name of public utility. Although Rida stated that Mujtahids are obliged to take a broad view of all considerations affecting the public interest, "textual limits" had to be respected. The general public was obliged to follow the qualified Mujtahids unquestionably on mu'amalat (wordly Transactions) and their consensus was a legal source (hujja shar'iyya).

On Riba (Usury)

See also: Riba

Rida considered that certain types of riba (usury) may be permitted in certain cases (i.e. in cases of extreme poverty or larger public interest). The medieval scholar Ibn al-Qayyim distinguished between two types of riba, riba al-nasi'ah and riba al-fadl. Ibn Qayyim maintained that rib al-nasi'ah was prohibited by Qur'an and Sunnah definitively while the latter was only prohibited in order to stop the charging of interest. According to Ibn Qayyim, the prohibition of riba al-fadl was less severe and it could be allowed in dire need or greater public interest(maslaha). Ibn Qayyim considered that things prohibited in order to prevent access to evil become permissible when they result in a greater benefit. Hence under a compelling need, an item may be sold with delay in return for dirhams or for another weighed substance despite implicating riba al-nasi'ah. In addition, Ibn Qayyim held that the sales of gold and silver jewelry for more than their equivalent weight in gold or silver was permissible, in consideration of workmanship and people's dire need. Although Ibn Qayyim clearly sought to restrict the scope of riba’s prohibition, he never stated that charging interest on loans was legal. In fact, Ibn Qayyim, relying on his reasoning, rejected the argument that coins (at the time made of gold and silver) could be sold for an excess in compensation for the minting process. In his opinion, although the authority gets them minted on wage payments, gold and silver should be used as a means of exchange, not trading with coins. Rida was influenced by both Abduh and Ibn Qayyims' legal reasonings.

As Grand Mufti of Egypt, Abduh had issued a fatwa in 1904 permitting to accept returns, at a fixed and predetermined rate, on deposits with the savings fund of the Egyptian post office. However, Rida was uneasy about Abduh's expansion of circumstances in which interest payment was permitted and chipped away at what Abduh had allowed. Rida glossed away Abduh's fatwa by suggesting that ‘Abduh only sanctioned returns on money deposited in this way on the understanding that the funds would be used for small investments by the post office in which the rules of transction would be strictly observed. A couple of years later, in an article about riba published in Al-Manar, Rida further would remind people of ‘Abduh’s fierce condemnation of the interest charged by the Egyptian banks.

Rashid Rida's stance on Riba is expressed in his treatise Al-Riba w al-Mu`amalat fi al-Islam (Riba and Transactions in Islam). In the treatise, Rida responds to a series of four fatwas issued by Hyderabadi Hanafi jurists. In their first fatwa, Hyderabadi jurists stated that concept of riba is abstract and quoted consensus over it. Responding to the fatwa, Rida defeated the claim of consensus while accepting it as a valid Hanafi stance. In the second fatwa, the Hyderabadi jurists defined riba as "an increase without compensation in sales" referring Hanafi legal treatises. Rida responded stating "This view isn't necessarily accepted, since his proof is not necessarily accepted", maintaining that riba isn't restricted to sales. The third fatwa stated that the benefit stipulated as condition in a loan is not the "riba explicitly mentioned in the Canonical Texts", since there is no explicit proof in "Qur'an and valid Hadith". Responding, Rida stated "If he means that it is not explicitly mentioned in the Qur'an, we accept the statement, since the riba mentioned in Qur'an is restricted to riba al-nasi'ah applied to deferment of existing debts, rather than at the inception of the first contract". The fourth fatwa stated that a benefit arising as part of a loan is not riba by Qur'an or valid Hadith, but only on Qiyas(analogical reasoning). The analogy is doubtful owing to "instigating factors" and even if the analogy was valid, it would be speculative since, "rulings based on analogy change with time". In his response, Rida acknowledged the validity of the position stating that "if the analogy was valid at an earlier time, its ruling may be reversed based on necessities of needs in current times".

