Rashid Rida's World War Era Activities

Before the First World War, Syrian-Egyptian Islamic scholar Rashid Rida was not opposed to the existence of the Ottoman state and considered it as a necessary entity for Muslims and Arabs to ward of foreign threats. Hence at this stage, he was opposed to the idea of a new caliphate to replace the Ottomans, believing that it was of foreign inspiration. Although Ottoman Empire was not accepted by Rida as a real caliphate, it was seen as a "caliphate of necessity".^[1] However, the Ottoman entry into World War 1 in October 1914 on the side of the German empire was condemned by Rashid Rida as a selfish, unscrupulous venture of the "apostate Young Turks".^[2][3]

In several Pan-Arabist journals, Ottoman Empire was condemned in the same magnitude as the British and French; portraying it as a continuation of the Mamluk rule of oppression, humiliation, and impoverishment. However, Rida presented a more independent and sophisticated argumentation in Al-Manar and dealt much more intellectually on the consequences of the war for the people in the Middle East. He was far more critical of the French and the British empires, and their colonial ambitions. He also addressed the question of loyalty to the Ottoman Empire which became one of the most important issue for many Muslim Arabs, including himself. Rida held onto a persisting sense that the Ottoman Empire acted as the last bulwark against European ambitions and therefore should be supported. He distinguished between the Young Turks, whom he opposed vehemently, and the empire, insisting that every Muslim's loyalty is only to the Ottoman Sultan-Caliph. However, as the war progressed it became clear to him that the Ottoman Empire was, against its own will, hostage to the Young Turks who in turn were the thralls of the German imperialists. As far as Rida was concerned, the Germans did not differ from the other European powers in their imperial ambitions, and had to be fought just as their Young Turk allies. He was particularly critical of the German plan of the Berlin–Baghdad railway which he viewed as part of German imperial design. Over the course of the war, he would also conclude that the fragile Ottoman Empire could not be saved, motivating him to look up to other rulers to defend Muslim lands.^[4]

During World War I, Rashid Rida's activities primarily involved negotiating with the British and Sharif Husayn of Mecca, persuading them on the issue of establishing a united pan-Islamic state, with autonomy for different regions, in the scenario of an eventual collapse of the Ottoman Empire. His attitudes towards the British had been reserved and always suspected them of holding hidden ambitions in Arab countries. These suspicions became stronger after the British ignored his war-time appeals and were verified when he learned about the Sykes-Picot agreement to divide the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire between Britain and France. Since Rida identified the well-being of the Arabs with that of Islam, he considered Britain's actions as dangerous to not just Arabs, but all Muslims.^[5]

Outbreak of the War(1914)[]

The First World War broke out in the Arab World in November 1914. The most prominent theme in Rida's discourse during World War I was the need to preserve an Islamic temporal power should the Ottoman Empire collapse. This concern made him stress his Ottoman loyalty before the war and during the war, it pushed him in the direction of trying to construct an Arab caliphate. According to Rida, it was the non-Arabs who had innovated the foreign influences that declined the Muslim Ummah and hence only through the Arab nation can the strength of early Islam be restored. Rashid Rida pushed forward with his plans for an “Arab caliphate” through the activities of his secret society Al-jami‘a al-‘arabiyya defying the Ottoman government, perceiving its political instability and foreign complications. He corresponded with various rulers of Arabian Peninsula seeking a pact of the Arab rulers for a future union of Arabian Peninsula and Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire.^[6][7][8]

Coincidentally, in 1914, Abdallah, the second son of the Sharif Husayn of Mecca, travelled to Egypt to start preliminary discussions with the British which would lead to the McMahon-Husayn Correspondence the following year. While in Cairo, Abdallah met Rida and joined Jam'iyyat al-Jami‘a al-Arabiyya, Rida's secret Pan-Arab Islamist society. As per the society's program, Rida called for an alliance among the rulers of the Arabian Peninsula which would pave the way for the rulers of Hijaz, Najd, Yemen, and 'Asir to form an Islamic union, and defend the peninsula against any potential foreign aggression. Abdallah favoured the program and conveyed the message to his father, Sharif Husayn. However, Husayn rejected the proposal.^[9][10]

Despite these stances, Rida wrote an open letter to the Muslims of Syria, calling upon them to fight on the side of the Ottoman Empire in the hour of trial and cooperate with them as per the norms of sharia. Rida argued that the Arab renaissance led to the progress of the Empire and since its purpose was not to oppose the Turks, he appealed to the Arabs of Syria to help the Empire. However, this demonstration of loyalty was not unconditional and was complicated. Rida alerted: “But I remind you that . . . duty to obey the Empire refers only to its official and legal commands.” Organisations and parties such as the ruling CUP should not be obeyed, since they transgressed the Sharia.^[11][7] Rida aspired for an Islamic union in which the Arabs would have the primacy, under an Islamic state ruled by sharia.^[12] In his appeal to Syrians to remain loyal to the empire, he was also cautious to urge them to not attack the Syrian Christians.^[13]

