Revival and Reform Ebrahim Moosa and SherAli Tareen Revival and reform, tajdīd and iṣlāḥ, are terms widely disseminated across a range of genres in Muslim literature. They are found in commentaries of prophetic traditions, political discourses, debates about shari‘a, and the integrity of learning and scholarship. Often these key words are rhetorically invoked in exhortations of moral awakening in order to advance a Muslim social and political gospel. Over time, these terms have been used together to represent a concept that links newness and creativity (renewal/revival) to wholeness and integrity (iṣlaḥ, reform). Whether the “renewal and reform” is aimed at the collective or the individual or both, the discourse of revival and reform addresses stability and change, the mutable and immutable in Muslim thought. In this larger semantic framework, two things loom large: political theology and the integrity of the learned tradition. Renewal and revival (tajdīd) stem from the root j-d-d, to make new, to innovate, to refresh and resuscitate. One may think of reform as a discourse of improvement, recovery, and healing. Indeed, iṣlāḥ (repair) is derived from the Arabic root ṣ-l-ḥ, which means to mend, restore, and improve. Plain readings of the proof texts suggest that renewal will not only resuscitate the body politic of both community and society but also heal and restore the brokenness of the moral order. This restorative aspect made this conceptual category attractive and appealing to all kinds of public actors who advanced a political, spiritual, and intellectual agenda for the betterment of both individuals and society. The key report attributed to the Prophet Muhammad on the question of renewal states, “Indeed, at the beginning of every century God dispatches to this confessional community (umma) a person who will renew its dīn—salvation practices (religion).” Another report on the topic says, “God shows benevolence to the people who are part of His order of dīn at the beginning of every century by dispatching a man from my family who will clarify to them matters related to their salvation practices (dīn).” Paradox, however, lies at the heart of the renewal-reform concept. A countervailing concept, called illicit innovation (bid‘a), appears to ascribe dire consequences to expressions of newness and creativity. Generally, the prophetic statement “all innovation leads to misguidance” is understood to suggest that innovation in matters of dīn were forbidden. Thus alterations to normative standards of behavior (sunna) as well as those concepts associated with these Islamic Political Thought : An Introduction, edited by Gerhard Bowering, Princeton University Press, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/franklinmarshall/detail.action?docID=1876331. Created from franklinmarshall on 2017-08-03 06:40:44. Copyright © 2015. Princeton University Press. All rights reserved.