Fatwa on Qur'an Translations

See also: Qur'an Translations

The debut of Turkish translations of Qur'an in the newly established Turkish Republic with state involvement would ignite considerable controversy throughout the Muslim world in 1924. Muhammad Rashid Rida, who was highly influential in shaping opinion in the Muslim world, portrayed the state-sponsored project as a long-term plot to displace the Arabic Qur'an. Rida was correct in his suspicions that Mustafa Kemal's regime sought to tamper with Islamic rituals and accused the Turkish government of promoting heretical ideas in order "to turn the devout people among them away from the word of God the Exalted, who revealed it to the Arabian Prophet Muhammad in the clear Arabic tongue".

In response to a query by Sheikh Ahsan Shah Effendi Ahmad (in Russia), Rida issued a fatwa prohibiting Qur'anic translations. Rida listed numerous negative objections such as 1) literal translation of Qur'an identical to original text being impossible 2) this trend will sever "Islamic ties of unity" by stoking racial divisions 3) translation of Qur'an doesn't have the same quality of Qur'an, as the meaning will be "limited" by the translator's understanding. However Rida was clear in the fatwa that prohibition was on translation of Arabic Qur'an to substitute it with a non-Arabic one. Rida's criticism was not against the general idea of Qur'anic translations (which are considered interpretations of the scripture of Islam in languages other than Arabic). He was against the possibility that Muslim nations would have a substitute to the original text, which in his opinion was heresy and lead to disunity among Muslim nations.

Anti-colonialism

Rida focused on the relative weakness of Muslim societies vis-à-vis Western colonialism, blaming Sufi excesses, the blind imitation of the past (taqlid), the stagnation of the ulama, and the resulting failure to achieve progress in science and technology. He held that these flaws could be alleviated by a return to what he saw as the true principles of Islam albeit interpreted (ijtihad) to suit modern realities. This alone could, he believed, save Muslims from subordination to the colonial powers.

When France eased access for French citizenship for the French Protectorate of Tunisia in 1933, Rida backed the anti-naturalization protests. In line with the Salafi doctrine of Al Wala wal Bara, Rida issued a fatwa prohibiting the acquisition of citizenship of the colonial power, stating that it was apostasy from Islam:

"By acquiring such citizenship, he agrees to give his money and his life to fighting Muslims if his country calls on him to do so... One who acquires such citizenship considers it permissible to violate these precepts, and doing so is universally agreed to be kufr(disbelief)."

On Freemasonry

See also: Masonic conspiracy theories

Rashid Rida advanced anti-Semitic conspiracies which would later become popular across the Arab world and various Islamist movements. In Rida's worldview, Freemasonry was invented by Jews to plot against world nations. Rida's early mentors Afghani and Abduh used to have close relations with Freemasonry. Afghani had arrived in Egypt in 1871 with the mission to combat what he perceived as the threat of European imperialism. For al-Afghani, freemasonry was a means of shattering "the towering edifices of injustice, tyranny, and oppression" in Egypt. Afghani had utilised Freemasonry as an organizational base for subversive activities against the Egyptian ruler, Khedive Isma'il. The political faction later founded by Afghani, al-Hizb al Watanlal-Hurr ('The Free National Party') would play a major role in removing Ismail Pasha from the throne and bringing Tawfiq Pasha as the Khedive. In these efforts, Afghani was also aided by his disciples such as Muhammad Abduh whom he persuaded to join Freemasonry. Through these associations, Abduh was able to establish contacts with Tawfiq Pasha and other leaders of Egypt. In his later life, however, Abduh would distance himself from his past associations with freemasonry. Afghani and Abduh would later withdraw from Freemasonry due to political disputes. Years later, Rida would ask 'Abduh why he and Afghani had become Masons, 'Abduh replied that it was for a "political and social purpose". Rida pointed to Abduh that the objective of the Masons was "the destruction of all the religions." His attitudes towards Baháʼí Faith were also negative.