Negotiations with British officials(1914-1915)[]

As the war raged, Rashid Rida, wary of both Turks and Allies, saw the moment as a chance for liberation of Arab lands from the Ottoman yoke. Rida was no longer able to maintain his former tight-walk approach towards the Ottomans as the war began spreading across the empire. He concluded that Ottoman collapse was now inevitable, which would lead to what he feared and tried to prevent the most: European control of Arab lands. As the war progressed, Rida began to actively work for the re-establishment of an Arab caliphate to substitute the Ottoman Empire. Rida established direct contacts with British officials like Gilbert Clayton, the Director of British Intelligence in Cairo, and informed them that he was ready to mediate between Britain and Arab rulers as the war spread to the Middle East. Using the influence wielded by the Society of Arab Association on Arab officers of Ottoman army as leverage, Rida persuaded the British Intelligence Department in Cairo to assist Arab independence. During the initial stage of war, British officials in Cairo and Khartoum were favourable to the proposals of Pan-Islamists like Rida who sought an Arab caliphate; in spite of objections by other British officials, especially in the India Office.^{[14][12][15][16]}

In the beginning of the war, the British tried to get the support of Arabs by entering into negotiations with both the Hashimite family in Mecca and various pan-Arab factions. Although he was encouraged by the initial positive tone of British officials, Rashid Rida adamantly rejected any notions of a Caliphate dependent upon British power. In conversations with Rida, they argued that Britain was ready to assist the Arabs to free themselves from the Ottoman yoke and that Britain had no imperial ambitions in the Arab countries. According to Rashid Rida, prominent British officials in Egypt had assured that Britain would not occupy Arab lands and would recognise Arab proclamation of independence. In any scenario where British armies have to invade the Arab countries during the war to expel the Turks, they would evacuate the Arab lands as soon as the war was over. Rida suggested Britain to formalise these oral promises into a comprehensive proclamation. A draft for the proclamation was written by Rida himself and conveyed to the British authorities on 4 December 1914. The draft was a record of promises given by British officials Ronald Storrs and Gilbert Clayton to Rida in Cairo. It specified the regions of Arab independence as "Arabia, Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, the countries lying between the Red Sea, Bahr El-Arab, Persian Gulf, frontiers of Persia and Anatolia and the Mediterranean Sea" which would be recognised by Britain without any interference on Arab sovereignty. Rida wanted these promises to be formalized by London, by publicly announcing unequivocal promises regarding their commitment to support Arab independence and refrain from trying to control them in any form whatsoever, whether by occupation or protection. However, London would refuse to formalise these proclamations and was never published. Instead, the draft was altered and an edited version was sent to Rida, which removed British denial of any ambitions in Arab lands and replaced it "with a promise of free trade to the Arabs in the Arab country which will become possessed by the English Government." Rida protested against the alterations which departed from the earlier important official assurances, thus "leaving it devoid of the spirit which would tend to gain the hearts and confidence of the Arabs." Rida condemned the British occupation of Faw and Basra in Iraq in the beginning of the war, and called on them to evacuate Arab territories.^[17][18]

In addition to preserving an Islamic temporal power, the sovereignty of Arabian Peninsula was also very important to Rida. Outside the Arabian Peninsula, the Arab Asiatic provinces of Syria, Palestine and Iraq were unnegotiable parts of Rida's Arab Caliphate since these regions included historically significant cities like Karbala, Baghdad, etc. as well as the third holiest city in Islam, Jerusalem. Rida warned the British not to misinterpret his overtures for Arab-British cooperation as justification for placing Muslim holy lands under British protection, however indirect it maybe. In December 1914, England deposed Khedive Abbas Hilmi II and installed Husayn Kamil as sultan of Egypt, turning it into a protectorate. Rida protested these events; stating that Muslims would reject a puppet Sultan or Caliph nominally installed by them.^[19] In February 1915, Rida submitted a long memorandum in which he emphasized that the British should abandon all imperial aspirations on Arab territories. He warned that a British annexation of Iraq or Egypt and appointment of an Egyptian Sultan or Hejazi Caliph under their control would be met with a declaration of Jihad against the British and the entire Christendom. Since Germans were also trying to win the support of the Islamic world, Britain's interest lay in assisting the Arabs to win their independence as quickly as possible. In an appendix to this memorandum, Rida urged the British to publish a public declaration of their support to Arab independence. Most British officials discarded Rida's programme for creation of Arab Caliphate as unrealistic and Utopian. The director of British intelligence in Cairo, Gilbert Clayton explained to Rida: "[it is] only a sort of Utopia which cannot be reached except by very gradual stages. . . . the British Empire took many hundred years to build and so will an Arab Empire!" Reginald Wingate, British Governor General of Sudan and Sirdar of the Egyptian army, wrote to Clayton: "He [Rida] seems to think that the Arabs can become immediately an Empire, whilst as a matter of fact they are scarcely an embryo." Hence, British officials refrained from giving any promises that would satisfy Rida. Rida's vision for a pan-Islamic Caliphate was also a minority amongst the Syrian activists in Cairo.^[20]

