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Source & Credit: Examinor.Com | St. Louis Islam Examiner
By Basiyr Rodney | St. Louis, MO | February 23, 2010
Bashiruddin: Twentieth century Islamic reformer
In the wake of Ian Smith's series in The New Statesman on Modern Muslim Intellectualism. I felt the need to tackle the overly political nature of the "reformers" that Smith selected. Fifty years ago this year, the world witnessed the passing of a great Islamic reformer Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (b.1889). Despite his lackluster acceptance within the body politic of Islam, Bashiruddin Ahmad (1889-1965) was by far the most prolific scholar, orator and strategist of Islam in the 20th century. His actions continue to define Islamic communities and experiences the world over. Born in British India in 1889, Bashiruddin led an international struggle to establish the true Qura'nic principles of Islam that lasted more than 50 years.
Ahmad's focus was primarily theological. His work centralized the spiritual Islam rather than political or ideological iterations. As the Khalifa of the true Islam Bashiruddin's arguments and ideas remain at the forefront of the corpus of many mainstream writings and discourses on Islam. His writings include a five volume 2900 page commentary of the Holy Qur'an in English as well as a larger multi volume commentary in Urdu. Bashiruddin supervised the translation of the Qur'an into more than 14 languages. His collection of Urdu writings on Islam has been compiled into 19 volumes. Bashiruddin also wrote a corpus of poetry. He gave regular speeches as well as sermons on Islamic theology, eschatology, science and mysticism. Arguments from his Introduction to the Study of the Holy Qur'an and Muhammad in the Bible are rehashed within Muslim proselytizing circles often without credence to the fact that they were his original defenses of Islam.
Like many 20th century Islamic thinkers, Bashiruddin saw the struggle of Islam in modern post colonial societies. As a result of the complexity of the time he did not limit his work to theology or to promoting the imposition of a politicized Islamic sharia on the masses. Instead he waged an idealogical battle with the pen. His aim was to demonstrate that Islam was not incompatible with modern society. He extended the application of the Qur'an to science, politics, international relations, economics and sociology.
Bashiruddin spoke out against the rise of Communism in the 1940's. He in fact postulated that Communism as a political and economic system would not survive into the 21st century. His words proved prophetic with the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. His work The Economic Structure of Islamic Society was praised for its ability to describe salient features of Islam when compared with purely Liberal economics on one hand and Communism on the other.
As a twentieth century reformer in Islam, Bashiruddin engaged Muslim clerics across the spectrum as well as Christians, Hindus, Jews and Atheists. Ahmad saw his role as conciliatory, he engaged in interfaith discourses and dialogs with a view of bringing people of different faiths together. In this act he also saw himself as revolutionary because embedded in his aims was the desire to bring people closer to God consciousness. In 1921 Bashiruddin wrote a book entitled "A Present to the Prince of Wales". It was presented on a silver studded tray to the Prince of Wales who later became King Edward VIII.
Bashiruddin did not argue for the establishment of a political caliphate and the imposition of Sharia law. In fact he taught the world that the Islamic caliphate was established after the death of a prophet not on the political machinations of a certain group or class of individuals. For him the Islamic caliphate already existed and would continue to exist. Individuals would choose to come under the governance of the caliph not based on force but by choice. To enlighten the world about these teachings Bashiruddin laid the groundwork for the preaching of Islam within this vein throughout the world. The first mosque established in the UK was on account of the efforts of Bashiruddin Ahmad. He himeslf travelled there in 1924 to visit the Religions conference where he delivered a paper on the subject of Ahmadiyyat the True Islam.
Bashiruddin established Islamic missions in more than 40 countries. Under his guidance a network of missionaries departed from his center in Pakistan to the rural villages of India, parts of Africa and Europe. Bashiruddin's missionaries established the first organized Muslim communities in the United Kingdom, Western Europe, the Caribbean and the United States. Under Bashiruddin's directions Islamic communities were developed from the Fiji Islands in the far east to the Caribbean Islands in the far west.
The result of one such missionary's efforts - Mufti Muhammad Sadiq was the establishment of the first organized Islamic community here in St. Louis. Mufti Muhammad Sadiq served as a missionary in the United States under Bashiruddin Ahmad's orders from 1920 to 1922. Under Ahmad's guidance, Sadiq established the headquarters of the mission in Chicago Illinois. In around 1922 a Mr. P. Nathaniel Johnson was appointed a Shiek on behalf of Bashiruddin's mission here in St. Louis. Sadiq describes Johnson a.ka. Sheik Ahmad Din as a "zealous worker for Islam."
Today when we talk of Islamic reformers the world remains preoccupied with Muslims who are limited in their impact to the pseudo-theological or political sphere. The work of Bashiruddin was both theological as well as secular. Bashiruddin took active steps to support the cause of Palestinian nationalism, Pakistani nationalism and Indian nationalism. His envoy Zafrullah Khan engaged the world at the United Nations in support of Palestianian statehood. Despite his righteous indignation at the treatment of the Palestinians, Bashiruddin maintained a conciliatory relationship with the state of Israel. To this day the Islamic mission he established at Haifa remains active and engaged in interfaith work.
Like Smith's series, today's press and media are replete with stories of the need for Islamic reformation. Before we reinvent the wheel we might want to take a look at those reformers of Islam who have had positive and far reaching impact. Perhaps they have laid the groundwork for a reformation that is already underway.
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