From the turn of nineteenth century, Rida's Al-Manar periodical would regularly feature anti-semitic articles linking Jews and Freemasons who eagerly sought the exploitation of "all nations’ wealth for its own benefit". By the 1930s, Rida would also promote the ideas of Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Conspiracy theories accusing Freemasons and Jews of seeking to topple the existing order through secret machinations featured regularly in Al-Manar. In his articles, Rida maintained that the Jews created Freemasonry and through it orchastrated the Young Turk revolution in the Ottoman Empire in 1908 and French Revolution of 1789 and manipulated the Bolsheviks against the Czar. By 1910, Rashid Rida believed that Ottoman empire had fallen under a Zionist-Masonic influence due to the Young Turk Revolution. Adopting a narrative of a grand, global Jewish conspiracy; Rida described that the Jews, oppressed by the Catholic Church, had orchestrated through the Freemasons the French Revolution, 1905 Russian Revolution and the Young Turk Revolution. According to Rida, the revolution of Young Turks was a Jewish response to the Ottoman empire's rejection of Jewish ambitions to regain possession of their temple in Jerusalem and surrounding regions to reestablish their kingdom. Rida argued that Jews wielded immense influence over the Committee of Union and the treasury of the Ottoman empire. As early as 1908, he had alleged about a Zionist plan to purchase Palestine from the Freemasons in Turkish leadership and called upon Arabs to resist this plan by force. By March 1914, Rida believed that the Zionists had already managed to convince the Committee of Union and Progress to support Jewish rule in Palestine as a buffer against the Arabs and as a means to divide them.

According to Rida, the term ‘Freemason’ itself refers to the re-construction of the temple of Solomon. In his articles, Rida emphasized that although the founders of Freemasonry were Jews and Christians, Jews led and dominated the movement. Rida viewed freemasonry as a Jewish invention and one of the tools of Jews in their bid to re-establish a Jewish state and rebuild Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. They dominated the Freemasons, concealing the ultimate objective of establishing a Jewish state and overthrowing the religious governments in Europe, Russia, and Turkey, where Islamic law was replaced by a secularist government. Although the Jesuits were able to thwart their influence in Catholic countries, Jews succeded in establishing Bolshevism in Russia and secularise Turkey. Explaining his beliefs, Rida wrote in his famous 1929 article Revolution in Palestine: Its Causes and Consequences(Thawrat Filastin: Asbabuha wa nata’ijuha) in Al-Manar:

"It is an established hidden truth that the Society of the Freemasons, which has control over the religious establishments and governments of the European, Turkish and Russian countries is a plot of the Jews, and they possess the greatest authority in it, though this is hidden from most of its members, ... and it is one of the wonders of the plotting and potential of the Jews.... that their final political goal is the establishment of a divine Jewish State in the mold of the State of Israel which David established and which was improved by Solomon, the builder of the Jewish Temple atop Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Due to this, they named it the Society of Freemasons,... and most of the members of this society are ignorant about the correct reason for this naming. So has there been found anyone stranger in the world, than the group which destroys the religious authority of others to establish the same thing for their themselves, and mocks the gentiles for many generations for what they neither know nor understand?"

Reception

Despite some controversial ideas held by Rida, his works and in particular his magazine al-Manar spread throughout the Muslim world influencing many individuals including the popular Salafi writer Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani.

The status of Rida and his works, are a matter of some contention amongst contemporary purist Salafis. Unlike the Purist Salafis, Rashid Rida considered rulers who legislated man-made laws contrary to sharia to be guilty of kufr akbar (major disbelief). According to Rida, Muslims are obliged to force such rulers to annul such laws or overthrow them. If they are unable to do that, their lands can no longer be considered Dar-al-Islam (abode of Islam). Due to this, some present-day Salafi Purists criticise Rida for straying from quietist Salafi principles. The pro-government Madkhali Salafists condemn Rida for his influence on Salafi-activists, Islamists and Salafi-Jihadists. However, other Salafi scholars such as Albani, while critiquing his mistakes on Hadeeth sciences, praises Rida and his works generally.