Encounter with Mark Sykes[]

As the world war escalated, relations between Rida and British officials would become strained further. Controversial articles in Rida's Al-Manar were getting censored. In July 1915, Rida held a discussion with the Assistant secretary of the British War Cabinet, Mark Sykes, explaining his vision of an independent pan-Arab state. He argued that the era of Turkish domination of Muslims had ended and said that the time for an Islamic Caliphate led by Arab Muslims has approached. Rida described the pan-Arab empire as stretching across the Arabian Peninsula and northwards to the Anatolian borderline of Marash-Diarbakr-Zakho-Ruwanduz. When Sykes raised the possibility of dividing the area amongst the Allies, Rida warned of large-scale Muslim uprisings across the British empire. If the British showed opposition to the Arab empire, Rida threatened them with the permanent peril of an Islamic-German Axis against the British empire. Rida bluntly stated that Islamic power would be expanded to subvert Christian influence as much as possible and made no effort to hide his beliefs that Britain feared the Islamic World. The conversation was held in an unpleasant atmosphere and a few months later, Sykes would portray Rida as an unyielding zealot in his official reports, writing:

"[Rashid Rida] is a leader of Pan-Arab and Pan-Islamic thought. In conversation he talks much as he writes. He is a hard uncompromising fanatical Moslem, the mainspring of whose ideas is the desire to eliminate Christian influence and to make Islam a political power in as wide a field as possible.... He resolutely refused to entertain any idea of control or advisers with executive authority of any kind. He held that the Arabs were more intelligent than Turks and that they could easily manage their own affairs; no argument would move him on this point;.. his ideas coincide with those of a considerable number of the Arab Ulema. It will be seen that it is quite impossible to come to any understanding with people who hold such views, and it may be suggested that against such a party force is the only argument that they can understand"

^[21][22][23]

Husayn-MacMohan Correspondence[]

The conversation with Sykes finally convinced Rashid Rida that the British had ambitions in the Arab countries. Rida's political activism for Caliphate had already started to provoke British authorities. On 24 October 1915, Arthur Henry McMahon, the British High Commissioner of Egypt, sent his famous letter to Sharif Husayn of Mecca in which he agreed to grant most of the territorial demands the Sharif had raised, in exchange for his cooperation with the British during the war. However, the letter included several reservations and clauses that minimised the boundaries of the future Arab state, especially its northwestern frontiers. These clauses and their interpretations would later provoke a bitter controversy between the Muslims and British. In order to counter unofficial reports of the agreement received by Rida; British Oriental secretary Ronald Storrs showed the exact terms of Macmohan's letter to Rashid Rida in December 1915. Sharply reacting, Rida replied:

"This is an agreement that only an enemy of the Arabs could possibly be satisfied with, or a donkey who does not understand its meaning."

^[24][25]

"General Organic Law of the Arab Empire"[]

A heated argument followed with Storrs over the letter. Rida condemned the ambiguities of most of the articles in the agreement, especially in relation to Syria's boundaries, which he viewed as contrary to Arab demands. Rida would prepare a document which comprehensively explained his programme for a Qurayshite Caliphate in "The General Organic Law of the Arab Empire," and send it to Storrs two days later. It proposed the creation of a single independent Arab state which would include the Arabian Peninsula, Syria and Iraq, with a decentralized form of government which would allocate administrative autonomy to each of its provinces.^[26][27]

The proposed Arab empire was a decentralised state with Islam as its official religion and Arabic as official language. Every province in the Caliphate had a state council elected by its inhabitants, which had independence in internal administration subject to the Central authority in general policy. The general administrative policy was to be managed by a 5-year term President, a shura of elected representatives from the Empire and a Council of Ministers chosen by the President. The president is nominated by the Khalifa from amongst the three candidates elected by the Shura of representatives. The Khalifa will be in charge of religious matters; recognize “General Organic Law of the Empire” and rule by the sharia. He will be assisted in this by a legal council of scholarly experts at whose head will be the “Shaykh al-Islam” who would check the powers of the Khalifa. The Khalifa had the authority to settle any dispute and the resolutions passed by the Council of Representatives needed his confirmation for execution. The headquarters of the Caliphate was to be in Mecca and the headquarters of the Government and the Council of Representatives was to be in Damascus. All inhabitants of the empire were guaranteed religious freedom. Non-Muslims were allowed to become a minister, but not judges in a Muslim court. Internal problems of the non-Muslim communities had to be solved by their own authorities.^[28][29] The British did not take Rida's program seriously and ignored it. In their view it was too idealistic, for rulers of the Arabian Peninsula to consent to subordinate them to an empire, whose status as rulers depended on their commitment to the General Organic Law.^[26]

