Turkestan Djadidism and Islamic Reformism in Egypt: Points of Contact

Abstract

The twentieth century became the century of great changes in the Eastern world in political, ideological and spiritual aspects on the one hand. The intrusion of an entirely foreign culture, as in the case of the Western one, accel erated the processes of economy capitalization and exerted influence on national self-consciousness and political thinking. On the other hand, the process of colonization acquired great expansion in the mid-19th century, literally roused up the public consciousness and increased the striving of the progressive people for search of new optimal forms to fight foreign intrusion. These two processes, the renewal of consciousness and the struggle for progress, are characteristic of both Egypt and Turkestan. Although the mid-19th century was characterized by the beginning of the Arab cultural and ideological rise called the Nahdah (Renaissance), the end of this century gave birth to common Turkic movement under the name of Jadi dism (The New). Nahdah supporters sought to synthesize the elements of West ern and Eastern civilizations. However, at the top of the list they put the goal of reviving the former economical, political and cultural power of the Arabs. The same concept of progress is also found in Turkestan Jadids. They appealed to the glorious heritage of Turan, and as an example of full flourishing of its science and culture, they adduced proofs by mentioning the names of Ibn Sina (Avi cenna), Ulugbek, Beruni and others. The supporters of both trends tried to incorporate the cultural heritage of their nations with technological and cultural advancements of the West. At the same time, either part for the first time in their territories raised the problems of national unity and the development of a national culture. Both Nahdah and Jadidism opened the epoch of national awakening, the epoch of awareness of their individuality and special place, and became a socio-historical phenomenon complying with the demands of an infant national bourgeoisie. It would be wrong to discuss both movements as identical because each of them had its own historical distinctive features and conditions. However, the unifying factor was the idea of Islamic reforming as the religious concepts, and state of religiousness of the population put obstacles in the way of social and spiritual progress. Egyptian reformers such as Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad cAb duh, his follower, considered religious reform (al-isldh al-dini) as their primary aim. In no way did they stand up for a radical reorganization and reconsidera tion of fundamental Muslim principles, but they proposed to revise those ele