Contributions to Islamist political thought

See also: Islamism and Caliphate

The corruption and tyranny of Muslim rulers (caliphs, sultans, etc.) throughout history was a central theme in Rida's criticisms. Rida, however, celebrated the rule of Muhammad and the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and leveled his attacks at subsequent rulers who could not maintain Muhammad's example. He also criticized the Islamic scholars (ulama) for compromising their integrity - and the integrity of the Islamic law (sharia) they were meant to uphold - by associating with worldly corrupt powers.

Rida's ideas were foundational to the development of the modern "Islamic state". He "was an important link between classical theories of the caliphate, such as al-Mawardi's, and 20th-century notions of the Islamic state". While rejecting secularist calls for separation of religion and state with regards to Islam, Rida nevertheless contended that those who engage in defence of Islam, its propagation and its teaching should not engage in politics, in line with orthodox Sunni doctrine.

Rashid Rida revived Ibn Taymiyya's concept of Jahiliyya, a Qur'anic term used to refer to the ignorance of pre-Islamic Arabia. He applied this concept to Muslim lands of his own era and charged the ruling secular authorities with apostasy for submitting to man-made laws and substituting Islamic laws, in the same manner Ibn Taymiyya ex-communicated the Tatars. Rida argued that only salafiyya Islam, "an Islam purged of impurities and Western influences", could save Muslims from colonial subordination and Jahiliyya. He detested the rulers who substituted Western laws for sharia and takfired them stating:

"[the secular rulers]... abolish supposedly distasteful penalties such as cutting off the hands of thieves or stoning adulterers and prostitutes. They replace them with man-made laws and penalties. He who does that has undeniably become an infidel.”

Rida promoted a restoration or rejuvenation of the Caliphate for Islamic unity, through 'shura'". In theology, his reformist ideas, like those of Abduh, were "based on the argument that:

shari'a consists of `ibadat (worship) and mu'amalat (social relations). Human reason has little scope in the former and Muslims should adhere to the dictates of the Qur'an and hadith. The laws governing mu'amalat should conform to Islamic ethics but on specific points may be continually reassessed according to changing conditions of different generations and societies.

Although he did not call for the revolutionary establishment of an Islamic state, rather advocating only gradual reform of the existing Ottoman government, Rida preceded Abul Ala Maududi, Sayyid Qutb, and later Islamists in declaring adherence to Sharia law as essential for Islam and Muslims, saying

Koran 5:44 applies to '...whomsoever thinks it distasteful to rule in accordance with the just rules which God sent down, and does not rule by them because he has different views, or because he has worldly interests. According to these verses, they are unbelievers; because true faith requires obedience. Obedience requires deeds, and is not consistent with omission'

During the winter of 1922-23, just after Turkey had abolished the sultanate, Rida wrote his well-known treatise, al-Khilafa aw al-Imama al-Uzma (The Caliphate or the Grand Imamate). In its first part, Rida quoted Al-Mawardi and other classical jurists, elaborating on the necessity of the Caliphate. In accordance with the classical theory, Rida repeated the same general requirements that a caliph must be installed in office. He emphasized, however, that the caliph should be a mujtahid and a Qurayshite. Rida also points out that the Prophet had specified Hejaz and Arabian Peninsula as the territory where no other religion is allowed except Islam.(although there's an alternative interpretation which stipulates this condition to Hejaz alone) Rida blamed Mu'awiya, the first Umayyad caliph, for transforming the caliphate into Monarchy through two innovations: first, supplanting the method of selecting a caliph by shura with a method based on hereditary kingship; and second, for introducing asabiyya of Umayyads.

Rida differentiated between three types of caliphate. First, there was the ideal caliphate, which existed under the Rashidun and the pious Umayyad Caliph Umar Ibn Abd al-Aziz, "the fifth of the Rashiduin." The caliph had in this case all the shar'i requirements. The second type of caliphate was "the caliphate or imamate of necessity." This type would be allowed when the ahl al-hall wa'l 'aqd decided to install a caliph who had most but not all the legal requirements. To this type of caliphate belonged some of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs who lacked 'ilm (knowledge), imperative in exercising ijtihad. The third type of caliphate was the caliphate of tyranny or conquest (al-taghallub bi'l quwwa), which was contracted by force without the ahl al-hall wa'l 'aqd. For Rida, it denoted that worldly leadership had become wholly dependent on shawka, or force. To this last type belonged the Ottoman caliphate, according to Rida at this point. Although he said that such a caliphate should be obeyed because "necessity makes lawful what is otherwise forbidden,"' Rida also mentioned that it should be overthrown whenever it became possible to do so.