The Arab Revolt (1916-1918)[]

By 1916, Rida had concluded that the British were opposed to an Arab caliphate and his anti-British stances intensified due to British aversion to his proposals. Sensing British schemes to dominate the Muslim World, Rida wrote: "England was trying to efface the Muhammedan authority and rule from the world". In June 1916, Sharif Husayn of Mecca launched his Arab Revolt against the Ottomans, with British help. Fearing that the collapse of the Ottomans in the war might result in the end of the caliphate altogether and European occupation of both Turkish and Arab lands, Rida trod a delicate course. Initially, he backed the Arab revolt, but also emphasized his allegiance to the Ottoman caliphate, differentiating it from the C.U.P regime, which effectively controlled the empire. He saw Sharif Husayn's declaration of independence as a purely Islamic authority exerting control over Hejaz which was supposed to be the first step in establishing a larger Arab Islamic state. He argued that the revolt in Hejaz was a reaction to the oppressive Turkish policies in Syria and Iraq, namely, killing the elite and deporting the youth for forced conscription and pan-Turkic fanaticism. Not wanting to be perceived as anti-Turkish, Rida also clarified that the Arab revolt was not a movement to free Arabs from Turkish domination, but instead was a preemptive move to protect the cradle of Islam from falling under European rule in the likely event of Ottoman collapse. Even if the Ottoman-German alliance were to win the war, Ottoman Empire would be a German colony in anything but name. Hejazi independence would not cause the disintegration of the empire, but rather that would be determined by the course of the war.^{[26][29][30][31][32]}

Justifying Hejazi independence as a "precautionary measure" to protect the holy land, Rida wrote:

"If [the Ottoman state] and its allies come out of this war victorious, then it would be easy for it to do as it wishes in the Hijaz. If, on the other hand, its enemies come out victorious then Ottoman concern with the situation in the Hijaz becomes irrelevant, since [Ottoman] unity would naturally be shattered to pieces and, it is feared, its enemies will end its independence. In that case every Muslim, whether he is an Arab or a Turk, would heartily wish that the Hijaz and other Arab lands should escape falling under the tutelage of the victorious Allies."

^[33]

Initially Rashid Rida had expressed optimism that the Arab revolt will lead to the establishment of a strong independent Arab empire, free of European influences. He argued that no sane Muslim could denounce Husayn's revolt in the light of the deeds carried out by the Young Turks against their country and against Islam. Justifying that the political interests of the Arabs were the same as those of the entire Muslim umma, Rida asserted that an independent Arab State would put new life into the Scriptural language of Islam(i.e., Arabic) and implement Sharia. If the two are not the same, one should prefer his Divine religious commitment above his worldly national duties. Thus, Islam takes priority over Arabism and the laws of Islam are binding on the national State. Rida strongly condemned the CUP and its pan-Turkic policies and denounced them as a plot to delineate the Turkish race from Islam and assimilate Arabs within a secular reconstruction of the Ottoman Empire. Hence, every Arab who was aware of their oppression should refuse to constitute a part of the new Ottoman Empire. Rida's unusual views and pro-Caliphate activism were viewed with suspicion by the British and French intelligence services. After the outbreak of the revolt, Rida corresponded in Hejaz for meeting Sharif Husayn. By mid-July rumors had spread that Rida was about to come to the Hijaz from Egypt with the intention of stirring up strife against the British. When the British intercepted several letters of Rida in which he propagandized against them, they arrested him and planned to deport him to Malta. However in order to not hamper their standing in Egypt, they decided to put Rida under close surveillance, preventing him from leaving Egypt, rather than exiling him.^{[34][35][36][37]}

Pilgrimage to Hejaz and Split With Sharif Husayn[]

In October 1916, Rida managed to travel to Mecca as part of a delegation to perform the hajj and encountered Sharif Husayn personally. Rumors spread that Rida was using the opportunity for anti-British propaganda. Contrary to Rashid Rida, Sharif Husayn, however, only aimed for independence from Istanbul and did not seek to challenge the Allies nor shared Rida's plans for Arab empire which was threatened by the European powers in the long-term. In Hejaz, Rashid Rida distributed pamphlets spreading anti-European propaganda and called upon the Arabs to unite. Husayn was highly displeased with Rida's anti-British, anti-European activities. In one instance, he had to publicly silence Rida's public speech to the hajjis(pilgrims) which was seen as excessively anti-European. Husayn would assure alarmed European delegates that Rida and his views had little influence over him. Rashid Rida warned the sharif to not declare himself caliph, since he had already given bay'ah(oath of allegiance) to the Ottoman sultan Muhammad Reşâd. Rida followed the classical theory of Mawardi which allowed for only one legitimate caliph at a particular time. Husayn was offended by Rida's opposition to his Caliphal ambitions.^[33][38][10]

