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The impact of colonial experience on the religious and social thought of Sir Sayyid Aḥmad Khān and Ahmad Hassan : a comparison

This thesis studies in a comparative framework the impact of colonial experience on the religious and social thought of two modernists, Ahmad Kh an of India and Ahmad Hassan of Indonesia. At the religious level, both modernists were much concerned with the purification of Islam. They called upon the Muslims to return to the Qur' an and hadith, abandon taqlid and to undertake ijtihad. Ahmad Kh an, influenced by the natural sciences and rationalism of the West, was also inclined to interpret Islam in a naturalistic and rational manner. Ahmad Hassan, on the other hand, was very much preoccupied with the purification of Islam and the return to the Qur' an and hadith, and was little influenced by the Western impact through colonialism. At the social level, both modernists considered education to be the essential means to social betterment. But whereas Ahmad Kh an also believed in cooperation with the British, Ahmad Hassan was opposed to the Dutch. / This study concludes by showing that, given the Western colonial experience, Ahmad Kh an's socio-religious thought was rational, realistic, liberal and dynamic. While Ahmad Hassan too lived in a colonial society, his socio-religious thought was puritanical, defensive and ideological.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.26362
Date January 1994
CreatorsYahya, Agusni
ContributorsAlvi, Sajida S. (advisor)
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Arts (Institute of Islamic Studies.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001431423, proquestno: MM99951, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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