The second part of Rida's treatise outlined his vision of a renewed viable caliphate and the steps necessary to make it successful. In this section, Rida addressed all three semi-religious and semi-secular themes which the salafiyya had emphasized: the desirability of civil government and consultative and democratic rule, the need for an Arab spiritual caliphate, and the preservation of a Muslim temporal power. The theme of civil government and consultative and democratic rule was evident in the way Rida identified the ahl al-hall wa'l-'aqd, who would apply the principle of consultation (shura) to choose the caliph and lead the umma. For him, this group were the leaders of the umma in both religious and secular affairs. Rida said that the ahl al-hall wa'l 'aqd in modern times should include not only ulama' and jurists but, in order to represent all sectors of modern Islamic society, also prominent merchants and agriculturalists, managers of companies and public works, leaders of political parties, distinguished writers, physicians, and lawyers. They were to be elected by the people along democratic lines and their decisions would represent the ijma (consensus) of the umma.

According to Rida, the umma should be the source of all legislation except in those cases when direct guidance would be available as an explicit text (nass) in the Qur'an or in the authentic sunna. But Rida was careful to say that "nass is very limited."' Thus he granted the ahl al-hall wa'l 'aqd broad powers to exercise their legislative authority as a "sort of parliamentary body."' But he maintained that sovereignty should be exercised within the confines of the shar'ia, not outside it. In Rida's proposal the caliph's powers were carefully circumscribed.

"He is limited by the prescriptions of the Qur'an and the sunna, by the general example of the Rashidun caliphs, and by consultation."

Rida's spiritual caliphate was to adhere to the general social and legal program of the salafiyya. More precisely, it would envision that the "renaissance of Muslims is dependent on ijtihad."' Rida believed this "renaissance" should neither be led by the hizb al-mutafarnijin ("the Europeanized party"), which believed that religion was incompatible with modern civilization, nor by hizb hashawiyyat al-fuqaha' al-jdmidin (the party of the "reactionary jurists"), who refused to employ ijtihad in all aspects of mu'amalat (daily transactions). Instead, he called for leadership by hizb al-islah al-islami al-mu'tadil (a "moderate party of Islamic reform") which would "combine the necessary understanding of the essence of the shar'ia and the essence of the European civilization."

Legacy

Rashid Rida is accepted by Salafis as a scholarly authority and reference. Salafi scholar Muhammad Abdullah Salman authored a book in his praise, titled, al-Shaykh Rashid Rida al-Musleh al-Salafi(al-Shaykh Rashid Rida the Salafi Reformer). Apart from the Purist Salafis, Salafi activists (harakis) also look up to Rida's works to build a revivalist platform focused on Islamic socio-political and cultural reforms (Islah) with a long-term objective to establish an Islamic state. Prominent figures in this rival camp include Abu Hanieh, Safar Al-Hawali, Abu Qatada, Muhammad Surur, Abdurrahman Abdulkhaliq, etc. Abu Qatada and Abu Hanieh established a new movement known as Ahl Al-Sunnah Wal Jama’a based in Jordan and published al-Manar magazine named after Rashid Rida's popular monthly.

Salafi scholar Nasir al Din Al Albani considered Rashid Rida to be his mentor. As an avid reader of Al-Manar, Albani embraced key Traditionalist Salafi ideas through Rida's works and adopted Rida as his intellectual father. For Albani, Riḍā exemplified the standard of how to look to ḥadith for reviving the Muslim community. Crediting Rida for his turn to Salafism and interest in hadith sciences, Albani stated:

"Whatever I have concerning my orientation towards Salafism first, and to the discernment of weak ḥadīth reports second, the credit for this goes to the sayyid Muḥammad Rashīd Riḍā..."