The main dispute between Husayn and Rida occurred over the latter's plans to organise a pan-Islamic Arab Union. Husayn had already turned down Rida's proposal before. Rida's main goal for visiting the Hijaz was to convince Sharif Husayn to join his "Society of the Arab Association"(Jam'iyyat ul-Jami‘a al-Arabiyya) to form an alliance among the rulers of the Arabian Peninsula, which he had earlier informed his son Abdullah in 1914. He repeated the basic programme of the Society, i.e., to form an alliance with the Emirate of Nejd and the rulers of ‘Asir, Yemen; with each ruler retaining autonomy in internal administrative affairs, uniting to defend the Arabian Peninsula from foreign threats, and cooperate in the future to save Arab lands from foreign occupation. The alliance would be headed by the "Council of the Alliance"(Majlis al-Hilf), headquartered in Mecca, which would convene annually to discuss common interests and Husayn was offered candidacy for its presidency. However Husayn, fearing a weakening of his political power, rejected Rida's proposals staunchly and made clear his intentions to attack the other rulers. Rida's anti-European attitudes, his advocacy of a pan-Islamic union and his rejection of Husayn's claims to the Caliphate, made him persona non-grata in the Hijaz. In mid-October 1916, Rida returned to Egypt empty-handed and from then on, began to develop enmity with Husayn. Rida would never forgive Husayn for refusing his proposals to arrive at a pan-Islamic union. His journal Al-Manar began to increasingly criticise Husayn, condemning him as being driven by personal ambition in his efforts to become king of Arabs and Caliph, with reliance upon British power. Rida vehemently condemned Sharif Husayn for his secret agreements with the British empire that jeopardised the independence of Iraq and Syria. By May 1917, their conflict became an open rift and Al-Manar was banned in the Hashemite Kingdom. The Russian empire was party to the secret 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement and when the Bolsheviks came to power, Soviet Russia released the full-text of the agreement to the Press, embarrassing the British. Rida vehemently condemned the British and French, for their unveiled plans to occupy Arab lands.^{[39][10][40][41][42]}

Pan-Syrian Activism[]

After his split with Husayn, Rida's activities during the year 1918 inclined increasingly towards shaping the future of Syria alone. He began cooperating with various parties in working towards the independence of Arab states, although he was resentful of their political programs. The basis for joint cooperation between the various Syrian activists was their growing dissatisfaction with Husayn and his stubbornness towards other Arabs. They also feared that Husayn would agree to the partition of Iraq and Syria between Britain and France to consolidate his personal gains in the Hijaz. Rashid Rida would forward a letter to US president Woodrow Wilson, asking him to prevent Britain from their ambitions to annex Iraq, Syria and parts of the Arabian Peninsula, which was contrary to the declared Wilsonian Principles of the Allies. In the letter, Rida described Sharif Husayn as a British vassal who was willing to sell-out Arab lands for personal ambitions.^[43][33]

Religious and Educational Efforts(1911-1918)[]

Rashid Rida associated the rising Christian missionary activities across the Muslim world as an extension of colonialism. He argued that the Christian missionaries preached their religion "motivated by politics, followed by money, and protected by weapons." Rida compared his contemporary situation to the Spanish Inquisition, wherein the Catholic Church partnered with the Spanish rulers to forcibly convert Muslims and Jews. He stressed that the Islamic Daʿwa had been "gaining millions of converts over the centuries", despite the scientific, social, military and political shortcomings of Muslim states. Rida believed that this was because of the strength of the ‘truth’ of Islamic religion in comparison to "the ‘absurdity’ of the Christian creed." He was a leading member of two Islamic associations - Shams al-ʾIslām (Sun of Islam) and Makārim al-ʾAkhlāq (Good Manners) - which sought to combat Christian missions, and revive religious awareness among Muslims.^[44]

Dar al-Da'wa waI-Irshad[]

To combat christian missionary work, in January 1911, Rashid Rida had announced the formation of “the Society of Invitation and Guidance” (Jam'iyyat al-Da‘wa wal-Irshad) which would establish a seminary, “The House of Invitation and Guidance”(Dar al-Da'wa waI-Irshad) with the goal of educating Muslim students across the globe. The meetings of society were held in the editorial rooms of Al-Manar and the rules of the school were published in October 1911. Officially, the school was non-political and its graduates would be returned to all Islamic nations. Although the Egyptian nationalists were opposed to the society, it was supported by various Islamic societies of Egypt. In March 1912, regular studies began in Dār al-Daʿwa wāl-ʾIrshād.^[45]

