Islamic Revivalist Movements in the Modern World

Abstract

Since the demise of the last great Muslim Empire, the Ottoman Empire, a plethora of Islamic revivalist movements has emerged in response to the gradual decline of numerous Islamic institutions, the threat to the Muslim identity, and the disintegration of the Muslim world through the damaging processes of colonialism and imperialism. Muslim revivalist movements have consequently emerged to inculcate Islamic orthodoxy in the masses in the Muslim world as well as in diaspora communities through institutional developments, socio-political activities, missionary preaching, and propagation. Movements such as Hasan Al-Banna's Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun, Ilyas's Tabligh Jama'at, and Taquiddin an-Nabhani's Hizb ut-Tahrir share a common core commitment and objective to revive Islam and restore a lasting Islamic glory. In this article we propose to compare and contrast these movements and argue that they act as agents of change and reform, seeking a reconstruction of Muslim ummah (community).