In his treatise "The Exoneration" written in response to Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif, Salafi-jihadist leader Ayman al Zawahiri cited the anti-colonial fatwa of Rashid Rida (against French naturalization) to argue that a Muslim who applies for Western citizenship by his own choice is guilty of kufr(disbelief) or close to kufr.

Albani's son ‘Abd Allah praised Rashid Rida as "muhaddith Misr" (the ḥadīth scholar of Egypt). Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi considered Rida to be the most prominent scholar who advocated Salafiyya in contemporary era and described Rida as "the Mujaddid of his time". Qaradawi described Rida's thought as a "lighthouse" that "guided the ship of Islam in modern history".

Grand Shaykh of al-Azhar, Mustafa al-Maraghi praised Rida as the champion of Salafi thought during his funeral saying:

"Al-Sayyid Rashid triumphed and his supporters and disciples became many, while there were once few supporters and disciples,.... and clouds of ignorance and falsehood were wiped out of their hearts. He didn't have any new principle in Islam, but his principle was the principle of the entire ‘ulama’ of the Salaf, i.e, to return in judgment to God and His Messenger... and his principle was also that of the ‘ulama’ of the Salaf in choosing rules appropriate for the time and beneficial for nations in issues of ijtihad and his principle was that of the ‘ulama’ of the Salaf in everything related to Divine attributes and the issues related to the last day, so he was a Salafi Sunni man who disliked taqlid and propagated ijtihad, seeing it an obligation upon himself and upon everyone capable."

Works

The following is a list of some of the works published by Shaykh Rashid Rida:

• Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Hakim known as Tafsir al-Manar (The commentary on Qur‘an which Abduh began but did not complete beyond surat al-Nisa‘ IV, verse 125. Rida continued up to surat Yusuf XII, verse 100)
• Al-Tafsir al-Mukhtasar al-Mufid (This was intended as a summary of the former work, which was begun by Rida and published by Muhammad Ahmad Kan'an and Zuhayr al-Shawish as Muhktasar Tafsir al-Manar, 3 vols, Beirut-Damascus, 1984)
• Al-Manar Journal (The first volume was published in the second section of the last volume (volume 35) was published and distributed after his death on 29th Rabi'i II, 1354/1935)
• Tarikh al-Ustaz al-Imam al-Shaykh Muhammad ‘Abduh (A biography of Abduh published in three volumes)
• Nida’ lil Jins al-Latif or Huqkq al-Mar’ah fi al-Islam ("A Call to the Fair Sex" or "Women's Rights in Islam"). This was translated into many languages.
• Al-Wahy al-Muhammadi (A Book that provides rational and historical proofs indicating that the Qur‘an is a Divine Revelation)

• Tarjamat al-Qur‘an wa ma fiha min Mafasid wa Munafat al-Islam, Matba'at al-Manar, cairo, 1344/1926
• Dhikra al-Mawlid al-Nabawi (A summary of Prophetic biography)
• Al-Wahda al-Islamiiyya ("Islamic Unity") The major part of this work was first published under the title Muhawarat al-Muslih wa al-Muqallid ("Debates between the Reformer and the Imitator")

• Yusr al-Islam wa Uskl al-Tashri‘ al-‘Āmm ("The Accommodating Spirit of Islam and the Sources of General Jurisprudence") published in 1928.
• Al-Khilafa wa al-Imama al-‘Uzma ("The Caliphate and the Greater Imamate")
• Al-Sunna wa al-Shari‘a ("The Prophetic Tradition and Islamic Law")
• Al-Muslimin wa al-Qibt ("Muslims and the Copts")
• Al-Wahhabiyyun wa al-Hijaz ("The Wahhabites and the Hijaz")
• Al-Manar wa al-Azhar ("Al-Manar and al-Azhar")

See also

• List of Islamic scholars

External links

• Short biography
• Rashid Rida Hometown Website
• Les clés du Moyen-Orient
• Encyclopædia Britannica article