The seminary was a boarding school which trained mainly two groups of people: murshids (guides), who operated within the Muslim community to combat religious heresies, and the duʿāt (propagators), who conveyed the Islamic message to non-Muslims and defended Islam against missionary attacks. In addition to religious subjects, the curriculum also included international law, psychology, sociology, biology, mathematics, geography and economics. The school recruited qualified Muslim students from all over the world, especially from poor regions such as China and Indonesia and provided them accommodation, books and living expenses. The studies were charge-free. The students were taught on the condition that they live strictly; abiding by Islamic values. Rida also stipulated that any student who displayed signs of madhhabiyya ( exclusive adherence to an Islamic legal school), ʿaṣabiyya (group feeling/sense of belonging to anything other than Islam) or jinsiyya (citizenship/ allegiance to a particular state), would be expelled. Rida's seminary was opposed by the Nationalist Wafd Party. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Jāwīsh (1876-1929), the editor-in-chief of the Party mouthpiece, alleged the seminary of being an underground organisation working to demolish the Ottoman Empire by promoting an Arab Caliphate. Rida denied the charges and insisted on non-interference in politics. The financial aid mainly came from Arab philanthropists, Khadive Abbas Hilmi and the Egyptian Awqaf Office.^[46][47][48]

With the outbreak of the World War, Abbas Hilmi was deposed and the Khedivate was abolished. The contributions were cut off, as was the assistance from the Awqaf Office. Due to lack of funds, the seminary was forced to shut down after the First World War. According to Riḍā, British authorities and Bahāʾī lobbyists in Egypt were responsible for its closure. The short-lived seminary's pupils and graduates included well-known scholars and leaders, such as Muhammad Bahjat al-Bitar (1894-1976), Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqi (1892-1959), Abd al-Zahir Abu al-Samh (1882-1951), Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Razzaq Hamza (1890-1972), future Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Hajji Amīn al-Ḥusaynī(1895-1974), Shaykh Yusuf Yāsīn(1888-1962), Muhammad al-ʿArabi al-Khatib(d. 1980), etc. The school was originally envisioned by Rida as a global missionary institution to spearhead an ecumenical Salafi Islam. Although Dar al-Daʿwa wal-Irshad foundered after the First World War due to political indifference and financial difficulties, it would inspire many Salafis like Taqi al-Din al-Hilali to promote the same kind of global mission and institutions that Rida had wished to cultivate, such as Dar al-Hadith al-Hasaniyya in Morocco.^[49][50][51]

Evaluation of the War[]

Rida condemned the devastation and destruction brought by the First World War as the natural results of the West's moral and material degradation.^[52] Rida didn't call the War by its popular Western name "The Great War". Rida labelled it al-Harb al-Madaniyya("the war of civilization"); not to be confused with "war of civilizations". According to Rida, the War was caused by "the materialist European civilization"(al-madaniyya al-maddiyya), a civilization that abandoned religion, inorder to satisfy its imperial greed. In an article entitled Harb al-madaniyya al-‘urubiyya wa’l-muqarana baynaha wa-bayna al-madaniyya al-Islamiyya wal-futuhat al-‘Arabiyya("The war of the European civilization and the comparison between it and the Islamic civilization and the Arab conquests"), Rida asserted that the supposed civilised countries, in spite of their scientific advancements, had demonstrated that their science which should ideally "be a source of justice, compassion, and happiness" could be mutated into "the source of tyranny and brutality". "In four years", Rida said, the Europeans "killed more people than in the preceding centuries". Claiming that Muslims would have never committed acts of barbarism like the Europeans, Rida posited that all materialistic civilizations eventually degrade to a simple formula of "might is right". Rida initially was enthusiastic about Woodrow Wilson's declaration that proclaimed self-determination for all nations and a League of nations. However, after the ending of war, Rida would become skeptical of the true aims of Allies.^[53]

In Rida's view, the war presented the Muslim community with an opportunity for radical change. However, he feared that loyalties to states based on nationalism would become the norm in the aftermath of the war, pointing to the example of Mustafa Kemal’s attempt to strip the caliph of political authority which he denounced as the beginning of a wider secularist, nationalist assault on Islam. In Rida's view, only the Islamic faith embodied by a true Caliphate, can provide the balance between material civilization and spirituality. With the European international order in disarray, Rida believed that it was possible to achieve a political community united by the bonds of Islam. The modern transformation of the world through the steamship, airplanes, railroads, machinery, media, etc provided the structural foundations of an Islamic public sphere that could ensure the selection of a caliph and a representative ruling system. Thus in the present age, it was again possible to elect a single Caliph that unites the Ummah just like the Khulafa Rashidun. Based on these principles, Rida proposed his solution to the present dangers of the world:

"The human need for spiritual and civilizational reform on the basis of sure foundations has intensified. Only with this will the enslavement of the weak by the powerful, the derision of the poor by the wealthy, and the danger to the wealthy [posed by] Bolshevism be ended. Moreover, it [reform] will negate distinctions of ethnicity so that the general brotherhood of humanity can be realized."

