Ali Abdel Raziq () (1888–1966) was an Egyptian scholar of Islam, judge and government minister.Marshall Cavendish Reference. Illustrated Dictionary of the Muslim World Muslim World. Marshall Cavendish, 2010 p.79. His writings, some controversial, debated the role of religion and Islamic history in 20th-century politics and government. While the implication of his arguments still remain a point of debate, his 1925 book ''Islam and the Foundations of Governance'' argued against a role for religion in politics or the political prescriptive value of religious texts.Souad T. Ali. A religion, not a state: Ali 'Abd al-Raziq's Islamic justification of political secularism. University of Utah Press, 2009. Thomas M. Leonard (ed). Encyclopedia of the Developing World, Volume 2. Taylor & Francis, 2006. . p.878. He argued that Islamic texts were and should remain neutral in political debate and civil institution building. He attended

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, and he was a scholar and jurist at

Al-Azhar Al-Azhar Mosque (), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt in the historic Islamic core of the city. Commissioned as the new capital of the Fatimid Caliphate in 970, it was the first mosque established in a city that ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Biography

Ali Abdel Raziq was born in

Minya Governorate Minya ( ') is one of the governorates of Upper Egypt. Its capital city, Minya, is located on the left bank of the Nile River. Etymology The name originates from the chief city of the governorate, originally known in Sahidic Coptic as ''Tmoone ...

in 1888 to a well-off family. His father, Hassan Abdel Raziq, was of Arab origin. He was a large farm-owner and was, in 1907, among the founders of the Umma Party. Ali Abdel Raziq's mother was of North African origin. His brother, Mustafa Abd al-Raziq, a well known philosopher, studied at

Al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...

under the famous reformer

Muhammad Abduh Muḥammad ʿAbduh (also spelled Mohammed Abduh; ; 1849 – 11 July 1905) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar, judge, and Grand Mufti of Egypt. He was a central figure of the Arab Nahḍa and Islamic Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th ce ...

. He later received his

'alim In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

degree from Al-Azhar in 1911. In 1912, he traveled to Oxford University to study economics and political science, but he returned to Cairo at the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Back at Al-Azhar in 1915, he became a

qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...

(religious judge) in

Mansoura Mansoura (; ', , rural: ) is a city in Egypt located on the eastern bank of the Damietta branch of the Nile river. The city is the capital of the Dakahlia Governorate and has a population of 621,953 as of 2021. Etymology ''Mansoura'' in Arabic ...

. Ali became famous for his book ''Islam and the Foundations of Governance'' (''Al-Islam Wa Usul Al-Hukm''), published in 1925, and ''Consensus and Islamic Law'' (''Al-Ijma´ Fi Ash-Shari´ah Al-Islamiyyah''), published in 1947. Following popular debate about his 1925 book, Al-Azhar stripped him of his office, but he got it back in the 1940s. Ali, his father and his brother remained close to the Liberal Constitutional Party. He eventually became a government minister and lost his position as scholar and jurist at Al-Azhar. He twice served as Minister of Endowments, one of the three highest positions in religious administration, beside the Rector of Al-Azhar and the Grand Mufti. He died in 1966.

Work

The argument of his 1925 book has been summarized as "Islam does not advocate a specific form of government". He focused his criticism both at those who use religious law as contemporary political proscription and at the history of rulers claiming legitimacy by the

caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

.Bertrand Badie, Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Leonardo Morlino (eds). International Encyclopedia of Political Science, Volume 1. SAGE, 2011. p.1350. The focus of this debate was Turkish leader

Mustafa Kemal Mustafa () is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Moustafa * Moustafa A ...

's abolition of the

in 1924, and the response of some Arab Muslim scholars that it was incumbent upon Arabs, in particular, to reinstate the caliphate in Arab lands. He wrote that past rulers spread the notion of religious justification for the caliphate "so that they could use religion as a shield protecting their thrones against the attacks of rebels". The journalistic and academic debate that his book set off projected him into fame. The thesis ''Islam and the Foundations of Governance'' (''Al-Islam Wa Usul Al-Hukm'') was published recently by Hamed, the grandson of Abdel Raziq, with a familial introduction. He remains controversial, and his specific arguments are part of a longer tradition of

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

and

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

. His work has since been both praised and condemned, as a precursor of secularist philosophy in Muslim societies. It has been criticized as having drawn on the works of

Orientalist Orientalist may refer to: *A scholar of Oriental studies *A person or thing relating to the Western intellectual or artistic paradigm known as Orientalism *''The Orientalist'', a biography of author Lev Nussimbaum by Tom Reiss * ''The Orientalist' ...

western writers.

