The Revolt of Islam 1700–1993: Comparative Considerations and Relations to Imperialism

Abstract

Within the Muslim world, revolts with a religious aspect or ideology have had a long history. My current comparative research on this topic indicates that these revolts, common in the early centuries of Islam, became less frequent thereafter. These revolts may generally be characterized as either “left” sectarian or “orthodox” revivalist. The latter were particularly important after ca. 1700. It is part of my thesis to see three phases to these modern revivalist revolts, and to say that all three phases were, in different ways, tied to interaction with the West, although this was far from being their only cause. These three phases were the pre-colonial phase, early resistance to colonialism, and the recent Islamic revival. The scope here covers the whole Muslim world and the approach is comparative.