^[54]

Aftermath[]

Syrian Independence Movement[]

By the end of the First World War, the whole of Fertile Crescent had fallen under British occupation. However in Syria, an independent Arab government headed by King Faisal, son of Sharif Husayn held out until July 1920. Rashid Rida became vocal in agitating for Arab independence and opposed all forms of European control over Syria and Iraq. He travelled to Syria in mid-1919 and would be elected as a member in the Syrian National Congress, representing Tripoli, and served as its chairman for a few months. He also became the vice chairman of the Syro-Palestinian Congress. Rida was a staunch proponent of "complete absolute total independence" and became a prominent member of the influential pan-Arab movement Al-Fatat society, which led the Syrian campaign for absolute independence. Rida also participated in the demonstrations of the Committee for National Defence, the most extreme political body and the most anti-French organization in Syria.^[55][56][57]

Memorandum to Lloyd George[]

In June 1919, Rida despatched a long memorandum to British Prime Minister Lloyd George wherein he reiterated his well-known position of preserving a pan-Islamic temporal power, with the aim of rehabilitating the Arab lands since "the good of the Arabs was the good of Islam". He condemned the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which had become public, as an agreement intended to erase Islam from the face of earth and alleged that European powers wanted freedom, justice and rights only for Christians. Rida alerted Llyod to the popular hatred for Britain throughout the Islamic World. Should the plans outlined in Versailles Peace Conference were to be implemented, Rida warned of a total boycott of British trade as well as armed uprisings against the British empire across the Islamic World, assisted by Germans. If British choose to assist Muslims at the Peace Conference, evacuate Syria and Iraq, they would gain the friendship of Muslims, though the Egyptians would continue to struggle for independence. He conveyed his willingness to travel to Europe to represent the demands of Muslims. However, Rida wasn't given any invitation and his proposals were again ignored. More significantly, during his Syrian activism in the 1919–1920, Rashid Rida made efforts for Arab-Turkish reconciliation and joint efforts against the common European threat. The early phase of the Turkish national movement was seen as an Islamic religious resistance against the European powers and its composition reflected their religious character. Rida continued to view the Turkish Caliphate as the only legitimate one and proposed an Arab-Turkish alliance against the European threat. At this stage, Turkish nationalists and pan-Arabists were championing a Confederation of Syria, Iraq and Turkey after their emancipation.^[58][59]

Differences with Faysal[]

In Syria, Faysal's autocratic tendencies would pit him into conflict with Rida, much like his father Sharif Husayn. Despite the European occupation and emergence of separate Arab states, Rida continued to champion his utopian vision for a Pan-Islamic Arab state or at least an Arab union. Although Faysal initially agreed to Rida's proposals like Arab Union and reconciliation with Ibn Saud of Najd, reconciliation efforts between Faysal and various Syrian factions would not ultimately succeed. In Rida's view, the nation must be ruled according to Islamic law through the representatives of the nation in the General Syrian Congress. Faysal, on the other hand, sought to disperse the Congress and considered that it was not entitled to authority over his government. Rida conveyed to Faysal that the Congress held the highest authority in the nation, ruling according to Islamic Sharia, to oppose any form of tyranny and the government was subordinate to it. "Unity can be achieved only by complying with the law", Rida told Faisal, and Syria cannot revert to autocracy. Faysal replied that he had created the Congress and that he was not prepared to grant it such an authority. Sharply reacting to his statement, Rida answered:

"No! The Congress created you. Before that, you were only a commander on behalf of Allenby, the supreme commander of the British army, and it was the Congress that made you King of Syria."

^[60]

French Invasion of Syria(1920)[]

In May 1920, Rida was elected President of the Syrian Congress. However, during the spring of 1920, the Allied power modified their original Sykes-Picot agreement and agreed on division of the entire Fertile Crescent region, including Syria, among themselves in the form of Mandates. In March, the Syrian Congress publicly challenged these arrangements by proclaiming Greater Syria(including Palestine, Transjordan, and Lebanon) as an independent kingdom with Amir Faysal at its head. On 14 July 1920, General Henri Gouraud, the French high-commissioner in Beirut, sent an ultimatum to Faysal, declaring that his forces would take over Syria by force unless the Arab government accepted the French mandate without any reservations. Rida's beliefs of what constituted the proper state according to sharia, would propel him towards rude arguments with Faysal, even during the eve of the French invasion. Although Rida opposed it, Faysal would accept the ultimatum. However, his acceptance reached too late. The French troops invaded Syria in summer of 1920 and demolished the short-lived Hashemite Kingdom by July 25, 1920, and expelled Faysal. After the French occupation, Rida left Syria once again, for Egypt. In September 1921, Syro-Palestinian Congress (of which Rida was vice-chairman) issued a joint statement calling for the independence of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, their right to unite and the cancellation of the pro-Zionist Balfour Declaration. His public report to the Syro-Palestinian Congress officially rebuked Sharif Hussein and all his sons, condemning them for selling out Arab lands to colonial powers and assisting the British in their conquest of Palestine.^[61][62][63]