Secularism

He was regarded as the intellectual father of Islamic secularism (the

separation of state and religion The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

, not the

secularization In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

of society). Its controversial standpoints regarding the necessity of the

and religious government made the book trigger an intellectual and political battle in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. In essence, it claims that the Muslims may agree on any kind of government, religious or worldly, as long as it serves the interest and common welfare of their society.

Arguments

* The two main sources of Islamic law (

sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

), the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

and the

Sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...

(the tradition of Muhammad), neither demand nor reject the rule of a

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

. * There is no real

ijma Ijma (, ) is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of the Islamic community on a point of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims regard it as one of the secondary sources of Sharia law, after the Qur'an, and the Sunnah. Exactly what group s ...

(consensus) on the necessity of the caliphate. * Experience shows that the caliphate was a series of disasters for the Muslim community, and there is no single rational argument for the re-establishment of the caliphate. As he recounts the horrors of the caliphate, among other things, one can conclude that he advocated a humanist kind of governance, probably a democratic state. The word 'secular' entered the Arab lexicon at the turn of the 20th century, bringing with it a host of meanings and interpretations. It was first introduced into Arab discourse, as a reference to the separation between religion and state. That later evolved to become "la dini", irreligious. In current circles, secularism is often both understood as "almaniya" and associated with immorality or the lack of ethics.

Criticism

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

Islamic theologian

Muhammad Rashid Rida Sayyid Muhammad Rashīd Rida Al-Hussaini (; 1865 – 22 August 1935) was an Islamic scholar, reformer, theologian and revivalist. An early Salafist, Rida called for the revival of hadith studies and, as a theoretician of an Islamic state, cond ...

(d. 1935) was one of the most fierce critics of 'Ali Abd al-Raziq and his ideas. Rida described the reaction to his controversial work ''al-Islam wa 'usul al-hukm'' slam and the Foundations of Political Powerto the "sudden arrival of the

Day of Judgment The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

". Through ''

Al-Manar Al-Manar () is a Lebanese satellite television station owned and operated by the Islamist political party and paramilitary group Hezbollah,

'', Rashid Rida charged 'Abd al-Raziq with

blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

and ''

Kufr ''Kāfir'' (; , , or ; ; or ) is an Arabic-language term used by Muslims to refer to a non-Muslim, more specifically referring to someone who disbelieves in the Islamic God, denies his authority, and rejects the message of Islam a ...

'' (disbelief) that no '' batini'', ''

Mu'tazili Mu'tazilism (, singular ) is an Islamic theological school that appeared in early Islamic history and flourished in Basra and Baghdad. Its adherents, the Mu'tazilites, were known for their neutrality in the dispute between Ali and his opponents ...

'', or ''

Jahmi Jahmiyya is a term used by Islamic scholars to refer to the followers of the doctrines of Jahm bin Safwan (d. 128/746). The Jahmiyya particularly came to be remembered for advocating for the denial or negation of God's divine attributes (known as ...

'' have ever uttered before.

Excommunicating Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...

'Ali Abd al-Raziq as an apostate (''

murtad Apostasy in Islam ( or ) is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslim, in thought, word, or through deed. It includes not only explicit renunciations of the Islamic faith by converting to another religion or abandoning religi ...

''), Rida praised the Azhari court verdict stripping Abd al-Raziq of his scholarly titles as a "great manifest victory for the believers over the atheists". Rida condemned the work as

“.. a destruction and uprooting of the Islamic regime and its legislation; a tearing apart of its
community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...
, and a complete endorsement of disobedience of Allah and His messenger and all religious rules pertaining to the secular order, whether personal, political, civil or criminal... it considers ignorant all generations of Muslims: The Companions, Successors, ''
Imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...
s'', '' Mujtahids'',
Hadith scholars Hadith studies is the academic study of hadith, a literature typically thought in Islam, Islamic religion to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval of the Muhammad as transmitted through chains of narrators. A major area of ...
, and theologians. All in all, it calls for taking a path other than that of the believers, one at a conflict with Islam as it is understood by Muslims from the first generations to the present."

Writings

* Abdel Raziq, Ali: ''Al-Islam Wa Usul Al-Hukm: Bahth Fi-l Khilafa Wa-l Hukuma Fi-l Islam'' (Islam and the Foundations of Governance: Research on the Caliphate and Governance in Islam). Critique and commentary by Mamdooh Haqqi (Beirut, 1978). * Abdel Razek, A., trans. by Loutfi, M., ed. Filali-Ansary, A. ''Islam and the Foundations of Political Power''. In Translation: Modern Muslim Thinkers Vol. 2. Aga Khan University-Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) / Edinburgh University Press, 2013.

References

External links

Islam and the Foundations of Political Power
(full eBook) at Aga Khan University eCommons {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdel Raziq, Ali 1888 births 1966 deaths 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Sharia judges Egyptian judges Alumni of the University of Oxford Al-Azhar University alumni People from Minya Governorate Endowments ministers of Egypt