Abstract:

The centuries-old cycle of the encounter of Muslims with a world that is not of their making is coming to an end. It began in defiance, adjustment and promise and is ending in confusion, strife and despair. The rise and fall of the “Islamic Alternative” parallels in many ways the pattern of the demise of the communist experiment where an ideational response to the raw capitalism of the 19^th century culminated in revolution, mass opposition parties, failed collectivist experiments in reordering society and finally the denouement of 1989. The trajectory of modernist Islam that began with the great reformers of the latter part of the 19^th century has come to a shattering stop with the Arab Spring of 2010-2012.

However, overshadowed by the tumult of events are the outlines of a new order that is slowly coming into focus. It will profoundly affect the lives and prospects for the world’s Muslims.  For what we are witnessing is nothing less than an end of a historical epoch, entailing a deep shift in Muslims’ perspectives and consciousness.

The end of historical epochs are not always peaceful or produce benign outcomes. The long cycle that began over a hundred and fifty years ago with the reformist Islam of Syed Ahmad Khan, Afghani and Abduh and passed through the genesis of Islamic parties, the revolution in Iran and the rise of jihadist movements is ending in a particularly violent and dangerous way. It has left indelible changes in Muslim societies and individuals. But the galloping fragmentation of the world of Islam-into sectarian conflicts, secular/Islamist divisions and the specter of the extreme violence of jihadi groups- is now putting at serious risk the elemental unity of Muslims. How the Islamic world will navigate these violent currents will determine the shape and direction of the next long term cycle in the evolution of Islam in the contemporary world.