Condemnation of the Post-War World Order[]

Rashid Rida's previous optimism of a just and fair post-War World Order would be reversed by the catastrophic events unravelling across the Islamic World caused by the betrayal of initial proclamations of the Allied powers. As early as the spring of 1919, Rida had concluded that their post-war promises were "not intended for non-European nations." The defeats of 1919 Egyptian revolution and the French occupation of Syria would lead to the rise of a new phase of Islamist movements with a militant character led by Rashid Rida who rallied popular support with an anti-liberal, anti-Western agenda. He asserted that it was not democratic strength or economic power that propelled England to victory, but their political deceptions. Their biggest manipulations were to drag the Americans into their side by promising Palestine to Jews, and simultaneously convincing Sharif Husayn to conquer Palestine for them. Describing the British as "a cunning, deceitful nation", Rida believed that Zionism was as much a British scheme which utilized the Jews as it was a Jewish scheme that made use of the British. Covering these events closely in his influential journal, Rida condemned the peace conferences as worse than all the calamities of the war since "the rich, the strong, and the imperialists, who were the cause of this war, had reasserted their hold over other nations and people." The barbarity of the war, combined with the brutal betrayal of all the hopes and aspirations of freedom for the Arab World would plunge the region into further radicalisation, paving the way for militant Islamist movements like the Muslim Brotherhood. Denouncing all British claims and advocacy of democracy, Rashid Rida wrote:

"whenever the British exploited a people, there were voices in their press and parliament that denounced their government’s action. These voices were a deceit intent on creating hope among the oppressed that the British oppressors would save them from their plight"

^[64][65][66]

Contemporary Impact[]

Rida's fundamentalist theology and vocal anti-Western stances would inspire succeeding generations of militant Islamists like Hasan Al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb; who became important figures of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood movement.^[67] Almost a century after the Sykes-Picot Agreement signed by Britain and France, on June 30 2014, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants would announce the formation of an “Islamic state” with the declared objective of erasing Middle East's national territories and boundaries drawn by the colonial powers since the Great War, and challenging the international order based on nation-state system. ISIL claimed that one of the goals of its insurgency was to reverse the effects of the Sykes–Picot Agreement and all state-borders; to establish a global Islamic State remodelled according to historical Arab empire of the Abbasids.^{[68][69][70][71]} Then ISIL leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced after the 2014 offensive: "this blessed advance will not stop until we hit the last nail in the coffin of the Sykes-Picot conspiracy".^[72]

Some observers believe ISIL's Caliphal strategy was directly influenced by Rashid Rida's proposals. As a scholar who formed a link between the Wahhabi movement of Najd and the Muslim Brotherhood movement, Rida's works were avidly read by Abubakr al-Baghdadi. When his efforts to reconcile Arab and Turkish leaders to persuade them in forming an Islamic union with the goal to revive the Caliphate, Rashid Rida wrote his influential book al-Khilafa aw al-Imama al-‘Uzma (The Caliphate or the Exalted Imamate) which included a comprehensive program in rebuilding the Caliphate. In his treatise, Rida explained several steps that were needed to be undertaken for building a new system of caliphate. One of his suggestions were delineated in a chapter titled "Establishing the Caliphate in a Central Region", which proposed the establishment of a caliphate system in a limited area of the land, which would serve as a "central region" (Al-Mantiq Al-Wasat) to strategically manage the affairs of the surrounding lands. A just and eligible caliph was to be chosen from amongst the ulema, after shura(consultation).^[73]

Strikingly; Rida advised declaring the caliphate in Mosul, and did not suggest any Arab capital as a candidate for proclaiming the Caliphate. Rida saw Mosul as the "central region", which was intended to become the cradle of the project of Islamic caliphate, due to various strategic and cultural reasons. The "Islah Party" was to undertake the task of establishing the “Islamic State", restore respect for religion, guard Muslim lands and thus, demonstrate the might of Islam to the world. The strategic vision that guided Rashid Rida in choosing the location may have been the same for Al-Baghdadi and his fighters in their declaration of Caliphate in June 29, 2014. However, unlike the ISIL model which was featured by Takfirism; Rashid Rida envisioned a caliphate that recognised the existing, agreed-upon mechanisms between Arab and Islamic countries, without military wars, on the basis of mutual-understanding and ethnic pluralism between the different races in Mosul; which would demonstrate the fairness of Islamic system to the world.^[74]

See also[]

• Sayyid Rashid Rida
• First World War
• Sykes-Picot Agreement
• Partition of the Ottoman Empire

References[]